Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda News Archive for 1999

The following is from�the editorial in the Tonawanda News published on Wednesday, November 24, 1999.� It pertains to�the case of the River Road�and the Meadow Drive sites for senior housing in North Tonawanda. Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda vehemently opposes the Meadow Drive proposed site in the Klydel Wetland.� All you need to do is peruse the rest of our web site to understand why we oppose destroying part of this federal and state protected wetland with a HUD grant.

Here's the�conclusion�of�the Greater Niagara Newpapers Editorial board's opinion:

The editorial board states that it will be a matter of public funding and opinion making or breaking the proposals.� As long as that's the case, then they proposed a better approach for People Inc.

Take your proposal to the North Tonawanda Common Council in a public forum. Let people know you are looking to build senior housing with a HUD grant and rent subsidy.� Then let the city, and the people, seek out an appropriate site.

We can't imagine any sane person coming back and saying, "Hey, let's build it along the river. We can put it in the 45 mph zone near Fisherman's Park with no sidewalks and no shopping nearby."

They might come back and suggest the Meadow Drive (Klydel Wetland) site, but we suspect if People Inc. knows about the potential for Army Corps involvement and the presence of federally protected wetlands, they won't like that site either.

If the idea is for a developer, or someone who bought a bunch of swamp cheap to make money, that's fine. We have no problem. Both projects, however, merit extra scrutiny when the money those developers are going to make comes from our tax dollars. (The HUD grant totals $3,579,000 for a 3 story 39 unit senior housing complex).

dateline November 2 1999.. Shannon Ziarnowski, an intern with the Tonawanda News, wrote a nice article that appeared in today's newspaper about the Klydel Wetlands entitled, "Aiming to Save a North Tonawanda Treasure." In addition, there was a "sound off" called in as follows: "My husband and I are very thankful that part of the Klydel Wetlands has been preserved for us to stroll through and enjoy at our leisure. To those whose loving labors mapped the nature trail we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude. To have the opportunity to explore a woodland in its autumn beauty a few blocks from a shopping center is remarkable and wonderful indeed. We are proud to live in North Tonawanda.

We would like to thank both Ms. Ziarnowski and the anonymous caller for the acknowledgement of our efforts in the newspaper.

dateline July 22 1999.. We added to our main page today 2 photos of a great blue heron submitted by a family that has the Klydel Wetland behind their backyard. They captured this photo of the thief who has been eating fish out of their backyard "pond". The owners have decided to buy cheaper fish since they are losing the ones they have quite rapidly. This is not the first time a Great Blue Heron, a quite beautiful and graceful bird, has been spotted in the Klydel Wetland.

dateline June 30 1999.. The following article appeared in today's Tonawanda News. It's the latest development threat to the Klydel Wetland:

A senior housing project originally planned for North Tonawanda appears uncertain after developers discovered a past controversy surrounding the proposed parcel of land at Meadow Drive and Kinkead Avenue.

After meeting with the city's common council Tuesday, representatives of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association's National Housing Corp. were told their planned location for low-income senior housing would probably cause an uproar among sections of the community.

"It is a fairly controversial area," Fifth Ward Alderman Scott P. Kiedrowski warned the representatives from the AHEPA National Housing Corp., a not-for-profit organization.

Over the past few years, the Meadow Drive site has been surrounded by nearly continual controversy. The property is considered part of the federally protected Klydel Wetlands, but twice before, the land was considered for commercial development.

In early 1998, Aldi Foods store had expressed interest, but was rebuffed after outcries from Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda, which is composed of environmentally concerned residents. Previously, the site caused an uproar when Benderson Development proposed constructing a supermarket.

"We've talked about this many, many times in the past," said Steve Slivan, a member of Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda. "It is still wetlands."

The controversy was unknown to AHEPA representative Dennis Kiriazides, who said his organization would never attempt to build its 50 units complex in an area where it is not wanted. "We're not the entrepreneurs that look to take advantage of the environment," Mr. Kiriazides said. "We don't do that."

Mr. Kiriazides said the real estate agent he dealt with never revealed the controversial history of the land. He refused to reveal the agent. {Please note: This was not in this particular news article, but Mr. McGinnis has indicated in the past, in published reports in the Tonawanda News, that he is a licensed real estate agent}.

The owners of the property, Herman Probst and James K. McGinnis, have been attempting to sell the property for several years. However, Mr. Probst said he was unaware of any specific negotiations. Mr. McGinnis could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Slivan said the Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda would like to {help arrange the} purchase {of} the land in order to create a nature preserve area, but their offers {to assist} have not lead to any response from the owners.

With the Meadow Drive site appearing improbable, AHEPA representatives said the housing project could be built almost anywhere in the Western New York region. More than two years ago, AHEPA received a federal grant through the Housing and Urban Development agency. The grant provides for the complex to be exempt of city, school or county property taxes, while also providing funds for operations costs. However, the housing units must be constructed within the Buffalo vicinity.

