The annual YMCA Firecracker Run returns to the village of Lakewood on July 3. The event, which includes a 10K and 2-mile run, was approved by the village board this week. P-J file photo

LAKEWOOD — The YMCA Firecracker Run will return to the village on July 3, which is good news following a string of canceled events including the Fourth of July fireworks celebration.

The Lakewood Village Board approved the 10K and 2-mile run at a regular meeting this week, and also authorized the restaurant Group Ther-Happy to hold live music performances on Sundays throughout the summer.

These developments are a welcome return to regular summer activities in the wake of so many COVID-19 restrictions, and Lakewood residents will also have the added benefit of a newly-refurbished-and-updated Chautauqua Avenue by the end of the summer thanks to the ongoing greenstreet retrofit project.

Mayor Randy Holcomb also authorized the signing of a service agreement for Solitude Lake Management to treat areas of Chautauqua Lake with herbicides this summer, as recently permitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The board held a public hearing for feedback on several 2021-22 budget amendments, one of which was to allocate $5,000 to the Chautauqua Lake Association. Board members Ted McCague and Doug Schutte both expressed a desire to increase the village’s contribution from the $3,500 it had been in the past.

Holcomb noted that this year the village has seen $690,000 reduction in taxable assessed value, due in large part to a pair of properties on Fairmount Avenue. Changes in property value for the former Perkins/Grazers restaurant were significant in particular.

“Many things led into that,” Holcomb said of the decreased value. “The former restaurant at the top of the hill, formerly known as Perkins or Grazers, sold for $125,000 and they had an assessment of $600,000 originally.”

Holcomb also mentioned value changes for the newly-constructed Hospice House nearby.

“That in addition to any other increases in this budget leads to the higher tax rate that was produced,” he said.

In other business, the board opted to cancel its $500 membership with the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce for 2021-22. Board members acknowledged that many businesses in the village see a benefit from working with the chamber, but said the benefits for the village itself were less obvious.

The village’s yard and garage sale has been scheduled for June 4-5, and the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will be flushing water mains in the village during the day from May 5-8.