Meeting Schedule. We will continue to meet on the 3^rd Wednesday evening of each month, at the First Presbyterian Church, One Symphony Circle. The next few KCA meetings are:

• Wed. April 18, 2001 7:00 PM
• Wed. May 16, 2001 7:00 P.M.
• Wed. June 20, 2001 7:00 P.M.

Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!

43 Plymouth Avenue Demolition/Reuse. Dinah Gamin and Candace Church of Orton Place purchased the abandoned home at 43 Plymouth at a tax auction last October. The house will be demolished and redeveloped into their property, but on Saturday, March 17, 2001, Candace and Dinah opened the house and gave neighbors the opportunity to salvage anything they might need before the house is brought down. Thank you to Candace and Dinah for extending the offer to KCA residents and for continuing to improve the neighborhood quality of life!

Think Spring! Volunteer on Saturday April 7, 2001 - 10 AM, Transplanting Days at Botanical Gardens, South Park at McKinley. Help us transplant annual flower seedlings to individual pots for use in our community garden at 20 Orton Place. Your help is appreciated. If you can assist, please contact Chris Brown at 884-1914.

Great American Clean-Up Scheduled for May 5, 2001. The whole city will be participating in spring cleaning and this is your chance to get out and clean up your block. The City of Buffalo will supply bags and drop off sites will be designated. We will discuss the specifics in our April KCA meeting, but please mark the date on your calendar and encourage your neighbors to come out and help clean up your block. Jim Pavel is the organizer of this event and can be reached at City Hall, 851-4370.

Community Police Officers Assignments. The Community Police Officers serving our neighborhood are: Carol Williams, David DelValle, John Santiago, David Littere and Sheila Dickinson as mentor officer. They all work out of B District Office, 695 Main St., 851-4403.

Hogan Restoration Sign Improves Firehouse #2. The community expresses a sincere THANK YOU to Jay Hogan of Hogan Restoration for placing the lovely period sign on Firehouse #2 on Jersey at Plymouth. It looks great!

Well Wishes to New Homeowners in our Neighborhood... Congratulations to the Hand family who recently purchased the home at 96 Plymouth! Also, congratulations to Don D'Angelo who purchased 12 St. John's Place, Michael Miano who purchased 287 Jersey Street, and Patrick Thomas & Steve Osterstrom who purchased 289 Pennsylvania Street. Good luck to all in their new home!

Trees to be Planted during Spring 2001 in KCA Neighborhood. Residents may have noticed that many trees in the neighborhood have been recently cut down. Chris Brown has worked with city forester Andy Rabb along with neighborhood homeowners and has received a commitment to have trees planted on the public space outside of 324 and 335 Hudson Street, 289, 307 and 313 Pennsylvania Street, 23, 47, 49 and 96 Plymouth Avenue, 495 Porter Avenue (outside of Kleinhans Music Hall parking lot), and 24 & 34 St. John's Place. Thanks to all who responded to communication about the trees and with the assistance of Andy Rabb and the City of Buffalo we will have lovely new trees planted soon!

Snow Removal. Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard this winter keeping up with the shoveling of snow in front of their house. Besides being courteous to pedestrians, it is a law.

According to section 413-50 of the Buffalo City Code, owners of homes must have cleared all snow and ice on sidewalks abutting their property and it must be cleared by 9AM each day. The sidewalk must be cleared to its full width or a minimum of 3 feet. In the case that the snow is hard packed or ice, the owner must spread ashes, sand, sawdust or other suitable material on the sidewalk. For owners of houses located on corners where a handicapped access has been cut, the snow must also be removed from the handicapped access where the sidewalk joins to the street.

Section 413-51 of the City Code gives enforcement responsibility to the Streets Sanitation Department and if the owner does not clear the sidewalk in front of their property, Streets Sanitation is empowered to clear the sidewalk of snow and charge the owner for the expense of so doing.

Section 413-52 states that salt or lime should NOT be used to remove snow and ice on public sidewalks (you can still use salt on your steps or sidewalk on private property). If a property owner where you live is not being responsible with snow removal, please call the Mayor's Complaint Line at 851-4890.

KCA Crime Stoppers Nip Problems in the Bud. On December 14, 2000 many residents of the KCA neighborhood met with Tiffany Perry, administrator of the Save Our Streets (SOS) program regarding troubles at 22 Orton Place. The owner attended the meeting and the immediate issue was promptly addressed. Thanks to all who gave their time and energy to this effort.

On another front, in March 2001, the Buffalo Police and others including housing inspector Jack Plevniak checked out problem property 369 Hudson St. and a drug bust was made. The property is currently owned by Carmen Powell who lives in Alabama. The house is for sale and the Police have followed up with the Realtor and the Save Our Streets program.

Finally, several KCA residents attended a meeting with Niagara District Council member Nick Bonifacio and the Buffalo Police Flex Squad Unit. Sites where alleged drug trafficking was occurring were targeted for monitoring.

Community Resident Works Overtime to Assist with Tree Management on Symphony Circle. Last fall, Tanya Peck spent 2 months on tree conservation, getting estimates, going tree to tree with an arborist and learning more about trees than she ever wanted to know! Fortunately, she got the work done in a timely fashion with an experienced arborist. Jeff Phelps, also known as The Tree Doctor, took a keen interest in Symphony Circle landscaping and hopes to stay on board with future projects.
Although we had early winter storms (who can forget November 2000?), if Tanya and The Tree Doctor hadn't gotten the work done when they did we may have had many old and damaged trees lying on their sides and uprooted like other less fortunate trees in the city. Tanya also had to coordinate various efforts with the city forester. A hearty THANK YOU to Tanya for her efforts - she can take great pride in a job well done!

