NISKAYUNA Kids say bring back ice cream trucks BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
A town resident approached the podium for public comment at a recent Town Board meeting, and the supervisor directed the microphone be lowered to ensure what was to be said would be recorded. And what was to be said was important not only to the speaker, but to anyone sweltering in the recent summer heat. The speaker was Alex Burgess, recently graduated from the third grade at Rosendale Elementary School. The topic was ice cream trucks. Burgess was at the meeting with classmates Julia LeBlanc and Brendan McDonnell to present a petition, aimed at restoring longbanned ice cream trucks to the streets of Niskayuna. Burgess and friends gathered a total of 61 signatures in support of overturning Niskayuna’s more than 30-year-old ban on the mobile ice cream purveyors. When a board member asked Alex why she wanted to bring ice cream trucks back to the town, the soon-to-be fourth grader was matter-of-fact. “Because kids like ice cream,” she told the board at the June 29 meeting, just before the recent heat wave. “It’s nice to have in the summer.” Town Board members and Supervisor Joe Landry said afterward that they are taking the petition seriously. “This is something that these children are asking us to look at, so we’ll seriously look at it.” he said. And they could look at it as early as this week. The board is expected to consider a trial run of sorts for August, with a public hearing on the issue held July 29. If the trial is approved, the issue will be revisited at the close of the trial, board members said. SAFETY CONCERNS The Niskayuna ban stemmed from multiple accidents in the 1970s involving children purchasing ice cream from the trucks, including at least one local child’s death. But the owner of a local ice cream truck company, whose company began after the 1970s accidents, says safety has long since been bolstered through lights, signs and training. Niskayuna and Rotterdam are believed to be the only two municipalities in the area that continue a full ban on sales of ice cream from the street. The concerns have always centered around safety: children so excited over the prospect of ice cream that they run into traffic and get hit. Schenectady once banned the trucks, but restored them, with restrictions, in 1987. .................>>>>...................................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01102&AppName=1
Re July 11 article, “Kids say bring back ice-cream trucks”: To all Niskayuna residents lobbying to bring “Mr. Ding-a-Ling” [back] to town, I’d like to share my thoughts. On a warm summer night or lazy Sunday afternoon, when you are sitting out on your deck, you will hear the mindless music of the ice cream truck six blocks away playing the same mindless tune over and over as it circles your neighborhood and gets closer and closer to your block. As you see the happy truck in your area keep an eye out because every once in a while, you will see Mr. Ding-a-Ling talking on a cellphone while driving. It’s bad enough we already have all the summer noises of swimming pools, motorcycles barking dogs and lawn equipment. But if you really have your heart set on the “Ding,” you can have the trucks from Scotia.
Thanks Tippy! I was in favor of bringing them back until I read Erin Verteramo's letter to the editor this morning. Sounds like the same horrible accident you are referencing.
Sorry kids, I would much rather have you safe. Buy your ice cream at the stand or supermarket where we can see you enjoy it.
EDITORIALS Towns should OK mobile ice cream vendors
There’s no question that children occasionally get hit by cars while chasing ice-cream trucks. But so do they — and adults — while crossing streets in other pursuits, playing ball, riding bicycles, etc. The point being: No childhood pastime is entirely safe, and it seems unfair to single out mobile ice cream vendors for the relatively rare accident they cause. But ice cream trucks were banned in Niskayuna and Rotterdam a generation ago, after a couple such accidents, and the bans have endured. A similar one in Schenectady — a more densely populated municipality with more cars lining its residential streets — was overturned in the late 1980s, with no subsequent problem. Indeed, an Internet search for accidents involving ice-cream trucks across New York produces a paucity of hits. So maybe it’s time for these Schenectady County towns — believed to be the only two in the region to have given these vendors a cold shoulder — to reconsider. .............>>>>..............>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r03002&AppName=1
