WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

Much of Northern Chautauqua County can’t seem to do its water service in a way that satisfies everybody. The village of Brocton and town of Portland decided to quit using the North County Water District’s billing arm, citing numerous issues with it.

The two municipalities remained in the water district — but suffered a September leak in the Portland water tank that led to a conserve water order. Residents had to rely on the NY Alerts system and the media for information, with Chautauqua County silent about the leak for 18 hours after it happened.

The water district itself spent much of the year working through the repercussions of a state Comptroller’s Office audit that bashed its financial arrangements, including a more than $5 million loan from the county to the district.

SUNY Fredonia’s class of new students for 2024-25, pictured here, was its largest new class in three years.

The village of Fredonia is famously not in the North County Water District, which is supplied by the city of Dunkirk. However, prominent leaders in the community, such as Mayor Michael Ferguson and Trustee Jon Espersen, are interested in sharing water with the district.

Opposing them is the “Save Our Reservoir” group and Trustee Michelle Twichell, who believe Fredonia’s currently independent water system should continue to “go it alone” after extensive renovations to the water treatment plant, reservoir and piping infrastructure.

Save Our Reservoir won a victory in the spring, when a judge upheld five residents’ lawsuit against the village over a December 2023 resolution to shut down the treatment plant, draw down the reservoir and buy water from Dunkirk.

SUNY FREDONIA HEAD COUNT

The university is in financial trouble, in large part due to a diminishing student body. However, there was some good news about the “head count” at the school.

A police cruiser guards the scene of a homicide in Jamestown. The county saw at least seven homicides in 2024, significantly higher than the historic rate.

It was reported in August that 1,034 first-year, graduate and transfer students started attending as the 2024-25 school year began. That was the most incoming students in three years, and represented a 10% increase in first year students. New graduate student enrollment rose 34%.

In October, university enrollment director Kathryn Kendall showed that the long-term enrollment decline has flattened out. The unofficial head count for fall 2024 was 3,206, she said at a College Council meeting, just 14 fewer than fall 2023. The total back in fall 2018 was 4,655, and before this fall it was steadily decreasing by hundreds of students each year.

SURGE IN HOMICIDES

Rural and small-town Chautauqua County is not used to the kind of murderous violence that ravages many big cities. It had to get a little more used to it in 2024, especially in Jamestown.

There were at least seven homicides in the county during the year. That’s more than double the recent rate. According to the state’s crime index, Chautauqua County has averaged 2.5 murders a year since 2000.

The most recent homicide was in September. Jamestown police found Doug Howie, 68, suffering from a bullet wound. He subsequently died at an Erie, Pa. hospital. Police released images of a pickup truck in relation to the investigation but have not yet reported any arrests.

Two more fatal shootings in Jamestown earlier in the year did result in arrests.

In April, three children died in a disturbing trio of tragedies.

— Isaac Benton of Jamestown, 16 months old, was killed by blunt force trauma. Matthew Nuttall, 26, was indicted for it.

— Aniyah Turk of Jamestown, eight months old, was shaken and strangled so badly she was hospitalized on life support, succumbing to her injuries in May. Sean Thomas, 26, was charged with second-degree murder.

— Mya Smith of Silver Creek, 12 years old, died of complications from untreated diabetes. Her mother, Ashley Bertino, was charged with second-degree murder because prosecutors believe her life could have been saved with basic medical care.

PLIGHT OF THE HOMELESS

Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund declared a state of emergency in July over the city’s homeless problem. The city spent about $100,000 over the next three months cleaning up camps of the homeless. When she made her declaration, Ecklund said there were between 200 and 300 homeless people in the city.

The problem is not confined to Jamestown. One reporter visited a location in a heavily wooded area off Vineyard Drive, where the homeless had set up a camp, though they were not there. This reporter saw evidence that homeless people had camped in woods next to Forest Hill Cemetery in Fredonia.

A poverty rate approaching 18%, and a flawed mental health system that lets many troubled people “slip through the cracks,” are thought to be reasons for a local surge in homelessness.

BIG TAX INCREASE FOR CITY

The city of Dunkirk faces a 84% tax increase in 2025, an eye-popping number that’s actually down from Mayor Kate Wdowiasz’s proposed budget. Wdowiasz proposed a 108% tax increase in September but the Common Council whittled that down before passing next year’s spending plan.

Wdowiasz repeatedly said that the budget was the city’s first fiscally responsible one in years — an unspoken shot at previous mayor Wilfred Rosas, who never raised taxes once in eight years at the helm.

The tax hike came with the state Comptroller’s Office looming in the background, demanding big changes in the way Dunkirk City Hall does business. The Comptroller’s Office became an official consultant to the city after the state Legislature passed a Fiscal Recovery Act to loan at least $16 million to Dunkirk.

The Comptroller’s Office wound up criticizing the city’s accounting practices in two separate letters to the city. It will presumably keep a close watch on City Hall in 2025.

TRIO EMERGES TO BUY MARINA

The saga of ownership at a Dunkirk Marina took a turn this year when Triple S LLC, composed of Steve St. George, Allan Steinberg and John Atzrott, emerged to take over the city-owned business.

The Common Council approved a lease with Triple S in October. It also backed the sale of a privately held portion of the marina, adjacent to the city-held part, to Triple S in August.

Peter Smith grabbed the Marina lease in spring 2023 after a transaction with Charles Pringle. However, city officials distanced themselves after Smith was arrested for alleged threats, then got busted for stuffing fish to boost their weight at a walleye tournament. Then-City Attorney Michael Bobseine argued that Pringle’s sale to Smith was improper.