The Sun and the Erie County Independent from Hamburg, New York • Page 1

I 1 en UJ 8 -r 50 Cent nd the gnc Tzc Newspaper of Boston, zitpzitd 1175 Eden, Hamburg, North Collins, Brant and Evans "4 -4 '4 'i '4l 'M -1: i at -ll Charlotte wants crossing guard at busy intersection 1 'Sen Super Boivl fever Some diehard Buffalo Bills fans By EILEEN A. IIOTHO A group of parent and members of. Charlotte Avenue Elementary School's Safety Committee made a plea Tuesday night to the Hamburg Village Board for a crossing guard at a busy Intersection and the implementation of other safety measures. Art Nowicki and Margaret and Jeff Reagan presented the board with a petition signed by 416 residents call-' ing for a crossing guard at the busy intersection of Charlotte and East Prospect avenues and signage warning of 'children crossing on streets near the school. Mayor Richard Hansen told the group of about 20 the board will meet with the School Board in an effort to find solutions to the problem.

Earlier in the school year, the Village Board regulated the parking in front of the school to one side only, but the parents said the measure has not offered much relief. They said a crossing guard is needed at the Charlotte-East Prospect intersection where they cited numerous traffic violations and increasing danger for schoolchildren. To illu trate their need, the Safety CommitU showed the footage of recet on Sunset Drive in Hamburg show their support with this snow wall honoring their favorite team. Pictured are the creators, Dana Funke (holding Korey. Funke) 'and Daryl C'! -i -i '-'i' Dr.

could gat Stowns Sauifsga moving violations by school buses and motorists at the intersection and in front of the school. Bus drivers have been guilty of speeding through signal lights as they are turning red and of turning right on red, the group told the board. They were able to document several incidents on their home videos, which also Show children darting between moving vehicles in front of the school. While the village employs seven crossing guards at a cost of $60,000 per year or about $8,600 per guard, all are employed at crossings in the Union Pleasant Elementary area. The school's use of sixth-grade students td help the younger children cross the streets is not enough, the parents said.

The Safety Committee earned the support of the Hamburg School Board in their quest for a crossing guard at a School Board meeting last month, but final approval must come from the Village Board. Hansen Said even if a 'guard is approved in the near future, he or she would not likely begin until next September. Lynn Walsh told the board she feels she must drive her 6-year-old son to school each day for his safety because See Charlotte, Page 6 IrfEn The earlier report said that it would cost approximately $1 million to connect these homes to the Southtowns system. The money would have to be raised by a bond that would take the homeowners about 20 years to pay off. It was agreed by both Town Engineer Gerard M.

Kapsiak and Dean Ramsey of Engineering, consultant for the Village of Blasdell, due to the extra debt, those affected residents could be left paying the same annual rates they are paying now in the Blasdell system. Kapsiak said that the residents could see the system begin to pay for itself in maybe 10 years. In the same 10-year period though, the old bond the Sagamore-Osborne See Sewage Plant, Page 6 sale Jan. 26 building associate broker at Hunt Real Estate Corp. "I suspect they (Frontier) would be able to find a buyer, but the buyer base he would come from would' be limited." For a school I sell, the district must set the price" and keep the building In "proper" condition, Ely said.

"We don't have a lot of examples of buildings not being sold; the question is how long it take and for what price?" In the West Senei a School District, officials ran into finding a buyer for the Garden ville Elementary School on Union Road until they See Woodlawn School. Page 12 i. By FELICE NELSON SCHWARTZ 1 Town of Hamburg and Village of Blasdell officials are considering a plan which could tee all customers served by the Blasdell Sewage Treatment Plant on Pieczonka Drive transferred over to the Erie County Southtowns Sewage Treatment Plant. Following a joint-meeting between town and village officials at Hamburg Town Hall Monday night, the town agreed to consider a feasibility study to look into the possibility of switching not only about 640 homes from the Sagamore-Osbbrne Heights part of the town to the Southtowns facility, but' also village customers, according to Town Engineer Gerard Kapsiak. The study will look at the costs and would include maintaining the Blasdell if! V'.

4 'among the remaining residents. "Based on the impact to our residents, the. Blasdell Board will oppose this course of action in every way," Zimmerman said. Zimmerman did say that even though currently no alternatives come to mind, all. the board members are willing to work with the Town of Hamburg to find an answer to this problem.

