(Editor's note: Call The Bee at 632-0390 and record a one-minute comment on our Bee Heard line. It gives readers an opportunity to comment quickly and candidly on items of local or regional interest. Callers do not have to identify themselves and no callers' names will be used. In the interest of fairness and good taste, The Bee will not publish derogatory or insulting comments. All comments are by our readers and are subject to editing.

.I've been observing the contractors hired by the town for debris removal. These contractors have the proper equipment for the job. Unfortunately, many of our local people do not. These contractors are organized, efficient and obviously have the experience. Supervisor Mohan made the right selection!

.I applaud the Williamsville School Board for the wise decision to attend school on spring break. This break only benefits teachers. Let's teach the students that school should be open all year, not just 180 days.

.I'd like to thank National Grid for all their hard work and efforts. It's great to see a company go above and beyond the call of duty, bringing in companies from all over the northeast. At the same time, I must give thumbs-down to Verizon. It is totally unacceptable that 15,000 people still do not have phone service three weeks after the storm.

.Kindel, O'Loughlin and Ward were nowhere to be found during the storm. Now, after the fact, they all show up with comments. Supervisor Mohan is trying to get control of spending.

.Dan Ward, how dare you present yourself on Channel 7's Oct. 29 evening news stating that Amherst residents are very disappointed in tree debris removal. Not everyone agrees with you. The tree debris removal workers are out from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. every night, cleaning debris as quickly as possible. Don't speak for everyone.

.Dr. Satish Mohan was driving around with a policeman in our neighborhood assessing the damage of the October surprise storm, when he noticed my wife trying to clean up the ice from our driveway approach. He stopped and asked her if everything was all right. My wife told him she didn't think so. She said she was trying to get the car out so that we could get to a warm shelter due to my bad heart condition. He immediately had another police car summoned. Within a matter of a few minutes, two policemen arrived and got our car out. Dr. Mohan stayed with my wife until these men arrived. We are so appreciative of Dr. Mohan's fast action and for the policemen who helped us out!

.During the recent storm, the Town of Amherst ran the scary risk of losing its drinking water in part from a power failure at Amherst Water Treatment Facility. Let us take the $60 million allocated for private business (Bass Pro) and instead use this to ensure that our town and other municipalities have a safe and continuous source of drinking water.

.I do not work for the Town of Amherst Highway Department, but if I can't get to work this winter due to a major snowstorm, because my street has not been plowed, I'm not going to call the highway department. I'm going to call the supervisor's office to find out why the plows aren't out!

.I live off Maple near Bauman and three weeks after the storm, the road has not been cleared. There are branches and tree stumps lying in the road and it's down to about one lane of traffic.

.We are disappointed that the Williamsville Central School Board is showing an extreme lack of understanding of the families and students in this community. The reality of the situation is a large number of families have made extensive arrangements for family vacations during Easter break, including reservations, travel plans and non-refundable tickets. It is also a reality that the low attendance on the Thursday and Friday of Easter week will not be conducive to learning. Teachers will be hesitant to teach new material because of poor attendance. Quality class time will be replaced with busy work. Viable solutions have been proposed to the superintendent. Staff development days on Feb. 2 and March 30 should be used as student instruction days. The board of education was elected not to rubber stamp the decisions of the superintendent but to represent the best interest of residents and students. The board needs to use some initiative and deal with this scheduling problem, and make sure the October Surprise doesn't extend through Easter.

.On Sunday, Oct. 29, a truck from out of the area was on our street picking up debris. Ultimately, this truck and another truck cleared our entire street, which had been a complete disaster. They did a wonderful job. They were efficient and quick; they were wonderful. The people the town hired worked out very, very well.

.I wonder how that man on West Royal Parkway who wrote a letter to the editor feels now about telling everyone how town employees should be cut back. After what this town went through, does he now realize that town employees had flooded basements, no power and had nothing to work with and yet they all made it into work and worked around the clock for the first three days and then 12-hour shifts after that? No amount of money was worth it. It was physically and mentally draining and yet they did their jobs. What does he think will happen if there are all these cutbacks proposed to town workers and if they aren't available to react to a disaster again?

.The idea of reducing Main Street in Williamsville to three lanes and making Williamsville another Niagara-on-the-Lake is just an inane pipe dream! Traffic will then be backed up and onto the Thruway. The Main Street of Niagara on-the-Lake ends at Lake Ontario and is not a main thoroughfare for traffic. People go to Niagara-on-the-Lake because it is their destination, unlike Main Street in Williamsville which is a thoroughfare for traffic in all directions. Drivers are only interested in getting through the Main Street gridlock, not stopping in Williamsville to shop.

.Thanks to all the work crews who did a fantastic job cleaning everything up. Now if only homeowners would take a rake and clean up the debris on their sidewalks. The sidewalks are the responsibility of the homeowner. Should someone become tangled in the branches and fall and injure themselves, there is a possible lawsuit. Take care of what belongs to you.