East Aurora Advertiser

Marilla Officials Look to Host Other Community Events in 2020



After another successful community activity, the Town of Marilla is looking to do more in 2020.

Town board members met for a work session on Sept. 22. The meeting was streamed live on the Facebook page Voices of Marilla and it lasted less than 15 minutes. They recapped Ag-Day, which took place two days before the work session, and concluded that next year they would like to expand it. They agreed to plan the event on a Saturday next year so it didn’t conflict with professional football.

Board members also agreed to move forward and plan for Christmas in Marilla, which will be on Dec. 12. The event will be 100 percent outside, and preliminary plans include hot chocolate and food trucks. 

“The general consensus is that we are going to do something. We aren’t going to cancel it outright,” Supervisor Earl Gingerich, Jr. said.

Gingerich suggested that the town hold a parade during the holiday celebration. He noted that the traditional fire truck parade in the Town of Lancaster was recently canceled for 2020 due to Covid-19 concerns, and he suggested that Marilla look into hosting it.

Councilman Brian Nolan, who is a firefighter at the Jamison Road Firehall in Elma, said he will broach other fire companies about bringing their fire trucks to the parade.

In 2018, over 200 firetrucks participated in the Lancaster parade from all over Western New York. The parade route covers 2 miles. In recent years, it has brought in approximately 50,000 spectators. 

Ag-Day drew in approximately 500 to 600 people.

In July, the town was the only community in Erie County to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks. This event drew criticism from the Erie County Health Department for exceeding non-essential gatherings of over 50 people, but the July 4 event was not shut down. Without penalty, Marilla held another fireworks celebration the following day for several hundred people.

Town officials say that they monitor people for social distancing during these large gatherings.

In other news, Gingerich said that he is working on finalizing the budget. Despite the fact that New York State is saying that funding to municipalities will be cut by 20 percent in 2021, there will not be a tax increase of any kind in the town. The cuts from the state will have an impact on the general fund, though.

“The state is not reliable because of the poor financial situation they have placed themselves in. We have to rely on ourselves,” Gingerich said.

Nolan also said that the contract with AMR is not finalized because East Aurora is still finalizing details, but the ambulance company has answered calls in Marilla. 

“Right now AMR is working with us on principle,” Nolan said. “AMR has been to half a dozen calls in Marilla. So far it is working well.”

He expects the contract to be in place by Nov. 1

The town board will meet again for a combined work session and meeting on Oct. 13.

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