An Angola woman placed the high bid Wednesday on 52.5 acres of county
land near Sturgeon Point.
    Gail L. Walter bid $ 26,000 on the property in Evans, just $ 1,000 more
than Depew Police Officer Charles Seiler offered.
    But environmentalists and town residents who want to keep the area open for
public use said they will try to persuade the County Legislature to reject
the bid.
    Ms. Walter, who said she bid on the spur of the moment, said she has no
idea what she will do with the land and lakefront.
    "I thought it was going to go for at least half a million (dollars)," said
Ms. Walter, who recently moved to Evans from Depew.
    Charles LaDuca, the county employee who prepares foreclosed parcels for
auctions, said he recognized her as a past bidder on county properties.
    Deputy Finance Commissioner Robert Kowalewski, who has pushed for the last
three months for the county to sell the property and return it to the tax
rolls, said the sale is not final. Approval by the County Legislature is
necessary.
    The final sale figure was announced by Kowalewski at the auction as
$27,000. But Ms. Walter said she bid only $ 26,000, and no bid above that
figure was heard.
    Kowalewski said he was under "public pressure" to sell the parcel, acquired
by the county 60 years ago. The undeveloped land is flanked by the Sturgeon
Point Marina and Erie County Water Authority property. It includes
high-bluff lake frontage of 900 to 1,400 feet.
    Kowalewski said the sale was originally urged by Peter Hunt, in the real
estate and developing business, and Loretta Yellen, a former county
architect. Hunt, who recently said he is not sure of his continued
interest, said he had considered connecting the 53 acres with another
53-acre parcel he owns south of the marina where he plans to build nine
homes.
    A group of about 25 environmentalists and Evans residents who oppose the
sale watched the auction in the lobby of the Rath County Office Building.
They said they will try to persuade their elected representatives at the
town and county levels to give the town time to try to acquire the area as
public green space.
    A disappointed bidder, Brian Hirsch, said he had hoped to make a small bid
to hold the parcel for a nature group and public use.
    Hirsch, of West Seneca, said he has been protesting to county legislators
about their recent sales of public lands at low prices.
    "They say it gets the land back on the tax rolls," he said.
    A newly elected Evans Town Board was asked early this year by the county to
cooperate with the sale, according to Evans resident Robert Catalano. The
Town Board proposed single-residence zoning and sale of just the one piece
of property.
    Kowalewski originally proposed that a new Evans Town Board member, Mark
Engler, be allowed to add to a small lot he owns on the periphery, but that
proposal later was withdrawn.
    "Hopefully, the County Legislature will give the town time to properly
evaluate this land," said Catalano, who said a meeting should be held for
the public to discuss the parcel.
    The Horizons Waterfront plan suggests eventual extension of the town marina
at Sturgeon Point, Catalano said, so the county-owned lakefront area could
extend the public land. While Catalano suggested the land should be sold to
Evans for $ 1, the County Legislature Finance Committee contends the town
has never made such a request in writing. Catalano and others last week
urged the Town Board to submit such a written offer.
    Environmental developer Frank Parlato, who has been campaigning to keep the
area and beachfront open to all county residents, also attended the
auction.