PROBLEMS OF THE PUBLIC

PARKING PROBLEM ON ELECTRIC AVENUE

Stanley Walek, 126 Electric Avenue, thanked the Town Board for taking care of the problem with Memories Bar at the corner of Electric Avenue and Clinton Street putting out their garbage on Sunday mornings and commented on the parking problem that was getting worse. He noted that three weeks ago cars were parked in the no parking zone and a patrol car stopped but did not ticket them. Mr. Walek asked that the police enforce the parking ordinance and further commented on the barbecue pit that was burning 40 feet away from the gas station and used car lot.

Supervisor Clark asked that Asst. Chief Ed Gehen research this situation and look for a solution to the problem with cars parking across the sidewalk.

Asst. Chief Gehen stated that the Vehicle & Traffic Law refers to parking on sidewalks, but it would not apply in this case because there were no sidewalks there. Based on the existing situation, the Police Department could not ticket cars parked in front of the bar because they were not in the public roadway and they were not parked on a sidewalk.

Supervisor Clark questioned if they could require that a sidewalk be constructed or enforce a setback requirement.

Deputy Town Attorney Bill Bond responded that the property between the pavement and the sidewalk was part of the right-of-way, and if it was within 30 feet of an intersection he thought they would be able to issue a ticket. He would discuss this with the Police Department.

Councilman Osmanski stated that every other business on Clinton Street had sidewalks in front of it, and he assumed that Memories also did at one time and possibly paved over it without a permit. He directed Principal Engineer Assistant Gary Bommer to contact the NYSDOT for the original contract plans for this intersection to see what was installed and if there were changes made.

Town Attorney Tim Greenan questioned if there had been any conversations with the owner of Memories with regard to a voluntary solution to this problem. He recommended that his office and the Police Department discuss the problem with the owner to see if it could be resolved prior to involving other state agencies.

Councilman Wroblewski stated that police officers had spoken to the bar owner on occasion and the problem would go away for a few days and then return. He suggested that they revisit the bar owner along with the other suggestions made.

Supervisor Clark suggested that a registered letter be sent to the bar owner asking for a voluntary plan to resolve this problem.

REQUEST FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF SENECA CREEK ROAD

Joe Chavanne, 810 Seneca Creek Road, stated that he had contacted former County Executive Dennis Gorski last year regarding the reconstruction of his road. Mr. Gorski advised him that reconstruction was scheduled for 2001 and offered to have Mr. Comerford contact him regarding the project, but he did not hear anything. During the summer, Mr. Chavanne contacted County Legislator John Greenan regarding the reconstruction and Mr. Greenan was going to have Dan Riter from the County Highway Department contact him, but he had not yet heard anything. Mr. Chavanne asked for the Town Board's assistance in obtaining information on the reconstruction project.

Supervisor Clark stated that he had not heard of any plans for Seneca Creek Road and asked Principal Engineer Assistant Gary Bommer to correspond with the county on this matter.

Councilman Graber suggested that Mr. Bommer request a list of projects that the county had scheduled for the town.

 

WEST SENECA TOWN OFFICES		TOWN BOARD PROCEEDINGS
1250 Union Road		Minutes #2000-15
West Seneca, NY 14224		October 23, 2000
Page ten . . .

 

PROBLEMS OF THE PUBLIC

REQUEST FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF SENECA CREEK ROAD (continued)

Mr. Bommer understood that Indian Church Road was on the county's schedule for milling and corrective drainage work.

Supervisor Clark stated that they would try to find out the county's plans but noted that the Town Board had no jurisdiction over county roads. He suggested that Mr. Chavanne continue to speak with Legislator Greenan who was the county representative for West Seneca. Supervisor Clark further requested that Mr. Bommer contact Mr. Chavanne with any information he obtains on the project.

PAVING OF RIDGE ROAD AND SENECA STREET

Phil Fanone, 183 Lowell Lane, stated that he had previously complained about the condition of Ridge Road from Big Lots to Seneca Street. Last week he noticed that this section was being paved, and this week the area on Seneca Street near the post office was being paved. Mr. Fanone thanked the Town Board for whatever efforts were put forth to get this work done.

