The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 3

Briefly Taste of Lancaster scheduled for Aug 7 'I he sixth annual Taste of Lancaster Aug 7 will have a sesquicentennial flavor in honor of the 150th anniversary Held in the business district on Central Avenue and West Main Street from 11 am to 8 pm it be biggest food celebration Eigh teen companies including Weg mans and Tops Markets will offer bite sized Specialties The Taste also will include a three on three basketball tour nament rides for youngsters and live music beginning at noon eatured on stage will be the Border City Blues Band Pat Gala and the Mojo Men Route 66 and the Whiskey Creek Band 3 Southtowns get grant to draft farmland plan The Towns of Brant North Collins and Evans today accept ed $50000 from Erie County to hire a consultant to draw up a plan to help protect farmland County Executive Gorski who delivered the check said the three towns have the high est percentage of agricultural acreage within the county Brant will take the lead One object of the planning grant is to control growth of business and homes while preserving farmland Elsewhere Schumer gets assurances on Island evictions An associate US attorney general has promised Sen Charles Schumer NY that the Justice Department will not seek the eviction of private landowners in the Sene ca land claim on Grand Island While Schumer is declaring something of a small victory the land claim continues to move ahead Tuesday night John O'Donnell Jr re gional representative came to the first meeting of a grass roots Grand Island group bear ing a letter from Raymond isher The fear of eviction has plagued residents since 1993 when the Senecas filed suit claiming the 1815 pur chase of all the islands in the Niagara River never was rati fied by Congress rendering the sale invalid can assure you the United States will not seek eviction or ouster of any private isher wrote heralded the let ter as good news for the island although similar statements al ready have been issued by spokesmen from the Justice Department a co plaintiff in the case Seneca spokesmen however never have pledged not to seek eviction of private landowners Canisius College to hold transfer registration Students who want to trans fer to Canisius College will be able to apply receive guidance and register in one stop during Transfer Express registration from 9 am to 7 pm Thursday and from 9 am to 4 pm ri day Transcripts and financial in formation including 1998 in come tax data must be provid ed during transfer registration to be conducted both days in the lobby of Bagen Hall on the Main Street campus or more information con tact the admissions office at the college Old Bills seats sell for $35000 plus tax Those battered old plastic seats from Buffalo Bills games gone by are netting the county nearly $35000 and the state lo cal sales tax with the county taking a share another $2400 County Purchasing Director John Doyle said that almost 4000 of the 6000 seats were sold last weekend at $10 each at Ralph Wilson Stadium Now large scale buyers are offering to bid on the aluminum slabs that used to seat 34000 The county after originally hoping to make about $35000 on the scrap instead will make substantially more It will be plowed back into the cost of new seating in the renovated stadium Auctioneer Richard Bronstein is expected to make a full report next week Botanical Gardens plan Pepper Garlic estival Spicy food and tropical mu sic will be featured at the fourth annual Hotluck Pepper and Garlic estival from noon to 6 pm Aug 8 at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gar dens 2655 South Park Ave dozen vendors will offer everything from jerk chicken to Thai pasta rom noon to 3 pm the Los Caribes Latin jazz band will perform followed by LeeRon Zydeco and the Hot Tamales The program will include tours of the gardens exhibits and face painting Ven dors include Gambino Garlic Growers which will offer garlic products and Hot which will display an assortment of sauces Newfane managers to run Lockport hospital 1 LOCKPORT Staitmg Sunday Lockport Memorial Hospital will Ire run bv the same executives who head New fane Inter Community Memorial Hospital The Lockport Memorial board Tuesday approved hiring Inter Community as its new management group Clare A Haar the chief ex ecutive officer at Inter Commu nity will hold the same title at Lockport Other Newfane administra tors who will do double duty at Lockport are Donald Kcp ner the chief financial officer Marguerite Hjalmarson nursing administrator and Laura Muench human resources di rector Judge clears way to build senior housing in Amherst Some Amherst lawmakers fear a court action Tuesday could diminish their role in de termining whether property should be developed State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Mintz on Tuesday cleared the way for a contro versial senior citizens housing complex at North rench and Hopkins roads in Amherst In ebruary the Amherst Town Board the top governing body rejected the project by refusing to rezonc the property from suburban ag riculture to a multifamily residential designation But the Zoning Board of Appeals whose members are appointed by the Town Board granted devel opers a so called vari which sidestepped the Town Board's ruling and allow ed the project to move forward Residents opposed to the project filed a lawsuit which Mintz dismissed Tuesday Now Supervisor Susan Grelick and other members of the Town Board are worried the case will set a precedent for other developers to seek variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals for projects already turned down by the Town Board Amherst lawmakers at a work session Tuesday afternoon said they want to discuss this situation in more detail to clari fy the roles of the Town Board and Zoning Board of Appeals in rezoning issues our Tonawanda schools getting new computers our City Of Tonawanda schools will begin receiving new computers this week thanks to a School Board purchase through the Board of Coopera tive Educational Mullen letcher Riverview and Highland