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MARCH 8-14, 2019
LOCAL
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 10
SPORTS
ENTERTAINMENT
Event-filled Mardi Gras, Winter Carnival this weekend ....see page 3
It’s a Snow Dance Party at SGI ....see page 9
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
Fuller finished 28th in NYS diving competition ....see page 11
Life of Civil War vet from Springville revisited By Elyana Schosek
Current estimates for the number of soldiers who fought in the Civil War are at about 2.75 million people. These nearly 3 million men came from all across the eastern United States over the course of only four years. Among all these soldiers was a man named J.P. Myers who spent most of his life living in Western New York, specifically, in our own town of Springville later in his life. On Wednesday, Feb. 27, Jolene Hawkins, research assistant at the Lucy Bensley Center, presented to the community on the life of Myers. “The life of J.P. Myers ties together several well-known Springville landmarks, including the log cabin, which was formerly a G.A.R. post, on South Buffalo Street and the Soldier’s Monument in Fiddler’s Green Park,” Hawkins said. Myers was born in 1843. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1866 for the 104th NY Regiment in Geneseo. During his time in service, he was injured by a musket ball which shattered his ankle bone, forcing him to spend five months in the hospital. “He had a chance to come home and the chose not to. He
Photo by Elyana Schosek The life of J.P. Myers, a man who spent much of his life in Springville, was revisited last week during a presentation by Jolene Hawkins at the Lucy Bensley Center. Myers was a Civil War vet who went on to live a prosperous life in the village.
chose to come back and rejoin his regiment,” Hawkins noted. “He was lucky to be alive!” Myers fought in the Battle
of Gettysburg. Throughout his time in the army, Myers kept a detailed journal. In an entry from July 14, 1863,
Concord Town Board discusses updated town flood maps, local law By Kellen M. Quigley
At its regular Feb. 14 meeting, the Concord Town Board further discussed a contract with Holforth Risk Management Analysis after tabling the possibility of renewing the contract during the January meeting. Town Supervisor Clyde Drake said after looking into the matter further, he recommended the town board do not renew the contract. He said he spoke with the town’s insurance company regarding the contract. The board unanimously voted to not renew. “This is going to save us about $13,600,” Drake said. “We’re looking to save money anywhere we can.” He said the contract is
not up until the end of February, but he would send a letter to Holforth thanking them for their past service.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the town board discussed the need to update the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) used by New York state with regard to the National Flood Insurance Program. Drake said he received a letter from the state that the maps are to become final on June 7, the end of the 10-year period the town has had to inform the state of any changes to the maps. “The state is telling us that we should rescind any flood local laws that we have and adopt the state one,” he said. Drake said they
See Flood Maps page 5
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checked the records and the local flood law was from 1987. He said that he has a copy of the law, which he will modify to put in the town’s updated information. For example, in 1987 the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) was the person in charge. Drake said he is working with the town’s current CEO to establish a permit fee. “I have to submit this to New York state before March 9,” he explained. “They have to look it over and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down before we can even have a public hearing here so we can pass the local law.” Additionally, Drake said FEMA reached out to him to inform the town about the maps and what
By Jolene Looking back to the time when the community would gather to assist others with the hard work that needed to be done, back when there was not machines and tools that help one person do it all. You can research and read about all kinds of “bees” that they had in our local newspapers and handwritten journals that we have. Now this is not to be confused with the bees that are seen hovering around flowers, but rather a group of folks that came together to get a job done. When the early settlers came to the area, homes were needed to be built and so there were “Log House Raising Bees.” Folks would be invited to come on a specific day and the logs were cut in advance and drawn to the desired spot by oxen. Then the different tasks were decided, be it notching the wood, cutting the logs into a size or raising the logs up and assembling the
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he wrote, “My regiment along of the 1st Army Corp did all the fighting that was done that day except the cavalry that opened
up the battle. We were fighting a whole number of Lee's men numbering 55,000 but there was only about 8 to 10,000 of us.” After receiving orders to fall back, they knew that they had to fight their way through the rebels just to get back to their base, they were surrounded. They were successful at holding back the rebels, but at what cost? Many lives were lost and in addition, there were a number of men who were taken as prisoners of war. One of those men was Myers. He spent 661 days as a P.O.W. “We were taken to Staten, VA, about 170 miles away, we had to march the whole way,” Myers’ journal entry read. “We were tired, hungry, and the guards were horrible to us.” Upon their arrival, they were searched and all of their money and valuables were taken from them. Additionally, they were given the gray clothes indicative to the rebels. In his time as a prisoner, Myers was taken to multiple camps for confederate prisoners. Most times, they were transferred on cattle box cars as to not attract unwanted attention. The main location was the Andersonville Prison, where
See Civil War page 2
Springville Village Board Discusses Cell Tower Law
By Kellen M. Quigley At its regular March 4 meeting, the village of Springville Board of Trustees approved several items concerning the updated floodplain management law for the village. A public hearing was held concerning the floodplain management local law. No one from the community attended. The village first had to rescind the village code floodplain overlay district from 2006. The village board then accepted the negative declaration SEQR for the floodplain law. Finally, Local Law 3 for 2019, which is the floodplain model law, was approved. “This is a revision to our code that’s mandated by FEMA and the DEC,” said Springville Mayor William Krebs. The village board also
discussed the need for a new local law concerning installation of small cell towers in the village. Krebs said the local law would maintain some of the current cell tower laws in place while updated portions concerning the aesthetics of the small cell towers that could be installed in the village. “We’re going to repeal the cell tower law we passed in 1996 or ‘97 when cell towers became important following the Telecommunications Act 1996 and replace it with a law that still regulates those tall cell towers,” he said. Krebs said the small cell atentas are necessary for 5G, which cell phone companies are planning to begin installing. He said they’re similar to a utility, which is why communities can’t ban them, nor would they. “However, they can put regulations on it that are
aesthetic regulations, and that’s what we intended to do,” Krebs said. He said that the regulations concern where they can be located, how big they can be, the cubic feet they can occupy and even the color, as well as stealth technology to make them blend in. “The reason this is important is they could go right down Main Street and in the historic preservation district and be very visible,” Krebs said. “That’s why we need something in the books so we as a village can tell the cell companies where and how they can put them in our community.” The local law public hearing is scheduled for March 18 at 7 p.m. during the next regular village board meeting. IN OTHER BUSINESS, although he was absent See Village page 4
A Look Back:
Busy Community ‘Bees’
Hawkins house. Many hands made light work in the building of a house. A “Barn Raising Bee,” could be done in one day with enough hands. In 1912, there were 50 people that showed up to raise a barn for the Tolman’s Farm. In 1937, Leon Spencer had a barn raising bee in East Concord, so it is not only back in the olden days of the 1800s nor only the Amish that had them. The community participation to finish a project. Perhaps it was when the corn was ripened and folks got together for a “Husking Bee.” In 1890, there was a husking bee at Fred Warner’s house, a good time was had by all with lunch being served, possibly pumpkin pie, apple cider, cheese and homemade See A Look Back page 5
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