The Republican Caucus recently sent letters to Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein and Parks Commissioner Troy Schintzel, requesting a conversation on what Erie County is doing to address the tick population. Tick bites can lead to Lyme disease and other illnesses, and incidents are on the rise. One concerning note, the Parks Department has issued signs in county parks saying they won’t be doing as much cutting, allowing parks to go to their natural habitat. The Erie County Parks Department will need to abort the natural habitat grass growing practice and immediately begin to keep all grass areas manicured. In addition, some grass along county roads is growing quite long. This is a disservice to county residents. To keep them safe from tick-borne illnesses, Erie County must do a better job eliminating environments that allow ticks to grow. Peak tick season runs through mid-August.
The rollout of the Biometrics law is also troubling. Erie County has provided very little information yet says beginning July 5 they will penalize businesses thousands of dollars for non-compliance. Meanwhile, Erie County also states they will spend the next several months working on providing guidance to companies and businesses so they can comply. Which is it? Funeral Home owners have also raised questions, saying they are now forced to deny families and friends from making keepsakes with a fingerprint from their loved ones. So many businesses have questions on what they need to do. New York State has always made it exceptionally difficult for business owners. This measure doesn’t help.
I am pleased that the Erie County Legislature had the votes necessary to override the County Executive’s veto of the youth hunting law. Now hunters as young as 12 and 13 can hunt larger game with a supervising adult. There are courses for these young people to take to ensure their safety. The Department of Environmental Conservation has stated there have been zero incidents involving young people since the measure was implemented in other New York State counties.
This year marks America’s 250th birthday. Because of that, some of the July 4th celebrations take on added significance. Marilla will be hosting a two-day carnival on July 3rd and 4th, culminating in a parade and fireworks on July 4th. All activities will take place at the fireman’s field in Marilla. The Village of Depew will be hosting live music and other activities at Fireman’s Park in Depew, finishing with fireworks on the night of July 3rd. Cheektowaga will also be hosting live music and fireworks on July 3rd at Cheektowaga Town Park. They will host their parade on the morning of July 4th. Lancaster is hosting a 3-day carnival from July 2nd to July 4th at West Main St. and Cayuga Creek Park in the Village of Lancaster, culminating with the parade beginning at noon July 4th, traveling down Erie Street, Court Street, Pleasant Avenue and Central Avenue. There will also be a flag-raising ceremony at 7:30am on July 4th and the annual Bob Giza 10k race at 8am.
If you have a county related issue, contact my office at 716-681-2071 or by email at Frank.Todaro@erie.gov You can also stay up to date on county government by following my Facebook page, Legislator Frank Todaro.
