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Let's Go Back for Aug. 8, 2014

by jmaloni

•Taken from the Aug. 8 Island Dispatch

Sat, Aug 16th 2014 02:00 pm

40 Years Ago, July 31, 1974

Public hearings set by two boards

The Grand Island Zoning Board of Appeals will review two requests for variances at its 8 p.m. meeting tomorrow in the Town Hall. Other public hearings are scheduled by the Town Board at Monday's session.

The Thursday hearings involve an appeal filed by McDonald's requesting a variance from the building zone ordinance and also an interpretation and a review of building department action to permit erection of a 50-square-foot surface area sign at 2458 Grand Island Blvd.

Also to be aired at the ZBA meeting is an appeal presented by Joseph A. Sanders for a variance from the ordinance to permit continuance of a building on a lot with less than required side yard and lot width and for a certificate of occupancy for the premises at 1789 Whitehaven Road.

30 Years Ago, July 27, 1984

Island boy dies after 50-foot plunge

Grand Island mourns the death of one of its younger citizens who was fatally injured Tuesday when he fell from a 50-foot cliff in Yellowstone National Park.

David Haller, 11, died in an Idaho Falls hospital where he was taken by helicopter after the accident.

He and eight other boys, six from the Island and two from Niagara Falls, were on a trip that began July 18 and was to have been a month-long tour of western states and Florida. The group was accompanied by three adults, who took turns driving the van and trailer used as transportation.

David, a middle school student, would have entered seventh grade in September. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Haller of Fix Road, brother of Jeanette Haller and grandson of Mrs. Mary Haller and Mr. and Mrs. William Mulvena.

20 Years Ago, July 29, 1994

New committee sets plans for town bike paths and sidewalks

The new Bike Path and Sidewalk Committee, headed by Councilwoman Mary Cooke, lost no time in setting goals at its first meeting Friday morning in the Town Hall.

Speakers at the initial session of the new committee were Tim Trabold and Sheila Herwood of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and Mike Krasner of the Erie County Planning Board.

The importance of bike paths was pointed out by Trabold, who claimed 6 percent of the state population "uses bikes as their only means of transportation." He used the statement to stress the importance of a regional bike system.

The group also learned any federal grants for Niagara and Erie counties must have approval of NFTA. Discussion also centered around the proposed River Walk, which would connect Tonawanda with Niagara Falls via Grand Island.

Many bikers who go into Canada would prefer to cycle on the Island "if there was a good way to get here," the local committee was told.

"Our goal is to figure out a plan for bike paths and sidewalks on Grand Island so that eventually they will all connect," Cooke said.

10 Years Ago, July 30, 2004

Usage soars at library

As July draws to a close, many people are wondering if they will actually have a summer to enjoy this year.

More than half of the days this month experienced some rain, which meant many people had to find alternative activities to keep them occupied. And for some, they have headed to their local library.

Grand Island Memorial Public Library Director Lynn Konovitz reported that the library experienced one of its busiest Junes on record and anticipates an increase in numbers for July as well.

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