Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel at Barcelona Harbor while Army Corp of Engineers performs dredging work (May 2023)

The Army Corp of Engineers has started the dredging of Barcelona Harbor.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said the harbor has essentially been shut down due to the sediment that filled in over the last several years.

He said while $1.1 million in federal funding was approved for the project, the timeline needed to be sped up so as not to impact the late Spring and Summer commercial fishing season, “In a call with the Army Corp, they said they were waiting for the state. In typical County Executive Wendel fashion, I picked up the phone, hit mute and took my camera off, and called the DEC and talked to Julie O’Neill who is a phenomenal partner in the DEC for the county. I said, ‘Julie, what are the chances that we could get in here earlier than July? It makes no sense.’ ‘Let me look at it County Executive,’ and within a couple days she came back and said, ‘Boom, we can get you in as early as May, does that work?'”

Wendel said his administration is continuing to work on engineering projects to deal with sediment issues in Barcelona and Dunkirk Harbors as well as Hanford Bay and Sunset Bay, “We do have engineering studies that we’re going to go for funding, putting in a request next year. Those engineering plans, once they’re in hand they help us leverage funding because there’s EPA funding coming out. There’s money, we’re being told, will be released shortly, so if we have those plans in hand, we’re at the front of the line ready to apply for funding and opportunities.”

Wendel added that Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District will be a big partner in these future projects.

Jeff Musial of Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics holds one of his animal ambassadors, a lemur, during a presentation at JCC.

Jamestown Community College will hold Earthfest 2023 today.

The event will take place 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. along the pondside walkway, weather permitting, and in the Student Union of the Hamilton Collegiate Center. The event is free and open to the public, and will focus on protecting water resources and keeping them clean.

The event will feature live music, eco-friendly vendors, art work, educational displays and a noon performance by Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics.

The Earth Awareness Club will hold a tree seedling adoption with tree donations made by the Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Plastic Soup Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation’s “Protecting Our Water Resources” and “Water for Wildlife” efforts.

For more information, visit sunyjcc.edu/events.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Conservation Director Twan Leenders providing information on Chadakoin River work to City Council (March 27, 2023)

Work to remove debris in the Chadakoin River Basin is expected to begin in April.

Jamestown City Council approved an allocation by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation of $327,925 in American Rescue Plan funds to the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. These funds are in addition to $35,000 approved by the JLDC board to CWC for work on the Chadakoin River.

CWC Conservation Director Twan Leenders said there are three projects that the funding will be used for, with the first being the debris removal, “It has a number of verticle stumps and all kinds of debris that has accumulated over the decades in there. Two of the different projects involve clearing that out as soon as possible. I just had a meeting yesterday with the DEC and we have the greenlight to actually go ahead with those as soon as possible.”

Leenders said that work will make the basin safe for boaters and other recreation activities. He anticipates starting that work the beginning of April.

Leenders said other projects on the Chadakoin River involves bank restoration on the north shore of the basin as well as both the north and south shores between the Warner Dam and Main Street Bridge, “Those three sections are truly at an imminent risk of collapsing, just as a result of the way the Warner Dam is maintained and has been maintained for decades with the water level purposely kept at a certain height every summer between May 1 and November 1, in part to also control the lake level for Chautauqua Lake for recreational uses.”

Leenders said that water height maintenance has caused the banks above the dam to be undercut by several feet. The project will build out the banks with rocks as well as native vegetation being planted.

He added the last project being funded is the removal of two large beaver dams on Canal Street off Jones & Gifford Avenue. This will help with water flow to alleviate flooding in that area.

Leenders said the bank stabilization projects will likely begin late this Fall when the Warner Dam is opened again. Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District will be contracted to do the work.

Jamestown City Council

The City of Jamestown received $1.8 million in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program funds for the eight positions, but council members have raised concerns about having to lay off those positions once grant funds run out in three years.

Also on tonight’s voting agenda is a resolution to use $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for the construction of Splash Pads at Allen and Jackson-Taylor Parks. Council also will vote on a total of $221,000 in requests using ARP funds to add a playground at Willard Park, a pickleball court at Roseland Park, repave basketball courts, and buy 18 new planters for downtown.

