Pictured is Former Chautauqua County Executive and Interim Alliance Director, Vince Horrigan at a groundbreaking event in 2017. P-J file photo

After the resignation of the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance’s first executive director, a familiar face has been brought in to help the organization through the transition.

In September, Erin Brickley, former Alliance executive director, resigned with no reason given, said Pierre Chagnon, Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance chairman. Following the resignation, the board named Vince Horrigan, former county executive, the interim executive director.

Chagnon said Horrigan will help the alliance transition in to its next phase. Chagnon said since the creation of the alliance in 2014, the organization has evolved under the direction of Brickley.

“(Brickley) was really the one, with the assistance of the board, who got the alliance to be what it is today,” Chagnon said. “Erin was our first employee. She did all the leg work to establish (the alliance). She got it up and going. She did all the book keeping and banking and administrative work in starting the organization. She was instrumental in setting up the alliance.”

Chagnon said while Brickley was the executive director, the alliance received several grants that lead to Chautauqua Lake and Watershed improvement projects. Also, the alliance received grants to hire additional staff members who have scientific degrees.

“They are both educated and trained in the scientific field. We got that level of staffing now,” Chagnon said. “When we started the organization, we were looking for one person that had everything. So now that we have staff (with scientific degrees), do we need an executive director who also has that expertise or someone that knows how to write grants.”

Chagnon said Horrigan has been charged with figuring out what the next steps should be for the alliance. He said Horrigan will meet with the alliance’s board members and staff, officials from lake municipalities and foundation leaders to determine the next steps for the alliance. He added once Horrigan has meet with everyone involved, he will bring his recommendation to the board on what the organization should do next.

“We gave Vince a clean sheet of paper and said ‘Tell us what to do,”’ Chagnon said. “I don’t want to (predetermine) what Vince will recommend. I trust his leadership and vision.”