"We are concerned about what is best for the people," said town Supervisor Patrick Hoak. "This is good that we are sitting here discussing this and working together for an answer." It was suggested by Hoak that a new study be done, to update previous information concerning costs in trans-1 ferring the Sagamore-Osborne homes to the Southtowns facility, Real estate professionals' opinions vary on how easy or difficult it would be to sell the Woodlawn school "I don't think schools are very marketable," said Tim Hourihan, Stovroff and Herman commercial division sales broker. Stovroff and Herman found Darul-Uloom Al-Madania as a buyer. "Schools have inherent problems, like age and asbestos," Hourihan said. Woodlawn contains asbestos, but "it's encapsulated" and if the building were used as a school it would not have to be removed, Glose said.

Woodlawn school's location "off the beaten path" could attract only a few commercial ventures, said John Ely, Lines are drawn in Frontier's vote for Woodlawn School Red estate experts very in opinions on marketability of Frontier's closed switched to For the past five years the Sagamore-Osborne Taxpayers Association has been asking the village and town boards to do something about what they think are exorbitantly high sewer rates or let them connect to the Southtowns treatment facility on Lakeshore Road. In response to questions put to Blasdell Mayor Jeffry Zimmerman, he said if the 640 residents pull out of their sewer system the impact would be astronomical. There would be a loss of approximately 31 percent of the plant, revenue, just for 1993-94, he could result in' a 40 percent cost increase to those remaining on the system, said. "That is if the increase is evenly distributed tax burden on the rest of the district-down to a reasonable level or upgrade technology in the libraries of Cloverbank and Blasdell elementary school," said Michael Dundon, School Board president. Frontier will also receive about $34,000 from the "imminent" and uncontested sale of 3.6 acres of the former Woodlawn school's property to the Woodlawn Fire Department, said Gerald Gloee, assistant superintendent for business.

Ultimately, "the money would be money the taxpayers wouldn't have to raise," said Superintendent Charles Little. "It's $250,000 we won't have to work with and somewhere down the way, the $250,000 could've helped the school district No school district can snub its nose at $250.000. If the referendum fails. Frontier will continue the search for a buyer and "bear the burden of $2,400 a month to maintain the building" plus the undetermined coat of vandalism, which includes over 30 broken windows. Little said.

i The Woodlawn school's further coat to the district depends on if and when Frontier finds another buyer and how much the purchaser offers. Close said. plant for overflow use. A 1990 study, on transferring only Sagamore-Osborne customers from the Blasdell plant to the Southtowns plant as a cost-saving measure was performed by Malcolm Pirnie for $9,500. transfer any.

customers, a new sewer line would have to be constructed to connect the new district to the Lakeshore Road plant. Many of the residents of the Sagamore-Osborne neighborhood have been trying since 1989 to get solid in- formation on what their options are concerning the two sewer services that are currently available. Sagamore-Osborne is located on either side of South Park Avenue ending south of. Route 179 and is often called "the HilL" v. would come, learn, and then go, like at its current institute on North Davis Road in East Aurora, said Dr.

M. Ismail Memon, president of Darul-Uloom Al-Madania. At the East Aurora location, average stays last one to three days, Memon said. Members sometimes visit for a week. Outside the center, which is a former convent sitting in the middle of 10.5 acres of tranquil lawns and woods, members occasionally walk around or gather into study circles.

The group wanted to gather in Woodlawn because a problem with the current center's septic system limits the facilities to use by only 10 to 15 people at a time. Now the Islamic organization's moving-in plans are uncertain. "We have not decided anything, and we will not decide anything until after the referendum," Memon said. Regardless of the Woodlawn referendum's results, Darul-Uloom Al-Madania will establish another center somewhere, Memon said. i If the sale receives approval and Darul-Uloom Al-Madania buys 'the building and Frontier would possibly use the revenue to "keep the By STEPHEN T.

WILL Buttons, billboards, and Is it election time already? No, but it's nearly time for Frontier School District voters to go to the polls for the Wood lawn Elementary School referendum. After months of planning, discussions, debates, and court battles, residents will decide on Wednesday, Jan. 26 whether to sell the school building and 10.4 acres of surrounding land to an Islamic organisation for $250,000. Proponents and opponents of the sale are aggressively campaigning and trying to muster votes by handing out buttons, speaking at various meetings, making phone calls, and even buying billboard space. If the referendum passes, Uloom Al-Madania may use the building and land as a religious retreat center.

A "no" from voters will leave the building vacant until the School Board finds another buyer. Before the Wood Lawn Beach Taxpayers Association submitted a 2.900-signature petition against the sale and State Supreme Court Judge Peter Notaro ruled Frontier must hold the referendum, the Islamic group planned to use the facility for religious study for its over 100 members. People I V. 1 1.