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In Our Opinion

Sports Merger Debate Is A Preview Of Things To Come

There will come a time when school merger talks in Chautauqua County schools will involve more than sports teams. It’s not a matter of it, it’s a matter of when. The timing really depends on when our population decline finally bottoms out and we have a better handle on how many schools we need and where they need to be. Whenever that time finally does come, the only thing that we can say with any certainty is it’s not going to be a pretty process. We’ve known that for some time, but meetings over the past few weeks involving the Southwestern and Frewsburg school ...

DEC Made Case For Delaying Watershed Regulations

The process to apply herbicides on Chautauqua Lake this year is convoluted, to say the least. Give the DEC credit, it’s trying to make an elongated process work. And the agency is trying its best to work with municipalities that have applied herbicides in the past. But the process - start earlier in order to work through the process to arrive at jurisdictional determinations that the treatment area is a wetland, which then starts a different level of review and a new application for an Article 24 permit that takes more time to work through, all in order to meet nature’s ...

Expansion Of Starry Stonewort In Chautauqua Lake Is Worrisome

There’s a lot to unpack from Saturday’s Chautauqua Lake Symposium. The county-backed event brought a packed house to the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel to hear from DEC officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, groups studying conditions on Chautauqua Lake and politicians representing the area in Albany and Washington, D.C. For all the good things that were discussed Saturday, however, one growing issue stands out. Starry stonewort continues to expand its presence in the lake. Dr. Rob Richardson of North Carolina State University’s Aquatic Plant Management Program noted what was once ...

Water Is Anything But Free

We’re about to spend a heck of a lot of money here in Chautauqua County to secure a basic resource. Of course, we’re talking about water projects. The Chautauqua Town Board meeting recently approved an $8.19 million project for construction in town Water District #2, which includes Chautauqua Lake Estates and the Villas at Chautauqua Point in the Dewittville area. Last year Chautauqua officials approved a $9,312,000 expansion of Water District 5 between the village of Mayville and Chautauqua Institution. Mayville officials recently approved a $5,170,715 bid to S. St. George ...

Judge Should Push Outside Income Limits To 2027

A judge’s decision this month approving the state Legislature’s decision to limit lawmakers’ outside income struck perhaps the most odious part of the law. Judge Alison Napolitano of state Supreme Court in Suffolk County ruled the state can’t strip legislators of their voting rights if they exceed outside income limits. Legislators’ base pay increased from $110,000 to $142,000 a year while outside income limits are capped to $35,000 a year. It’s a win for voters who faced the very real possibility that they could be left without a voice in the legislature if their elected ...

Group Effort Needed For Bemus Point Businesses Affected By Bridge Project

For the past couple of months, Bemus Point officials have fielded complaints from village businesses that sales are down in part, they say, because travelers are struggling to get into the village with the exit to the village closed as work continues on the Veterans Memorial Bridge over Chautauqua Lake. In February, the problem was tractor-trailers getting off at the wrong exit for Jamestown and ending up in the middle of the village. Last week village officials discussed issues raised by village businesses. Mayor Jeff Molnar is trying to set up a meeting with the state DOT and Larry ...