schools will re ceive new Dell computers to re place old machines bought by the district more than five years ago The computers will be de livered this week and school officials hope to have the new equipment installed and run ning by the beginning of the school year said Joanne Russo director of instruction The purchase of the new computers was made by a cooperative purchase through the Board of Coopera tive Educational Services ami is part of a plan to have six com puters in every district class room Ms Russo said Cheektowaga man charged in Wilson arms thefts Town of Tonawanda police have charged a Cheektowaga man with petit larceny in con nection with thefts of diapers baby formula and medicine from a Wilson arms conve nience store Assistant Police Chief Robert Rowland said Aaron Davis 30 of Wind wood Court was arrested at 4:30 pm Monday by Cheekto waga police after he stole a quantity of merchandise from a Wilson arms store on Lincoln Park Drive fleeing by car to Cheektowaga Rowland said Town of Tonawanda police using the store descrip tion of vehicle alerted Cheektowaga police leading to apprehension Rowland said Davis had stolen the same type ot items from the Lincoln Park store last week Rowland said The Buffalo NewsWednesday July 28 1999 fcjJ 7 SOUTH EDITION Page 5 South Suburban News WEST SENECA SCHOOLS State budget delay has district concerned By MICHAEL LEVY News Southtown's Bureau perennial budget impasse is starting to worry school district administrators more than usual This year not only will they face cash flow delays because the budget is late but with al most 10 percent of their tax revenue to come from STAR payments rather than directly from local taxpayers they face the loss of that capital as well as the loss of interest that capi tal might earn between collection in September and its eventual outlay fact a lot of districts will have to bor row short term capital to get started in two months or borrow more than they usually said Brian Schulz the West Seneca dis treasurer something I like to do We have not borrowed against future tax income for at least eight years and with a $4 million cash reserve I think have to borrow this fall but it will be Districts that spent down cash reserves over the last few years to appease groups by spending reserves to avert tax hikes will be doubly hit: This year they've had to institute stiff tax in creases and next year their spending plans will reflect the cost of borrowing short term cash to get school started in September Schulz be lieves And those districts that began prekindergar ten last year as West Seneca did or those that hoped to do so this year are still waiting word from Albany on funding pre program is West Seneca Superintendent Richard Sagar told the School Board this week year we got a categori cal grant from the Legislature of $99900 that allowed us to serve 50 students in the pre program year Gov budget did not have categorical revenues for that but offered block grants Unless the Legislature grantsmoney specifically for prekindergarten instruc tion as they did last year with that one year enabling legislation we would use block grants in other ways Even though we support pre and believe it to be very valuable we have far more pressing Among those Sagar said are BOCES ex penditures and the excess of edu cating disabled children both areas where the governor is proposing state aid be cut With West Seneca using BOCES to leasepurchase its computers cuts in BOCES aid will be shifted directly to local taxpayers with special education kids one of ouronly growth areas be severely impacted losing at least $200000 of our $72 million bud get but that is money that would be shifted directly to local Sagar said few months ago it was surmised that the impasse was not really going to affect school boards but it seems obvious now that some districts are going to be forced to borrow mon ey in a few he added Schulz said many districts have always bor rowed money awaiting state aid but in recent years that aid has been pushed back further and further funding tor example Albany used to pay their share by June of the school year Now they hold 45 percent ot their BOCES aid back for at least six months until the following winter $14 million in cash ilow for this district right there STAR help was introduced they wanted to pay it out in ebruary not in Sep tember We fought that and got it in time last fall but that idea surfaced again this year So not only will we not get the STAR make up funds until ebruary but as I said be seeing 9 percent less local tax money That means a larger chunk of income to be delayed for six months unless the Legislature ensures that this docs not happen could be looking at $3 million in lost cash flow that is money invest and collect interest on to help offset this costs Schulz said cash flow looks good they say they can invest the money better than I can but they give local districts any share of the interest they make and school districts that borrow to meet short falls and delays in state aid payments get their interest costs returned to them Mga 'I I a 1 rl "'I 4 7 4 ROBERT KIRKHAMButfalo News Remembering the Korean War Thomas Kosis of Williamsville points out speakers on the podium to his son Noah 3 at the start of the Ar mistice Day Memorial Service at the Korean War Monument near Buffalo Naval and Park Ko father served in the Korean War The ceremony marked the 46th anniversary of the end of the fighting ELMA Businessman directed to fix drainage problem By PATRICK McDONNELL Elma Correspondent Santino Terio ap peared before the Elma Town Board Tuesday morning for what should be the final time regarding an ongoing dispute with neighbors over his dumping dean fill on property he owns on Bowen and Clinton roads or the past several months Terio has appeared before the board in an effort to explain why his vacant lot behind Piz za Shack has been rising Terio admitted that he was fill ing in the lot but for purposes that still remain unclear Original ly Building Inspector Gerald Barry told the board that Terio was planning on developing