Kleinhans Community Association
Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2000
Meeting Schedule. We will continue to meet
on the 3rd Wednesday evening of each month, at
the 1st Presbyterian Church, One Symphony Circle. The next meeting will be
Wed. February
16, 2000 7:00 PM. Please come to the Feb. 16th meeting -
Dominic J. Bonifacio, Jr., Niagara
District Councilmember, will be attending the meeting. Introduce yourself to the
councilmember and if you have any issues to address in the Niagara District, this is the time to
do it. If you can't make it, please call Chris Brown, 884-1914 with any concerns/issues you may
have.
The next two KCA meetings are:
Traffic Calming. Thank you to everyone who took the time to consider traffic calming options on your block. At our January KCA meeting we put all the issues together into one traffic calming plan which was presented to Heart of the City Neighborhoods on 1/13/2000 and well received. Here are the highlights:
Orton/St. John's Place
Symphony Circle Recognition. Congratulations to Ann Angelo, chair of the Symphony Circle Steering Committee, who received the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Volunteer Recognition award at the Conservancy's annual meeting on Nov. 4, 1999. Ann is continuing her work by extending the body of interest to all circles in the Buffalo Olmsted system and their caretakers. Congratulations Ann!
Community Crime Prevention Meeting. A problem solving meeting between the community and the Buffalo Police Department was scheduled for Tue. Jan 11, 2000 7PM at the Hamlin House on Franklin St. Many KCA residents attended the meeting. Although the topic of the meeting focused on "car popping," Friends of Night People received merciless bashing. Mr. Darren Strickland was in attendance and spoke about his efforts to work with the community and try to address issues. A question was raised about the correlation between Hudson Street, Friends and the rash of break-ins that had been occurring on Hudson and Wadsworth, but no one knew the answer. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled in the near future.
Orton Gardens. Planning is continuing on 20 Orton Place community gardens. A meeting was held on January 5, 2000 at the Allentown Association to review and modify the plans for a community garden at 20 Orton Pl. In attendance were Chris Brown, Candace Church and Irma Lorenzo, representing Ellicott District Councilmember Barbara Miller-Williams. The plans for the garden were reviewed and slight modifications made. As a result of this meeting, the Project Scope and Requirements and Plan Diagram documents were updated. Councilmember Miller-Williams has submitted a Buffalo Common Council Resolution for the community garden at 20 Orton Pl. The gardens will be referred to Council Committee and if acceptable, approved two weeks later.
18 Plymouth Update. On 1/9/2000, 18 Plymouth was broken into again and several architectural items stolen. Although new owners had bid on the property, they were unsure whether they wanted to close. Channel 2 news did a story on the house and several people were interviewed including the prospective owners and realtor. Mrs. Josephine Villa of 15 Plymouth was interviewed and gave a great testimonial of how terrific our neighborhood is, despite the efforts of many who attempt to destroy it. Overall the story was very well received by all who saw it.
The house did sell and Jan, one of the new owners, wrote a note which said: Just wanted to take a minute and "Thank You" for all the efforts the K.C.A. has done, not only in the preservation of our new house at 18 Plymouth, but for the whole community. I must admit my mind is more at ease knowing there is such strong neighborhood involvement and look forward to becoming part of the K.C.A."
"My partner's husband is a carpenter by trade and will able to repair or duplicate any of the damaged woodwork caused by the break-ins. We hope to restore the property as close as possible to original. Once again, thank you for being such GREAT neighbors. Sincerely, Jan and Rick Hoopengarner, Maggie and Gary Reeds."
One Stop Party Store. At the last Heart of the City Neighborhoods meeting, the deli at Hudson and Cottage was discussed. According to the HCN, Councilmember Charlie Fisher came to the meeting and gave a presentation on his experience with delinquent delis. He has much experience having closed numerous ones on the East and West sides. Several individuals at the meeting relayed suspicions and testimonies of how "sketchy" things are there, and asked for his help in getting the deli to straighten out.
The HCN sent a letter to Mr. Fisher requesting his help with the deli. The matter will be
discussed at the next HCN community meeting on 2/22/2000.
Housing Changes. In foreclosure is 367 Pennsylvania Street and
289 Pennsylvania Street,
which will be coming on the market soon as a HUD house. The house at 333 Pennsylvania, also
recently foreclosed due to an estate situation is now on the market. In addition, 16 Orton Place
was recently listed for sale for only $39,900. Orton is such a great street, it would be ideal for
someone to live there and turn the house from absentee ownership to home ownership. As
always, keep watch for suspicious activities around vacant and abandoned houses on your block.
Kleinhans Community Association
c/o 34 Orton Place, Buffalo NY 14201
(716) 884-1914
Visit our web site on the Internet: http://kleinhansca.org
Reminder:
KCA Meeting 2/16/2000 7PM, 1st Church
Niagara District Councilmember N. Bonifacio will be there!