What to do with Mt. View?
By Matthew Winterhalter
Thursday, June 10, 2026

LOCKPORT — While a union official tries to save the troubled Mount View facility, one legislator has proposed letting voters decide its ultimate fate.

Ed McDonald, president of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union, which represents most of Mount View employees, met with County Manager Gregory Lewis for several hours Wednesday to propose a plan that could save enough money to persuade lawmakers to continue running the facility.

The meeting went well, according to McDonald.

“We proposed a package to them, they’re reviewing it and we’ll meet again on Wednesday,” he said.

McDonald didn’t go into detail on the negotiations, but the county has been asking the unions for $600,000 in concessions.

Lewis termed Wednesday’s meeting a “productive discussion” and said the proposal will be presented to the legislature in a closed session Tuesday.

Lewis has been charged with examining options for Mount View’s future. Those options include selling it, closing it, renovating it or keeping it as it is. In light of a financial analysis, Lewis had recommended to the Community Services Committee one month ago to sell it, or, if that doesn’t work, close it.

The county’s Community Services Committee voted to put out a request for proposals to potential buyers. If the Lockport nursing home and rehabilitation facility is not purchased within a year, a process to close it will be initiated, according to the approved resolution.

Legislature Vice Chairman Clyde Burmaster has proposed letting everyone have a say on the facility’s future by putting the issue on November’s ballot.

“Obviously this issue is affecting a large number of people in the county and is very emotional,” he said in a statement. “It runs from sympathy to dollars and cents.”
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