Last summer, the Village of Angola hosted its First Annual weekly "Cruise Night in the Village" where many fine cars were displayed and admired. This year, cub scouts across America celebrated the 53rd year of cub scouting’s Pinewood Derby and, in the Village of Angola, Cub Scout Pack 591 is continuing a new tradition of proudly displaying their "cars" in the "community window" at the Town Crier.

On Saturday, March 18th, the Cub Scout Pack 591 held its Annual Pinewood Derby Races with intense competition, but everyone went home a winner. Each den competes separately and then there is an over all heat. There were trophies for each of the first three places and participation medals for the rest. The Tiger Den went first with Brendan Wheeler, Erik Rechin and Avrium Douglas receiving trophies and Chris Chiapetta receiving a medal. Then the Wolf Den was up, lead by Shawn Schneider, Matthew Bousquet and Mike English. Jordan Fendinges and Justin Gajdosz received medals. Next the Bear took to the track with Jonathan Hoag, Thomas Whatley and Zac Engler taking trophies. Ryan Southworth, Christian Gravius, Jordan Furman, David Douglas and Robert Ricotta received medals. Following them were the Webelows Den where Mitchell Carlson, Jonathan Flores and Tommy Klug took trophies. Josh Wheeler, Chris Kist, Jim Barry, Erik Mitchnik and Noah Storer got the medals.

After that was the overall heat where the top two from each den went head to head. Mitchell Carlson proved to have the fastest derby car of the Cub Scouts. Finally came the Open Class which included any cub who didn’t make the overall heat and anyone else who wanted to participate. With 30 entries in the open class, the top three finishers were Alex Cesar, Mark Engler and Jerry Yates.

Besides the trophies and medals, there were numerous certificates for everything from best crash to best non-car design. Every boy went home with something. Every participant witnessed healthy competition and good sportsmanship.

We would like to give a special thanks to Marty Flores for running this outstanding program. Also to the boys of Troop 591 and to the parents and leaders who helped make this event a complete success.

If you would like to see some of the car designs, they are on display in the Town Crier front window on Main Street through April 1st.

The Village of Angola regular Board Meeting met March 20, 2006 .

Trustee William Houston reported a recent honor for Trustee Jonica DiMartino. She was voted as the latest Vice-President of the Erie County Village Association. Mayors from Akron, Farnham, Orchard Park, and Sloan, among many other villages, celebrated their elections and dined in our village at Tony’s Bar & Grille.

In other beautification and practical renovation news Trustee Houston proved tireless- here’s a quick hit list of topics he commented on: New street signs, lights and paint for village signage is completed. Goya Inc. is providing an additional black metal bench for a location to be determined. The bench is very expensive and especially appreciated for both its practicality and design qualities. Sidewalk curbing which has been cracked will be repaired near Twisters and on Commercial Street. Daffodils will be planted around trees on Commercial Street. Legislator Reynolds met with both Trustee Houston and Mayor Frawley and they discussed general clean up of Gowans Road, steel barriers to be painted, as well as the bridge on Mill Street and the coordination of repaving Main Street with the application of new lines. Legislator Reynolds will also send a worksheet to facilitate repairs on Lake Street of damaged water boxes. At a meeting in Orchard Park the rat problem was discussed as an after effect of the city using lidded trash receptacles. These containers might be available county wide to dissuade the rats from traveling village to village in search of open trash. On a related topic- refuse- Waste Management has been in communication with the village to outline recyclable concerns. It should be noted that recycling bins have limit requirements especially regarding what actually qualifies as acceptable material. For example, styrofoam and wide mouth plastics, and metal kitchen utensils are not currently accepted in the bins. Speaking of recycling Mr. Houston also mentioned the success of Lake Shore High School’s can recycling drive. Orchestra Director Eric Blodgett will use the proceeds to coordinate local performances this year. Evidently that canned tinny sound will eventually be sweet music to our ears. One last comment was on ECC South Campus Architecture and Design students meeting in front of the library on Wednesday. Actually Trustee Houston had another comment, but it was more of a show and tell- He brought in his Pinnocchio toy, as mentioned last meeting.

Trustee Mike Stockman reports progress on the Train Depot Project located next to Twisters on Main Street. Coordination of delivery and placement of railroad track will be the new stopping

he next two weeks as coordination of the route and move will start this Thursday.

He reports other community connections at a Drug Task Force meeting. At a well attended meeting there was a good discussion of peer mediation, Youth Engaged in Service (YES), and contacts with WNY United which will be focusing on targeting parents for drug awareness. The meeting concluded with the possibility of funding with the assistance of Assemblyman Jack Quinn.

Trustee John Wilson received a letter from Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown generously offering local governments and schools use of the City of Buffalo’s sign making capabilities for all general purpose usage.

During the meeting trustee Wilson received the much anticipated nod that JamFest was on! A group is forming and dates will be discussed at the next regular meeting. The agenda and details of JamFest will be reported as we learn more. Mr. Wilson is also developing leads and contacts with the goal of attracting small business development in the village. He is keen on the idea of small manufacture of toys.

Trustee Jonica DiMartino read a letter from Rebecca Pordum, Chair, Board of Trustees, of the Buffalo and Erie County Public libraries. The libraries wish to commend all local efforts at fund raising and clarify that monies collected must be demarcated for each library’s annual report in accordance with New York State requirements. The impact any collected fundraising might have on an individual library’s budget is possible, but only as a consideration in allocating funds from the system budget, for example, increased operating hours also mean increased utility charges.

