'Sustainable Amherst' chairs named

"Sustainable Amherst," the community, civic and business collaborative, will have three Amherst residents serving as task force chairs: Colleen Bogdan, a community activist and a member of the Town of Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals, will chair the environment committee; Andrew C. Reilly, professional engineer and certified planner with Wendel Duchscherer, will chair the land use committee; and Anthony Mussachio, registered architect, principal of Mussachio Architects, will chair the economic development committee.

"We are very grateful that Colleen, Drew and Anthony have agreed to volunteer their time to serve as chairs of the respective committees that compose 'Sustainable Amherst,'" said David Flynn, chairman of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Committee. "The next step is to identify members of the respective committees, including representatives on each committee from the University at Buffalo as well as residents of the Town of Amherst, and of course, the business community."

"Sustainable Amherst" derived out of the recommendations provided to the Amherst Town Board by the Amherst Chamber of Commerce at the request of Amherst Town Supervisor Satish B. Mohan to find a balance between quality of life issues and economic development initiatives.

The recommendations developed by the Amherst Chamber were primarily from the 2005 Town of Amherst Comprehensive Plan, which was unanimously adopted by the Town Board in January 2007.

"While the Chamber is providing staff support and other resources to fulfill our collective objectives for 'Sustainable Amherst,' this is ultimately a community initiative," Colleen DiPirro, president and CEO of the Chamber, said. "Just as important, we hope 'Sustainable Amherst' is an ongoing community collaborative that will make recommendations to address these and many other environment, land use and economic development issues impacting the Town."