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The West Seneca & Elma Sun / Saturday, November 22, 2014
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VOL 2 NO. 47
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Lake effect snow takes Southtowns by storm
Board inches closer to decision on elementary school closures
By Kimberly Snickles WEST SENECA SUN EDITOR
Imagine waking up to a pile of snow so enormous outside that you can barely open your front door. That’s the predicament Western New Yorkers were faced with on Tuesday as some cities like West Seneca and Elma received up to five feet of snow. “I’ve been out here since 2 a.m.,” said John Gullo, West Seneca Emergency Disaster Coordinator. “I had to dig myself out and it took me a few hours to get out of my own driveway. I got lucky enough to maneuver my way to town hall and the emergency operations center with the help of school plows.” Gullo and volunteers from the West Seneca Emergency Operations Center worked diligently for the past few days to help those who were stranded and needing assistance from the storm. He explained many individuals had nothing but a t-shirt on and were without food or water in their vehicles for several hours. “We will be up 24/7 until we can get everyone taken care of as best as possible,” he said. “Some of the places that we’re getting even a snowmobile can’t get to, so we make phone calls and reach out to see how they’re doing.” The Town of West Seneca put a state of emergency and
By William Homan SUN CORRESPONDENT
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This snow covered photo was taken on Southwestern Boulevard by West Seneca resident Julia Merulla. This was the calm between the storms. driving ban into effect early Tuesday morning to alert residents of the danger of going outside. Not only were vehicles getting stuck, several snow plows couldn’t make their way out of the snow either. The town reached out to Erie County and local residents for assistance with snowmobiles and four-quad vehicles. “It’s a very difficult process,” said Gullo. “It wasn’t predicted the way it was and there’s so many things out of my control.” Gullo emphasized the importance of staying off the roads during this time, not
only for safety, but also so the snowplows can do their job of clearing the roads. He suggested that residents check their high efficiency furnaces to ensure they are not blocked with snow. Snow covered furnace pipes can lead to poisonous carbon monoxide build-up in the home. “It’s just the nature of Buffalo, we need to stay indoors and keep our heads clear,” he said. And some West Seneca residents did just that. “Our only concern has been too much snow build-up on the roof, so we’ve been going out
a couple times a day to clear the roof with our roof rake, and clear space in front of the garage for our dog,” said Alison Roy-Russo, resident. “We’ve been doing a lot of baking, making crafts, and watching movies.” “I have been stuck in my apartment, but even if I dig out my car, the parking lot would not allow me to drive to the street,” said John Rizzo, resident. “My spaghetti was still good even though I only had pizza sauce and I’ve played a lot of Nintendo Wii.”
Amanda Hansen Foundation teams up with Kearns to donate furnace, CO detectors By Kimberly Snickles WEST SENECA SUN EDITOR
The Amanda Hansen Foundation is an organization whose mission is to provide carbon monoxide detectors and furnaces to those who cannot otherwise afford them. And now, Assemblyman Michael Kearns has jumped on board to help with these life-saving efforts, too. “We’ve done so much stuff together and he just believes in the cause, so he joined the board and we’ve actually just been going crazy in a sense,” said Ken Hansen, founder of the Amanda Hansen Foundation. Kearns held a press conference on Monday in South
THE SUN
Buffalo to announce that he is teaming up with the foundation to prevent deaths that come from carbon monoxide poisoning. Hansen and Kearns distributed the first furnace donation by the Amanda Hansen Foundation to a Buffalo family in need and would like to continue to do so in the near future. “It’s a great feeling to help another family,” said Hansen. “We did it last year and it was so successful, so I told him this year I would like to give away six of them. Now if you know Mickey, he was all over it.”
See Amanda Hansen Page 12
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Ken Hansen and Assemblyman Michael Kearns have partnered up to distribute furnaces and CO detectors to those in need.
At the request of the 21st Century Commission, the West Seneca Central Schools Board of Education held their first of two public work sessions to discuss solutions to the district’s budget and enrollment issues Monday, Nov. 17 at West Elementary. In total, the board looked at 12 options, presented to them at the beginning of the month by the 21st Century Commission, which recently concluded their appointment as “fact-finders,” charged with pouring over district numbers and touring school buildings. One of the main concerns facing parents with students in the district was the possibility that there may be multiple schools impacted by the decision. Along with the consensus of her fellow board members, Vice President Janice Dalbo quickly put the idea to rest. “I think that what the board wants to do is what ends up being the least disruptive to the students and the families. I would like to propose that we close, or repurpose, one building.” Piggybacking on that idea, Carol Jarczyk noted that in order to make sure they are limiting the impact even further, the district lines must remain intact, meaning East would remain as is and West would remain as is. The board also noted that they would not be changing the West Middle School model to reflect the East Middle School model of 5th through 8th grade. “It’s tough and it’s hard,” Jarczyk said. “I wish we had the $34.9 million, but we don’t.” After eliminating several options from consideration, the board came to an agreement on a plan that would move the students currently attending Potters Road Elementary to either Allendale or Winchester Elementary. For the board, selling a building was never really in play. Instead, taking into consideration one of the recommendations from the commission, they would look to utilize Potters Road as a mixed use building that would house the district’s Universal Pre-K program (UPK). This means relocating the UPK students from Northwood Elementary to be in the same building as the Potters Road students, with the program on the first floor and administrative offices on the second floor. The Potters Road building has bathrooms in all firstfloor classrooms and a separate, side entrance that would enable administrators to limit contact with the children, also taking into consideration the recommendation of removing the current offices from West Elementary for safety reasons. If this plan is finalized, the district is also entertaining the idea of looking to rent the space to an outside group. One such potential tenant would be Erie 1 BOCES, which currently occupies a property adjacent to the Potters Road building. While not on a timeline, the board members stressed the importance of coming to an agreement on which plan would be best for the district sooner rather than later, noting that it isn’t fair to keep families waiting. They went on to add that what the entire thing comes down to is determining which decision brings the district to a longer settling point and won’t call for another solution in the near future. Board President Mary Busse thanked everyone involved in the process, noting that the work session provided a great conversation and asked administrators to determine what streets will be impacted by the proposed changes, consolidating the UPK program under one roof, as well as looking for additional ways to repurpose the building. The next public work session will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 in the district office, located in West Elementary. CPOWNY
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