The proposed pump stations are located on the map above next to the entrance-exit lanes off of Franklin Street.

Watkins Planning Board gets look at Tops pump proposal

WATKINS GLEN, April 21 -- The Watkins Glen Planning Board Wednesday night took an early look at a Tops Friendly Markets proposal to install a pair of gas pumps in the parking lot fronting the Tops store on South Franklin Street.

The proposal was presented by Tops Senior Director of Corporate Development Lou Terragnoli and James Trasher, vice president of the CHA engineering firm of Syracuse.

The plan as presented called for installation of the two pumps under a 60-foot-long canopy near the center of the lot fronting the Tops and CVS stores. They would be adjacent to the entry-exit lanes running from and to South Franklin Street. Trasher said the company would keep open the possibility of a third pump, drawn on the map shown to the Planning Board.

Terragnoli said that such "fuel stations" -- with entry from either direction -- are common in front of Tops stores (40 different ones), but that this one, unlike most others, would not have a kiosk for payments and for the sale of convenience items. Payments at this one would likely be at a window built into the front of the Tops store's front wall.

Two 15,000-gallon tanks would be placed underground along the western edge of the parking lot.

The proximity of the pumps to the local store, he added, would enhance the store's gas bonus-points policy, which allows customers savings at Tops pumps. Currently, he said, the nearest pump is more than 20 miles away.

However, Planning Board members took exception to the proposed layout, saying they were concerned that incoming vehicles from Franklin Street waiting for a pump would snarl traffic, and that long self-contained motorhomes or vehicles with trailers would have trouble -- if pulling into a pumping space from the south -- finding room to turn around and reenter Franklin.

It would be better, board members said, for the pump bays to be entered only from one direction -- the north. But they added that in order to do that, the pumps might need to be repositioned, or the lines of the parking lot reconfigured to allow such motorhomes or trailered vehicles to swing wide and enter the pump bays facing south. That would make an exit onto Franklin easier.

Trasher said his firm can meet with Tops engineers to address those concerns, and said he could return for the board's May 18 meeting with altered plans, and with specifics on traffic patterns.

"Those are all great points," Terragnoli told the board about its concerns. "This might be the first case at Topps stores" of traffic being channeled through the pump area in one direction. "Signage," he added, "will help" direct the traffic.

After the two men left, Planning Board Chairman Joe Fazzary noted that "the main thing is traffic flow. In all honesty, I'm not liking what I'm seeing."

However, the board made it clear it would like the pumps installed. But while the Tops representatives said the company would be ready to proceed with the project as soon as approval is granted, the board said it wanted to proceed with care, given the traffic flow issue and the proximity of marshland to the parking lot and, hence, to the planned storage tanks.

Said Code Enforcement Officer Gordon Wright: "The DOT (Department of Transportation) and DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) need to weigh in."

Board members said those offices would be kept apprised of the project.

Also: Wright said that he has stopped work at the planned Chinese-Japanese restaurant on Franklin Street, across from Savard's Restaurant, due to a failure by the restaurant owners to provide a site manager who speaks English. Wright said the owners, based in New York City, had agreed to provide one, but have failed to do so. Work will remain stopped, he said, until that provision is met -- necessary to communicating the village's zoning and work regulations to the construction crew.

Plus: Wright said the Budget Inn on South Franklin Street, which approached the board last year for approval of a plan that would lead to expansion of the facility, including addition of a second floor, will be returning to the board with "a new and improved site plan" that is "quite different from the first one." A new architect is involved, he said.

Note: Chairman Fazzary introduced the new members of the Planning Board: Tony Fraboni, Tom Merrill and John Bond. They replace Kevin Smith (elected to the Village Board), Tom Fitzgerald (resigned) and John Vona (whose term expired). Fazzary and Amedeo Fraboni are the lone holdovers.

Photos in text:

From top: Tops Friendly Markets' Lou Terragnoli; CHA's James Trasher; new board members Tony Fraboni, left, and Tom Merrill.

Schuyler County Officials

Legislature Members:

Top row (from left): Dennis Fagan, Thomas Gifford, Doris Karius, Glenn Larison

Bottom row: Michael A. Yuhasz, Barbara Halpin, Phil Barnes, Stewart Field

Legislature Chairman

Dennis Fagan, Tyrone 607-292-3687

Legislature Members:

Michael A. Yuhasz, 535-4967

Doris L. Karius, 546-5544

Barbara Halpin, 594-3683

Glenn R. Larison, 594-3385

Thomas M. Gifford, 535-9517

Phil Barnes, Watkins Glen 481-0482

Stewart Field, Watkins Glen 535-2335

County Clerk: Linda Compton, 535-8133

Sheriff: William Yessman, 535-8222

Undersheriff: Breck Spaulding, 535-8222

County Treasurer: Margaret Starbuck, 535-8181

District Attorney: Joseph Fazzary, 535-8383

State, Federal Officials for Schuyler County

Sen. Charles E. Schumer

United States Senate
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3201
DC Phone: 202-224-6542
DC Fax: 202-228-3027
Email Address: http://schumer.senate.gov/webform.html

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand

United States Senate
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
DC Phone: 202-224-4451
Website: http://gillibrand.senate.gov/

State Senator Tom O'Mara -- Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Yates, western Tompkins, Enfield, Ithaca (Town and City), Newfield, Ulysses(Trumansburg)

Room 415, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Phone: (518) 455-2091
Fax: (518) 426-6976
www.senate.nyssenate53.com

Assemblyman Christopher Friend -- Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga
Room 720, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Phone: (518) 455-4538
Website: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=137