Ludwig focused on lighting and sidewalk clearing as city officials promised to work with him as best they can.

On the lighting issue, Mike Przybycien, deputy director of the Department of Public Works, told Ludwig that DPW will be moving two light poles from another part of the city to the school area.

They will replace two poles knocked down in an accident.

“I’ve been trying to get light poles there since Aug. 9,” the date of the accident, Ludwig said.

OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Andrew Ludwig, center, principal of Northern Chautauqua Catholic School, makes a point during a meeting of the Dunkirk Common Council Public Safety Committee.

“I’ve been trying to get new light poles since Aug. 9,” Przybycien replied. Due to supply issues, the city cannot get them, so DPW wound up planning to move light poles to the NCCS area.

“National Grid has a whole stock of them. They will not sell them to us,” he added.

Ludwig replied that if those problems were communicated to him back in August, “There wouldn’t have been the frustration I’ve been hearing from my parents.”

Ludwig was accompanied by Jennifer Askar, vice chair of the NCCS board of Trustees.

“It’s all about the safety of the kids,” she said. “It’s not about our selfish needs or looks or aesthetics.”

Ludwig complained that plowers were leaving piles of snow across Washington Avenue from the school, causing obstructions for students and staff. Askar spoke of the need to also keep elderly crossing guards safe.

City officials told them that while DPW sidewalk plows go through the area, they cannot guarantee the clearing of private property.

“The city does the best they can with the equipment they have to plow the sidewalk,” said Police Chief David Ortolano. However, it is ultimately the property owner’s responsibility.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you,” Przybycien told Ludwig. “I just can’t promise I’ll clear the (snow) bank every time it snows.”

Ludwig promised he would remove the piles of snow himself if he had to.

The principal mentioned that “we absolutely want to take some initiatives ourselves and make the area safety.” NCCS plans additional lighting, above and beyond the light poles DPW will install, and new curbing.

It will cost $5,500 for two new lighting fixtures, “and we have some generous donors who will put that up in a heartbeat,” Ludwig said.

He asked for city assistance in installing the fixtures, stating the Dunkirk school district received some for free recently for a similar project. City officials disputed that. Ludwig was advised to call Tim Abbey, buildings and grounds director for the Dunkirk city school district, for answers.

As for the new curbing, “We want to help you,” said Mayor Wilfred Rosas. He said the city was trying to get a grant for the project, but turnover in the planning department, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and ripple effects, got in the way.

However, the city cannot gift anything because the school is private property, Rosas said. Nevertheless, “We definitely want the school to do well. We want to help.”

The meeting closed with the NCCS and city officials praising each other and promising to communicate about safety issues.

“There was a prevailing attitude we should be happy with substandard because we should be happy to be alive,” Ludwig said of the school. “We’re not happy with substandard.”