[photo1]The votes are in and the Springville-Griffith Institute technology department took away top honors, winning first place for schools with 3,000 students or fewer from the National School Boards Association for its use of technology to govern the district, communicate with students, parents and the community and to improve overall district operations. The decision was made as the result of the annual Digital School Districts Survey, conducted by e.Republics Center for Digital Education in conjunction with NSBA and www.convergemag.com. Linda Hoffman attended the conference, held in Boston, Mass. from April 21-23, as an area director for Area 1 of Erie 2 Chautauqua BOCES and as an alternate... more

[photo1]New Trustee Alan Chamberlin served for the first time on the Springville Village Board on May 7, after defeating Jean Moncreiff in a runoff election on May 1. Chamberlin will serve as the village’s liaison to the village control center, the Pop Warner Steering Committee and Northeast Southtowns Solid Waste Management.The board also discussed forming an ad hoc committee to revise the village code to allow residents to own and raise chickens for a period longer than 120 days.Village resident Colleen King approached the board regarding the issue. “My family and I are seeking to amend the village code to allow for a small backyard flock of chickens, to be kept by residents,” she said, adding,... more

[photo1]Residents of the Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District voted on three propositions on May 15: to enact a school budget for 2012-13 in the amount of $33,889,410, which carried a 2.39 percent property tax levy increase, to authorize the purchase of four buses, two 66-passenger buses at $106,100, one 16-passenger bus at $67,750 and one 24-passenger bus with a wheelchair lift at $120,050 and to reduce the number of board members from seven to five, effective July 1, 2013.All of the propositions passed. Voters enacted the budget 532-347, voted to purchase the buses 495-368, and decided to reduce the number of board members 432-430. Kara Kane was elected by 604 votes to sit... more

[photo1]Residents of the Springville-Griffith Institute School District will have a chance to voice their opinions at the ballot box this week. The S-GI budget vote and school board member election will take place on Tuesday, May 15 from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Polling places will be at the high school library at 290 North Buffalo St., Collins Center Fire Hall on Route 39 and in the Colden Elementary School Gymnasium at 8263 Boston Colden Road. This year’s vote includes three propositions. The first proposition seeks approval to expend $33,889,410 for school year 2012-13. The budget is a reduction of $2,276,810 from last year’s and includes a reduction of 34.4 full-time equivalent positions and a proposed... more

[photo1]Maintenance was the order of the day at the East Otto town board meeting, held on April 10. A motion was made by Councilman Rich Grey and seconded by Councilman Mike Poch to advertise for bids to replace the roof on the storage building according to specifications from 2011, including with and without bubble insulation, gutters on the front of the building only and a specified number of snow stops. Bids were be opened at the May 8 meeting.A motion was made by Grey and seconded by Councilman Bill Spors to send the Galion roller to an online auction. There is a fee if it does not sell. Poch presented a motion, seconded by Grey, to designate the 1998 International truck and the roller as... more

[photo1]Springville Youth Inc Summer Recreation Director Jason Shelley told the SYI Board of Directors that online registration for summer programs should begin no later than May 18, with the SYI pool on South Buffalo Street scheduled to open to the public on June 23.Shelley also told board members in attendance at the May 3 meeting that, for the first time, parents will be able to sign up their children for Red Cross swimming lessons online. “Registration for all summertime programs can now be completed through our website at www.syionline.org and that now includes swimming lessons,” Shelley said.Anyone wishing to register for programs in person can do so on June 13 and 14 at the SYI pool house... more

[photo1]At the Boston Town Board meeting on May 2, a motion was made to approve the service award points in 2011 for the Boston Volunteer Fire Company, the North Boston Volunteer Fire Company and the Boston Emergency Squad, but not the Patchin Fire Company.“Emergency service volunteers are all enrolled and authorized to receive service award program benefits,” said Councilman Jay Boardway. “The Patchin Fire Company has submitted their points for 2011, based on an audit that was done of the 2010 calendar year and in the service award points program, certain deficiencies were pointed out by our auditor to us,” Boardway said. “It’s my recommendation to this board ... that we re-audit the Patchin... more

[photo1]Overcast weather conditions did not deter a group of Concord residents from planting a bicentennial maple tree at Concord Community Park on Arbor Day, April 27.The 14-foot tall, 3-inch in diameter hybrid maple was donated by Mark Schichtel and Schichtel’s Nursery in honor of the town’s 200 years of existence. Town Supervisor Gary Eppolito also arranged for small red maple saplings to be handed out to those in attendance.Town Historian Dave Batterson spoke to the crowd of onlookers about the significance of the tree industry to the growth of Concord. A poem was then recited by a member of the fifth and sixth grade student council, who had accompanied Springville Elementary Principle Marcole... more

[photo1]After the opening of Bertrand Chaffee Hospital’s new heart center on April 30, local cardiac patients can stay closer to home for their heart needs.Although Cardiologist Thomas Smith has been working at BCH since September, the heart center, now located on the first floor of the hospital, will give locals a one-stop shop for procedures such as stress tests, echocardiograms, pacemaker checks and other heart-related checkups.[photo2]Nurse Manager Staci Biscaro explained that the new heart center consists of an exam room, physician’s office, echocardiogram room and stress test room, each equipped with the specialized cardiology equipment necessary for heart care. The center has eight staff... more

[photo1]After the March 20 Springville village trustee election ended in a tie between candidates incumbent Jean Moncreiff and Alan Chamberlin, a run-off election was held May 1.Following the closing of the polls, Chamberlin was declared the winner of the board trustee seat with a difference of six votes. According village representatives and the unofficial election results, Chamberlin received 237 votes to Moncreiff’s 231, at a total of 468 votes, up from 329 on... more

