JANUARY 10, 2020
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VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
L I L V E G SP RIN TIMES
The official newspaper of the Town of Concord, and the Village of Springville. Serving Springville, the surrounding communities and Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
Springville’s Veloski graduates DEC school as new ECO By Deb Everts Joshua K. Veloski is one of New York State’s newest Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECO). The Springville native is among 44 new officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s 22nd Basic School for Uniformed Officers that graduated Dec. 6 in a formal ceremony in the Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. A career in the great outdoors was inspired by Veloski’s father and grandfather who had him outside all the time hunting, fishing and camping as a kid growing up. Veloski said it was an early goal for him and he’s wanted to do this type of job for as long as he can remember — even as far back as middle school. “Another thing that inspired me was one of my friends who wanted to be a law enforcement officer,”
he said. “He ended up getting into the Erie County Sheriff’s Office while I chose a path and stuck with the outdoors. I became an ECO so I could be both a law enforcement officer and also enforce the fish and wildlife laws.” According to a press release from the office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the Basic School began May 19 and ran for 29 weeks at the DEC Office of Public Protection’s Training Academy in Pulaski, Oswego County, located along the Salmon River. Training and coursework included Environmental Conservation Law, criminal procedure, vehicle and traffic laws, physical conditioning, firearms, wildlife identification, emergency vehicle operations, search and rescue, land navigation, boating and wildfire suppression. “Forest Rangers and Environmental Conservation Police Officers work in
communities across the state to protect and preserve New York’s abundant natural resources,” Governor Cuomo said. “I congratulate the men and women who graduated today and am confident these officers will carry on New York’s rich tradition of environmental stewardship as they protect the health and safety of New
is about $130,000,” she added. “We’re looking for approval now so we can get them out as soon as they’re ready.” Mayor Bill Krebs wondered whether the SCADA project was to complete the overall project the village had been working on for the past few years. Melock said the project is only for a portion of the substations. Next, the board authorized the mayor to sign a fire protection agreement with the town of Concord for 2020 through 2022, Melock explained. The village will receive $91,417.20 the first year with 3 percent increases each year thereafter. “It’s a three-year agreement that has been offered to us by the town of Concord,” Krebs added. Melock mentioned again that nomination petitions for running for office for
the village are available through the county website and can be filed between Feb. 4 and 11. “There are three trustee spots — two with a fouryear and one with a twoyear — and one village justice spot open,” she said. Under the Superintendent of Public Works report, the board approved sending out bids for the load tap changer repairs at the North Street substation. In the police department, Lieutenant in Charge Nick Budney gave the board the final numbers from the department for 2019. Budney said the department handled 3,105 calls, patrolled 27,616 miles, 604 patrol shifts, issued 1,491 summons, 159 parking tickets and five penal law arrests and one village law arrest during the past year. Next, the board approved See Village Board page 3
Photo submitted Joshua K. Veloski recently graduated from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s 22nd Basic School for Uniformed Officers, and is one of the state’s newest ECOs.
Yorkers and visitors alike.” The graduating class joins the ranks of 275 ECOs and 131 FRs currently serving across the state. Recruits in this newest class were selected from an eligible list of qualifications and passing scores generated from the most recent Civil Service exam, which was given in 2016.
Veloski, who was one of 30 ECOs and 14 forest rangers in the class, said they all go through the same school and work together, but the ECOs and rangers also have a lot of their own classes that are geared specifically for them. Originally from Gowanda and most recently of Springville, Veloski is currently living in Queens in New York City. At age 24, he has already started his dream job in Bronx County. Now that he is out of the academy and has his assignment, he is required to go through an eight-week training portion with a field training officer doing actual work in the field. “We carry out the usual duties of an ECO, but we focus on more specific things in the city,” he said. “We do less deer-jacking [hunting and killing deer outside of season, hunting hours or without a hunting license] and poaching — things like that. Our focus is more marine, fisheries, boats, recreational and
commercial. We also do a lot of environmental quality work with trucks, hazardous materials, spills and that sort of thing.” A graduate of Gowanda Central School, Veloski received his Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management and Policy from Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks, in 2017. He previously worked for ACRT, based in Akron, Ohio, and contracted with National Grid working in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Allegany counties. He was also employed at Tree Care of New York after and before attending the academy. Veloski is the son of Donald and Denise Veloski of Collins. He has a sister, Dayna. To learn more about the qualifications and job description for Environmental Conservation Officer, visit the DEC website at dec.ny.gov.
Springville Village Board Eagles start strong, approves several projects hold off rally from Griffins for North Street substation in 58-51 win By Kellen M. Quigley
The Village of Springville Board of Trustees held its first meeting of 2020 Monday, hearing end-of-year reports from some of the village departments. Under Administrator Liz Melock’s report, the board authorized going out to bid for two upcoming electric projects in the village: installation of a new SCADA system and the North Street relay upgrade project. “The SCADA system is a computer system that controls a lot of our relays and gadgets at the substations,” Melock explained. For the North Street relay project, Melock said the funding comes from money the village borrowed in July 2019. “The North Street relay is about $300,000, SCADA
Photo by Derek Gumtow Ellicottville’s Clayton Rowland (22) gets the shot off falling away over Springville’s Austin Boies (14) during a non-league boys basketball game on Friday in Ellicottville.
By Sam Wilson The first game of the New Year started well, and finished a bit rocky, but with a win nonetheless for
the Ellicottville boys basketball team. The Eagles held off a desperate fourthquarter rally from visiting Springville on Jan. 3, holding on for
a 58-51 non-league win. Ellicottville led by as much as 41-24 in the third quarter, but Springville cut the lead to single digits with just See Hoops page 7
A Look Back:
The Springville Area Fire Companies – Part 2 By Jolene Hawkins
In this second of a two-part article,of a two-part article, we are going to conclude looking back on the history of the fire companies here in Springville and how they evolved. In each of the previous fires and the one that I will share with you today, the fire losses
would have been so much greater had it not been for the services of the dedicated firemen that we had in our area. In 1946, the village again saw a fire when Springville Roller Mills (Gray’s Mill) burned along with the cheese factory both located on the north side of Main Street. In 1947, new equipment was acquired — a 1000-gallon pumper — and in 1951, a 500-gallon pumper was acquired that replaced the 1935 pumper that only pumped 250 gallons per minute. And in 1960,
an emergency pump is purchased. All of these were equipped with the Erie County Fire Radio. A training tower was constructed in 1953 and provided a place to train firemen in handling various types of fire equipment, effectively and skillfully. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Springville Fire Department was organized in 1935. They were and still are very active in the community and assist the fire company where their services are needed. In 1974, the firemen dedicated a memorial marker at the fire hall to all the former members of the department.
In 1978, Gordon Rouse, a member of the Springville Fire Department, was honored by the organization for over 57 years of service! By 1984, the Springville Volunteer Fire Company had 60 men who were dedicating themselves for our protection. They also provided first aid services, as well as giving mutual aid to surrounding communities. Today, the Springville Fire Department operates from two fire stations, one at 65 Franklin St. and one at 405 West Main St., across from Maplewood Cemetery. The station house has a total of
four class A engine/ pumpers, a heavy rescue/ incident command unit, a 95-foot aerial platform and an ambulance. Also available is a snowmobile rescue unit and a sled. So how was the water gathered to fight these fires? I always wondered about that, so when I researched it I
discovered before 1885 a small portion of Main Street was supplied with running water from a spring behind 105 East Main St. It was proposed that same year to use the Eaton Spring for the village water by pumping the water into a 100-foot tower and using gravity flow. See A Look Back page 2