Plymouth/Pennsylvania Beautification Project. Ann Angelo has submitted a Mayor's Matching Fund 2001 Grant request to fund a beautification project at the intersection of Plym outh and Pennsylvania. Let's wish Ann good luck with her grant and we look forward to the ongoing beautification efforts of Pennsylvania Street residents!

Allentown Joins KCA in 7th Annual Garden Walk, July 28-29, 2001. Encouraged by the success of the KCA neighborhood in the Garden Walk, Elizabeth Licata of the Allentown Association has successfully had Allentown added to the official Garden Walk site map. This should be an extraordinary year for the Garden Walk and hopefully many residents in the KCA neighborhood will participate again in 2001. In total, over 100 gardens were entered last year. We look forward to seeing all our favorites from past years and anticipate some exciting new entries. The deadline for entering this year is April 30. If you need information call Chris at 884-1914 or Ann at 885-9503 or contact Garden Walk 2001 at 884-2458 or E-mail gardenwalk@usa.net. If you've considered entering but haven't done so before, please do so - it's a great boost to the area and lots of fun!

Orton Gardens Will Look Great in 2001. Last fall hundreds of daffodils and crocus were planted in Orton Gardens, the community garden at 20 Orton Place. We are all looking forward to the spring display of flowers.

In the spring of 2001, a fence will be put up to secure the lot. We will be constructing flower and vegetable beds and continuing to beautify the garden. We will be using the Mayor's Matching Fund Grant awarded to the garden last summer to procure plants. An identifying sign will also be put up, thanks to Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo.

We still have a few vegetable beds that can be adopted - if you are interested, please call Chris at 884-1914. Several working sessions will be planned in the May/June time frame to plant the garden. Please help to complete the setup of the garden this year!

It's certainly a fulfilling project to turn an abandoned lot into a productive work of art. Mary Jane Mills, a neighborhood landscape designer shares: "the Klein hans Community Garden is looking terrific. Somehow I didn't realize you had such a great thing in progress. I want to see it in the flesh when the earth wakes up again next spring."

Tim Tielman Speaks to Fargo Estate Neighborhood Association on Concept of Conservation District. At a recent FENA meeting, Tim Tielman of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County spoke of a "Conservation District" as opposed to or in lieu of Preservation/Historic Districts. A conservation district is a less stringent entity than a preservation district and attempts to conserve the character of the neighborhood as whole, preserving identified critical elements. This may be a viable joint project endeavor for the KCA and FENA neighborhoods. The program has been used successfully in Philadelphia. If you are interested in learning more, call Chris at 884-1914.

Neighborhood Housing Problems. SOS is investigating 282 and 288 Jersey under the guidance of Niagara District Councilman Nick Bonifacio... 485 Porter (corner of Normal) burned on 1/31/01 and the fire caused an estimated $30,000 to the structure. It is now boarded and the owner intends to repair the damage... 32 St. John's burned in April 1998 and the city is now the owner as of October 2000. Sadly, the building is scheduled for demolition... 359 Hudson St. was purchased by a Texan investor at the 2000 tax auction, but the boarded house sits empty and was recently inspected by the city... 364, 366 and 370 Hudson are 3 vacant, abandoned houses in a row and are being investigated by housing inspections... 49 Plymouth was mysteriously boarded in autumn 2000 and is being investigated by housing inspections... 22 Orton is in distress because the home is being foreclosed... 322 Pennsylvania St. has been boarded since the fall and will eventually be sold through HUD... 367 Pennsylvania St., which has been empty for over a year, was sold in March from HUD to Ronald Scott... 294 Hudson St., the large apartment building at the foot of Cottage St., is scheduled for demolition, although some residents are opposed to razing it. As part of a proposed Architectural Salvage project, Allentown Association Board Member Alison Kimberly recently took a tour of the building and said: "Once you get by the dead cat and inside, there was a great front door assembly - the surround, double doors, transom et al. On the exterior, the iron caps around the third floor as well as the decorative stuff on the 4th floor are worthy of saving."

The Internet - the World's Virtual Entry to the KCA Neighborhood. The KCA's web site will be highlighted at a Verizon web site seminar on April 4. It's a way for the world to learn about our wonderful neighborhood. A recent unsolicited message from a Chicago resident urged us to "please keep up the good work. Buffalo so desperately needs committed citizens who can see and appreciate how special and rare the neighborhoods of Buffalo are. Emphasize and promote what is good and fight the bad and you will be successful. It is only a matter of time until the entire region comes to value the precious gift they have been given. But it will not happen unless groups like yours grow strong and are very public in showing the way though the dark." - David Steele, Chicago IL.

Two Centuries of Great Design Converge on Symphony Circle. In this historic 100 year anniversary of Buffalo's Pan Am Celebration, Symphony Circle will have two important projects completed. By June, the reflecting pool designed by Eliel and Eero Sarrinen which graces Kleinhans Music Hall on Symphony Circle will be restored. A whole new generation of Buffalonians will be able to see Kleinhans Music Hall in all its glory, just as the Sarrinen's originally intended.

Equally exciting will be the restoration of Symphony Circle's center island in 2001. The grassy island will be restored and will be a smaller version of Colonial Circle or Soldiers Circle. In the center of the island will be an historically accurate reproduction of a 5-light standard which was first erected on the Circle in 1879. Never before have both elements existed at the same time - the original island with its light standard was obliterated in 1938, just before construction began on Kleinhans Music Hall. The City of Buffalo will be constructing the grassy island throughout the summer and concurrently, the light standard will be manufactured by a local company. The project is hoped to be completed by late August or early September. A similar island and light standard will be erected at Ferry Circle, Richmond at Ferry.