A proposal to stabilize the banks of the Chadakoin River in the south basin and between the Warner Dam and North Main Street bridge is up for Council approval.

The allocation of $327,925 in ARP to the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy had been approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation, but as the request is over the $100,000 threshold, it requires Council approval. Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District would be contracted to do the work.

Council also will review a local law to increase the mayor’s salary to $82,000 and increase city council member’s salaries to $7,000 with council president receiving an additional $1,000.

A second law pertaining to increasing elected officials’ salaries has also been filed per the request of Council Member Bill Reynolds that includes the original recommendation from the Jamestown Salary Review Commission. This local law would increase City Council members’ salaries from $5,000 to $7,500 while increasing the Council President’s salary from $6,000 to $9,000. It also recommends increasing the Mayor’s salary from $72,000 to $82,000.

Both local laws will be tabled for 30 days and be voted on at the April voting session. If approved, the salary increases would not go into effect until January 1, 2024.

A school bus stop arm camera program contract with BusPatrol and a contract with Bird Bike to bring an ebike and escooter program to Jamestown are also up for consideration.

A work session will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the fourth floor Police Training room with the voting session starting at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall. Both are open to the public with the voting session being livestreamed at jamestownny.gov.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s Twan Leenders presents to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation board (March 15, 2023)

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation board has approved over $360,000 toward Chadakoin River bank stabilization and debris removal.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Conservation Director Twan Leenders presented a request for $362,925 in American Rescue Plan funding to remove debris in the Chadakoin River basin as well as do bank stabilization work on the basin’s north shore as well as the north and south shores between the Warner Dam and Main Street Bridge.

Leenders said with the city receiving funding to activate the Chadakoin River basin, there are other projects that should take place first, “It involves items like the existence of tree stumps and vertical spikes in the basin. If you go down to the Chadakoin basin right now, with the water level being as low as it is, you’ll see three, four-foot spikes sticking up out of the sediment. You’ll see tree stumps sticking up. And, you know at this point the dam is still open because it’s on the winter regime, so it’s mostly for flood control just getting water from Chautauqua Lake, melting water, rain water, to feed it out as soon as possible.”

Leenders said the dam will close on May 1, causing water levels in the basin to rise to the same level as Chautauqua Lake and hiding those spikes from boaters. He recommended the debris removal be done as soon as possible given that water levels are low and the DEC will prohibit work in the river come April 1 when fish spawning season arrives.

Leenders said Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District would be contracted to do the work for all of the projects.

JLDC broke up CWC’s request by approving $35,000 for the debris removal project so that that project could begin immediately. They then approved a second resolution for the remaining $327,925 for bank stabilization work.

City Council will review the $327,925 funding request at its work session on Monday, March 20th where Leenders is expected to present on the request.

Council previously approved $277,750 from the Water, Sewer and Broadband funds category to fund phase one of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Chadakoin River Stabilization Project. Phase one, which involved the CWC removing debris and clearing trees out of the lower Chadakoin River, was completed in Summer 2022.

Chautauqua Institution‘s Symphony Orchestra was granted $50,000 in Downtown Programming funds for a concert at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

The program will be “The Music of Billy Joel featuring Michael Cavanaugh with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra” and is scheduled to take place Thursday, August 17.

This will be the first time the Chautauqua Symphony performs off the Institution’s grounds. Their previously scheduled performance in 2020 was canceled due to the Pandemic and the performance scheduled for August 2022 was canceled after author Salman Rushdie was attacked at the Institution’s Amphiteatre the same day.

Parks Manager Dan Stone presents on proposed park improvements to City Council (March 6, 2023)

Several ARP-funded parks projects have been given the go-ahead in committee by Jamestown City Council.

Parks Manager Dan Stone presented to Council about projects that would utilize $221,000 of American Rescue Plan funds.

