Hickory Woods homeowner Patrick Blake was in City Hall on Tuesday when lawmakers unanimously approved a $7.2 million settlement to end an eight-year dispute with hundreds residents of the South Buffalo subdivision.
As Blake left Common Council Chambers, he expressed mixed emotions. His family moved into Hickory Woods in 1996. His son was born and raised in a neighborhood that later became the focus of health and environmental concerns. Contaminated soil was detected in a neighborhood built in the late 1980s and early 1990s on parcels purchased and developed by the city.
The boy, now 12, is legally blind and unable to talk. Blake, who feels the health problems are related to the contamination, is convinced his son would have received greater compensation if the case had gone to trial. But he said his family wants to move on with their lives. Blake said his immediate goal is to pay off his mortgage and “get . . . out of there.”
“I just want to end this,” he told reporters.
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