Village of Ellicottville Board Meeting
11/14/2008 By Jacob Fellows

This month’s meeting was called to order with Mayor Coolidg encouraging village residents and businesses to post their address numbers on their houses or buildings. Coolidge stated that besides being useful in emergencies, the numbers would also help delivery services perform their jobs. The numbers should be posted in a logical manner, black numbers on white houses for example, and should be clearly visible.

Department of public works supervisor, Harold Morton reported that he and his crew are continuing leaf pickup around the village, and that they are about halfway finished with the job.
He also stated that the plows and sanders were readied in time for the first big snowstorm of the season, last week, and is operational and ready to use.

About half of the village’s Christmas lights have been hung and the job will be finished soon. It was also stated that the DPW would concentrate on drainage and sidewalks next year because the village’s roads are in good condition, not in need of repair.

Village Constable Howard Gifford reported that Halloween was quiet and uneventful, with many trick-or-treaters in town. There were two extra patrols on duty Halloween night and he stated that there was “no shaving cream, no toilet paper, no eggs, and no smashed eggs anywhere in the village.”
Gifford also commented on the high incidence of false house alarms in the village and the danger it could pose, by drawing police enforcement away from their other duties to the village. There were 95 total alarm calls this season and only two were legitimate, one for carbon monoxide and one for a fire. Motion in front of the alarms was the main culprit for the high incidence of false alarms. Board members commented that it is the property owners’ responsibility to maintain their alarm systems.
In other news, there were three building permits issued in the village between October 20th and November 10th, and the Rail Jam that is to be held during Christmas in Ellicottville has been moved from the street to Balloon’s parking lot, relieving stress and eliminating problems concerning traffic.