Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Snowmobile rest stop
If you are snowmobiling the trails in Gasport this weekend, make a pit stop at Terry's Corners fire hall. Warm up, fill your belly and support our local volunteer fire department
Dom Ciliberto tackles Lockport's Tuscarora Club
Gasport resident and Roy-Hart alumnus Dominic Ciliberto continues his redevelopment of properties in eastern Niagara County. His newest project: The former Tuscarora Club in Lockport:
https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/reimagining-the-tuscarora/article_fa12eb1a-faa1-50da-9d71-f76d24052c32.html
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Spaghetti dinner: February 16
Solid Rock Church at 8590 Rochester Rd. Gasport is holding its monthly takeout spaghetti dinner today -- Tuesday, February 16 -- from 4 until 7. Benefits the 2021 Salt & Light Festival. Cost is a donation amount of your choosing. Dinner includes: Spaghetti & Meatballs/Sausage, salad with dressing, roll/bread & butter, dessert.
Friday, February 12, 2021
Public hearings in Hartland
The Town of Hartland planning board will hold public hearings on Thursday, February 18th at 6:30 PM at the town hall to consider:
1) An application by Christopher Kushner to operate an agricultural equipment repair shop at 3320 Mill Road
2) An application by Susan Hetrick to operate a message therapy business at 7397 Ridge Road
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Portion of Slayton Settlement Rd. to close next week
Niagara County Legislator Mike Hill today announced that Slayton Settlement Road, just west of Quaker Road in Gasport, will be closed for one week, beginning February 15 for bridge construction work. A detour will be in place for the duration of the shutdown.
“This is the first of three separate times the road will need be closed for this project,” said Hill. “The next anticipated closure would be in late spring.”
According to Niagara County Public Works Commissioner Garret Meal, the Slayton Settlement bridge work consists of placing a 20 foot wide precast concrete arch within the deteriorated metal structure of the bridge and grouting the annular space. Edbauer Construction has completed the placement of the concrete inside the culvert that is required to set the large pre-cast concrete arch units. Now, a crane must be used to put the pre-cast in place, necessitating the road closure.
Mike Hill responds
Yesterday's Lockport paper featured an interview with Niagara County legislator Mike Hill in response to the primary challenge he will be facing this year
https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/challenged-legislator-mike-hill-defends-county-hiring/article_a9c34b3b-6c99-505c-8ca4-88777a8eca84.html?fbclid=IwAR2yKDKWMBieVV4xLQ7zn0OM-QhqcHtITGImadljznp2C5VL8s8xalqhYI4
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Relief funds for towns
Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced Erie and Niagara Counties will receive over $792 million in estimated federal disaster relief under the American Rescue Plan. The newly released data is provided by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which is overseeing the state and local aid component of the bill.
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan provides $350 billion for state and local governments with 60% dedicated to states and 40% for localities. Local governments nationwide will receive $130.2 billion divided evenly between cities, using a modified Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) formula, and counties based on population numbers.
New York State is estimated to receive $12.665 billion directly and New York municipalities are slated to receive an additional $10.64 billion.
Under the "no overlap" model...
Niagara County gets $41,000,000
The town of Hartland gets $738,748
The town of Royalton gets $1,387,879
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Caldwell announces bid for legislature
Derek Caldwell has announced his candidacy for the Niagara County legislative district that covers Gasport
https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/derek-caldwell-running-for-niagara-county-legislature-seat/article_e4b0a754-382e-5df8-8a2c-6b276e86bcc6.html?fbclid=IwAR1D95AVl8eBzt7A3nSHuXkzmIqqKEZms57CESQ4MsxPuRIdbHDUFR6BUc4
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Canal season won't be cut
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the Canal Corporation was looking at cutting the length and timing of the navigation season, quite dramatically, on the Erie Canal.
Today, Gil Quiniones, the president and CEO of NYPA (and the Canal system) sent this message to Canal stakeholders:
“The New York State Canal system has been, and continues to be, a significant driver of economic development for upstate communities and a valuable resource for recreation. As the 2021 navigation season approaches, the Canal Corporation is actively engaging with a wide range of local stakeholders across New York who rely on the waterway to identify their needs.
The Canal Corporation is also assessing and addressing portions of the system’s aging infrastructure. These projects include undertaking efforts to optimize operation of the locks and lift bridges based on usage data when the Canal system opens this spring. As in previous years, the Canal system is projected to operate mid-May through mid-October and no changes are expected to the normal hours of operation.
In addition, New York State’s iconic Erie Canal is not being renamed. The Erie Canal will remain the Erie Canal just as it has been for two centuries.”
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Erie Canal season facing cuts
The Erie Canal might not open until Memorial Day and could close as early as mid-September. Operating hours could be reduced from 15 hours a day to 10.
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/death-by-1-000-cuts-as-erie-canal-stakeholders-fear-short-season-reduced-hours/article_0f1792fc-625f-11eb-91a8-cfb523fa077c.html?mode=comments#tracking-source=in-article
Superintendent's message about school sports
Roy-Hart Families,
As you may be aware, New York State has given approval for local health departments and athletic leagues to make determinations on moderate and high risk sports. At this time all sports in our region have received approval to begin their season, with the exception of wrestling which is postponed to May 10.
Please understand that the move to allow moderate and high risk sports, especially those that take place indoors, required much deliberation and consideration by local health departments, educational leaders, and athletic league representatives.
Section VI, our section’s athletic league, made the determination to allow for moderate to high risk sports for our student-athletes. However, they also decided that moderate and high risk indoor sports would proceed without spectators.
The decision to start the season not allowing spectators for indoor events is due to many factors, which include:
Concern of Spread. Everyday we are doing our best to mitigate the spread in our school community. Thankfully, due to physical distancing and mask wearing, we are not seeing spread within our schools. However, opening up indoor sports certainly creates an additional risk, which we will monitor closely.
Resources. As a district we have expended, and continue to expend, an extraordinary amount of financial and human resources just to keep our doors open to educate our children. This is particularly true with respect to the added costs of cleaning and disinfecting products and the additional cleaners we have added to our staff.
Section VI will reevaluate permitting spectators on February 22. It is very important that we first make sure moderate and high risk indoor sports can operate for our student-athletes, prior to introducing spectators.
On a related note, we plan to Livestream some of our athletic contests so our families can enjoy watching their children compete.
Sincerely,
Dr. Hank Stopinski
Superintendent of Schools
Monday, February 1, 2021
Beast of Burden is a "no go"
The Beast of Burden marathon was supposed to happen on the Canalway Trail in Gasport this weekend. That's no longer the case. Here's part of their message on their Facebook page...
We recently received notification from the New York State Canal Corporation that our application to use the Erie Canal Towpath for the Winter Beast is not approved.
We recently received notification from the New York State Canal Corporation that our application to use the Erie Canal Towpath for the Winter Beast is not approved.
Our contact sent us the following response:
“With consideration of the current coronavirus infection rate and out of an abundance of caution, the Canal Corporation respectfully denies your request at this time.”
Given this response, we have made the difficult decision to once again convert the Winter Beast of Burden race to a Virtual Race experience.
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