|
From Speakupwny.com Politics Public Concerns and Comments Donald Symer, who lives on Columbia Avenue, made a quick comment on the contingent purchase of the former library building by Southeast Works. He said, “I like to start by saying I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. I wish to express my concern to the effect that any expansion program of the Southeast Work center…can only occur on the backs of the Village of Depew taxpayers. Thank you.” Dan Beutler covered a number of topics. He began by asking Superintendent of Public Works, John Wojcik: “What are they doing about the dirt behind the Dresser complex on Gould Avenue? I still see the piles of dirt are still there. Are they going to be removed?” John Wojcik: “We’re working on conditions with Empire…now… They’re aware that the Mayor and I are looking for ways to ‘beautify’ the area as best we can.” Beutler: “You mentioned Mr. Reynolds’s (Congressman Tom Reynolds) office. I’ve tried for the past two years to get the information from the former administration on…the other people in my area…who have contaminated soil. I ask…if records are being kept on this…if I can have the information so I can contact them. I know Liz (Village Administrator Elizabeth Melock) has been trying to find them.” “On the fire at 5600 Transit Road…For years I’ve complained about that site, because things were bad. It’s a tragedy it had to take a fire for that property to be addressed. I’d hate to see any of these guys (the firemen) hurt by this. I would only hope that if there’s any other similar conditions in the Village that we are looking into them…both commercial and residential…so they get addressed before there’s a problem.” “I took a lot of heat from those people (the former Board) on 5600 Transit. But, I said it before, and I’ll say it again…that place is a dump and it’s always been a dump. When I went up on that property at the invitation of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and I saw all the (junk) that was up there, I complained, but my complaints fell on deaf ears.” “I want to thank you Mr. Monti and the Board for looking into that.” The topic of fees for baseball diamond use was revisited. Larry Komendat: “Sibby Constantino did report that you are considering fees for the use of Fireman Park Diamond for next year.” Alberti: “Possibly.” Larry Komendat: “My concern is…these diamonds are for the use of the children of this community. At a time when we are trying to get the children to participate in physical activities…and something worthwhile…I hate to seem them being used as a means to generate…funding. These are the kids of the community…both Lancaster and Depew…” Alberti: “I did have a conversation with Mr. Constantino. I know that all the participants are not just from Depew…having worked in recreation…I was privy to the rosters.” “I have to tell you that we also have children in Depew who play hockey. That doesn’t mean they get free ice time. Someone has to pay for us to run the compressor and to use the chiller. It’s just come to a point where, after all these years, we’ve given away so many things that were taken for granted…we’ve just come to the conclusion that there are so many ways…besides taxes…to try to generate funds…” “Believe me, when I tell you that twenty-five dollars is a drop in the bucket for what it costs for diamond dry, lime marker, grass seed, sod, and topsoil…and, as I said, at union wages. We don’t have people working there for five dollars an hour anymore.” “In any business, it’s Union wages that have really driven costs up.” Trustee Carl Monti: “People were working on that field on Saturday, which is a premium day…to get that field ready for Sunday.” Larry Komendat: “The independents…who like very much to use Dawson Field, because it is one of the premiere fields in all of Western New York…they’re bringing people in who are not residents of this area. We definitely should be pursuing that.” “But, the kids we represent are only residents of this community, who already are paying tax.” Trustee Teresa Fusani: “Do you collect a fee from them?” Larry Komendat: “We collect a fee of forty-five dollars.” Fusani: “And, it’s ninety for the older kids.” Larry Komendat: “And ninety for the older kids. The older kids, who would be using Dawson…the reason it’s ninety…is because of the cost of insurance. The cost of insurance is exorbitant…completely different for the kids up to the age twelve. When kids turn thirteen, the league starts losing money. On the ninety dollars we collect, with kids over thirteen, we start losing money and we try to make it up with what we can make on concessions and everything else.” Fusani: “So all your money goes for insurance and uniforms, there’s no…don’t they do fundraising as well?” Alberti: “The only thing I’d like to add is…when I was in recreation…yes, at one time, they had so much money, they wanted to build there own diamonds, and not in Depew. We went through their roster…eighty-five percent of the children that were playing Little League did not reside in Depew…another fifteen percent had Depew mailing addresses, but were not Depew residents…because the post office has different boundaries than the Village. It’s not true that fifty percent of the children are from Depew.” Larry Komendat: “I would never have said that it would be fifty percent from Depew. Being a Director, just in my group…I would say it’s probably about eighty to eight-five percent that are Lancaster and fifteen percent in Depew.” Trustee William Dillemuth: “It’s eight hundred kids, three hundred twenty bucks…it’s forty cents per kid to play those games.” Alberti: “My other concern with Mr. Constantino was…he told me…they would play nine games at Dawson Field…which came out to two hundred and twenty-five dollars. In the next breath, he told Trustee Monti and I that they would be willing to donate between five hundred and seven hundred-fifty dollars to us to maintain the diamond. Now why would you offer to make a donation…which the Village cannot accept donations…between five hundred and seven hundred-fifty dollars…but then balk at paying two hundred and twenty-five dollars?” “It did not make sense to either of us.” “The chain of command for baseball diamonds in the Village of Depew is through the Recreation Director, Mike Wojcicki, not Sibby Constantino. American Legion and the Muni League do not go through Sibby Constantino to set schedules, to know when there is a rain date, etc. He wants to do that. Our Recreation Director does not want him to do that.” “As the head of your program, I want to make you aware of that. If you need a diamond, you need to deal with Mike Wojcicki.” Larry Komendat: “Sibby is new to this position this year, so, he’s learning a little bit.” “The concern isn’t about the three hundred and twenty dollars, the concern is about Fireman’s Park, which is under consideration for next year.” Monti: “We have an obligation to our residents and to our taxpayers to offset these expenses and what you are paying for those diamonds is not that far-fetched. If you go up Transit and you play on those fields in Lockport, it’s a hundred and fifty dollars a ball game, with the lights and seventy-five for a day game. I know because I had one for my grandson who plays in a travel league. It’s very expensive. We can no longer afford to do it the way we did it in the past.” “We took an oath and we are going to do what we have to do to make this Village economical.” © Copyright 2003 by Speakupwny.com |