Stone said the playground at Roseland was built on top of the old tennis courts, which helped make it handicapped accessible. He said, however, with everything being blacktop and with few areas to plant trees, the playground gets hot very quickly in the summer, “So, we’d like to go in and remove all existing blacktop and then pour a new path that goes around completely. It’ll be handicapped accessible all throughout and a lot more green space in there along with a shade structure. And then in the front part parking lot area, we’ll create two new pickle ball courts, a small parking area with handicapped parking right up to the fence as well.”

The Roseland Park project is projected to cost $120,000.

Stone said long overdue upgrades are proposed for Willard Park, “We run into some difficulties with this park. This has been one that’s been talked about for a long time. You see in the picture on the left there’s a nice chunk of concrete right there. There’s a foundation from the old school house all throughout that upper park. Then it drops off quite severe, heading down the hill even as you see at the top part it goes all the way down. And it continues except for the nice flat area we have here, which the kids love to use that wide, flat open area for football, baseball, things like that.”

Stone said the Parks Department is requesting $72,000 to put in a new swing set and playground set. He said they also plan to install a volleyball court following many requests for one in the parks.

Stone said the City has also had talks with the Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District about planting a fruit tree orchard on the steep slope of the park that’s not as conducive for play.

Two other proposals include allocating $15,000 toward resurfacing basketball courts at Jackson-Taylor, Allen, and Bergman Parks and $14,000 toward the purchase of 18 self-watering flower pots for the downtown area.

Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District

The grants are through the State Department of Environmental Conservation‘s Water Quality Improvement program and Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Mapping Grant program.

Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District received $432,555 for streambank stabilization. This project will reduce erosion, sediment, and nutrients in the Chautauqua Lake Watershed.

A $105,000 grant will go toward implementing a county-wide roadside stabilization and hydroseeding program. This program will decrease roadside erosion to reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients in tributaries to Lake Erie.

The town of Chautauqua received a $30,000 grant to assess road and stream culvert crossings in the Chautauqua Lake watershed using the North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative framework and produce a culvert engineering design report for projects to address erosion caused by failing or inadequately sized culverts.

The Village of Lakewood received a $30,000 grant to complete a stormwater engineering study for the Chautauqua Mall Boulevard commercial corridor to reduce excessive stormwater runoff in the study area and to improve water quality entering Chautauqua Lake.

The town of North Harmony will receive a $30,000 grant to work with an engineer to develop a streambank stabilization engineering study of approximately 2,640 linear feet of stream corridor along Ball Creek. The engineering design report will identify areas of erosion and stream instability and identify potential management actions to reduce sediment and nutrient loading to Chautauqua Lake.

The town of Mina will receive a total of $90,000 for three projects. One will be to complete a stormwater retrofit engineering report to evaluate existing stormwater infrastructure and recommend stormwater retrofit practices. The project will reduce nutrient loading to Findley Lake.

They also will complete a comprehensive assessment of culverts in the Findley Lake watershed to identify any stream culverts that are undersized or failing. The project will reduce nutrients from erosion in tributaries to Findley Lake.

And the third project will be to complete an engineering study to assess the benefits of using in-waterbody controls for nutrients in Findley Lake. The report will evaluate existing nutrient loading conditions and recommend in-waterbody controls to reduce nutrient pollution.

Drawings of proposed Splash Pads at Allen and Jackson-Taylor Parks (provided by Parkitects)

Jamestown City Council will hear a presentation on $721,000 worth of American Rescue Plan funded parks projects that include two Splash Pads at its work session tonight.

Resolutions pre-filed include $500,000 toward the construction of splash pads at Allen and Jackson-Taylor Parks. The staff report said the City anticipates grant funding could cover a significant amount of the project and that unspent funds will be returned to the ARPA funds. They said while they anticipate water usage costs will increase, it can be absorbed in the Parks Department budget.

The pads would be ADA compliant and, based on drawings provided by Parkitects in the staff report, be located on the current skatepark pad at Jackson-Taylor Park and near the corner of West Virginia Blvd and Elizabeth Avenue in Allen Park.

Another resolution allocates $120,000 toward improvements at Roseland Park that includes a new pickleball court and new shade or pavilion structure.

