Boston Fire Co., resident deserve kudos

After a nearly six-month dispute between the Boston Fire Co., and its neighbor, resident Marilyn Will, the two sides reached an agreement to end a stalemate involving an easement that had placed a major dent in the fire company’s ability to attempt to move forward with a plan to build a new fire station.

The Boston Fire Co., which is located on Mill Street near Boston State Road, is currently housed in a facility that is outdated and does not have the capabilities of handling much of the modern equipment, said Brian Attea, the attorney representing the fire department. It also lacks in size and it is time for the department to move forward with its plan to try and build a new facility.

The issue dealt with a dispute over an easement between the two properties. It came to light after the fire department sent its plans to the Boston Planning Board several months ago.

To the credit of the fire department and Will, they worked together to iron out an agreement which was not only beneficial to each party, but to the residents of the Town of Boston as well.

This was an issue that could have dragged on for a long time and held up the process of the company and its attempts to get a newer, modern facility built.

With the Town of Boston now being notified of this pact, the next step is for the fire company to go back before the Boston Town Planning Board with its plans.

From that point, the planning board will make recommendations on whether there are any changes that must be made to the plans, and once everything is satisfied, it will be turned over to the Boston Town Board for final approval.

In many ways, this plan seems like a no-brainer for the Town of Boston. After all, this is a case that involves public safety, and there is arguably nothing more important in any community.

We hope that from this point forward, the plans for the new station flow freely and that a celebration of the new station takes place before the end of 2012.

Hopefully the fire company meets immediately with the planning board and that a shovel can be placed in the ground sometime this spring or summer.

The Boston Fire Co. has a long-standing, and proud tradition in the community. Those men and women who volunteer and serve as firefighters deserve a lot of praise.

But they also deserve an upgraded, modern facility so they are best prepared to assist those in need.

This entire situation is also a credit to those people who worked to put their differences aside and come up with a solution to the problem.

Communication is the key, and as a result, what could have become an increasingly difficult situation turned into one that is a model on how to find common ground.

• During Monday’s (Feb. 13) Hamburg Town Board meeting, Town Supervisor Steven Walters told the audience that the annual “Blast on the Beach” event, which was discussed during the Jan. 23 meeting, is going ahead as planned with it scheduled to be at Town Park.

He said the idea of moving the event to Woodlawn Beach State Park was brought before the Hamburg Town Board several months ago, but that the board never discussed it.

While the idea of a bigger venue seems like a good idea, the event is geared toward Town of Hamburg residents and we believe it should stay where it is at.

If it moves to Woodlawn, that would open up the possibility of alcohol being served and non-Hamburg residents attending.

Just in the ideals of the event alone, it suggests that Town Park makes more sense to continue to be the home of “Blast on the Beach.”

Walters was asked by resident Steve Strnad about what is happening, and we believe the supervisor was wise in saying it is staying in the same facility in 2012.

Hopefully, this will be the end of the discussion and now planners can move forward with putting on another successful event.

As long as it is geared toward Hamburg residents, then keep it where it has been, Town Park.