Transition Period at Ontario Street Boat Launch
Richard Mack
Riverside Review
If you've pulled you boat into the launch at the foot of Ontario Street recently, seaweed is likely what you have caught.August, 2000: It's been about a month now since Erie County officially took jurisdiction over the park and boat ramp at the foot of Ontario Street from the City of Buffalo. And, that's about how long it took them to get crews down there to clean up the mess of seaweed.
Now, if we could only get some trash receptacles.
We are in a "transition period" said County Legislator Al DeBenedetti. "We'll get the problems resolved."
When the City gave up control, city parks department crews picked up all but four of the nineteen cans in use there. They have yet to be replaced with new ones.
"We hope to have the garbage can situation hammered out by the end of the month," explained Larry Jasinski, Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Forestry for the county in a phone interview yesterday.
"We are in the process of establishing a maintenance schedule that will work for us," said Jasinksi. "We are stretching our already thin manpower even further."
He explained that the people responsible for maintaining Isleview Park and other pocket parks are in charge of the foot of Ontario. "The responsibility is extensive as far as miles are concerned," he explained.
Meanwhile, the four cans sit overflowing with at least ten bags of refuse inside the men's room of the onsite snack shack.
Bill Shylo, proprietor of Steamboat Willy's next to the boat ramp, is alone upon an island between conflicting jurisdictions. "Business has been down. Nobody wants to smell or look at the unsightly dead fish, garbage and seaweed," he explained. "On a Sunday when there's normally eight or nine boaters, we had two."
Shylo was among many who complained about the poor service at the boat launch. "You call this 'waterfront improvement'," he wondered, referring to the planned improvements to the city's portion of the Riverwalk.
Shylo pointed out that some local residents were so disgusted that they took matters into their own hands. Residents, Al Wilke and Mike Radetch, who often stop there for coffee, brought rakes and began pulling out the seaweed themselves this past weekend.
DeBenedetti was under-standing of the frustration and urged people to continue to complain if they are not satisfied. "We (the county legislature) funded two full time people specifically assigned to maintain the Riverwalk in the city, and as far as I can tell, they are not there every day."
Commissioner Jasinski is hoping to solve the garbage problem by returning garbage detail to the city. He says he's been in communication with Deputy Commissioner of Parks Dan Durawa and Deputy Commissioner of Streets Sanitation, Paul Sullivan. He explained that the city might be better equipped for the garbage detail.
On the surface, one might ask if the city is going to continue garbage detail, why all the effort to deed the park to the county in the first place?
Director of Streets Sanitation under Sullivan, Nicholas Tomasulo, however, explained that just having the county lift the seaweed burden was a great help. There still needs to be some "fine tuning," he suggested.
So what's in store for future services at the launch? Garbage services has always been a problem at the foot of Ontario because of "kids throwing the cans into the river," explained Jim Nowicki, director of parks and recreation for the city. "When it's done, I'm sure we'll come up with an intelligent solution," he concluded.
We can only hope.
