County Executive To Visit All Municipalities
A sequel in spirit to his 100 businesses in 100 days campaign from last year, Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello has launched a new initiative to meet with the 41 municipalities in the county within the next several months.
Borrello began his 2019 goal to meet with the leadership of all Chautauqua County cities, towns and villages with the village of Silver Creek last week. He said it made sense to start in his own backyard, as he and his wife live in Sunset Bay in the town of Hanover.
His next visits were with the elected officials of the town of Ellicott and village of Falconer on Monday. At each municipality, Borrello plans to talk about county-led initiatives, ask questions about how the county can help local communities and field questions from residents during public forums.
“It’s about reaching out to municipal governments,” Borrello said.
The county executive is committing to visiting the remaining 38 municipalities throughout 2019 and hopes to make it to each one within the next several months. He said it’ll take longer than his 100 businesses in 100 days initiative since meetings aren’t hosted as frequently as businesses are open, and many municipalities meet on the same day or at similar times.
Regardless, Borrello said it’s important no matter when he can meet with more than just the usual mayors and supervisors he gets to speak with in his day-to-day job. His goals include interacting with other board members and community residents on a more personal basis.
At Ellicott, Borrello summarized the impact of the demolition of the former Jamestown Woodworking Inc. building that was located on Jackson Avenue. The resulting LLC, Chautauqua Property Holdings, that owned the demolished property before it could be transferred to a new owner will continually be used to expedite the demolition of other blighted residential and commercial properties in the county.
The Main Street School in Silver Creek is another property that is planned for demolition. Borrello said it’s time for it to be taken care of as it’s been described as an eyesore in the past couple decades.
“How are we making that topic specific and personalized for the community?” Borrello asked himself.
In the interest of establishing positive relationships with municipalities, Borrello is bringing up the topic of shared services and overarching cooperation to make the county’s communities stronger.
“Chautauqua County is a leader stateside when it comes to shared services and collaboration,” said Borrello, who wants to continue its improvement.
Other topics discussed at the first three meetings Borrello has visited include the importance of the economic development alliance and the complete streets initiative, which county and local officials strive to implement in order to make streets usable for walkers and bike riders as well as traffic. The concept is meant to encourage street access, clearer bike lines and defined crosswalks.
Borrello said Falconer was on the fence on whether to adopt a complete streets policy, but then he mentioned the county is funding approximately $850,000 for the program county-wide. Falconer board members decided to adopt a preliminary policy Monday night to give the village the opportunity to participate in the future.
“That was a great opportunity for me to be there,” Borrello said.
The county executive hopes to help clarify information and provide answers to questions community leaders and residents may have. He plans on announcing his schedule for other municipal visits weeks in advance.
“I do not want to be making decisions in a vacuum,” Borrello said. “Make a better connection … that will ultimately lead to success down the road.”
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