Marc Romanowski, right, with Kaleida Health gives a presentation on the proposed Brooks Memorial Hospital project in Fredonia at the Chautauqua County Planning Board. Photo by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – County planning officials want to see sidewalks installed to East Main Street when Brooks-TLC Hospital is constructed in Fredonia.

Officials with Kaleida Health attended the Chautauqua County Planning Board to present its plans for a new hospital in the area village off of Route 20 and Route 60. There’s about 30 acres of vacant land there now, which used to be used to grow grapes.

Marc Romanowski, an attorney who was at the meeting on behalf of Kaleida, went over the plans.

Romanowski noted how they want to get through the approval process this month “in order to help ensure upwards of $50 million for the project” from the state.

Romanowski was at the county Planning Board a number of years ago when the hospital was originally going to be two stories.

He noted that plans now are for a 132,000-square-foot, one-story building that will have 20 beds total, including 15 in-patient beds and five observation beds. When it was proposed to be a two-story building, those plans had 30 beds.

The emergency room will be enhanced to accommodate 16 bays, up from 11 as first proposed. “This is a shift in programming from Brooks’ existing operations in the city of Dunkirk that focused more on long-term bed stays. This one is less long-term bed stays and more emergency beds. It’s really a change in how healthcare is delivered,” Romanowski said.

There will also be a helipad for emergency deliveries in and out of the hospital. Romanowski said they expect fewer than 10 flights a month.

After the presentation, Romanowski was asked about the fact that there were no sidewalks to either Route 20 or Route 60. “In our experience with other similar hospitals, we don’t have walk-up traffic. People who are going to the hospital are not in a condition where they want to be walking up to the hospital,” he responded.

Romanowski added that sidewalks are expensive to install and maintain.

Planning Board member Jeff Gossett, who is a Fredonia resident, disagreed. “I can’t see people walking from Route 60, but I very well could see how people would walk and need access to that building from Route 20. … Unless there’s a sign there, there will be people walking,” he said.

Gossett also said with a price tag well over $125 million, the cost of adding a sidewalk will be minimal.

Planning Board member Zachary Dean also sees a need for sidewalks. He believes family and friends of patients will want one. “As a visitor waiting, sometimes it is nice to have sidewalks to have something to do to get outside,” he said.

Planning Board member Rudy Abersold noted that since there will be limited food available for purchase in the hospital, visitors will need access to some of the restaurants along Route 60.

Abersold also expressed concerns about the traffic, especially when Fredonia School lets out. He recommended a traffic light on Route 20.

Romanowski said permission for a traffic light would be needed from the state Department of Transportation, but added that they would likely reject it because a light would slow the traffic down through the roundabout.

After a lengthy discussion, the county Planning Board voted approval of the plans by Kaleida with the condition that sidewalks be installed to Route 20. While there was discussion by board members to install a sidewalk to Route 60, that proposal was not made a requirement, since Route 60 sidewalks are non-traditional and get buried in snow during the winter months.

The county Planning Board’s decision to require sidewalks is not a done deal.

Board Chairman Doug Bowen said the village has the ability to override the county Planning Board’s decision with a “supermajority vote” which would be four members of a five-member board.

According to Fredonia Chief Inspection Officer Charles LaBarbera, the village Planning Board is serving as lead agency for the project and would have the final say as to whether sidewalks will be required.