SEPTEMBER 20 - SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
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VOLUME 4 ISSUE 38
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
Progress for potential solar farm in Concord continues By Kellen M. Quigley An update to the potential project to install a solar farm in Erie County with some of it located in the town of Concord was given to the Concord Town Board during its most recent meeting Sept. 12. Ryan Storke, of Storke, LLC, told the board that the 350-megawatt solar project, which has been cleared by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), has been submitted to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for bid approval. Storke said they will know by January 2020 if the project was successfully picked up or not. The proposed project’s scope will be for about 2,500 acres of leased land, with a majority of the project expected to be in Sardinia. Storke said about 1,800 to 2,000
acres will be “in the fence,” or for the solar panels themselves, with the rest for access roads and setbacks. The access point for the energy created would be at the corner of Genesee and Warner Gulf roads in with a majority of the parcels leased near Genesee Road. An initial public meeting on the project was held Aug. 7, Storke said, with about 50 people attending. As part of the process for making the project a reality, he said they have to hold four more meetings for the public, the next of which will be scheduled sometime in October or November. “We’ll give all of you ample notice of when that is and when we have it firmed up and where we’re going to do it,” Storke said. “It sounds like at this point it will be over more in the Sardinia area.” The third
and fourth meetings will be held in the spring and summer of 2020. The construction is expected to begin in 2022 if everything goes smoothly, Storke said, and lasting until the commissioning of the project in 2024. He said a road use analysis will begin in its early stages after a Property Improvement Plan (PIP) is filed and they receive feedback. “We plan to file our PIP on Dec. 27,” Storke explained. “Once we submit our PIP, they will notify the municipalities that it has been released, and they can start to make comment with the county and other towns on the process of the next steps moving into the application phase.” For Article 10 permitting, Storke said the project would receive a permit from the state’s Public Service Commission on a power production
SGI boys soccer off to hot start at 6-0-1
Image provided This map from Storke, LLC shows where some sites for a potential solar farm in Erie County could be located in the towns of Concord and Sardinia near and around Genesee Road.
project greater than 25 megawatts. He said several entities would have to approve the project. “From a local community standpoint, the two municipalities get to put into a pool two people to sit on
the sighting board with the state,” he said. “That would be the local representation for the project. Each municipality and county that it’s in is allowed to administer two representatives to the pool for Albany to pick
out of.” Storke said how people are picked is up to the state. After the preapplication phase is complete, the application phase that would begin in early 2020 takes about eight months to a See Solar Farm page 5
New culinary program now cookin’ at SGI
By Ely Schosek Student Reporter
Photo by Sam Wilson Pictured is the 2019 Springville-Griffith Institute varsity boys soccer team. Front row (from left): Wyatt Fuller, Ben Sullivan, Andrew Jenis, Jake Schrieber, Will Guilman, Troy Ellis, Austin Walker. Second row: Charley Digangi, Garon Holland, Nick Sullivan, Cameron Denny, Jesse Fisher, Zach Hughey, John Andreeff, Nate Cudney. Back row: Ty Dash, Dylan Westbrook, Dan Gernatt, Austin Boies, Andrew Fisher, Chris Smith, coach Tom Szczerbacki.
By Sam Wilson It’s safe to say the Springville/West Valley boys soccer team has put last year’s SGI season in the past already. In the Griffins’ first six games of the season, they doubled last year’s win total, going 6-0 coming off a 3-12-1 season. Now 6-0-1 through
Monday, SGI holds a goal differential of plus14, outscoring opponents 18-4. This marks the eighth season leading the varsity volleyball program for coach Tom Szczerbacki. “The key to the start is the effort this team demonstrates,” Szczerbacki said. “They compete hard and they
want to win. They show up to practice with a positive attitude and work ethic and it translates to the game. It also helps that we are finishing the chances we’ve had on goal.” Leading the way so far has been senior Chris Smith, who scored eight of the team’s first 16 See Boys Soccer page 9
When you hear “school lunches,” you probably don’t think much of it. But going into this school year, SpringvilleGriffith Institute have a new, revolutionized lunch program called SGI Culinary. Laura Watson is the Director of Food Services for many local schools, including Springville Elementary, Colden Elementary, Springville Middle, Springville High and St. Aloysius. SGI Culinary is centered in the schools and is led by Watson, who feels the two best words to describe the new system are: quality and variety. Upon the students’ return to school last week they witnessed a number of new changes to the cafeterias and the
Photo submitted Springville-Griffith Institute has a new, revolutionized lunch program this year called SGI Culinary, offering increased quality and variety for students in all grades and staff.
menus. In order to enable students to broaden their horizons when it comes to other cuisines, International Tuesdays have been introduced. Also new this year are Theme Days, intended to add an element of enjoyment to lunchtime. Western Day, Carnival
Day and ‘80s Rock are meant to give students a chance to learn something new and get a free day. Variety is clear in the new options presented to students in grades 6-12. Students now have the opportunity to take advantage of the new See Culinary page 2
A Look Back: The Travels of Edgar Spaulding – Part 5 By Jolene Hawkins
Looking back as we once again read about the motor camping trip in 1926 from Edgar Spaulding… The weather being perfect, we visit the fair finding it much the same as fairs everywhere, but with many vegetables and growing things that were unfamiliar. Here also we had our first taste of the real estate salesman, he is telling
us that we could make as much from Georgia Real Estate as we could from Florida. Am inclined to believe him now. Being afraid of rain, we moved after two days bidding goodbye to the rest of the party as they were going to Lake City. Jenkins we had found out had gone on ahead and was OK. Had intended making the next stop at Fitzgerald, a city of 7,500, founded in 1895 by a colony of Federal Soldiers under the leadership of P.H. Fitzgerald of Indianapolis, but on arrival it looked more like rain than ever, so we kept on to Waycross,
which we reached at just dark having made 85 miles after 3 o’clock over fairly good roads. Pigs and cows are allowed to run loose in this part of the country and several times I just miss hitting a pig or cow. Occasionally we came to a dead one on the roadside, mute evidence that somebody could not stop quickly enough. Presume that the people owning them must think like the Chinaman, “plenty more.” Waycross is a city of some 20,000, largely maintained by the shops of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway. The long Main Street has stores on one side only while the railroad is on the other side, giving
the place a somewhat peculiar appearance. The campground is ½ block from the Main Street back of the Court House and is neither very good or very bad. This being Saturday and the road ahead being reported as good, and being somewhat tired, we stay over Sunday. This was a mistake as it rained Saturday night and Sunday night, a result of which was to give us the worst drive on Monday of the whole trip. The traffic over the road to Jacksonville had been so heavy that the gravel was completely worn off leaving holes from 3 to 5 inches to a foot deep and each one filled with mud and water. See A Look Back page 3