ATTENTION: Amherst, NY is a "Text Free Town"

The Town of Amherst is officially “a text-free town.”

The Town Board voted, 5-1, Monday to approve a townwide ban on text messaging on mobile devices while driving. Anyone caught texting while driving could be fined $150 for the offense.

Board members acknowledged that the town law would no longer be in effect if the state passes a similar law, as it is expected to do later this year.

But resolution sponsor Shelly Schratz said she wants to use the new law to educate students and to have it serve as a deterrent to drivers through obvious roadway signs banning text messaging on the road.

“Government isn’t just about budgets,” she said. “It’s about keeping people safe, too.”

Council Member Dan Ward called the law “needless meddling” on a state matter.

In other news, the board:

• Approved a resolution that would eventually make smaller trash bins available to residents who don’t like lugging their 95- gallon and 65-gallon trash totes to the curb each week.

A number of senior citizens and other low trash generators have complained to board members that they find it hard to move the heavy, wheeled bins.

“They’ve asked from time to time if we have anything smaller,” said Council Member Barry Weinstein, who sponsored the resolution.

Many elderly residents never fill the large totes on a weekly basis, so trash is often left to sit in the totes for weeks before residents finally haul the oversized bins to the curb.

Based on the periodic complaints, the board voted to eventually order 35-gallon totes that could be made available to all town residents. But that order won’t be placed until the current inventory of totes is closer to running out and a new order needs to be made.

That could take a few years, said Council Member Guy Marlette, liaison to the town’s Solid Waste Committee. He encouraged residents interested in the 35-gallon bins to e-mail him and said if enough people express an interest, the town could possibly place an order sooner.

• Unanimously approved new code requirements that will regulate the installation of small wind energy systems on residential and small commercial properties. The new rules would limit wind turbines to 65 feet in height and limit their installation to properties of one acre of more. The new code requirements also lay out noise, safety and aesthetic standards.

Board members agreed that as wind technologies change and improve, possibly making them more compatible with smaller residential properties, the code will need to be updated.

• Approved an agreement with HSBC Bank that would allow all town residents to pay their tax bills at any HSBC Bank location until the tax deadline. The agreement is a free service to the town and would be a convenience for taxpayers who want the flexibility to pay their tax bills at a local bank branch during weekday and Saturday hours.

• Approved a $415,765 bond to replace the Chapel Woods Bridge culvert, which has received a red flag from the state Department of Transportation for severe structural deficiencies.

Original Article Here