Livonia
Fire Commission rejects request for station revote
Railroad
deals with unwanted suitor
Village
plans infrastructure upgrade project
Townhouse
project opposed by citizen's group
Two
Livonia Central students die in auto accident
Ripples
and Waves by
Jean Meekin
Fire
Commission rejects request for station revote
The
November 1 referendum vote on the proposed new $1.9 million Livonia
fire and ambulance station became highly controversial after government
officials and others levied charges of inadequate publicity. The
proposal passed by a close 256 to 242 vote.
Fire Commissioners
and firefighters countered that the vote had been announced as
a legal notice in the fire district's official newspaper, on the
sign in front of the fire station, in a Democrat & Chronicle newspaper
story, and at an informational meeting at the school. Also, an
opponent of the proposal had gone door to door with flyers, thus
thoroughly publicizing the election, albeit in an ironic sort
of way.
Also at issue was the informal paper ballot voting procedure and
the presence of firefighters 'milling around' village hall while
the vote was underway.
At the Fire Commissioners meeting
of November 13, Town Supervisor Tim Wahl, Village Mayor Calvin
Lathan and several fire district residents complained about the
vote and advised the commission to consider a revote. The requests
were politely but firmly rejected by Commission Chairman Lew Pinto
and the other three commissioners present. Contract bidding and
construction for the station would be proceeding per the commission's
planned timetable, Pinto said.
In spite of the uproar, no formal,
legal challenge to the station vote emerged. The proposed new
facility will be located on Route 15, have four truck and three
ambulance bays, abundant parking, and a modest size meeting room.
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Railroad
deals with unwanted suitor
On
August 8 the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad Board of Directors
voted to recommend a reverse ten-to-one split in company stock.
The recommendation was approved at the August 16 meeting of railroad
stockholders.
Under a buyout plan, holders of less than ten shares
had to sell their shares to the company for the fair market rate
of $496 per share.
Impetus for the reverse split was an alleged
threat of an unfriendly takeover by an anonymous buyer who was
in the market for LA&L stock. Overt evidence of the buyer's existence
was an advertisement periodically appearing in the Penny saver,
offering to purchase shares at $300 each, and a recent letter
from an individual stockholder to other railroad stockholders,
offering to purchase any quantity of stock at ten percent above
the company offer. Under threat of litigation, the LA & L had
been forced to provide this individual stockholder with the address
list of all stockholders.
The existing LA&L Board of Directors is comprised of individuals
who have been associated with the railroad for many years–some
since the 1964 formation–and who have nurtured the LA&L.
That group sees itself as the rightful heir to management and
ownership of the railroad, having turned a discarded Erie Railroad
branch line into a well maintained, profitable, and heavily trafficked
short line.
This was the second
reverse stock split for the LA&L. A four-to-one split took place
in 1996. Under the incumbent railroad management, LA&L stock valued
at $10 in 1964 has increased in value more than tenfold, while
also paying out about three times its initial cost in dividends.
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Village
plans infrastructure upgrade project
For
the final four months of 2000, the Livonia Village Board has been
discussing and publicizing a proposal to invest in upgraded infrastructure
in connection with the NYS DOT Route 15-Route 20A reconstruction
slated for 2001. This will be the first large project undertaken
by the village in several years, and, for the first time in several
year, taxes will be upwardly impacted–to the tune of $1.00
to $1.25 per thousand of assessment, a 10 to 12 percent increase.
The project would complete the village's share of new water main
installation along the state highways and create a workable storm
drainage system along upper Big Tree Street.
Water costs are
being shared with the Town of Livonia and county water authority.
Upper Big Tree, which will be a heavily utilized detour route
during the state construction, will be repaved at DOT expense.
The drainage installation, if it is ever going to be done at all,
should proceed the repaving.
In December, the village formally
authorized the project by borrowing$652,000. Not all of this debt
will accrue to the tax rolls. DOT is reimbursing $130,000 for
the upper Big Tree paving and $100,000 is coming from fund balance
accounts.
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Townhouse
project opposed by citizen's group
While
Housing Opportunities was fighting to qualify for a property tax
abatement for its already built Geneseo townhouses, the organization
had more fundamental difficulties in the Town of Livonia, where
a large contingent of citizens have organized to stop an affordable
housing project from even breaking ground.
Housing Opportunities
has proposed 32 affordable income units occupying eight townhouses
as an initial phase of a development complex which will eventually
encompass the full 72 acre parcel currently owned by Charles Aprile's
Premium Development Corporation, located behind Minnehans Restaurant
in Lakeville.
