To The Reader’s Forum:

On Thursday September 26th the New York State Department of Transportation led a meeting at the Town of Busti Building in Lakewood to speak to residents and businesses concerning the installation of sidewalks on Fairmount Ave (Route 394) from Elmcrest Ave on the south and Shadyside Ave on the north to Smith Boy Marina in the Town of Busti,

First of all I want to thank all of the residents and businesses that appeared at this meeting and stated their concerns about the sidewalks. I am totally against the sidewalks and as the majority of the folks in attendance seemed to agree with me. Talking to Lynn, Tommy, Louie, Marcia, Molly, Jay, Tom, Bill and Connie just to name a few all stated that as living or having a business on Fairmount they are also totally against the project.

Second of all I want to thank the NYSDOT led by Eric Meka and Bob Schaller and others who took the time to put on the presentation and to listen to the concerns of the residents and businesses.

I especially want to thank Lakewood trustees Ellen Barnes and Nancy Jones for their hours of time spent walking Fairmount Ave and talking to almost every resident and business along the way. Getting their feedback and trying to answer their questions concerning the installation was why they are trustees listening and talking to their constituents.

To Michael Zabrodsky of the P-J, thank you for the excellent article as a follow up to the meeting

Also thank you to the Town of Busti for the use of your meeting room for the presentation.

In conclusion, as Ellen, Nancy and I have stated in previous Village of Lakewood board meetings, having visited almost every resident and business along Fairmount that the majority of them did not want sidewalks. Now that the mayor and other trustees have heard what we had heard it is time for the Lakewood Village Board to step up and have a vote to say NO to sidewalks on Fairmount Avenue. These residents and businesses are there 24 hours a day and 365 days a year and the board has to listen to them. You need to be their voice to the NYSDOT

Rich Fischer

Lakewood