Officials cut the ribbon on the completion of Phase One of the West Side Sewer Expansion Project (June 12, 2023)

Officials cut the ribbon Monday in Stow on Phase 1 of the Westside Sewer Extension.

The $16.9 million project brings sewer and water along Route 394 from Ashville to Stow and services approximately 450 developed properties in the Town of North Harmony.

Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman and South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Board member Pierre Chagnon said the project began nine and a half years ago when then County Executive Vince Horrigan put together a steering group to look at options for putting in public sewers around Chautauqua Lake,  “Nine years ago this month was the first meeting of the project team, working with the O’Brien and Gere Engineering Team, to begin developing the integrated sewage management plan for Chautauqua Lake. The integrated sewage management plan was completed in October of 2014. And the highest priority in that plan was given to completing the sewers on the westside of the lake.”

South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Board member Tom Erlandson had done two surveys in the 1960s and 1980s to ask homeowners about putting sewers around Chautauqua Lake.

He said sewering is important not just for the lake but for public health as well, “It will remove septic tanks from near people’s wells. 41%, in my surveys around the lake, 41% of the houses were contaminating their own wells with their own sewage.”

Phase one of the project was financed through a combination of grants and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Clean Water State Revolving Fund funding at a rate of zero percent for 30 years.

Officials plan to break ground on Phase 2 of the project in Fall 2024.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel delivers State of the County address (March 22, 2023)

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said the county is “on the precipice of greatness” in his  State of the County address.

Wendel said the 2022 contribution to the general fund balance was $19.4 million, “This contribution is created in part by holding our teams to fiscally responsible budgets, an increase in the tax foreclosure auction, an overdue settlement of the tribal compact, as well as continued success in our sales tax revenue. With the work of our fiscal team and my guidance, we’ve been able to provide a tax rate reduction for the last two years, totaling 71-cents per thousand while maintaining the ability to provide contributions to the fund balance.”

Wendel said the fund balance contributions over the last three years have met and exceeded recommended levels under the five-year financial management plan.

He said there were record investments in the county in 2022, “The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency reported 50 approved projects with a combined total of $501 million of committed investments. The committed investments will create nearly 300 new jobs, retain an additional 774 existing jobs, and create construction projects and construction jobs throughout our county.”

Wendel also cited the restructuring of the Department of Mental Hygiene with the Department of Social Services, that included the separating of the Department of Health out as a separate department. He also recognized the Sheriff Department‘s new Unsolved Cases Teams that has resulted in new leads on homicides and missing persons cases.

Securing state and federal funds for the phase two expansion of the West Side South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District, was another highlight for Wendel, “I remain committed to improving our water and sewer infrastructure around Chautauqua Lake. And this phase two will divert an estimated 62 million gallons of wastewater a year to the proper wastewater treatment facilities.”

Wendel said he’s continuing to advocate for healthcare in the north county, including contacting Governor Kathy Hochul‘s office to push for funding to be released for the Brooks Memorial Hospital project.

He also said the county and Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency are working on creating a 150 acre shovel ready industrial site in the western part of the county.

Wendel cited record inflation, unfunded state mandates like Medical Assistance Treatment at the County Jail, as well as the possible clawback of over $4 million in Enhanced Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages in the proposed state budget as challenges facing Chautauqua County.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel’s State of the County slideshow – March 20, 2023

South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Director Tom Walsh addresses Public Facilities Committee (June 13, 2022)

The expansion of the South Chautauqua Lake Sewer District to include the rest of the west side of Chautauqua Lake has cleared the County Legislature’s Public Facilities committee.

The Committee reviewed three resolutions related to bonding for $24 million for the project, establishing a capital account for construction, and establishing the new district boundaries.

South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District Director Tom Walsh, speaking to the committee, said the Phase 2 extension is a build-on to the Phase One extension that is currently being built between Ashville and Stow, “Phase 2 will approximately offer municipal sewer for over 500 parcels for 350 developed properties. By extending the district and offering sewer to the west Phase 2 customers, this will complete the sewer extension and provide sewer service to the entire west side of Chautauqua Lake itself.”

Walsh said Phase 1 construction is currently on schedule and on budget.

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.

