Timothy Card with County Executive PJ Wendel

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel has appointed Timothy Card as the new Director of the Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities (DPF).

Card will begin his new position on September 6, 2022. He replaces former director Brad Bentley, who resigned from the position in December 2021.

Card has worked for the Town of Harmony since 1990, serving for six years as a motor equipment operator before becoming the highway superintendent in 1996. Prior to his position with the town, he worked at Maplevale Farms, Inc. as a forklift operator and truck driver.

Card earned his degree in Construction and Heavy Equipment at the Hewes Center at Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES in Ashville. He graduated from Panama Central School and he currently lives in Ashville.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel Delivers State of the County Address to County Legislature

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said in his annual State of the County address that the county’s comeback has been far greater than its setback.

Wendel said the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021 continued to be a challenge for the county, causing his administration to pivot efforts to move forward while protecting residents.

He said that after seeing businesses shut down and people lose jobs in 2020, December 2021 had an unemployment rate of 3.5%, which is the lowest its been since the 1990s.

Wendel announced some changes ahead for 2022 including the rebranding of the Chautauqua Area Rural Transit System, or CARTS, as CHQ Transit, “The construction of a transportation hub in downtown Jamestown, the addition of new technology including a rider’s app and cashless fare system; as well as additions of three trolleys to our fleet.”

Wendel said he also began work with Finance Director Kitty Crow to restructure the Finance Department where departments will no longer have their own fiscal staff, but will have that go through the Finance Department itself. He said this will increase efficiencies, reduce strain on smaller departments, and increase productivity.

In the Department of Public Facilities, Wendel is planning on promoting current employees to Deputy Director positions to form a DPF cabinet, “Instead of overwhelming one DPF Director with multiple departments that were under their control, our Deputy Directors will only focus on their areas of expertise and come together to form the DPF cabinet. This current plan will consist of Deputy Director of Public Facilities in the following areas: engineering, transportation, and environment.”

The position of Director of DPF has been vacant following the resignation of Brad Bentley in November.

Wendel added other goals include expanding sewer and water around the county’s lakes to promote development, expanding the tourism industry, and expand broadband throughout county.

We’ll have the full State of the County address on tonight’s Community Matters at 5 p.m.

Chautauqua County Legislature with Brad Bentley Commendation Ceremony

The Chautauqua County Legislature approved a set of American Rescue Plan projects as well authorizing using $4.9 million in bonds for various capital projects.

Legislators approved a resolution that authorizes capital projects with the issuance of $4,986,000 dollars in bonds. The projects include $4,495,000 in heavy machinery and equipment purchases, $545,000 for various information technology improvements and upgrades, $128,000 in improvements to the Falconer Shop Fuel System, replacing and repointing the Public Facilities Administration building roof for a cost of $185,000, and replacing roofs at Jamestown Community College for $156,000.

A number of American Rescue Plan funded projects were also approved including the use of $250,000 to upgrade county trails. Another project for $640,000 puts in a new chiller that serves county owned properties in Mayville including the Court House, Gerace Office Building, Hall Clothier Building and the jail. That project involves purchasing indoor air quality units.

Additional resolutions approved using ARP funds include $88,000 for a new handguns project, $21-thousand for digitizing county records, and accepting $45,000 each for both the Dunkirk and Jamestown Airports.

Legislators approved a local law increasing management salary ranges by 3% except for positions with designated flat salaries.

And County Executive PJ Wendel and Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon issued a commendation recognizing Public Facilities Director Brad Bentley, who is resigning December 1st. Bentley announced at the Audit & Control Committee meeting that he is resigning at the request of the County Executive.

Wendel recognized Bentley for overseeing the largest department in the county as well as many projects, “Including Phase 4 landfill expansion project, the new branding and marketing of the county’s overland trails, establishing city fixed routes service for CARTS, securing funding and rebranding and modernizing the CARTS system, and securing funding for clean energy projects to add elective vehicles to the county’s fleet, and to convert the Jamestown Airport’s Oak Hill tunnel and the DPF Falconer Shop parking lot to LED lighting.”

Bentley said it was one of his greatest honors to serve as DPF director and gave special thanks to DPF workers, especially CARTS drivers, “During COVID, they stepped up to the plate for dialysis patients. They did their jobs despite knowing the risks that were out there for them. So my hats off to the CARTS drivers. They did a tremendous job.”

Bentley took the DPF Director position in August 2018. There was no comment on why he was asked to resign or his next plans.

