Solutions for gas station in Caledonia on the table

Caledonia’s gas station may be gone, but there is hope fuel might flow again in the north Queens community.

Residents of the area packed the North Queens Fire Hall in Caledonia, for a public meeting held by the North Queens Board of Trade. The only item on the agenda was looking forward to a solution to get gas service back to the community.

Caledonia’s sole gas station closed its doors last month after 12 years of business, with the owners citing difficulties with low traffic and strict gas distributer payment rules.

However a local business owner is already stepping up to the plate. Alan Mansfield, owner of Mary’s Lake Home Hardware in Caledonia, said he is looking into adding a gas bar business to his establishment. While he cautioned it is in the early stages, with no agreements even on the table, he was encouraged by the support the community showed Monday night.

“We need to do our home homeward, to make sure it is something viable for ourselves as well as the community,” he said.

Other solutions were also put forward during the meeting that had potential.

Canning, a small community in Kings County, faced a similar situation a decade ago. With no gas station, the community formed a co-op and installed self serve pumps in 2014. The initiative has been so successful the service expanded to include a convivence store and coffee shop, all locally owned.

Regardless of which plan succeeds, NQBoT president Laura Lee Johnson saw the meeting as a successful first step.

“It’s a great little community, we all know that. When you come here tonight and see the number of people, it just shows what kind of support we have in our community. I think anything is possible,” she said.