Michelle A. Tow, the city's community development director, said the HUD grants are particularly rare and difficult to be rewarded. "These resources are extremely limited," Ms. Tow said.

Mr. Kiriazides said AHEPA had already looked at sites in Amherst, Cheektowaga, and Clarence. He did not reveal where the organization would focus its attention now.

dateline June 1999... The Tonawanda News had a recent article entitled, "NT Catholic Students Complete Wetlands Project". We would like to thank Mrs. Kielbasa and her first grade students for being actively involved in a cross-curriculum unit abou the Wetlands of the United States and its habitats since March. They spent a great deal of time researching facts about plant and animal like that is such a valuable part of wetlands. They created life-size replicas of the plants and fashioned paper animals to populate their habitat. The highlight of the classroom was a five foot diameter pond representing Mother Nature's nursery.

Most importantly, the class had many parents, grandparents, and visitors who stopped to tour the unique habitat, and after doing so, have added their signatures to a petition. This request is an appeal for the preservation of dwindling wetlands, and at the close of school, it will be mailed to local, state, and national leaders.

Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda applaud the efforts of both the students and Mrs. Kielbasa. This is a topic neglected by many, many schools, but a very worthwhile effort.

dateline June 3 1999.. The following mention of the Klydel Wetland comes to us from Great Lakes United, an international coalition to conserve and protect the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River ecosystem.

VERNAL POOLS, a form of isolated wetlands, are essential for the preservation of forest wildlife. Found in a depression area they are filled with water in the late fall, winter and spring due to higher water table levels and runoff snow and rain. In the summer, most vernal pools are dry.

Because these unique wetlands can be difficult or impossible to identify during their "dry" phase, when they are in their "wet" phase they are often mistaken as seasonally saturated wetlands and overlooked as ecologically significant to the health of a forest ecosystem. In reality, these breeding pools make an abundance of life possible for a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians and they could be as close as your own back yard.

In Niagara County, the North Tonawanda Wetland Nature Trail highlights its own vernal pool in the Klydel Wetland. They have identified at least five species of frogs and toads and are still looking for the rare, blue spotted salamander. Each spring, amphibians may travel up to 200 feet from their terrestrial non-breeding habitat to a breeding pool.

Human barriers such as roads, houses and lawns may impede this migration. Edward Pawluck, president of Connecticut Ecosystems, believes that the preservation of a large terrestrial buffer adjacent to vernal pool, along with travel corridors to nearby pools, may be critical to maintaining breeding amphibian populations. He also believes that "state wetland regulations that fail to recognize small, hydrologically isolated wetlands provide inadequate protection to vernal pool systems."

dateline May 30 1999.. In its latest newsletter [Vol. 13, no. 3 - Spring 1999], Great Lakes United has a very informative three page article (with photos) about the regulatory process involved with Benderson Corporation's attempts to fill an exemplary wetland in New Hartford (Utica), NY with a mega-mall.

dateline May 15 1999.. The Western New York Land Conservancy has received appraisals for some of the properties in the Klydel Wetland where landowners have expressed an interest in selling their land to create a nature preserve. They will be actively seeking funding for these purchases.

dateline April 28 1999.. We didn't see any owls on the last Owl Prowl on April 24, 1999, but we did spot a red fox in the Klydel Wetland on April 28, 1999.

dateline March 22 1999.. There was a letter to the editor of the Tonawanda News concerning the proper use of taxpayer's money for sewer lines. It favored the improvement of existing storm and sanitary sewer infrastructure over building new lines in undeveloped areas at taxpayer expense. Soon after this letter appeared, we were quite pleased that Councilman Dennis Barberio agreed. He outlined his plan in the News to alleviate flooding in parts of the third ward while protecting wetlands from development.

dateline March 4 1999.. In today's edition of the Tonawanda News, there is a letter to the editor concerning the northwest storm sewer project in North Tonawanda. We wholeheartedly agree that "much has been done said -- and nothing done -- about environmental problems caused by the combined storm and sanitary sewers in our city." The northwest storm sewer project is a white elephant of new sewers that our city cannot avoid while our existing infrastructure is left to rot.

dateline February 10 1999.. An owl prowl was held in Klydel tonight. An owl was heard, but none were spotted during this tour. The owls are getting a little wiser. We will try again in April. If nothing else, we'll hear a lot of frogs!

dateline January 6 1999.. We finally found those great horned owls in the Klydel Wetland that Joe Genco, his family, and Joe & Dorothy Macielag (of the Tonawanda News) were not fortunate enough to see on our last "Owl Prowl". There were a pair of great horned owls tonight calling back and forth to each other in the northern section of Klydel. We have a new group taking an Owl Prowl in February. Perhaps they will be able to view the more elusive great horned owls. The eastern screech owls we normally see or hear are much easier to view.

Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda News Archive for 1999

URBAN WETLAND UNDER SIEGE