Published: August 28, 2008 12:19 am      

NEWFANE: Town set for windfall, not windmills

NEWFANE — Supervisor Tim Horanburg and the town board are looking forward to next Thursday. That’s when the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to present to checks for more than $3.7 million to the town.

An award of $2,140,00 will be used to upgrade the town’s wastewater plant. That’s a $164,000 loan and a $500,000 grant. The town will also get $1,564,000 to purchase and renovate the former Miller Fire Hall for a town hall.

However, the bids for the town hall came in too high, Horanburg disclosed Wednesday, and there will be a rebidding process.

The town saved about more than $100,00 by rebidding the automatic Dissolve Oxygen Control at the wastewater treatment plant. The original lowest bid was almost $250,000 on the two-part project, according to the supervisor.

Applied Science Group of Tonawanda will get the general contract for about $83,000. Tunney Electric of Lancaster had the low bid of about $60,000 for electrical work. The total was $142,000.

Those bids were accepted at the meeting, and work is expected to begin in about three months.

In other business:

• The town extended the windmill moratorium for three months. The board is considering two local laws, and until those laws are adopted, the moratorium will resume. There are currently no windmill laws on the books.

However, Laws No. 2 and No. 3 have been written and are available for residents to read at the town hall. No. 2 regulates commercial windmills, and No. 3 regulates zoning for residential use.

The board plans a public hearing on the local laws at the next meeting Sept. 24.

“If we adopt it by the next meeting, the moratorium falls off,” Horanburg said. “They’re ready.”

• The board adopted a State Environmental Quality Review for a negative declaration for the Dale Road pump station. Sealed bids for the pump station will be accepted from Sept. 9 to 10 a.m. Sept. 23.

• Kirk Rutherford, owner of Sir Billiards of Transit Road in Lockport approached the board to voice a complaint against Magic Billiards of Charlotteville Road.

“We’re not the experts,” said Horanburg, who referred Rutherford to Town Attorney James Sansone. “We’ll treat it fairly.”

Sansone said, “This is the first I heard of this problem. It’s an enforcement issue, I have to talk to the building inspector and see what information he has to see if there are any violations.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott 439-9222, ext. 6246.