Lewiston Town Board hears drainage, mosquito woes

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 27, 2009

Frequent rains, poor drainage, overgrowth, untended properties, mosquitoes - all warm weather aggravations - are beginning to get on the nerves of area residents. And Lewiston Town Board members heard about them and more Monday night.

“We’ve had the same problem every spring,” said Moore Road resident Victoria Lacey, of the ongoing problems and aggravations attributed to poor drainage that’s been affecting her property. “The water floods my driveway,” she said, adding that it’s cost her roughly $800 to address repairs.

Neighbor Chris Kusk agreed, saying, “Something must be done about it.”

Supervisor Fred Newlin queried the women on whether they had ever contacted the town on this, and both said they have. “They drive by and they don’t do anything,” said Kusk of town drainage crews.

To which Town Councilman Sean Edwards muttered “ridiculous.”

“We’ll get someone out to look at (it),” Newlin hastily responded, directing Town Engineer Robert Lannon of the CRA engineering and environmental firm to visit the property and check it out.

These weren’t the only gripes heard during the lengthy community comments segment. Resident Peggy Taylor-Huggin of Pletcher Road cited poor drainage and the resulting mosquito problems from a neglected neighboring property owned by Modern Disposal, as well as a lack of response to her concerns (such as rotting downed trees and poorly maintained and overflowing drainage ditches). “We are inundated by mosquitoes,” said the woman, noting she had formerly ran a bed and breakfast on the property, and was forced to shut it down.

Town Building and Zoning Inspector Tim Masters responded that it was the first he had ever heard of it, and that he and Lannon will look into it.

Also appearing with a similar complaint was resident Dawn Dimengas from the 5000 block of Callen Drive, who spoke of a neighboring overgrown and long decrepit property, and no town response to her e-mail complaints. “We’re working on it,” replied Masters, who said the woman’s complaints were accurate and informed the resident the man “had a month to get his property cleaned up.”

“It’s been going on for four years,” the woman shot back, telling the board of the resident who drives around town in a car packed full of belongings, of court complaints and nothing being done. Newlin, who apologized for the town’s slow response thus far and promised action, called the property “very unsightly.”

Discussions soon after turned to mosquitoes, as Town Forester John Sharpe provided a status report on this summer’s infestation, which Newlin termed “a significant problem.”

Sharpe said the problem is similar thus far to the 2004 summer season, and mentioned aerial spraying as a solution but questioned its effect, noting that if other neighboring communities aren’t involved in the effort, it has little impact. He also said he was awaiting the particulars from the Niagara County Health Department on this year’s mosquito strain and toxicity in order to establish a baseline on what type of spraying, if any, should be done.

Newlin said there have been no incidences of West Nile Virus thus far in the county, and said if spraying is indeed appropriate, it should be done on a countywide basis. He also raised issues on the toxicity of spraying and its risks to the public and animals, versus the dangers from West Nile. On Sharpe’s recommendations, the board agreed to hold off on taking any action until the baseline data from the Health Department came in.

In other news, the board discussed options on addressing a mounting space problem at the town Highway Department complex on Swann and Harold roads, following an earlier fire in a break room and meeting area for employees. Edwards told the board of space issues with restrooms, the need for a new kitchen/eating area, locker rooms and meeting areas to accommodate highway as well as water/drainage department employees. He said he spoke with Highway Department Superintendent Steve Reiter, who offered a number of ideas, many of them cost-effective, to address the issue.

Of the options, Reiter suggested utilizing highway staffers for foundation/infrastructure preparation en route to an outside contractor erecting a metal type complex, whose size could range from 1,000 to 1,800 square feet.

Board members all appeared in agreement on resolving the space problem, but questions over paying for it arose when it was learned the town had just $17,000 in insurance monies from the fire, and the total building costs were projected to be upwards of $100,000. Other concerns, according to Lannon, involved possible conflicts in state building codes in utilizing a pre-engineered building, issues of compliance to ensure quality control in the construction, the use of highway employees to do site preparation versus putting the job out to bid, the type of complex required to address its actual use, weather conditions, etc.

No action was taken as a number of other issues, including budgetary numbers, studies on actual needs, proposed sizes, engineering drawings, specs, etc. The issue was left with Newlin suggesting a building committee - comprised of Edwards, Reiter, Lannon and others - be formed, and ideas tossed about to consider a complex of three potential sizes.

More from Monday’s session, in next week’s Sentinel.