NISKAYUNA Ice cream trucks coming back Split Town Board OKs one-month trial BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Ice cream trucks will return to Niskayuna for a monthlong trial run beginning next week, a move approved by the Town Board Tuesday night. The board voted 3-2 in favor of allowing the trucks beginning Aug. 6 and running through Labor Day. The move is an effort to test how well the truck drivers follow safety and other regulations and how town residents respond to the fi rst official ice cream trucks on town roads in more than three decades. The move was also the next step in an effort begun by soon-to-be fourth-grader Alex Burgess and her friends, who passed a petition to get the trucks back. The board voted in favor of the trial run after much public comment, the turnout by the public rivaling some of the top issues in the town in recent years. Comments against the move ranged from the noise to child obesity and safety concerns, while comments for stressed parental responsibility and providing teachable moments for children. Several children also spoke, arguing in their own way for the return of the trucks. Voting in favor of the return was Supervisor Joe Landry and board members Julie McDonnell and Denise Murphy McGraw. Voting against were board members Liz Orzel Kasper and Jonathan McKinney. McDonnell, whose son Brendan was among those who helped with the original petition, said that she and the other board members recognize the concerns about safety. But she also stressed that this was a trial run. The trial, she said, gives the community the opportunity to evaluate whether it is something it wants to continue next year. Children have to know the rules or the trucks might not return, she said. “We understand the safety concerns and I think every member of this board has talked about it and had some angst about it,” McDonnell said, “but I’m hoping that we’ll hear back quite a bit at the end of the month and I’m hoping that it’s going to be a positive experience.” The measure approved Tuesday night makes Aug. 6 the beginning of the trial, with the end set for Sept. 6. If the board did nothing more, the trucks would return to being banned. A new proposal and hearing is needed for a permanent restoration. Among the restrictions in the law are ones concerning time, location and licensing. Trucks will be able to operate from noon until 7:30 p.m. and only on town roads, not county or state roads, and permits would be required. The road restriction would keep the trucks from selling on Balltown Road, Van Antwerp Road and River Road, among others. Niskayuna and Rotterdam were the only municipalities in the region that ban the trucks outright, according to a vendor. Schenectady banned them but restored them in 1987. All three initially banned them in 1975 and 1976 after a series of tragedies, including two deaths related to the trucks, according to newspaper records. Landry has noted earlier that much has been done since the 1970s regarding regulations and equipment. Among those speaking Tuesday night at the public hearing was Brian Collis, owner of the Latham-based ice cream company Mr. Ding-ALing. The company has 67 trucks around the greater Capital Region. Collis demonstrated the safety features of his trucks, along with background checks and training for drivers. Collis was accompanied by driver David Bond, who is expected to have the Niskayuna route. But board members Kasper and McKinney had too many safety concerns. Kasper, a retired second-grade teacher, addressed the children who spoke. She commended them for their effort and comments, but she apologized that she couldn’t support the measure. “I’m sorry because it has nothing to do with you coming here and all that wonderful stuff,” Kasper said, “it has to do with I do not think it’s safe, I really don’t.” “Personally, I can’t support this until we put some more safety features in place,” McKinney said. “And to have a trial run for a month and to have a trial testing our children as part of this trial, is unacceptable to me.” The comments and vote by the board came after the lengthy public hearing. Among those speaking out in support was mother Susan Griffi th, there with her 12-year-old daughter Emma. Griffith stressed parental responsibility. ....................>>>>...................>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1
NISKAYUNA Ice cream truck test run begins BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The familiar sound of an ice cream truck rolling through Niskayuna will be heard today, legally, for the fi rst time in more than three decades. Today is the start of Niskayuna’s trial run, allowing the trucks for a month after a 30-year ban. Latham-based Mr. Ding-A-Ling is to begin rolling town streets at noon. The Town Board last week voted 3-2 to allow the trucks back for a trial run. After a month the board is expected to consider the issue again, including any more comments or complaints from the public. Brian Collis, who owns Mr. Ding-A-Ling, said he is sending his best driver, whom he brought with him to last weeks’ board meeting. There is expected to be a quick kick-off event at noon at Town Hall, with the ice cream truck to start there, Collis and town officials said. But overall, Collis said, he expected the Niskayuna run to be like the many others his company’s 67 trucks run safely. “To us, it isn’t really a big deal, we’ve been doing this for so long,” Collis said. The trial period ends Sept. 6. If the board did nothing more, the trucks would return to being banned after that. A new proposal and hearing is needed for a permanent restoration. Restrictions in the law involve times of operation, locations and licensing. As of Thursday, Collis was the only vendor to sign up for a permit for a single truck, town officials said. Trucks will be able to operate from noon until 7:30 p.m. and only on town roads; permits will be required. The road restriction would keep the trucks from selling on Balltown Road, Van Antwerp Road and River Road, among others. ................>>>>.................>>>>..............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1
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