View the full County ARP project list

The largest of the proposed projects is $8.3 million for Phase 2 of the South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District project. The County broke ground last week on Phase 1 of that project to supply sewer for 450 homes in the town of North Harmony. South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Director Tom Walsh said this project has been put under the second traunch of ARP funding in hopes that it can be funded by the Federal Infrastructure Bill that’s still pending in Congress.

Another year two project is $2.5 million to provide broadband high speed internet to underserved or unserved communities. Chautauqua County IDA CEO Mark Geise said they found how important internet is during COVID. He said the County would issue a request for proposal to internet service providers where an ISP would spend 50% of the cost to expand broadband to leverage the other 50% of funding from the county, “We might do it county wide or we might do it in segments because you have different providers that have more infrastructure in different areas. And evaluate it based on the cost per household served and see how many households they can serve with that funding.”

Under economic development, $1.5 million proposed to acquire shovel ready sites and $1.4 million to bring water and sewer infrastructure to those shovel ready sites is proposed. Geise said a study done by Newmark Frank of the nine county Western New York region found Chautauqua County was last in the region for shovel ready sites. He said the County has worked with Clark Patterson Lee to identify three sites in the north county to purchase, “You know, we’re negotiating right now with those land owners. So we need this funding. You know, the sites are going for anywhere between $10,000 per acre on a very low side, and I don’t think we’ll find any of that that are suitable, but certainly $20 to $30,000 an acre or more.”

The County is also looking at using $1.1 million to rehabilitate the Frank A. Bratt Ag Center building on Airport Hill. Public Facilities Director Brad Bentley said the building, which is owned by the county, is currently unused, “The building has good bones, but is in serious needs of repairs, some upgrades, and modernizations. It’s a large space for those who have been in there. It’s prime use for us would be as office space and I think it could actually be a good spot for a number of county organizations to land in once it’s improved and repairs are made.”

Bentley said there are county departments or offices that would be ready to move into the space after it’s renovated which could have a possible $200 to $300-thousand dollars savings in lease costs to the county.

Other large item proposals include $800,000 to bolster the Occupancy Tax Fund which was depleted due to lack of occupancy tax collected in 2020 because of the pandemic. $700,000 for the Healthy Homes Program is also proposed to be used to remove hazardous lead in 140 homes at a cost of $5,000 per home.

The County Legislature Committees will now review and make any needed changes at their meetings next week. The full Legislature is expected to vote on the package at its September 22nd meeting.

DPF Director Brad Bentley said the former culvert was replaced to due “structural deficiencies and substandard hydraulic capacity.” He said the new bridge is expected to have a service life of over 75 years.

Chautauqua County is receiving $6.6 million dollars total in CHIPS, Pave-NY, and Extreme Winter Recovery Funding. County Department of Public Facilities Director Brad Bentley said the additional funding is critical to supporting the economy and will make a difference, “This will allow us to pave about 32 miles of our 550 miles of road this year. Typically we get about 15, so about half of that so we’re going to see a significant difference in the quality of our roads. As well as we’ll be able to repair 16 to 18 our 308 bridges in our county, which is an increase above what we normally do.”

Bentley said his budget usually has $4.5 million dollars to spend on road and bridge work and the County DPF is receiving an additional $2.1 million dollars this year.

State Senator Borrello said the State Touring Program is a new program this year that addresses fixing a state road that doesn’t have an identifier, so it’s known as a “touring route,” “These are often roads that, sometimes you turn off a major road and you get on a kind of bumpy side road but it goes through a neighborhood and area. Those are those touring routes. And they often get forgotten, quite honestly, but not by the people who have to drive on them every day.”

The City of Jamestown will receive $561,924 to do maintenance and upgrades for these state touring routes.

Bentley said the substitute drivers would remain at that $16.66 an hour rate while the partial full-time employees will have the ability to see wage increases. He said the financial impact will be $100,000 on the operating budget but that CARES Act funding will help this year with reimbursements from New York State possible in the future.

Bentley said the alternative is to cut services, which has already happened in Dunkirk, “CARTS is not something that I would recommend cutting services on. We take people to their doctor appointments, dialysis appointments, we get them to work. It’s the only public transportation system out there. We do it at a very low cost.”

If passed, the pay raise would take effect the beginning of the Third Quarter.

CARTS will resume Saturday service starting July 3rd in the Jamestown, Falconer, Celoron, Lakewood and Dunkirk Areas.

