STATE GIVES FUNDING PRIORITY TO BUYING

SITE IN AMHERST

Buffalo News,   April 23, 1998  by Tom Precious

       Efforts by Amherst to obtain state money to help the buy the Sisters of St. Francis property received a major boost Wednesday when the Pataki administration added the location to its priority list of open space projects eligible for government funding.

       The Amherst site became one of 151 parklands, wildlife habitats and lakefront areas around the state in line for state bond act money under the Open Space Plan.

       All but two of the more than two dozen Western New York sites were part of a draft Open Space Plan released in December. But Wednesday, the Pataki administration's final Open Space Plan included the Amherst property, as well as a 61-acre Hampton Brook area in the Town of Hamburg, just south of the Village of Hamburg.

       In February, the Amherst Town Board voted unanimously to approve a $5 million purchase of the 100 acres owned by the Sisters of St. Francis, one of the last remaining green areas in the southern portion of the town.

       The religious order has indicated it prefers to sell the property to the town rather than a developer. But town officials have said at least half the purchase price would have to be funded by state, federal or private sources.

       Amherst Supervisor Susan J. Grelick said the putting the property on the state's open space priority list "clearly helps" in getting financial assistance from Albany.

       "We'd love it if the state could help us preserve this magnificent piece of property," she said.

       Ms. Grelick added that state officials have said a decision could be made on funding once the state budget situation is resolved; the Legislature has approved the budget, but Gov. Pataki has threatened to veto portions of it.

       The Open Space Plan released Wednesday said the Amherst property's purchase would provide "for the protection of open space in heavily developed southern Amherst. This project is significant for its educational, wildlife, birding and recreational resources."

       The state decided to place the Amherst property on the open space priority list a couple days after a private appraisal firm said the town's $5 million purchase offer would be a fair deal for the community.

       But state officials warned that getting on the list doesn't guarantee funding.

       "The state's priorities are greater than its resources, even though the resources are at unprecedented levels," said Sam Thurnstrom, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

       Other regional sites, which were included in the December draft report and retained in the final document, include the Buffalo River corridor and Motor Island, a habitat for nesting birds on the Upper Niagara River.

       Also on the list was Deveaux Woods, located on the Deveaux Campus of Niagara University and described as the last old-growth forest tract in Niagara County, and Carter Farm, one of the last open agricultural approaches to Fort Niagara State Park.