Carroll Area Nature Trail

The grand opening for the Carroll Area Nature Trail will take place Saturday, October 29.

Chautauqua Rails to Trails will open the new two-mile segment at 11:00 a.m. in the village of Frewsburg.

The rail-trail-turned-recreational trail extends from the land behind Lobb’s Service Center at 129 West Main Street in the village to Riverside Road in the town of Carroll.

Joe Sempolinski

Representative Joe Sempolinski will be holding town hall meetings in each of the 11 counties of the current 23rd Congressional district.

Sempolinski, in his weekly media call, said the town hall for Chautauqua County will be held at 8:00 a.m., Saturday, November 5th at the town of Carroll Town Hall in the village of Frewsburg.

He said it’s his goal to get to every county before the final session of Congress takes place after elections to hear the thoughts and concerns of the people of the district, “I think it’s always better to make sure the ideas are flowing in that direction as opposed to bad ideas from Washington D.C. being inflicted on the people back home. It’s better to have the wisdom of the people from the district going into Washington D.C. as we’re making policy. So, if you’re going to be a good representative you need to listen to the people. You need to listen to the people you work for.”

Sempolinski said in his talks with people, there’s a feeling that government doesn’t listen to them, “That they feel disconnected from their government. That could be federal, that could be state. And that’s why I’m so committed to accessibility. That’s why I’m so committed to the town hall meeting format. If you come to one of my town hall meetings, you can ask me any questions you want to ask.”

Sempolinski said all town hall meetings will be open to the public.

The clinic, co-sponsored by the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health and town of Carroll, will take place from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. It’ll be located at the Town of Carroll Town Hall at 5 West Main Street in Frewsburg.

New York State Public Health Law requires each dog, cat, and domesticated ferret over the age of four months be vaccinated against rabies. County residents are encouraged to be responsible pet owners by having their pets vaccinated.

This clinic will be a drive-in clinic and animals must be pre-registered to receive vaccinations. Vaccinations will be provided free of charge to all dogs, cats, and domesticated ferrets three months of age and older.

The link to pre-register online for the clinic can be found here: https://on.ny.gov/3Rs83Uh

If you register but decide not to attend the event, please cancel your appointment so the spot is available for another pet. You can cancel appointments via the confirmation email you receive when you register. Walk-ins may be accepted, but are not guaranteed.

For more information about the clinic and rabies in general, visit https://chqgov.com/environmental-health/rabies-prevention or contact the Division of Public Health at (716) 753-4481.

Under New York State’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”), local municipalities have the opportunity to opt out of allowing retail dispensaries and on-site consumption licensees to operate within their jurisdiction. To do so, the town, village, or city’s legislative body must adopt a local law to ‘opt out’ by December 31, 2021. In August alone, the boards of three local townships have voted to opt out: Ellicott (on Aug. 16), Carroll (on Aug. 11), and Busti (on Aug. 2).

But even with the town board’s approval to ‘opt out’, the local law is still subject to a permissive referendum governed by New York State Municipal Home Rule Law. State law provides that the proposed local law takes effect 45 days after its adoption, unless a valid petition requesting a permissive referendum is filed with the municipality’s clerk within that 45-day period. Any individual who was qualified and registered to vote in the last general election can file a petition calling for the permissive referendum. In order to force a public vote on the local law, the petition must be signed and authenticated by at least 10 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor during the last gubernatorial election in the respective municipality.

The last gubernatorial election was in 2018. In the town of Ellicott 3,455 people voted for governor that year, meaning a minimum of 346 signatures would have to be collected to force a public vote. Meanwhile, the total number of votes for governor in the Town of Busti was 3,319, meaning 332 signatures would have to be collected. In the Town of Carroll the number was 1,445, meaning 145 signatures would have to be collected.

Besides any qualified local resident having the opportunity to submit a petition, any member of the town board can also present a resolution within 45 days of the local laws passage, calling for a public vote on the matter. If a majority of the town board approves the proposed resolution, a public vote would then take place.

