At the Feb. 7 Town Board meeting the Trust and Agency Fund account was brought forth on the agenda. The motion by Councilman Mike Heftka and Dick Crawford was to send the request to the advisory boards asking them to come to decision regarding removing the restrictions that the town law has on the way the monies are spent. The money in the Trust and Agency Fund comes from builders and developers at a rate of $500 per house lot developed.

According to state law, the money is used for recreational purposes only. Grand Island added a restriction to the local law during the Prast administration requiring that the money in the account must be used for recreation during the same fiscal year in which the money was deposited. After that the money is to be used for land acquisition only.

This is the law that was at the center of controversy with the purchase’ of 206.5 acres of land on East River Road, and sparked the petition that floated around the Island this past fall. $104,000 was taken from this account for the purchase of this green space, leaving the account virtually empty. The state controllers office will be auditing the town’s books concerning this land purchase at my request as I still feel this is a misuse of funds.

Now the question is, should we remove the restrictions from the fund? To me this is a no-brainer. Yes, remove the restrictions and take the control of the money out of the hands of special interests. These advisory boards are exactly that - advisory. They can not and should not be able to dictate legislation and it is about time they realize it. That is why we have elected officials.

The last time these advisory boards met, they couldn’t decide if the restrictions should be removed or not. Well maybe the decision was put on hold so they could spend all the money first, then decide to remove the restrictions. Well, it’s done. Now maybe we can have the pennies that are left. It is going to take years to build this account back up to where it was. I feel like a dog, searching for the crumbs on the floor after a big meal.

The green spacers already have control over two other accounts, the wetland replacement fund and the open space fund. Isn’t that enough? We need the Trust and Agency Fund monies back in the right hands, The Peoples for Recreation! Last week my four children wanted to go sliding. I told them we would have to go over to Tonawanda because the hill at Veterans Park wasn’t finished yet, that it was still closed. When is the sled bill going to be finished? I don’t know. The town doesn’t have the money. Why not? Well, it was more important to purchase wetland and green space with the money, than to give something to our kids. I truly think the money could have been spent more wisely. If the kids had a place to go sledding or ice skating, maybe, just maybe, the crime rate on the Island wouldn’t be such a problem. Just a thought. We need to get our priorities straight, the welfare of our children is more important.