Falconer Mayor James Jaroszynski is pictured with Gov. Kathy Hochul after accepting a $4.5 million NY Forward grant.

The fact that the village of Falconer received a NY Forward grant in the first place is proof that hard work does, indeed pay off.

Those who have paid attention over the past couple of years know Falconer officials have done more than simply throw some paperwork in state officials’ general direction and then sit by the mailbox waiting for the check to arrive in the mail. The application process is tedious. Projects that involve developers require countless discussions to get projects to the point where they should be included in one of these grant applications. And, when village officials were denied in the past, they took it upon themselves to meet with state officials to see where the village’s application came up short and then remedied those issues.

That’s difficult, especially for a village with relatively few paid employees to do the work. Now, the hard work really begins for Mayor Jim Jaroszynski and his team – putting the $4.5 million in state funding to the best use possible.

Falconer’s NY Forward grant application – much like Jamestown’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative application – includes tens of millions of dollars more in projects than the village received from the state. That’s a good problem to have, in our opinion, because it shows Falconer officials have put real work into both large and small projects that improve areas throughout the village. Narrowing the list of projects won’t be easy, especially with a few big projects like construction of two four-story buildings at 21-37 W. Main St. that includes ground floor retail and upper floor apartments eating up roughly 39% of the NY Forward grant. That project is the top priority in the village’s grant application and has been nearly a decade in the making with more starts and stops than rush hour traffic on a Los Angeles freeway.

Other notable projects include further work at 1 E. Main St., revitalization of buildings at 27-28 E. Main St., improvements at the West Main Mercantile building, refreshing the building facade at the 9-11 E. Main St. location of Belle-View East and PersNikkity Pies, expansion at Hanson Sign and Falconer Printing. Bringing just those projects to completion means Falconer could look a lot different in a relatively short amount of time as the village leverages the state’s $4.5 million with private investment in anchor buildings.

But we’re just as impressed with ideas that likely won’t be part of NY Forward but that could go just as far in the future toward reimagining Falconer. Projects like a $2.5 million streetscape project along Main Street and Work Street, with funding through the Transportation Alternatives Program and Climate Smart Communities programs could help increase pedestrian and cyclists’ safety with decorative corner bump outs and environmentally friendly infrastructure, trees, decorative lighting and sidewalk improvements. The village is looking to upgrade and connect Falconer, Lions and Davis parks in the village with a $2,025,000 project through applications to a state Environmental Protection Fund Parks Program and a Municipal Parks and Recreation grant, all of which could bring new playground equipment, a new bandshell in Davis Park, trails linking all village parks and an ADA accessible boat launch and pavilion to Mattison Millrace Park.

It turns out receiving the NY Forward grant may only qualify as a good start for Falconer officials, because they have bigger plans for the future.