The Boston Town Board is seeking to save Buffalo’s William Street Post Office

Although it is located within the city of Buffalo, the William Street Post Office, as well as the United States Postal Service’s intentions for that facility, still impact the town of Boston, according to the local town board.

During its April 18 meeting, the Boston Town Board moved to adopt a resolution that “the decision to close the William Street postal facility be reassessed in light of the negative impact on local governments and business, the loss of jobs and that the postal facility ... be permanently kept open.” This resolution was passed unanimously by the board.

Councilman Jay Boardway listed several reasons why he said he believed closing the Buffalo post office would have negative effects on the town of Boston. According to the resolution, “The town of Boston recognizes that the William Street Post Office facility is a regional asset with a wide-ranging impact on businesses, government and families.” The Erie County Association of Town Clerks and Tax Receivers suggested that “closing the facility will impact [its] day-to-day operation and have a deleterious effect on the town, county and school tax bill.”

Other specific impacts listed included the loss of more than 700 employees, “some of whom may reside in the town of Boston,” according to the resolution. Also, board members said they fear that this closing “will have a negative impact on the economic recovery of Buffalo and Western New York.” The resolution suggested that “there are many other ways to save money in a system as large as the [USPS] and that closing this facility in an already economically-challenged area is a hardship.”

Jennifer Mule’, Boston’s deputy town clerk, will send copies of the resolution to Postmaster General Patrick Donahue, senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and New York state representatives to the United States Congress Brian Higgins and Kathy Hochul.

In other board matters:

- At its meeting on Tuesday, April 10, the Boston Planning Board voted in favor of the town board’s “approval of the revised site plan” for the Boston Fire Company. This plan “includes a front porch, contingent upon receipt of a survey and deed matching the site plan submitted.” Boardway said, “This is a special permit requesting actually a building permit for the fire company.”

He noted that “the Boston Fire Company has been in need of new facilities for storing trucks down there – essentially a new fire hall. This process has been going on for a while. Everyone understands the frustration that had been involved in this process.” The town board carried this motion.

- The board approved the Empire Classic Road Race’s Buffalo 51 Cycling Promotions request to hold an event in Boston. Eric Curtis, a resident of Buffalo, wrote, “I am asking that the town of Boston allow cyclists to race on its streets between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the morning of Saturday, June 30.” He said, “This event is a great opportunity for the town of Boston. As many as 200 racers and their friends and families are likely to attend. These racers will shop at local business and sightsee in Boston’s quaint village. We have contacted the Boston Fire Department and are planning to donate a portion of the proceeds to their organization.”

- The board also approved the use of its facilities by Bonnie Clesse, recreation director, for a summer day camp every Monday - Friday from July 9 - Aug. 17. The camp will run from 6:45 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily and include the use of the park, bathroom facilities, baseball fields, tennis courts, recreational storage and the town’s new recreation center. The request was also made to use the courtroom and community room in case of inclement weather.

- Appointments for the summer recreational staff were made to staff this summer’s day camp. A list of 16 staff members was approved by the board, including a site supervisor (Taylor Janak), three lifeguards (Amanda Patrone, Katelin Selby and Sarah Telaak), nine counselors (Neith Byrne, David Diefenbach, Courtney Gorrell, Elizabeth Janak, Daniel Selby, Julie Hagner, Nicholas Janak, David Kleis and Kaelyn Gamel), two substitute counselors (Jenna Bloom and Brianne Peterson) and a health director (Cathy Maghran, RN).

Boardway said, “Bonnie [Clesse] puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into what she does to pull this summer together. I’m confident in the staff she has selected.”

- Discussions regarding the highway department’s collective bargaining agreement were tabled for the town board’s next meeting.

- David Stringfellow, chairman of the Boston Planning Board, wrote that the planning board “made a favorable recommendation for the appointment of David Bowen as an alternate member.” Based on that recommendation, the town board approved the selection, with Bowen’s term’s expiring on Dec. 31, 2015.

- Patrick Penrod’s resignation from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 1 had left a vacancy on the ZBA. Therefore, the town board approved the ZBA’s recommendation of Bethany Pryor, previously an alternate member, to fill Penrod’s position as a regular member of the ZBA. “As a lifetime resident of the town and a current board member,” Pryor wrote, “I believe I possess the background and experience necessary to further serve my community.”

- The ZBA will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. If there is no agenda in place, it will hold a work session, instead. “We’re always looking for volunteers,” said Councilman Jeff Genzel. “Please submit a letter of interest to the town clerk.” The ZBA is also currently seeking two alternate members.

- Genzel made a recommendation “to refer the rezoning application for two acres behind 5956 Herman Hill Road [Hamburg Overhead Garage Door] from C-1 (retail business) to C-2 (general commercial).” The motion was passed by the board.

- The board moved to approve a second accessory building for Paul Reinecke, based on the recommendation of Bill Ferguson, the town’s code enforcement officer.

- The highway department continues to work on the drainage on Leibler Road. “We did some concrete work,” said Rob Telaak, highway superintendent. “We’re moving the ditches back; installing bigger pipes. That’s coming along quite well.” He added that wood chips and fill are also available for anyone who is interested.

- As the engineering liaison, Genzel reported, on the Cole Road waterline extension, that “in a couple sections, we lost approximately 1 - 2 pounds during the pressure testing. They had to go back and seal those sections off and retest them. They all passed.” He added that the Boston Cross Road drainage relief project will begin construction in the fall.

- The town is accepting donations for fireworks to be displayed on July 4 at 7 p.m. “We should be able to get the complete $5,000 paid for, all by donations,” said Genzel. “As I promised last meeting, there will be no tax dollars used for fireworks. I just want to make that very clear.”

- Genzel congratulated the board on its receiving an A-plus rating for its fiscal situation. “We’re always looking for ways to save money and to lower taxes,” he said. “So I’d just like to say [Supervisor] Marty [Ballowe] did an excellent job with our bookkeeper, keeping costs low. We have an A-plus rating and that’s a lot better than a lot of towns in this state.”

The next Boston Town Board meeting will be held May 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Boston Town Hall.