 

PRESENTATION OF COMMUNICATIONS BY BOARD MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

SUPPORT FOR 800 MHz RADIO SYSTEM

Motion by Councilman Hicks, seconded by Supervisor Clark, to adopt the attached resolution supporting the development of an 800 MHz radio system in Erie County.

On the question, Councilman Hicks stated that he had recently attended a fire chief's meeting and heard of their concerns over the communications problem they were experiencing. He felt this was an outrage and that the 800 MHz system should be swiftly implemented to provide a safe environment for the firefighters and rescue personnel to enable them to perform their duties with the least amount of stress.

Councilman Graber thought it was long overdue that the county use technology that was available. The 800 MHz system would allow everyone to be controlled more regionally with regard to dispatch. The digital equipment would also enable the county and West Seneca to deal with the future.

Councilman Osmanski stated that for a number of years the County Legislature under the Gorski administration had looked into the 800 MHz system, but one of the problems was the cost. If they went to a regional system like this, each town in the county had to be comfortable giving up their rights of dispatching and handing that authority over to the county. By adopting this resolution, the Town of West Seneca was saying that they would do whatever they could to ensure the safety of the volunteer fire fighters and give them better tools to respond. They were willing to look at a detailed study to see how they could help to make it come to fruition.

Ayes: All

Noes: None

Motion Carried

 

*APPENDICES*

BID AWARD FOR EMERGENCY GENERATOR

Motion by Councilman Osmanski, seconded by Councilman Graber, to award the bid for an emergency generator for the Town Hall to R.B. U'Ren Equipment, Inc., 1120 Connecting Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14304 at their bid price of $14,000.00, noting that only one bid was received but it was lower than all the quotes received last year.

On the question, Councilman Graber questioned if this would include all the controls.

Highway Supt. Pat Finnegan responded that the bid included everything but the insulation, which would be handled in-house. They would be moving the existing generator out of the furnace room and placing the new unit outside next to the transformer with everything run inside. The unit would be tested on a monthly basis.

 

WEST SENECA TOWN OFFICES		TOWN BOARD PROCEEDINGS
1250 Union Road		Minutes #2000-15
West Seneca, NY 14224		October 23, 2000
Page eleven . . .

 

PRESENTATION OF COMMUNICATIONS BY BOARD MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

BID AWARD FOR EMERGENCY GENERATOR (continued)

Supervisor Clark noted that the present unit was furnished by a local vendor. He questioned if local vendors such as Fox Equipment were given the opportunity to bid on this equipment.

Mr. Finnegan stated that Fox Equipment was not contacted, but bid specifications were delivered to Cummins Northeast in Williamsville and R.B. U'Ren. R.B. U'Ren had contacted the town because they had a generator available and wanted to move it. The manufacturer of the generator was Generac.

Councilman Graber was familiar with this manufacturer and felt that they were very reliable and the bid price was reasonable.

Supervisor Clark expressed concern that local vendors who sold this type of equipment were not invited to bid. Fox Equipment was also the supplier of the existing generator. Only one bid was received and the town had been criticized in the past for accepting only one bid.

Councilman Osmanski questioned if there was any emergency reason to award the bid at this meeting.

Mr. Finnegan responded that they had to build the pad to place it on and the size of the pad would depend on the size of the unit.

Supervisor Clark questioned if there were special requirements in the bid specifications that precluded others from bidding. He thought that they should rebid this equipment and notify local vendors.

Councilman Graber stated that the existing generator had not been operating properly for a long time, and during the last power failure, the police station was without power and their communication system was down. They needed a reliable generator as quickly as possible and Councilman Graber thought they should proceed with awarding this bid.

Asst. Chief Ed Gehen confirmed that the last time the power was out, the generator was not working. The police station was without lights and there were no dispatch operations. The emergency backup for the phone system took over after a few minutes, so seven digit phone numbers and 9-1-1 was accessible.