Pictured, the South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District board and staff meet with Quackenbush Construction Company and Ahlstrom Schaeffer Electric Corporation.

CELORON – South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District (SCCLSD) staff and board members recently met with Quackenbush Construction Company and Ahlstrom Schaeffer Electric Corporation to kick off a capital improvement project at the water pollution control facility.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently finalized discharge permit modifications which included a reduction in residual chlorine levels as well as imposing strict ammonia limits.

In order to meet these requirements, the district recently awarded contracts to Quackenbush Construction Company of Buffalo and Ahlstrom Schaeffer Electric Corporation of Jamestown totaling $1.7 million for the installation of new treatment equipment.

The new equipment includes energy-efficient blowers and a fine bubble diffused air system with sophisticated, computerized controls and real-time sampling.

The new limits are part of an ongoing effort to reduce nutrient loading in Chautauqua Lake and the downstream watershed and the project will be completed by Fall of 2020. The facility will remain fully operational during construction.

The Celoron facility began operation in 1980 and processes an average of 2.5 million gallons per day (MGD) of combined municipal and industrial sewer and waste water from a regional collection area.  The facility has a rated treatment capacity of 4.1 MGD, and provides sewage treatment for approximately 5,000 customers.

Officials with the O’Brien & Gere engineering firm (seated left) listen to public comment during a hearing on Oct. 25, 2017 of the Chautauqua County Legislature.

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature held a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed $16.9 million extension of the South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts in North Harmony, which would involve providing sewer service to 240 parcels of property that currently rely on septic systems.

Following the hearing, the legislature approved the expansion proposal, on the condition that the final cost to individual property owners wouldn’t exceed $1000/year to help pay off any bonding needed to develop the project.

During the hearing, officials with the engineering firm of O’Brien & Gere were on hand to provide details of the project and answer questions from public, which included 15 different individuals speaking during the hearing, including several residents as well as those who only live in the area on a seasonal basis.

Officials say the extension will help to reduce the amount of phosphate that enter the lake because currently, most septic systems in the service area are not able to eliminate phosphates. Phosphates contribute to the growth of algae and other vegetation that can impact the health of the lake, which was evident this past summer with conditions being among the worst ever seen, even for long-time residents.

“My home is in Pittsburgh but I’ve been a visitor for 62 years. This is the 100th year that six generations of my family have been coming here. We kind of like it, for one reason because of the lake,” said Jake Kuntz. “This is one of the things that we need to do. I’m not thrilled about paying another $1,000 a year to come to Watson Rd., but I will, as will my daughters. I urge you, move forward, show leadership, and please do your part.”

Former NY Assemblyman and Stow area resident Rolland Kidder addresses the county legislature during its Oct. 25 public hearing on extending the South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District.

Another who spoke was former New York Assemblyman and area resident Rolland Kidder, who also urged the legislature to support the extension.

“Of the approximately $60 million in local property taxes collected by this county, about $27 million come from five townships [that surround Chautauqua Lake] and I’d estimate that about half of that can be directly attributed directly to the lake,” Kidder said. “So this gem, not directly represented by anybody and nestled in the center of Chautauqua County, is producing about $13 million a year for your budget. Your vote tonight will have a direct impact on its health and ability to continue contributing to the property tax levy.”

All but one person spoke in favor of the project.

Officials said that the no-interest bonding for the project would take about 30 years to pay off. But they also said the final cost to individual property owners in the service area will depend on how much grant funding the project can receive to help offset any borrowing that may be necessary.

Funding for the project will be sought in early 2018 and the project will not move forward until officials have a spending plan in place to ensure the cost won’t exceed $1000/year for the residents who would benefit from the sewer system.

According to the resolution, the extension is subject to permissive referendum pursuant to county law and the legislature clerk will publish a public notice on the referendum within the next ten days.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the efforts to improve the environmental health of Chautauqua Lake, including the North Chautauqua Lake Sewer District and the South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District’s proposed upgrades. There will also be information about district expansions, septic system inspections, numerous tributary stream bank stabilization projects, nuisance aquatic vegetation management, algae, and invasive species.

And the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance will give an update on its activities and efforts to leverage state and federal dollars for important Chautauqua Lake projects.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information call (716) 661-8915.