By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

In a move that wasn't unexpected, the executive director of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority will retire later this year, along with its longtime general counsel.

Lawrence Meckler will leave this fall to take advantage of an early-retirement package that New York is offering employees in state agencies and authorities. Also leaving is general counsel David Gregory. Their retirements have been an underlying issue for NFTA commissioners in recent months.

"This is entirely by my choice," Meckler said.

He and Gregory are highly regarded in the NFTA's Buffalo headquarters and elsewhere in the community, They are credited with maintaining a tight fiscal course while increasing air service at Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Niagara Falls International Airport. The NFTA, on June 28, announced a new pricing scheme that drops the complicated zone-and-transfer system for a one-price-pays-all ticket.

Meckler said the early-retirement package was "just too hard to pass up."

State workers can receive a 6 percent increase to their individual pensions, based on years of service. Meckler has spent 35 years working in the public sector, including 33 years with the NFTA. He has been executive director for the past 13 years and before that was general counsel and project manager.

Gregory replaced Meckler as NFTA general counsel. He has been with the authority for 28 years.

He and Meckler are more than co-workers; they say they are the best of friends.

"It was really an enviable situation," Gregory said. "To be able to work hand-in-hand with my best friend has been a bonus."

In early June, NFTA commissioners agreed to offer the state package to employees for a three-month period beginning Aug. 15. The authority is expected to save $1 million this year and $1.5 million next year - mostly in salaries and benefits - through early-retirement packages.

Meckler and Gregory will remain on the job through Oct. 29. A search will begin July 1 to find replacements.

"The goal is to have my replacement in place by the end of October," Meckler said.

He and Gregory said they intend to stay in the area and are considering options once they leave the NFTA.