Sep. 8--NIAGARA FALLS -- Mayor Paul A. Dyster intends to ask the City Council today to create a $100,000 salary line for a revived economic-development post he said is "critical" to the city's future.

The Council is scheduled to vote today on setting the salary for economicdevelopment director at $100,000 -- $60,000 of which would be reimbursed by a private foundation.

Dyster pulled a similar proposal from the agenda of the Council's last meeting in July after it appeared he would not have enough votes to get the position approved.

The mayor, in an interview Sunday, described the job as crucial to his administration's ability to move forward on several economic-development fronts.

"Nobody should be voting against economic development on the City Council right now," Dyster said. "We're at a tipping point in terms of our economy right now. We have a lot of projects on the horizon."

Dyster's top pick for the job, Peter

F. Kay, was here Friday to meet with Council members.

Kay, of Perrysburg, Ohio, has worked in planning and economic development since the late 1970s. His resume includes five years as economicdevelopment adviser to then-Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and a recent post at the University of Toledo in which he headed an effort to develop a science and technology corridor.

Three Council members -- Steven

D. Fournier, Chris Robins and Charles

A. Walker -- met with Kay on Friday, and Dyster said he believes he has the support of at least them.

Several Council members have declined to say publicly how they plan to vote today.

While Robins and Walker have expressed support for the position, Council Chairman Sam Fruscione and Council Member Robert Anderson Jr. have said they have concerns about its salary.

Fournier, a potential swing vote on the five-member Council, said Sunday that he would not reveal his vote until tonight's meeting but that he was impressed with Kay's experience and thinks the city needs an economic-development director.

"He's worked on some top projects," Fournier said of Kay. "He's very professional. He just seems like the right person."

Dyster said the economic-development director is key to spearheading several projects that are already in the works, including a $245 million proposal from Toronto-based Northern Ethanol to build a plant in Niagara Falls.

Other major economic-development initiatives in the city include a plan to reopen the Globe Metallurgical plant on Highland Avenue to produce solar-grade silicon, efforts to rebuild northern Main Street and attempts to revive the downtown tourism district.