In addition to townships having the ability to ‘opt out’, each village in the township also has the choice to opt out or allow dispensaries to open, regardless of what their township does. For example, even though the Town of Ellicott opted out, both the village of Celoron and the Village of Falconer would also have to pass their own Opt Out local law, in order to disallow marijuana dispensaries from operating in their respective jurisdictions.

Clymer is another township in Chautauqua County that has decided to ‘opt out’ of allowing marijuana dispensaries from opening. But officials made that decision in Mid-June, meaning the 45-day window to file for a permissive referendum has already passed.

A reason for the turnout was due in part to several high-profile Republican Party primaries for local office, along with the primary for the state seat vacated by Cathy Young.

In Chautauqua County, the primary election that saw the best turnout was in the Town of Carroll, where 37 percent of all registered Republicans came out to vote in the primary for Town Supervisor. Russell Payne ended up being the winner in that race.

Three Republican primaries saw turnouts of 26 percent. They were the race for Jamestown City Council Ward 2, the race for Kiantone Town Supervisor, and the Race for Chautauqua County Legislature District 18. The respective winners for those races were Tony Dolce, Joshua Ostrander, and Bill Ward.

The Jamestown Mayoral Republican Primary saw a turnout of 21 percent. David Wilfong was the winner.

And the turnout for the 57th senate district republican primary saw a turnout of 19 percent across the district, as well as 19 percent in Chautauqua county. George Borrello won that race.

The county Board of Elections will count absentee/affidavit results next Tuesday and certify all primary elections.

The only race it appears that could be impacted by an absentee/affidavit vote is the Independence Party primary in the town of Carroll for town clerk. Currently Susan Rowley leads the Independence Party primary over incumbent Tenneil Stelmack by a 20 to 19 vote. However, one absentee ballot was received for the primary.

Both mean are running for the seat that was held by David Himelein of Findley Lake until his passing earlier this year. The district covers most of the town of Chautauqua – including the Mayville area – as well as the Towns of Mina and Sherman.

Ward is now the endorsed candidate for both the Republican and Democratic party, as well as the Independence and Working Families parties.

Syper will still appear on the ballot as a candidate for the Conservative party.

Meanwhile, incumbent Republican Kevin Muldowney of Legislature District 1 in Dunkirk won his party’s primary in the north county.

In the tightly contested Republican Primary for Town of Carrol Supervisor, challenger Russell Payne defeated incumbent Laura Smith 188 to 159.

In the Republican Primary for Town of Kiantone Supervisor, Joshua Ostrander defeated Kevin Myers.

Timothy Wright

FREWSBURG – The embattled police chief for the town of Carroll who faced domestic-violence related charges is now back on the job.

On Wednesday night the Town of Carroll town board voted to end Chief Timothy Wright’s period of unpaid leave and return him to his position.

Wright was arrested following an alleged domestic dispute with his wife while driving through the Town of Leon in Cattaraugus County in April. A state police investigation found that Wright allegedly struck his wife several times causing injuries.

However, the assault charge was recently dismissed in Leon town court.

As a result, the town board voted unanimously to return Wright back to the position of Police Chief.

Timothy Wright

LEON, NY – Embattled Town of Carroll Police Chief Tim Wright has pleaded not guilty to a third-degree assault charge.

Wright – who is currently on administrative leave from his position – made his plea Monday in town of Leon Town Court. He was charged earlier this month with 3rd degree assault following a State Police investigation into an alleged domestic incident with his wife that occurred on April 5.

The case is being handled in Leon, a township in Cattaraugus County, because that is where the alleged incident took place as the couple drove through the area. Wright, a former Jamestown Police Department officer and detective, is on a paid two-month leave of absence while he answers to the charges.

Meanwhile, the Post-Journal is reporting that town justice Ashley Milliman has delivered complete “stay away” order of protection against Wright, meaning he cannot go near his wife nor have any contact with her.

Wright will appear in Leon Town Court with his attorney and the assistant district attorney on Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Long-time Ellicott police officer and Carroll detective James Curtis was named interim-police chief.