Several local individuals spoke during the West Valley Board of Education meeting held Monday, April 16. Two of those were area residents Leslie Durandetto and Arthur Munson.Durandetto compared the West Valley Central School class sizes with that of much larger school districts, such as Orchard Park. Although West Valley has a much smaller student body, the student-to-teacher ratio is growing closer to that of the larger districts. Durandetto said she feels that “district budget cuts are making teachers worthless pawns in a game,” and noted that “people are more than numbers.” She told the board that she believes the school needs to implement better demographics.Munson voiced his concern regarding... more

[photo1]The Springville Griffith Board of Education adopted the S-GI school budget in the amount of $33,889,410 at its meeting on April 17. That includes a proposed property tax levy of 2.39 percent, which does not exceed the school tax levy formula as set by the New York state comptroller. The tax levy will therefore not require a 60 percent voter supermajority to pass.This budget will include the reduction of 34.4 positions. A full list of the various reductions and adjustments as reported so far can be found on the district website at www.springvillegi.org. The upcoming school year budget is 6.3 percent lower than the 2011-12 budget, which came in at $36,166,220. Enrollment has declined 2.18... more

[photo1]The April 12 Sardinia Town Board meeting featured many bid decisions and amendments.The board decided on septic design plans, with E&M Engineering’s taking the bid with an offer of $6,250.For the installation of two handicap-accessible doors at the community center, Doors Specialties won the bid with $9,513. The bid for highway department equipment was awarded to Baschmann Services for $38,783 for both the town roller and 14-foot trailer, which includes an extended three-year warranty.The board also passed amendments to the town’s sign ordinance. The amendment to section 115-22 sign definitions now includes the wording “That, for any agricultural or horticultural selling purposes... more

[photo1]Despite near-freezing temperatures in the morning of Wednesday, April 18, more than 150 people stood outside the new Peebles department store on Cascade Drive in Springville, waiting for the doors to be unlocked. The grand opening kicked off with a ribbon-cutting, at which several local dignitaries were in attendance.Deputy Mayor Jean Moncreiff spoke first, welcoming the residents who came to be among the first to enter the new store, as well as the management who put the event together.“I think you are all going to like what you see,” she said to the gathered crowd. “I wish you success with the store, good luck and welcome.”Springville Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David... more

[photo1]The Springville Village Board passed the proposed 2012-13 budget at its meeting on April 16. At a total of $2,845,907, the budget is $16,183, or .57 percent, less than last year’s total. Although the budget numbers are lower than they were in 2011-12, the board approved a 1.68 percent increase in the tax rate to help balance its financial plan.Mayor William Krebs explained that a .05 percent increase in the village’s total property assessment was one of the factors taken into account when increasing the tax rate. He said that “the budget, with its modest increase in [the] tax rate, meets the goals the board of trustees has set to keep our village sound.”The total amount raised by the... more

[photo1]The Bicentennial Steering Committee has decided that its ceremonial maple tree planting for the Concord Bicentennial celebration will take place near the entrance to Concord Community Park on North Buffalo Road at noon on Arbor Day. The 3-inch diameter sugar maple will be planted during a ceremony on April 27 and occupy a spot next to the site chosen for the placement of a Scenic Byway sign later this spring. Concord Community Park was one of five venues considered by the committee. Concord Public Library, the Concord Town Hall, Fiddlers Green Park and the Concord Historical Society were also named as possible homes for the tree.Concord Library Librarian Annette Gernatt has joined with... more

[photo1]After a public hearing on the matter, the Colden Town Board passed a moratorium on hydrofracking and horizontal drilling at its April 12 meeting. The hearing was held to amend local law 1-1984, known as “adoption of code,” instituted by the town of Colden on Dec. 29, 1984, to establish a moratorium on the use of land for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking in the town of Colden. The law reads, “At the present time, there are no town restrictions or regulations in regard to use of land within the town for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The town board finds that the commercial extraction of natural gas and oil by hydraulic fracturing or horizontal gas well drilling... more

On hand to update the Ashford Town Board on the current state of affairs at the West Valley Demonstration Project was New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Program Director Paul Bembia, who spoke at the board meeting held April 11.WVDP officials said they are presently planning to have the main plant process building demolished by 2017. “A major activity that is needed to get that building down is to get the [high-level waste] canisters out of the main plant,” Bembia said. “Since there is no disposal facility for HLW, [the U.S. Department of Energy] is going to construct an interim storage facility on site, where the HLW will be held until it can go to a repository.”In response... more

[photo1]On March 30, the New York State Assembly passed a budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 that allocates a total of $20.3 billion for the general support for public schools, $805 million more support than was provided during school year 2011-2012. That includes an additional $751 million more in total funding for formula-based aids. This is a 3.9 percent raise statewide, which is the first year-to-year increase the assembly has passed in three years.That budget also includes greater funding for the foundation aid formula and providing financial support through a restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment and for reimbursements for expense-based aids. Overall, the budget agreement provides... more

[photo1]Antuan Jordan, the Springville father who pled guilty to a felony count of attempted assault against his baby daughter last November, was sentenced to a year in jail April 12.Jordan’s 11-month-old daughter was taken to Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo with bleeding in her skull that required a transfusion. She was kept in the hospital for five days. Her doctors said they could not rule out that her injuries were caused by a blood disease, so the little girl was sent back home to Springville with her parents to await test results.The child was attacked again by her father, ten days after the first incident, causing bruising and bleeding in her eye. Following the little girl’s second... more