To curb some of the dangerous traffic conditions in the Plaza section, the town council introduced at its May 25 meeting an ordinance that will halt right hand turns off of Plaza Drive onto Paterson Plank Road. A public hearing and a vote on the measure is scheduled for the council's June 27 meeting. While the change may cause other difficulties, especially for cars attempting to make a left out of First Avenue onto Plaza Drive, council members said the safety situation was so bad at the intersection that the council needed to act. "There have been so many accidents at that intersection that if this council doesn't take some action, we might leave ourselves open to a lawsuit later," said Councilman Michael Grecco, who was part of the committee that helped draft the ordinance and set up other restrictions. Grecco and traffic control police officers toured the area several months ago, making numerous recommendations to curb traffic abuses in the area. Because Plaza Drive comes out side by side with the Paterson Plank Road exit to the shopping parking lot, several accidents have occurred as cars exiting the parking lot are struck by cars making the turn on red. "People making the turn at the light are so busy looking left, they don't think to look right to see if anyone is coming out of the parking lot," Grecco said. "I know I've almost been rear-ended more than once coming out of that lot." Councilman John Bueckner asked about placing the exit further away from the street. While this would not be a problem with the state, whose authority over the area vanished when it finished reconstructing the intersection in 1990, the town may have to bear the brunt of the cost - since no one could expect to make the property owner pay for the change. Bueckner raised a concern about exiting First Avenue. He said with traffic patterns as they are, many people already find it difficult to make the left hand turn out of First Avenue onto Plaza Drive. With no right on red at the next corner, people coming out of the library or from a sporting event at the Little League field might find it impossible to get out at all. The other problem would be moving the bus stop to the left of the driveway. Mayor Dennis Elwell said the town might have to look into reversing the direction of First Avenue from Plaza Drive to Wilson Avenue, allowing traffic to exit onto Paterson Plank Road via Wilson. This was suggested many years ago, but was voided because of the firehouse, which is located on Plaza Drive. Many of the volunteer firefighters lived on First Avenue and used it to get to the house when a call came. Councilman John Reilly said this may have changed over the years and the council would have to talk to the fire department to see if a number of its members are still living in that section. Bueckner said he would go along with restricting right on red for Plaza Drive, but said the council should monitor the situation in case there is a problem. Mayor Elwell - quoting former Mayor Anthony Just - said "We'll try and if it needs to be corrected later, we'll correct it." Along with restricting right on red, the town will also restrict traffic from making left-hand turns off Paterson Plank Road into the Acme Parking lot - something that has become common practice for drivers seeking to get around the traffic light. While this will not stop people from using the parking lot as a short cut the other way, it will reduce the chance of head-on collisions because most of these people will be travelling in one direction. Other council actions In other matters, the council approved the use of various public areas for special events, though Bueckner said the town council needed to establish a policy for use of some facilities. The town agreed to allow schools to use the Nutrition Center for graduation parties, though said they would monitor the situation to avoid disturbing neighbors in the area. Grecco said the Middle school party was slated to end at midnight and worried over possible music volume. Town administrator Anthony Iacono said this has been done for three years and has not presented a problem in the past. Use of the swimming pool by groups outside of town was also a concern of Bueckner's who claimed the town needed some kind of criteria for accepting or rejecting such requests. Meanwhile the town has not yet set a policy for use of Schmidts woods, something that has been on the agenda for several months. Last month, the recreation director gave the council some suggestions, and the council will discuss them at the June caucus and possibly adopt them at its June 27 meeting. People neighboring Schmidts woods claimed that out-of-towners have been making use of the area and creating disturbances. The council felt it would be a good idea to issue permits, thereby determining who uses the picnic area and setting guidelines for such use. Often groups using the pool spill over into the neighboring Schmidts woods, cooking and partying there. The council also approved the requests from a resident to use Buchmuller Park for a private birthday party. The council approved this request last year, after it had checked with its insurance carrier as to possible liability. The resident - who intends to bring amusement rides into the park for the party - has supplied his own insurance. "People use the park all the time for parties," Town Administrator Anthony Iacono said. "This is the only person who has asked for our permission."