Improvements to Willard Park are proposed under another resolution allocating $72,000 in ARP funds. This project includes a new playground and volleyball court.

The staff report said the City is in talks with the Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District on an Urban Farming Grant to plant a fruit tree orchard in the park.

Two additional resolutions would allocate $15,000 toward resurfacing basketball courts at Jackson-Taylor, Allen, and Bergman Parks and $14,000 toward the purchase of eight self-watering flower pots for the downtown area. These planters would repace concrete planters.

A presentation on a proposed Electric Bike and Scooter pilot program will be done by Bird Bike Share.

Bird Bike Share currently has programs in Dunkirk and Olean. According to the staff report, a similar bike or scooter share program here would have no cost to the City and involve a revenue-share of $0.20 (cents) per ride to help fund protected bike lanes or other transportation projects.

Council also will review a resolution to contract with BusPatrol for the installation and management of a bus stop arm camera program.

City Council had previously authorized a Bus Stop Arm camera program to catch violations of motorists passing buses when stop arm is out.

BusPatrol would outfit the school district’s fleet at no cost, with the City receiving a share of the fine money. Jamestown Public Schools passed the proposal in February 2023.

While the staff reports states there is no cost to the school district, nor the city, the contract states the city is responsible for the cost of the camera installation as well as a monthly technology fee. These costs will come out of the 40% in fee revenue the city receives.

City Council also will hear an update on the Jamestown Community Cat Program that was being done by the Chautauqua County Humane Society.

The Housing Committee meeting is at 6:45 p.m. with other committees meeting at 7:00 p.m. The full City Council work session will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. All meetings are open to the public with the full work session also being livestreamed at jamestownny.gov.

CWC Director of Conservation Twan Leenders is pictured in a kayak in Ashville Bay during the first pilot removal effort of starry stonewort on September 30.

Local Lake and Watershed organizations have teamed up against the invasive species, starry stonewart, in Chautauqua Lake.

Starry stonewort can easily be mistaken for an aquatic plant at first glance. It first made its way to North America in 1974 via the St. Lawrence River. Since then it has spread to lakes across the Northeast.

The algae is identified by its thin grass-like branches, which grow in whorls around a central stem. Starry stonewort can appear green or brown in color, may be crunchy to the touch, and can be mistaken for native lookalikes like muskgrass. It can form dense stands in late-summer and early-fall, and can be difficult to detect before this growing season.

If left unaddressed, this invasive has the potential to spread to new areas of the lake, impede recreation, crowd out native plants and animals, and negatively impact game fish species.

Representatives from the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, the Chautauqua Lake Association, the Alliance, Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium, and Audubon joined volunteers last month to try to remove starry stonewart from Ashville Bay.

The group performed manual removal with a variety of tools including rakes, screens, and baskets. After around four hours of work, the manual removal team had gathered approximately 12 large bags of starry stonewort, or approximately 750 pounds of material to be disposed.

Following the pilot removal, stakeholders are continuing to assess their findings, consult with outside experts, and collaborate to determine the best path forward to manage starry stonewort in the lake.

For more information, contact Twan Leenders at Twan@chautauquawatershed.org.

The funding through the State’s Agricultural Non-point Source Abatement and Control program will support agricultural water quality conservation projects, enhance water quality in priority watersheds, and protect the environment.

Soil and Water received $149,007 to help a farm in the Allegany River – French Creek Watershed. This project will implement best management practice systems for its waste storage facility and livestock heavy use area protection. It also will reduce the potential of nutrient leaching to surface and ground water sources. The project also will address a high priority watershed to reduce the potential impacts of agricultural non-point source pollution on sensitive streams and ground water resources.

$204,920 will go toward work with a farm in the Allegany River – Upper Little Brokenstraw Creek/Chautauqua Lake Watershed. Soil and Water will work with the farm to implement a waste storage facility that will provide total collection of leachate and runoff from farm feed storage. The project also will work to prevent potential nutrient runoff to a classified trout stream. And they will address a high priority watershed to reduce the potential impacts of agricultural non-point source pollution on sensitive streams and ground water resources.