Let's Go Back for Nov. 25, 2011

40 Years Ago, Nov. 24, 1971

Bus shelters on the way

After more than two years on the part of Paul McCarthy, the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce's chairman in charge of getting new bus shelters for the Island, bus shelters are fast becoming a reality. No more drafts on cold mornings. Plexiglas shelters will replace the old green sheds.

McCarthy observes that it has been a long haul since he was first asked by a lady who waited for her transportation at the corner of Whitehaven and the boulevard what they intended to do for bus patrons who had to stand out in the cold.

With cooperation from the town, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, a lot of help from David Mix and members of the local Chamber of Commerce, the cement pads for the pre-fabricated shelters are now in place.

30 Years Ago, Nov. 20, 1981

GIFC to break ground for $550,000 addition

The Grand Island Fire Company has tentatively set 9 a.m., Dec. 12, for a groundbreaking ceremony as the first step in beginning construction of the main hall and truck house at 2557 Baseline Road next to Town Hall.

Norman Mrkall, chair of the fire company's board of directors and a past chief, this week announced that the volunteer organization has successfully negotiated a $350,000 tax-free bond with Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company here to finance part of the improvement ...

The firehall and truck house on Baseline Road and Grand Island Boulevard was built mainly by volunteer firemen themselves. A three-day grand opening Sept. 11-13, 1953, saw it put into use. It replaced the old Town Hall constructed in 1873, which the town transferred to the fire company after it was founded in 1938.

20 Years Ago, Nov. 29, 1991

Town Board condemns Canadian plan

"Grand Island does not need more traffic through our community. Traffic entering our Island also has to get off again." This was one of the sentiments expressed by the Town Board when it disapproved having a toll bridge built between the Island and Fort Erie, proposed by a Canadian corporation. ...

The town officials agreed the Canadian investors "should look elsewhere, north or south of Grand Island, if they want to cross the U.S. - but not to the Island."

The Niagara New Bridge Corp. in Canada, formed by Canadian investors, plans on constructing a span between here and Fort Erie by 1995 at a cost it estimates to be between $160 million and $200 million. The proposed plan would include construction of a road across the Island to the existing south Grand Island Bridges.

10 Years Ago, Nov. 23, 2001

Town Board has heated budget debate

The formal adoption of the Grand Island Town Board's comprehensive 2000 town budget was accompanied by last-minute alterations, and at times, highly heated debates.

When all was said and done, seven separate town budgets were adopted. They resulted in a net reduction of $4,401 to Supervisor Pete McMahon's proposed spending plan, and a penny per $1,000 of assessed valuation was eliminated from taxpayers' 2002 tax bills. ...

Eliminated from McMahon's original spending plan were proposed 3.5 percent raises for the Town Board members and supervisor. In addition, councilmen and the supervisor will be responsible for paying 25 percent of the cost for their health care benefits. In the past, the town covered the whole cost.