a picnic grove but those plans apparently fell through at least temporarily The issue finally came to a head last spring when several neighbors tidjoining Terio's proper ty went public with their concerns telling the Town Board that Tur in's efforts at bringing in fill pres ented a clear danger of runoff and low level IlotHiing to their proper ties Terio had never submitted the required drainage plan with a re tention pond as required by the town building code Terio has been ordered to rem edy the situation beginning imme diately by creating a retention pond and installing drainage to al low any runoff to flow to Bowen Road He was directed by Supervisor Audrey Murdoch to have the work completed by Sept 15 In other business the board: Announced the bids for the purchase of kitchen equipment at the Senior Citizens Center on Bowen Road will be opened July 29 along with those for the laying of the foundation for a highway garage addition Bids for the construction of the roof and walls of the garage will be opened Aug 4 according to Mrs Murdoch Referred to the Building De partment the board's proposal to raise the gravel mining permit fees from the current rate of $10 a year Councilman George Blair Jr said he wants the amount in creased so that the more gravel a hauler takes away the more he will be required to pay the town for the increased cost associated with code enforcement Some nearby towns charge as much as $1000 a year for a per mit he said Set a work session for Aug 9 to discuss with retiring Water Su perintendent Dennis Siebert a re placement Siebert is set to retire Oct 27 and the board must decide wheth er to advertise for the position or to promote from within Councilman Bill Cirocco said that two individuals from the Wa ter Department are interested in succeeding Siebert and that they are more than qualified Cirocco said he sees no need to advertise outside the department for a replacement HAMBURG offers summer teen diversion By BARBARA BRIEN News Southtowns Bureau Trish Staszak has taught a lot of moves to a lot of youths over the years at her dance studio This year she thought they and their friends might like to practice some: of those steps or dance to their own beat outside the studio So for the past three weeks she has sponsored three Wednesday night dances at an empty store front in the Armor Plaza on Ab bott Road Hamburg two doors down from her studio I'he tourlh teen dance is tonight from 8 pm to midnight They used to have that riends Cafe but that's gone Ms Staszak said of the for mer teen center on Pine Street She Said she picked Wednesday night because she thought it was an off night for most activities with ball games getting over soon enough for teens to get to most of tne dance Some of the teen agers at her dance studio said they would come to the dances and they helped clean up the empty storefront and decorate it Ms Staszak rents it for the day and has handed out fliers publicizing the dances at lo cal community events including Burgertesi 1 week has been going she said ot the dances With 23 teaching behind her she also offers to teach teens any dance steps they want to learn at the dances and has found that disco and swing are in demand The admission ($5) also includes one free soft drink Two parents of her dance stu dents are among those helping to chaperon Her son monitors the door allowing the 13 to lS year olds to come in and reminding them trips to the parking lot or cars are not allowed "Once out you stay she said But Ms Staszak is hoping once in they'll stay and come again for what could become a summer tradition ORCHARD PARK Jefferis named to vacancy on School Board By ELMER PLOETZ News Southtowns Bureau The Orchard Park School Board filled out its ranks Tuesday night naming Vicki Jefferis to fill a one year unexpired term Mrs Jefferis Ben Kel ler who left the board in June while job hunting While she has been an Orchard Park resident for only two years Mrs Jefferis has made her pres ence known heading the board's facilities subcommittee that put a menu of school building choices on the table in January and active ly working on facilities issues since "I think working on the facili ties committee gave me an oppor tunity to really interact with large aspects of the district not only ad ministrative members but teachers and students and parents and oth er members of the she said think it helped me get a fairly good idea of what people in the community think are some of the critical issues that the dis trict The subcommittee projected continued enrollment growth and potential overcrowding problems $hc still chairs the group Mrs Jefferis was selected from a field of JO that included former Schoo! Board members The only objections to Mrs Jef selection came from board members Richard Jablonski and John Clark who questioned the process They both abstained from the vote on Mrs Jefferis because the board discussed the candidates in executive session at a July 21 meeting felt the executive session was Jablonski said were discussing candidates and they also had an individual in there who voted on an intern for a superintendent's job That was my reason for abstention "I am not against the candi date Vicki Jefferis has my full 100 percent Mrs background in cludes serving as president of the board of an international school in the Netherlands for three years working as a facilitator for the Eu ropean Council of Internationa! Schools and jobs as administrator of a nursing home and manager ol singing groups The board also accepted the re tirement of Eggert Elcmentaiy Principal Peter Walders Walders had worked in the district for 34 years and had been principal since 1981 Joseph Abel assistant principal for personnel said the district hopes to have a replacement by niid October 1 The meeting also was the shortest in recent memory finishing in60 minutes Meetings stretching on for five or six hours had even become an issue during the May School Board race The audience of ap proximately 20 stood and ap plauded when Board PresidentDonald Pritchard adjourned the meeting 7 SOUTH EDITION.