Councilman Osmanski understood that the present equipment was bad, but he was concerned that the previous supplier of the generator who was a local vendor was not contacted to bid.

Mr. Finnegan stated that they had been very aggressive in soliciting bids because they were not getting much response from vendors. Fox Equipment repaired a lot of the town's machinery, but he had not thought about them for this type of item.

Ayes: All

Noes: None

Motion Carried

 

Motion by Councilman Osmanski, seconded by Supervisor Clark, to approve minutes from the October 20, 2000 bid opening for an emergency generator.

Ayes: All

Noes: None

Motion Carried

 

PLACEMENT OF POLITICAL SIGNS ON TOWN RIGHT-OF-WAYS

Councilman Osmanski repeated previous requests concerning enforcement of the sign ordinance with regard to placement of political signs on town right-of-ways. The signs were still up and he asked that Highway Supt. Pat Finnegan have his crews remove these signs when they see them in the right-of-way. Councilman Osmanski further requested that Asst. Building Inspector Bob Pinnavaia ensure that letters were sent to all the candidates advising them not to place their signs on the right-of-way.

Councilman Hicks stated that he had received a letter from Building Inspector Bill Czuprynski with regard to placement of his campaign signs.

 

WEST SENECA TOWN OFFICES		TOWN BOARD PROCEEDINGS
1250 Union Road		Minutes #2000-15
West Seneca, NY 14224		October 23, 2000
Page twelve . . .

 

PRESENTATION OF COMMUNICATIONS BY BOARD MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

PUBLISHING MEETING DATES AND TIMES

Councilman Graber commented on the Buffalo News column "Around Town" that showed dates and times for various Town and School Board meetings. He noticed that the Town of West Seneca was not listed in this column and suggested that Town Clerk Patricia Wisniewski notify the Buffalo News of the Town Board meeting schedule.

Buffalo News reporter Julie Loft stated that it was not Mrs. Wisniewski's responsibility to report this information to the News. As the reporter for West Seneca, it was Mrs. Loft's duty; however, she was on maternity leave and was not able to keep up-to-date on this. She would be furnishing this information in the future.

SEWER PROJECT ON ORCHARD PARK ROAD (SEWER DISTRICT #13)

Motion by Supervisor Clark, seconded by Councilman Graber, to authorize the Supervisor to sign, submit and execute a contract with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for $600,000 to rehabilitate 20,000 linear feet of sewer along Orchard Park Road, to seal 100 manholes and grout adjacent laterals over the next four years, noting that the Town of West Seneca will contribute $600,000 in matching funds or 50 percent of the total project cost of $1,200,000.

On the question, Supervisor Clark stated that the completed project should reduce inflow and infiltration from the system so as to eliminate overflow at Outfall Nos. 004 and 005. The town was plagued with problems and complaints along the entire Orchard Park Road area. There was back up of sewage into basements during heavy water conditions and heavy infiltration in the system. Supervisor Clark commended the Engineering Department for their response to the residents, for studying the situation and developing a plan, and for now applying for funding which would cover half the cost of the project. The project would include Greenmeadow Drive, Dover Drive, Berg Road, Westview Drive, Crownland Circle, Reserve Road, Marilyn Drive, Patricia Drive, Thomas Drive, Christopher Drive, Allendale Road, Orchard Park Road, Cranwood Drive, Marlin Drive, Laurelton Drive, Suburban Court, parts of East & West Road and Elmsford Drive. This was part of Special Sewer District #13, a very large sewer district in town, and the project would be bonded.

Ayes: All

Noes: None

Motion Carried

 

FAMILY HISTORY FAIR

Town Clerk Patricia Wisniewski commented that the Family History Fair held on Saturday, October 14th was a great success. Councilman Osmanski and Councilman Hicks' wife each baked a pie for the Apple Pie Contest, and both received "honorable mention."

ADJOURNMENT

Motion by Supervisor Clark, seconded by Councilman Osmanski, to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 P.M.

Ayes: All

Noes: None

Motion Carried