Cattaraugus County Legislative Update
By Kathleen Kellogg

The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will be distributed to the individual states which in turn are charged with granting funds for local projects to stimulate economic development provide needed services and keep Americans working.

You might know about the Civilian Conservation Corps and the backbreaking labor provided by many local men who are now members of the “octogenarian set.” In a program not unlike the one ramping up now in Albany, during the Great Depression these men earned precious dollars and grew strong and tough, building the camps and trails and forested areas on state lands in Cattaraugus County.

You may wonder what types of projects Cattaraugus County, various towns, villages and other entities have submitted for funding that just might help us have jobs or other assistance during the coming lean times. In one category, almost $4 million has been set aside for Cattaraugus County infrastructure improvements, with the caveat that if the projects are awarded funds but don’t meet the criteria, or can’t be completed; the funds will be pooled for distribution elsewhere.

Here are some examples of applications that have been submitted: the city of Olean requested $5 million to upgrade the Two Mile Sewer line to handle new industrial or commercial growth that is expected in the north end of the city. The Cattaraugus County government has requested funding in the infrastructure category for three road surfacing projects: overlay 2.9 miles of County Route 83, or the Back Buffalo Road, at a cost of $570,000; milling and asphalt overlay of a mile of County Road 19, the Five Mile Road, at a cost of $620,000; and milling and asphalt overlay of 1.5 miles of County Road 4, or Broadway Road, at a cost of $300,000.

According to an early list of submissions by local governments, the town of Ellicottville hopes for $650,000 to explore for a new water well; the village of Ellicottville requested replacement of a 300,000 gallon in-ground storage tank at an estimated cost of $450,000, and the addition of a treatment component to help sewage permit discharge requirements for ammonia in summer, at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.

The village of South Dayton hopes for $1 million to widen Main Street; the city of Olean would like $500,000 to build a four-season farmer’s market, and the village of Gowanda requests $172,000 to construct a pedestrian and bike trail from Water Street to Aldrich Street, while the village of Franklinville would like to use $85,000 to build a four-mile recreational trail from the village to Case Lake.

 On another list, Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Agency is assisting the City of Salamanca to obtain stimulus funds to stabilize and update its water storage facility, and is seeking funds for an access road and infrastructure for a business park at the Cattaraugus County-Olean Municipal Airport. The Agency is also working to secure funds for regional projects, including a broadband inventory and installation through rural communities, a multimodal transfer facility, and railroad rehabilitation on the Southern Tier Extension of the Mainline.

There are many categories of Stimulus aid available in several rounds over the next 18 months and projects must be shovel-ready and meet all applicable permitting requirements in order to be eligible. In recent weeks officials learned that CHIPS funding was cut, but then restored and boosted by the Stimulus bill.

Many government officials have been hard at work to submit the applications for aidable projects under numerous categories in time for a March deadline. Requests from Cattaraugus County, its municipalities and agencies fill about 12 pages of Governor Paterson’s 878-page Economic Recovery Web site, and are among an estimated 14,000 applications that were submitted to the state as of March 18.

Cattaraugus County Administrator Jack Searles stated in a March 24 memo to the County Legislators that some of the county requests appear twice in the web list, which can be downloaded as a pdf file to a home computer by typing this address into your browser:

http://www.economicrecovery.ny.gov/assets/pdf/internet_20090318.pdf.
Be patient: It’s 878 pages long.

In addition to infrastructure and transportation-related projects, there are also funds in the neighborhood of $5 million destined to boost the county’s Medicaid costs and provide about $772,000 to assist with nursing homes expenses through what is expected to be the worst of the economic recession over the next 18-24 months. Job training and workforce programs will also be funded this way: almost $208,000 aimed at adults, $596,000 for youth, and $394,000 for dislocated workers

 A list of helpful programs and web links are also available from the Governor’s Office via the Internet. These links to programs and helping organizations will lead local government representatives, families and individuals to assistance for jobs, heating, weatherization, child care, Social Security Disability Insurance, and a host of other related programs. To find these visit http://www.otda.state.ny.us/main/workingfamilies/defauilt.asp

Cattaraugus County Legislature Chairman Crystal Abers of South Dayton said the county has tried to assist municipalities in accessing the Stimulus funds and urged legislators to go out into their districts and spread the word.

“A letter went out to all towns, villages and cities telling them how important it is for them to pursue this. Some towns and villages have asked what happened. We gave them information where to go and how to proceed,” she said during a legislative session early in March.