Big Chairs, Mural County Project Delayed
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MAYVILLE -- Chautauqua County lawmakers are holding off on spending tourism funding to create some murals and giant chairs.
On Wednesday, the county Legislature tabled a resolution to spend $100,000 from its 3% occupancy tax reserves to create a public art program.
Legislator David Wilfong, R-Jamestown, said he wants some more information before voting.
"I was talking with some of my colleagues," he said. "I think we'd really like to see some sort of business plan, some type of layout of exactly where this $100,000 is (going). That's a lot of money."
During committee meetings last week, officials with the county Planning Department said they wanted to have five or six giant chairs built and placed at different locations in the county.
The idea is for residents and tourists to want to go where the new chairs are placed and take photos of themselves.
For the mural project, officials with the Department of Planning said they wanted to bring in national artists to make five or six murals, again where residents and visitors would go to see and photograph them. The national artists would work with local artists as well on the projects.
Department of Planning officials said a mapping program could be made as well, which would show not only the new murals, but existing murals throughout the county.
Wilfong said he wants to see in the business plan how both the giant chairs and the murals can "stimulate each one of the communities."
The legislature voted 17-1 in favor of tabling the resolution. Voting against tabling was Legislator Terry Niebel, R-Sheridan. He had voted against the resolution in committee as well, recommending the funding be cut in half.
The legislature did agree to spend some of the 3% occupancy tax reserves elsewhere.
The legislature passed a resolution to give $100,000 to the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, so it could do advertising in key out-of-state markets, including Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Ontario.
The legislature also agreed to spend $100,000 to make further improvements to the Marden Cobb Waterways. The Marden Cobb Waterways is a kayak and canoe trail. The water trail has a number of downed trees, which prevents the trail from being used.
The county will partner with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. Earlier this year the county used $105,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds that went to the CWC to start the clean up.
According to Nathan Aldrich, county Economic Development coordinator, the Marden Cobb Waterways trail is 21 miles total. The ARPA funds used previously cleaned up 12.4 miles of trail.
The county's occupancy tax comes from hotels, motels and short-term rentals, where users are charged an additional 3%. Money collected from the occupancy tax can only be used for tourism-related purposes.
The full legislature unanimously approved the resolution for the Visitors Bureau funding as well as the resolution to clean up the waterways trail.