The Citizens for Responsible Development group
which opposes the project mustered a 500 signature petition and
promised to be a forceful presence in the November, 2001 Town
of Livonia elections. The Town of Livonia Planning Board has thus
far received the developer's preliminary proposal and has requested
hypothetical sketches of later phases of developmentÑwhich have
been supplied.
Under a heavy atmosphere of controversy, town
officials have pointed out that the type of development being
proposed is acceptable for the zoning status of the parcel, but
no approvals of any kind have been authorized for the project.
Town officials have indicated that the planning board is ready
to look at a more detailed plan for the project.
The citizens
group was angered to have recently discovered that Housing Development,
in its annual report, had interpreted the current project evaluation
stage as one of Ôpreliminary approval.' The Livonia Town Board,
which has become very sensitive about the project, informed Housing
Opportunities of what the board considered to be a misrepresentation.
A written apology was forthcoming from Housing Opportunities this
week.
Charles Aprile and Housing Opportunities representative
Julie Everett intend to present a site plan for town planning
board approval sometime in the summer of 2001.
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Two
Livonia Central students die in auto accident
A
September 18 single car accident on Clark Road in the Town of
Conesus took the lives of Anthony Waters, 15 of Lake Road in Conesus,
and Melissa Meyers, 16 of Big Tree Street in Livonia. Both were
Livonia Central students.
The driver of the car, Chris Konish,
16, who shared Water's East Lake Road address, survived the crash,
but had life threatening injuries.
State Police investigation
revealed that the vehicle had apparently been traveling at a high
rate of speed. The car had skidded across the highway and struck
a tree along a relatively straight stretch of road.The driver
was wearing a seatbelt. The two passengers who did not survive
were not.
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Ripples
and Waves by
Jean Meekin
A
"Wild Bill" Game
Son
Joe and I are avid football fans, especially the Bills. (Non-football)
friends of ours won two tickets to a Bills game and they gave
the tickets to us. Since Joe and I had never attended a Bills
game, this was to be a great adventure! The tickets were for Sunday,
Dec. 17. Are you getting the picture?
We went to Buffalo on Saturday
afternoon because of stormy weather predictions. We stopped off
around Cheektowaga for the night. It poured all evening. After
dinner, we went out to purchase shampoo along the 2-3 mile plaza
strip. Several places were closed early due to a blackout. We
finally found a Wal-Mart that was lit. The humongous snow piles
(from the Big Storm of a month past) blocked the pouring rain
and the parking lots looked like shallow swimming pools -several
inches deep. That was Saturday.
Sunday morning brought winds
and light rain. At the stadium, we were directed to handicapped
parking for little old me. However, the tickets were for the opposite
end of the stadium. So I limped and I limped (moreso) until I
thought I wouldn't make it, but we finally found our seats.
The
stadium was beautiful and the field a bright green. The wind soon
began to roar. By the end of the first quarter, the wind picked
up even more and the snow began to fall. It really didn't fall,
though, because it went sideways and swirled a lot. The temperature
dropped out of sight. A punt into the wind would go up and then
just hang there and then drop like a ball of lead.
We were very near the luxury boxes and I was tempted to knock
on Mr. Ralph Wilson's door. I wanted to say,"Ralphie baby,
after you, I am the oldest living thing in the stands and I want
in." Actually, I was too frozen to move.
Soon the bright green field turned
to gray pea soup- when you could see it! Doug Flutie looked like
a little boy, but could he run. And still, most of the 40,000
people stayed.
In all the cold, a dumb guy ran out on the field, dropped trou
and was immediately escorted from the field. Up above us were
some dumber guys, naked from the waist up, in the blowing blizzard,
cheerfully waving their cups of beer.
It became difficult
to see which team was which, what with all the snow. Steady winds
were in the forties, with gusts up to 60 mph. We had about an
inch of snow on our blanket. All you could see of me was my glasses.
On the way out, what with all the wind, people were blown down
the ramps which were quite slippery. I clung to every railing
I could find with Joe holding up the other side.
All in all,
it was a great adventure. We stayed over and came home Monday
morning. It was lots of fun and, best of all, we survived! I finally
saw a Bills game (at my age!) and I'm finally warm.
Happy New
Year, every body.
On
the level
The
level of Conesus Lake was 817.71 feet above sea level on Dec.
21. One year ago, the lake level was at 816.72 feet above sea
level. Precipitation (liquid) for the week Dec. 15-21 as 0.21
inch.
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