Porter hearing on preserving farm land

by Susan Mikula Campbell
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, August 19, 2006

A public hearing on a plan to preserve farming land and boost the agricultural economy in the Town of Porter will be held at 7 p.m., on Monday, Sept. 11, at Town Hall.

The hearing, approved at Monday’s Town Board meeting, is important to all community members, not just farmers, according to Tom Tower, farm operator and owner of Tom Tower’s Farm Market on Lockport Road.

The plan doesn’t mandate anything, but puts forth choices that can affect how the town will look in the future. Tower, a member of the town Comprehensive Planning Implementation Committee for the past 3 and 1/2 years, said preserving open space – of which farmland is only one piece of the puzzle – was one of the first issues the committee decided to tackle.

The committee interviewed both members of the farming community and the general public for concerns and suggestions. The plan for agriculture land use, economic development and tax policies – put together by the board’s planning consultant, George R. Frantz of George R. Frantz and Associates of Ithaca – will allow decisions to be made knowing all the options, Tower said.

“It’s not to be viewed as a single answer, a silver bullet,” he said. “It’s an educational tool that gives everybody time to think about things so decisions can be made knowing all the options.”

One of the points being considered is purchase of development rights. This option would allow farmers or owners of open land to recoup equity in their property, without having to sell to a subdivision or strip mall. An organization, such as the Sierra Club, or even state or local government, could offer the landowner a certain amount per acre as long as the landowner agreed not to develop the land. It would be voluntary with compensation, unlike the situation with the greenbelt area in Canada.

Copies of the plan to be discussed at the Sept. 11 hearing can be viewed at Town Hall, 3265 Creek Road. All board members also have copies.

Also at Monday’s Town Board meeting, Supervisor Merton K. Wiepert said a letter has been received from the Niagara County Health Department indicating its approval of Porter and Lewiston’s request for an additional, independent test of water discharged from the Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste facility on Balmer Road into the river. Costs of such testing would be negotiated between the towns and CWM. Both Wiepert and Dick Sturges, CWM district manager, said they would seek to set up such a meeting soon.

Wiepert said a second look at the approximately 25 million gallons of water going into the river would be a good thing. “We’ve got to make sure there’s no toxic material going into our waterways at all.”

Sturges explained that rain that falls on the active and closed landfills and contained areas at CWM is collected and processed (biological and chemical treatments) through the facility’s wastewater treatment plant, then kept in a holding pond. The holding pond is emptied into the river via pipeline, generally once per year. Before it is emptied, the water is tested at the pond in five different locations and three different depths. CWM used to do its own testing, but now the analysis for contaminants is done by an Amherst lab, Sturges said. Contaminants for 20 years have been under permit limits, he added.

Samples from both the holding pond and the Niagara River also are sent to an Allentown, Pa., lab for toxicity testing to determine the mortality rate for water fleas and minnows. This year, the pond mortality rate was zero, and as in the past is lower than that of the river and Lake Ontario, Sturges said.

In other matters:

•The board unanimously passed a local law, modeled after laws being passed in other municipalities, which requires Level 2 and 3 sex offenders living in the town of Porter to register with the town. They are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of a school, playground, park, day care center, fire hall, assisted living facility or nursing home.

•Wiepert reported that the town’s share of sales tax for June was up $3,646 from last year to $104,209.

•The supervisor was authorized to seek bids for sealing and restriping the Town Hall parking lot. The lot was resurfaced last year.

•The board authorized the signing of a $2,115 contract with Beyondus of Youngstown for redesign of the town’s Web site. Meeting agendas and minutes for the Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board now are on the site, townofporter.net.

•The board approved the repaving of Mallory and Groveland roads and a resolution creating a special tax district so the $40,000 cost of the work on the previously private roads can be added to the tax bill of the residents the roads serve. A 15-year bond will be created.

•The board approved a trip for Assessor Karen Schmidt to the New York State Assessors Association annual seminar Sept. 17 to 20 in Lake Placid. The trip is necessary for continuing education and cost is reimbursed by the state, Wiepert said. The board also approved six certification training classes beginning in October for new building inspector Roy Rogers. There is no cost to the town except for mileage to Erie County.