Island Dispatch, 1994-01-28

              SEE WINTER ISSUE OF THE BRIDGE CENTER SECTION THE ISLAND DISPATCH Voi.50'No.43 Readers Club Partners With PTA To Promote Reading Members of the Middle School Readers Club, Sarah Comfort, Jennifer Gagliano, Scott Wallace, Robert Goelz, Kelsey Sutherland and Eric Dahlstrom, help get the Troll Book Fair Newspapers ready for distribution. The papers announce the upcoming PTA Book Fair, Feb. 2-4. The Club also designed and hung posters throughout the school promoting the PTA-sponsored event. Photo by Mary Stewart Entering Our Golden Years PROUDLY gracing our masthead on this edition and subsequent editions throughout this year is a 50th anniversary seal designating our landmark birthday. Though the Dispatch doesn't officially become 50 till March 3, we decided to make the entire year of 1994 memorable. Turning 50 denotes a special kind of credibility, an authority that comes with maturity, and verifies our establishment in a community we hope to serve for another 50 years. A business reaching 50 today is indeed a milestone and it happens not without a lot of support from the community to which it belongs. Our advertisers and subscribers made this birthday celebration possible and our appreciation for the support we've received throughout the first 50 years is truly heartfelt. A commemorative golden anniversary issue will appear in May and special 50th birthday features and promos will highlight our pages throughout the year. We hope you enjoy the party. JL Reprinted from the Jan. 7th issue of the Dispatch Town Employs Insurance Consultant THE TOWN board at a special meeting 4 P.M. Tuesday agreed to hire an insurance consultant for the year beginning Jan. 25 and ending Jan. 25,1995. Employed to administer casualty and property insurance service for the Island is Brian Batz of Municipal Insurance Consultants, Inc., Getzville. Terms for the service are payment of $2,500 on Feb. 1 and one-third of premium services generated during the time the contract is in force, not to exceed a total of $7,500. The board also voted to issue a temporary certificate of occupancy to Relsco Printing providing conditions set by the town building inspector are met at its new headquarters at 1939 Grand Island Boulevard. Town Clerk Nancy Samrany said the town's official newspapers, the Buffalo News and Island Dispatch, were notified of the special session more than 24 hours before it was held, in keeping with town requirements. The board at a previous meeting set Feb. 7 as the date for public hearings to consider agricultural use of 45 Edge water Aye. and projects to be financed by a community development block grant. MEK Community To Discuss E-ZPass Concerns ISLAND residents concerned with the E-ZPass system and the ongoing objection to having commuter toll books discontinued arc urged to attend a community meeting at 7:30 PM. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the High School on Ransom Arranged by James Watts of the local committee concerned with EZPass, the session will present an opportunity for Islanders to state their views, pro and con, on the change in toll collection at the north and south bridge entrances to the town. Thruway Administrative Services Director Michael Zimmerman, in a recent communication to Supervisor James 11. Pax and Legislator Charles M. Swanick stated, in part: "With respect to your continued request to restore commuter books, I must inform you that we are unable to do so. The occasional passage of a government vehicle through a staffed lane utilizing a ticket book for passage is hardly evidence that thousands of commuter books can be restored to use without adversely affecting the flow of traffic through the toll place." Zimmerman also stated, "While we will continue to monitor operational service levels of EZPass and to effect improvements wherever we see a need, it is unrealistic to expect that we will provide any additional preferential treatment to any particular class of user." Thruway Executive Director John H. Shafer, in a lengthy letter Jan. 13 to Grand Island Thruway Committee Chairman Peter A. McMahon, agreed that "open communication is desirable" and that the Authority would continue to strive for it "in the future." Ml X WEATHER: The Old Farmer's Almanac says - Jan. 29-31:1 Freezing rain, snow north. Feb. I 1-3: Light snow, cold. Feb. 4:1 Snowstorm. I