Despite criticism, legislature approves relaunch | News, Sports, Jobs

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WATCH Photo by Gregory Bacon Norman P. Green says the $ 8 million for a sewer extension on the west side of Lake Chautauqua will benefit a dozen millionaires in Cleveland, Ohio. The money is part of the American Rescue Plan Act fund, now approved by the federal government.

MAYVILLE – Instead of waiting, the Chautauqua County legislature went ahead and approved a plan that allocates $ 24.6 million from American Rescue Plan Act funding to 43 projects.

County lawmakers approved the plan on Wednesday, but comments were made on both sides of the aisle.

During the legislative meeting, lawmaker Chuck Nazzaro, D-Jamestown, proposed an amendment to the resolution. He added the line “subject to further consideration”, so that the legislator will have to re-approve each individual project. The amendment was adopted without comment.

Lawmaker Bob Bankoski, D-Dunkirk, has asked the legislature to postpone the vote until next month. He wanted to give all municipalities an additional 30 days so that local officials could contact County Executive PJ Wendel for any proposed changes. “I think the 40 or so projects are well worth the expense of these funds, but we may have missed some. A brief extension, I think, of 30 days will not delay the spending of these funds, ”he said.

Lawmaker Christine Starks, D-Fredonia, agreed. “I think another 30 days would be valuable,” she said.

Along with Bankoski and Starks, lawmakers Bob Whitney, D-Jamestown and Paul Whitford, D-Jamestown voted to table the resolution. Nazzaro joined the 14 other Republicans opposed to his presentation.

Soon after, the 19 lawmakers approved the spending plan, which is required by the federal government.

Ahead of the vote, Norman P. Green, a county executive candidate on the Democratic line, called on county lawmakers to drop the entire process and start over, as there were no town halls where contributions were solicited.

The mayors of Dunkirk and Jamestown sent a joint statement on Tuesday, calling for the approval to be postponed, even though the two cities receive significantly more money than the county compared to their respective budgets. Jamestown receives nearly $ 29 million and Dunkirk more than $ 11 million.

After the vote, Green continued to criticize the legislature for approving the bill. He particularly challenged the $ 8 million for the Phase II sewer extension on the west side of Lake Chautauqua. “One third of the total money that has been provided by the federal government in Chautauqua County is for this line. Is it important? Yes. Will it ever be funded? Yes. The money is coming, somewhere, in a certain way. Is it more important than funding things like expanding the bus service, or saving the White Inn (in Fredonia), or having a bus service that goes from Dunkirk to Fredonia, to Jamestown so our workers can get to the Jamestown’s job at Wells Ice Cream Factory? Is it more important than the Fredonia dam? “, did he declare.

He accused the legislature of funding a project that “will benefit a dozen millionaires in Cleveland, Ohio” instead of helping the people of Chautauqua County. “We have the opportunity in Dunkirk and Fredonia to make an itnerconnect and to have two water sources. We have a golden opportunity, a sum of money in gold. It’s a shame not to take this money right now for a problem that affects thousands and thousands of Fredonians and Pomfrets, ”he said.

On Thursday, a day after the legislature approved the bill, County Executive PJ Wendel released a statement defending the process.

“The County Executive Office held meetings only dedicated to meeting with the Mayor of the City of Jamestown, Eddie Sundquist, and the Mayor of the City of Dunkirk, Willie Rosas, to discuss the ARPA project collaboration. . The first meeting was on March 23 to discuss ARPA funding to improve broadband access, and the second was on June 2 to discuss the US bailout. Mayor Sundquist told meeting attendees not to shell out any money for the town of Jamestown in the county’s ARPA projects because the town had its own plan, ”Wendel said in the press release. “In addition, Mayor Rosas did not attend the first meeting and sent a liaison officer from his office to the second. In addition, the county executive office holds monthly conference call meetings with all county town supervisors and mayors. Sundquist and Rosas are both invited to these monthly meetings and could have presented ARPA projects, but neither of the mayors actively participated in these calls.

County Legislator Elisabeth Rankin of Jamestown encouraged residents who have other ideas on how the money should be spent to contact their county legislator.

The 43 projects cover elements of public health, infrastructure, economic / workforce development, drinking water, public safety and a few miscellaneous projects. To view a full list of projects included in the approved ARPA plan, visit the County Executive page on the County website at: https://chqgov.com/county-executive/County-Executive.

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