The Lakewood via Fairmount route will run every 45 minutes, the first run will leave the Jamestown Junction at 8 a.m. and the last run will leave the Junction at 5 p.m. every Saturday.

The Willard/Foote Route will also run every 45 minutes the first run will leave the Jamestown Junction at 8 a.m. and the last run will leave the Junction at 5 p.m. every Saturday.

The Falconer Route and the North Main/Baker Route will run opposite each other.

Public Facilities Director Brad Bentley said “Pre-COVID, CARTS Saturday Service was well received and utilized. It is important that we restart Saturday Fixed Route Service as businesses and events return to their normal levels. In addition, CARTS is currently working on more improvements which are expected to be announced later this year.”

To obtain copies of the new and improved Saturday City Route Bus Schedules, please visit CARTS’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CARTS.NY or website at https://chqgov.com/carts/CARTS.

Wendel said $4-point-5 million dollars is budgeted for county highway and bridge capital work under the CHIPS and PAVE NY programs, with the County expecting to receive an additional $2-point-1 million dollars as part of funding increases to CHIPS, PAVE NY, and Extreme Weather Programs from the most recent New York State budget.

County crews have already started working on winter clean up, ditch work and patching pot-holes. Motorists are reminded to be aware of construction crews working on the highways.

DPF’s Project List for 2021 major Capital Projects include:

• Rehabilitating County Bridge 259 on County Touring Route 77 in the Village of Sinclairville
• Rehabilitating County Bridge 1065 on 28th Creek in the Town of Ellington
• Rehabilitating County Bridge 314 on County Touring Route 53 in the Town of Carroll
• Replacing County Bridge 151 on County Touring Route 45 in the Town of Busti
• Replacing County Bridge 429 on County Touring Route 54 in the Town of Chautauqua
• Replacing County Bridge 906 on 28TH Creek Road in the Town of Ellington
• Replacing County Bridge 426 on County Touring Route 12 in the Town of Harmony
• Rehabilitating of County Bridge 968 on County Touring Route 24 in the Town of Westfield
• Replacing County Bridge 879 on County Touring Route 4 in the Town of Sherman
• Rehabilitating of County Bride 818 on County Touring Route 34 in the Town of Carroll
• Rehabilitating County Bridge 875 on South Phetteplace in the Village of Falconer
• Replacing County Bridge 355 on County Route 67 in the Town of Ellington

• Painting 3 county bridges throughout the county
• Paving on Clymer-Sherman Road (County Route 15) from NY 474 to NY 76 in the Town of Clymer and Sherman
• Paving on County Route 380 from Ellicott Road to US 20 in the Town of Portland/Village of Brocton
• Cold milling and paving on Centralia-Hartfield Road (County Route 54) from Stockton-Hartfield Road to Meadows Road in the Town of Chautauqua
• Paving on Sherman-Westfield Road (County Route 21) from Volusia to Jones Road in the Town of Westfield
• Cold milling and paving on South Roberts Road Urban Road to railroad tracks in the City of Dunkirk
• Cold milling and paving on South Work Street Village Limits to Main Street in the Village of Falconer
• Joint project with the City of Jamestown for the reconstruction of Barrett Avenue from Prather Avenue to Washington Street Bridge Ramp in the City of Jamestown
• Cold milling and paving on Pickard Hill Road (County Route 52) from Jones Corners to Red Bird Corners in the Town of Ellery
• Paving on Martin Road from the City Limits to NY 60 in the City of Jamestown
• Paving on Fredonia-Stockton Road (County Route 73) from County Route 380 to Village of Fredonia Towns of Stockton and Pomfret
• Additional projects may be completed as the construction season progresses.

MEDIA RELEASE SENT FROM COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S OFFICE

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System (CARTS) is announcing that it plans to acquire the existing downtown Jamestown Hub location at 215 East Third Street to benefit and promote public transportation in Chautauqua County.

CARTS has been operating under an existing license agreement since 2018 that allowed CARTS to utilize a portion of the property that is to be acquired for public transportation use.  This location was originally selected because of its central location in the City of Jamestown, proximity to office locations that provide public services such as City Hall and other county social services, and availability of off-street bus parking.

One of the most important issues facing our public transportation customers is knowing that the Jamestown Hub location will be in the same spot every day.  By acquiring this property, CARTS will be able to control the Jamestown Hub location and make it the permanent home for many years to come.  CARTS was able to obtain 100% New York State Department of Transportation grant funding to purchase this property, which means that there will be no local share cost to county residents.

