OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon This photo, taken last fall, shows some debris in the Marden Cobb Waterway Trail near Ross Mills. Chautauqua County hopes to have the entire waterway trail cleared by the end of the year.

Chautauqua County has made a lot of progress cleaning up its waterway trails in the last few years and could be finished by the end of 2025.

Public Facilities Director Tim Card gave an update on the Marden Cobb Waterway Trail Cleanup to the county Planning Board recently. He noted there’saabout 53 miles of waterway trails, between the Cassadaga Creek and the Conewango Creek, which the county is responsible for maintaining.

In 2022, about 3.5 miles of the Conewango Creek was cleared from Kennedy to the county line at a cost of nearly $58,000.

In 2023, about 11 miles of the Conewango Creek from Cassadaga Creek to the state line was cleared at a cost of about $80,000. In 2024 about 20.5 miles of the Cassadaga Creek from Kabob to the Chadakoin River in Levant was cleared, at a cost of about $120,000. Card said $100,000 of that total came from American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Card said they still have work to do and need another $150,000 to complete the waterways and will be working with county officials on this. Should this be approved, Card said he believes they will be done with cleaning up the waterway by the end of the year.

He said they’re looking at getting $87,000 from interest earned from ARPA funds and $63,000 from the county’s 3% occupancy tax.

“It’s a lot of work. These guys go out there and there’s ash trees and things that go across,” he said.

Card noted that especially since COVID, the county trails and waterways have become more popular.

Once the waterway trails are cleared, Card said they need some long-term funding to make sure the trails don’t become plugged up again by trees and debris.

“Every year it’s going to be an issue, not to this extent, but we’ve got to keep on it. If you just let it go, we’re going to be right back in the same ballpark here in 10 years,” he said.

The county planning board voted in favor of a motion backing using $87,000 from ARPA interest. The county legislature will have the final say.

The Planning Board does not have a role with the occupancy tax and did not vote on the proposal to use some of that money for the cleanup.