Representatives from Babbitting Services Incorporated are cautiously optimistic
By Andrew Harris
The Town of Wellsville Planning Board had one of the biggest crowds in recent memory for their monthly meeting. Town board member Mike Miller said, “It was the biggest town meeting in my time serving on the board! There was about two dozen in attendance.
The crowd consisted of Kris Farrar the CEO of BSI, Luke Kelly the General Manager of the Wellsville BSI facility, a representative from the developers who intend to build a Quicklee’s gas station, residents from the “Florida Avenue” neighborhood, members of the Village of Wellsville Planning Board, and Village Trustee Mike Roeske. The goal of the meeting was to make sure the interests of all the parties, both exiting businesses, potential businesses, and residents were being considered and communicated. The meeting appears to have been successful.
Farrar, who traveled from his company headquarters in Illinois for the meeting, was very concerned about the lifeblood of BSI: Eighteen wheelers, aka tractor trailers. As we reported previously, when the development firms who are building a Walgreens drive-thru pharmacy and a full scale Quicklee’s convenience store presented plans to the town last month, Farrar had cause for worry. The drawing provided didn’t specifically protect his legal right-of-way to ensure flow of his companies shipping and receiving.
The property manager, Great Dane Properties, wasn’t able to attend the meeting but did provide the updated drawing of the proposed development. That drawing specifically addressed the concerns of Farrar and BSI, a representative from the Quicklee’s group is now working directly with the growing manufacturer. The lead BSI guy at the Wellsville facility, Luke Kelly, had this to say about the meeting:
“It went well. We were able to connect with the Quicklees rep and had a good discussion with him…. We will still need to be vigilant in making sure that we are kept, ‘in-the-know,’ on things as they progress.”
Town board member and chief liaison to the town planning board, Mike Miller, echoed Kelly’s sentiments and was happy with how the meeting went.
“Everyone involved seems to be working well together and toward the same goal.”
The meeting wasn’t all about the businesses. Many in the record-setting crowd were residents who were concerned about issues ranging from truck traffic to light pollution. The Quicklee’s representative reportedly alleviated some of the concerns by insisting they would work with neighbors to keep the impact at a minimum. Because the project is still on the drawing board, a light study and traffic analysis will be conducted if needed as part of the SEQR(State Environmental Quality Review.)
Local homeowners also had some negative comments about having another gas station in town. To those concerns Miller said he explained that the town of Wellsville’s role is not that of “kingmaker,” but “facilitator,” for any legal business.
With some of the initial cobwebs cleared up, all parties are signaling a readiness to move forward with the next phases of the project planning process. By all accounts, it was a very good meeting.
