David Nardozzi, project manager for Silvestri Architects and Andrew Marino, engineer from Tredo Engineers gave a presentation of the plans for the WellNow Urgent Care facility possibly moving onto Vineyard Drive.

The WellNow Urgent Care facility scheduled to break ground on Vineyard Drive soon has been put on hold for a little longer pending a review of certain stipulations.

The Dunkirk Town Planning Board met on Tuesday evening to hear and discuss a presentation by Tredo Engineering and Silvestri Architects to see how the facility will look, its key features and how it will operate.

The original concept was drawn up in 2008 to match up with Tim Hortons and Dunkin’ Donuts already located there. The utilities at that site were already set up to accommodate four businesses. Rain water was a concern, as a flood plain exists nearby, however a three-and-a-half foot deep basin behind the buildings takes in runoff. The fourth site of the original plan is unable to be developed at this time, and so the retention pond will only have to service three.

The property is going to take up less than an acre of land, have seven exam bays, and based on current trends at nearby similar locations, serve anywhere from 20-40 individuals a day, with flu season being a bit higher.

Some issues came up during the proposal that had board members scratching their heads. One being that the site was originally designed so that all the businesses would have adjoining driveways. However with the disagreement between Tim Hortons and Dunkin’ Donuts, in the form of orange cones and road tape blocking the egress, that is a huge issue.

“It (the easements across the properties) was mandated by the DOT at the time that this was designed,” Andrew Marino, engineer for the project stated. “The DOT limited us to two curb cuts as opposed to three, thereby forcing us to cross the easements, so we need the parallel access.”

The basin in the back also poses a problem as it has not been maintained over the last 10 years, thus becoming overgrown.

“It looks like a wetlands area. It looks ideal in some circumstances unless it gets filled up with sediment, and then it’s loss its capacity,” Jay Warren, planning board chairman added. “Is it cleaned? Can the water flow to it? Is it plugged? Is the outlet open?”

Unsure of whose responsibility it was to keep it clean, it was found that the ownership of the basin is actually split between the two coffee shops. Matt Lester, representative for the Landlords of Vineyard Dunkirk LLC and one of the individuals working to bring the facility in, offered to do an initial clean up of the retention pond, which many were relieved to hear.

In the end, a conditional approval was decided.

The planning board moved it to the town board with the conditions of a letter from their lawyer regarding the easements, a letter of commitment that they will be doing the clean out of the retention area and that the information regarding the storm water is accurate. Also a second opinion engineer, with a reputation with the town of Dunkirk is to verify the proposing engineer’s claims that there is not a wetlands issue behind the properties and that the raising of the elevation to match the two existing properties is okay.