Fri, May 8th 2026 07:15 am
Village of Lewiston to use new dock pay system
By Joshua Maloni
GM/Managing Editor
With the start of spring weather comes increased activity outdoors – and a new warning from Lewiston Police Department Chief Mike Salada regarding youth on electric bikes.
“Last summer, I sat here and brought up some concerns about e-bikes and said that … someone was going to get killed,” Salada said at Monday’s Village of Lewiston work session. “We have had three injury accidents involving e-bikes in this short spring already in the village. In all three cases, they were underage operators – under the age of 16 – and the bikes were class 3, which are only permitted in New York City. They’re not permitted anywhere else in the state.
“This last one was very serious. I know the child is still at Children’s (Hospital) in pretty serious condition.
“These bikes aren’t meant for kids under the age of 16 – they don’t know the rules of the road. They don’t understand they have to stop at stop signs, and I think they also don’t weigh the risks of a small bike versus a large automobile.”
Working to prevent future accidents, “We’ve instructed our officers to take a zero-tolerance stance,” Salada said. “If they are class 3 bikes, they qualify under the county’s offroad vehicle law, which requires us to tow it, with a $250 fee to get it out on the first offense and $1,000 fee for the second; and if it is a class 1 or 2 and it’s underage, we will be contacting parents and having bikes towed and removed.
“It’s not something we want to do, but we’re seeing how serious these accidents are, quickly this spring, and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse.”
Trustee Tina Coppins asked Salada to explain the e-bike categories.
“For a class 1 or 2, it must have pedals; it has to operate under 20 miles per hour,” he said. “Class 3s operate faster and, in a lot of cases, don’t have pedals.”
He added, “Every electric bike must have a sticker on it saying what class it is. If it is removed, which we’ve encountered in at least one or two instances, it automatically makes it not road-worthy.”
Mayor Anne Welch asked, “Do they have to be licensed with plates and a headlight?”
Salada said, “A class 3 technically would, but DMV will not register them. So, they’re just not allowed on a road.”
Welch said, “They’re dangerous.
“It might sound horrible that we’re trying to wreck your fun, or whatever, but this is what happens.”
In the audience was 18-year-old Francis Murphy of Lewiston. He said, “That kid almost died – that’s got to be over.”
Welch told him, “You’re a young man – tell your friends.”
Murphy said teens are posting on social media about their e-bikes being confiscated.
“You’re riding around Center Street, popping wheelies – what did you expect?” he said.
“I watch them go through stop signs, and they’re never going to win that,” Welch said.
Salada noted, “We did do some outreach at Lew-Port two weeks ago,” but, “unfortunately, it was a Lewiston-Porter person who was involved in the accident, so they didn’t get to see the presentation. But we did do outreach with all the middle school students at Lew-Port. Explained to them the laws, the consequences, the dangers. And I will be honest, in the last week driving around, I have seen a reduction in the number of bikes out there. I’m sure a combination of the lesson plus the accident has opened some eyes to the seriousness of this.”
Welch said parents who allow teens to recklessly use e-bikes should be heavily fined, “because unless you hit them in the wallet, where it hurts, they’re just going to let the kids ride these bikes – and it’s going to kill them.”
Salada said, “We’re just asking for the parents to do the right thing. … But we will be taking a zero-tolerance stance on it.”
“Be safe out there, kids,” Welch said.
The Village of Lewiston is using new waterfront docking technology, courtesy of DockBison, to more efficiently monitor use of the boat launch. (Renderings courtesy of DockBison)
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New waterfront dock pay system
The Village of Lewiston has entered into a short-term agreement with Niagara County-based DockBison for the installation of a QR code pay system at the waterfront launch site.
Trustees, Treasurer Stephanie Longwell and Department of Public Works Superintendent Anthony Mang have been discussing ways to more efficiently – and profitably – monitor vehicles using the ramp to place their craft in the water. One idea was to install a QR code for people to self-pay, particularly after-hours when the harbormaster is not available.
In correspondence with the Village of Lewiston, DockBison noted it’s system was “battle-tested at North Tonawanda’s Gateway Harbor – processing thousands of transactions and peak summer festival traffic with zero downtime.” This payment method, DockBison continued, led to revenues exceeding $61,000 – a 44% increase.
DockBison would provide a QR code for the harbor (which the DPW will post on a sign), and provide the clerk’s office with cloud-based customer relationship management software to track activity.
Longwell said DockBison also proposed using automated license plate recognition.
DockBison said it “provides pre-configured cellular OCR camera hardware (physical mounting by village personnel) that scans trailer or car license plates as vehicles back down the ramp.
“The Al cross-references the plate against the payment database. If a boater hasn’t paid, a notice is automatically logged with a timestamped photo.”
There is no fee for “phase 0,” which will begin sometime this summer. “Phase 1,” or full digital adoption, would happen in 2027, with a cost of $1,950.
“Considering, as of right now, we only get from April-ish to October-ish, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday mornings, this will be 24/7 all year – so, it’s going to change the revenue a lot,” Longwell said. “It should bring in a lot more revenue.”
She said those who purchase an annual pass to use the boat ramp wouldn’t be subject to the QR code system or tagged by the license plate reader.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Trustee Nick Conde said.
Trustees plan to review the partnership with DockBison after the 2027 season.
Other approvals
Trustees also approved the following motions:
•To amend the schedule of miscellaneous fees to establish a payment rejection charge of $35, “to be applied to any payment returned or rejected due to insufficient funds, closed accounts, or other processing issues.”
•To approve the facilities use request made by Niagara 1812 LLC for use of Richard F. Soluri Park to host soccer clinics from 9-11 a.m. Saturdays, June 6-27.
•To grant the request made by the Historical Association of Lewiston to close Niagara Street, from Plain Street south to the end of the Lewiston Museum’s property, from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 31, for HAL’s annual “Family Day.”
•Appointing Lewiston Museum Curator Tom Collister to the Historic Preservation Commission. He will serve as an alternate.