Hamburg official discusses odor issue
Treatment plant cited as source
Anyone smelling odors from the Southtowns sewage treatment plant between Route 5 and Lake Erie can call Erie County, Town Councilwoman Joan Kesner said Monday night.
She said the town is receiving a lot of complaints about the odor emanating from the Southtowns Advanced Wastewater Treatment plant.
“It seems like the odor is pretty strong, and not acceptable to the Town of Hamburg,” Kesner said.
She said it may be a regular occurrence that is being noticed by motorists who are traveling more slowly because of road construction in front of the plant.
Town officials have talked to the Erie County Division of Sewerage Management, said Kesner, who offered this telephone number, 823-8188, for residents to call to complain about the odor.
“My hope is we’ll get a lot of people to call,” she said.
Town Board members addressed odors of another sort Monday night when they adopted a right-to-farm law to reduce the loss of agricultural resources in the town.
The law allows farms to use generally accepted agricultural practices, and for complaints about their operation to be resolved by the town.
The law requires the town to set up an agricultural advisory committee to help resolve grievances neighbors might have with farms. They might include noise, odors, fumes, dust, operation of machinery, storage and disposal of manure and the application of fertilizers.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a change in the law requiring two trees to be planted on new subdivision lots. The new provision allows the developer to
pay a fee to the town if a homeowner does not want the trees.
• Heard Highway Superintendent Tom Best announce the town’s road paving program will begin soon, with a total of about 12 lane-miles to be resurfaced on all or parts of 25 streets. The paving will cost about $700,000.
• Also heard an update on a disagreement between existing homeowners at Tree Haven Patio Homes on Eckhardt Road in Lake View. Neighbors were concerned that two-story colonial homes would be built in their subdivision, which was billed as a patio home subdivision when they bought their property. They brought their dispute to a Town Board work session this spring and were urged to work out a compromise.
Michael Maher said he and his nine neighbors had agreed to a compromise that would have had developers construct 10 ranch houses next to the existing patio homes. But when neighbors asked for the agreement to be put in writing, they were told the developer could only guarantee four ranch homes.
“We are considering a lawsuit,” Maher told the Town Board.
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