State announces slew of grants for county
Gov. Kathy Hochul has doled out some more money for Chautauqua County projects.
The biggest outlay for the county in the latest round of Regional Economic Development Commission grants, announced by Hochul on Tuesday, was $10 million for a new Town of Mina wastewater treatment facility and sanitary sewer collection system. It’s intended to reduce the phosphorus entering Findley Lake.
Another $3 million is going towards a collaboration between Jamestown Community College and the YMCA of Jamestown for a new community recreation center.
The city of Dunkirk was awarded $1.6 million for a new Memorial Park amphitheater and welcome center.
Southern Tier Environments for Living got $1.2 million for the Gateway Lofts affordable housing project.
Three creekbed restoration projects got significant grants. The Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District got $573,540 for stabilization of 1,000 feet of Canadaway Creek’s banks. The district will also receive $143,680 for Cattaraugus Creek streambed stabilization in Hanover. Finally, the town of Mina grabbed $485,000 for a Buesink’s Creek project.
A new mixed-use development of apartments and business space for downtown Falconer was allocated $500,000. The applicant was Buffalo Business First Inc.
Another alleged mixed-use development project, this one for the vacant School 10 (aka the industrial high school) on Lake Shore Drive East in Dunkirk, got $400,000. Arthur Page Company LLC was that project’s applicant.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown, built in 1894, was awarded $500,000 for restoration and stabilization of its porch, stairs, roofing, ramp and interior plaster.
The Jamestown Center City Development Corporation got $450,000 for equipment to finish an exhibit at TheZone, an interactive indoor sports/STEM themed play space for children.
The Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation received $180,000 for a project to inventory brownfield sites and create strategies for redevelopment.
Tuesday’s announcement also noted that the town of Cherry Creek is using $700,000 in Community Block Development Grant funds for upgrades to its water pollution control center.
Listing other Chautauqua County awards:
— St. Susan Center, Inc., got $100,000 for new equipment at their charity kitchen in Jamestown.
— Ripley Tool and Machine Co. got $81,000 for new equipment to improve productivity and efficiency
— Chautauqua Institution got $50,000 for redesigning websites.
— The town of North Harmony got $43,636 for an engineering design report to address erosion concerns resulting from an inadequate culvert near Cedar Avenue.
— The village of Fredonia got $37,500 for a study on rehabilitating or decommissioning its reservoir dam.
— Friends of the Chautauqua County Child Advocacy Program got $33,738 for capital improvements.
— Imagine Forestville Corporation got $20,000 for building reuse assessments in the downtown business district.
The Regional Economic Development Commission grants across the state total $123 million. Hochul’s office touted more than $100 million in this particular round for municipalities that signed her “Pro Housing Communities Pledge.”