Other village news reported by Trustee DiMartino included a pending change of banners along Main Street provided by Friends of the Village, Inc. Congratulations were extended to Karen Schiavone, who recently was named Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Schiavone is active in Friends of the Library and is past Principal of Most Precious Blood Parochial School.

Trustee DiMartino and Mayor Frawley attended a meeting of Erie County Governments on the topic of disaster coordination and The National Incident Management System, NIMS. This was further discussed as a Resolution.

Mayor Frawley reported contact with Mr. Drago of Goya, Assemblyman Quinn, as well as the Niagara Power Project to coordinate efforts to bring together an energy plan for Goya and their anticipated expansion. The Town Crier will report more on this as it develops.

At a Quiet Zone meeting in Hamburg, safety measures and concerns were aired. The immediate concern for the Village of Angola is the Railroad crossing at Main Street.

One further development Mayor Frawley mentioned was upcoming talks with Legislator Reynolds and NFTA, as well as local mayors, with the intention of focusing on tourism.

Attorney Yusick stated that an OSHA claim which is many years old may finally see fruition at the end of 2006. He is also continuing a work process on a water intake concern.

General Crew Chief Jeff Kaminski received board approval on the purchase of a New Holland tractor. The old tractor implements will be reserved for use on the newer machine. The purchase will be allocated to both the Water and Streets Departments. The Newton Street project was helped along by Mr. Kaminski from his efforts to locate the water boxes there.

Fire Commissioner Lynne Kaminski reported some progress in getting two sirens, circa Civil Defense era, repaired.

Clerk- Treasurer Linda Giancarlo stated that the budget was near completion. It was later approved as resolution one. The tentative budget is available for public viewing. Further information is filed at the end of this article. Ms. Giancarlo also gave www.villageofangola.org as the new village web site.

In old business, Attorney Yusick and Mayor Frawley spoke of connecting with several people and agencies which will be looking at village locations for 39 total units providing Senior Housing. This ambitious project will require further review of selected sites. A federal grant application will be filed in June.

Seven new Resolutions were approved The first, offered by Trustee Mike Stockman set the Public Hearing for the 2006-07 Tentative Village Budget for April 3, 2006. The budget is for fiscal year June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007.

• Two approved a 30 day posting of all 2005 volunteer firefighters. The Service Award Program list will be in the Angola Volunteer Fire Department station for 30 days. After this 30 day posting the list will be returned to the Village Board with any changes fully documented on the listing.

• Three approved authorization to publish in The Town Crier a notice regarding the completion of the Assessment Roll for the year 2006-07.

• Four guaranteed on this first chilly day of Spring, that Summer would indeed grace Angola once again. Summer Concerts at the Gazebo in Centennial Park are approved for Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30 June 28 through August 30th. Trustee Houston commented that Crash Cadillac would be the first performer to start the Summer Concerts.

• Five authorized the Village Clerk to publish a notice to bidders for the Newton Street waterline in The Town Crier and minority newspapers.

• Six approved the appointment of Patricia Backert to the position of Angola, New York part- time Meter Reader. Her new appointment is effective March 31, 2006.

• Seven was offered by Mayor Frawley and concerned the adoption of a 9-11 Commission recommendation. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the concerted effort of the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-5. NIMS is charged with providing a consistent nation wide approach for federal, state, local and tribal governments to work together effectively and efficiently in the event of any future domestic incident(s). NIMS includes in its mandate to effectively and efficiently prevent, prepare, respond, and recover from domestic (homeland) incidents regardless of cause, size, or complexity. Adoption of NIMS was approved by the Village of Angola Board.

The Village Board will meet in a working session Saturday, March 25th to specifically discuss the Village Code Book. The last revision to the Village Code was in 1976. Issues to be addressed involved cross over questions for the building and planning departments as regards national code adoption. According to Trustee Houston the review of the code is a sound, practical idea, especially since the last revision was 30 years ago.

The next scheduled regular meeting of the Village Board will be Monday April 3 at 7:30. At that meeting the board will commence a Public Hearing of the Village of Angola 2006-2007 Tentative Budget at 8:00 pm. Pursuant to Section 5-504 of the Village Law, the budget may be inspected beginning March 21, 2006 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm at the Village Office, 41 Commercial Street. A summary of the Tentative Budget provided by Linda Giancarlo, Clerk- Treasurer includes: General Fund Appropriations of $1,381,755.39 and Water Fund Appropriations of $701,561.85.

The Town of Evans Planning Board met on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 to continue working with Anthony Cocca of Cocca Development Ltd., the company responsible for the development of the Family Dollar Store that is planned for the parcel of land next to Monro Muffler in Derby.

Mr. Cocca thanked Planning Board Chair Sandy Brant and Consultant Wendy Salvati for their availability and help during the beginning process of this project stating that he had "never had any other town work as closely with his team" and he appreciated all their help.

The Planning Board approved the project, a benefit to our local community, with the following conditions attached:

1. The applicant must provide a copy of a fully executed access agreement for this property.

2. Drainage and grading plans must be revised to the satisfaction of the Town Engineer.

3. All excess snow will be removed from the site immediately following any significant snowfall event.

4. Submission of a copy of the SWPP and NOI, as approved by DEC, to the Planning Office prior to commencing construction.

5. All wallpack lighting on the building must be properly shielded, as noted on the site plan.

Also during the meeting, the Planning Board

• Accepted, with regret, the resignation of Board secretary Gale T. Wetzler and recognized her 6 years of faithful service and dedication stating, "Her hard work and conscientious attitude toward her position will surely be missed."

• Appointed Jody D. Eder to fill the position of Planning Board Secretary, effective immediately.