“CARTS has never had a place to call its own in Jamestown and now CARTS can create a space that can fulfill its core public transportation mission,” said Brad Bentley, Director of Public Facilities for Chautauqua County.  “Our central location is only a couple of blocks away from most public services, businesses, and tourist attractions in the Downtown Jamestown area.”

As part of this acquisition, CARTS will partner with the City of Jamestown and the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA) to renovate the building and site. The redevelopment of the site will not only establish a permanent public transportation hub for CARTS, it will also offer an opportunity to establish a visitor welcome center that will provide a public restroom, tourist information and resources, and options for riders to grab a bite to eat or drink. The City will also partner with CARTS to develop a portion of the building as business incubator space for local entrepreneurs and early stage startups interested in opening a business such as a café, restaurant, or specialty retail shop, providing the physical space to jumpstart their businesses in a cost-effective way.

This effort will be spearheaded by the City Department of Development with the goal of providing infrastructure that fosters and supports a culture of entrepreneurship within the local community by providing a space and the resources for business owners to try and test their businesses out while also providing services and offering products that benefit CARTS ridership as well as the surrounding community.

“The County extends its appreciation to GPatti LLC and the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation for their continued assistance during the acquisition period,” said PJ Wendel, Chautauqua County Executive.  “CARTS looks forward to the partnership with the City of Jamestown and JURA to develop a site that will benefit and promote public transportation in Chautauqua County.”

“I am proud of the work that CARTS, JURA, and the City did to make this exciting project a reality,” said City of Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist.  “Ensuring that CARTS has a permanent, central home in Jamestown will grow ridership and make the downtown core accessible to all as it expands service throughout the county. The vision to make the necessary investments to make this a multi-use space will provide another anchor in Jamestown’s downtown redevelopment.”

In addition, CARTS recently announced that it had received a $1.5 million grant from New York State, which will be spent to improve bus signage, technology upgrades such that customers can locate their bus on a smart phone app, route optimization studies, and the purchase of hybrid trolley buses to help promote tourism in Jamestown and throughout Chautauqua County.  CARTS is also committing to investing future New York State Department of Transportation grant funding as it becomes available to renovate this location to provide other public transportation customer services.

As is currently the case, CARTS buses will continue to have many stops throughout the downtown Jamestown and surrounding areas and will still be picking up customers along its City Fixed Routes for any customer that may require that service.

For more information or to schedule a trip, please call CARTS at 1-800-388-6534, 716-665-6466 or 716-366-4500.  You can also follow CARTS on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CARTS.NY.

The Overland Trails, composed of the Earl Cardot Eastside Overland Trail and the Fred J. Cusimano Westside Overland Trail, are the County’s largest hiking trail system. Spanning more than 40 miles in total, the trails allow hikers to experience the beauty of Chautauqua County’s pristine forests, rolling hills, and idyllic farmland. The trails are suitable for all ages and experience levels.

In 2019, the Chautauqua County Division of Planning & Community Development released a new website, www.hikechautauqua.com , as well as new branding and marketing materials for the County’s Overland Trails. The effort was completed in partnership with the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, the County Parks Commission and Parks Department, and New York State Division of Tourism through the Market New York program as part of the Regional Economic Development Council awards. Market New York supports regionally themed marketing projects that promote tourism destinations, attractions and special events.

The marketing program has continued to increase awareness of the trail system by using social media. As of today, the @hikechautauqua Instagram has reached over 400 followers and continues to post weekly content about the trail system. The branding and marketing materials for the trails were developed in partnership with Black Dog Designs of Glenn Falls, N.Y. The materials included updated logos, maps, and infographics, as part of the new website for the trail, www.hikechautauqua.com.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the marketing program has seen increased activity on its social media.

“Everyone is excited by the new branding material,” said Brad Bentley, Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities Director. “The new maps are helpful as people are looking for safe ways to enjoy the outdoors during the outbreak and the Overland Trails are a great local resource. For those using the trails, please remember to practice social distancing.”

For those interested in exploring the Overland Trails, visit hikechautauqua.com for trail maps, FAQs, photos, hiking rules and regulations, area attractions, and more. To stay in the loop, follow @hikechautauqua on Instagram.

For more information on tourism opportunities throughout New York, visit iloveny.com.