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In Our Opinion

Local Property Owners Voice Their Opinions

We can understand residents’ concerns over a $70 million housing project at a former golf course near Dewittville. A room packed with local property owners opposed to the project made their views crystal clear during a recent presentation on the project. And while we aren’t ready to say the project is the best thing for Dewittville, we aren’t ready to say the land should be donated either - as was suggested during the recent public meeting. Let’s start there. Chautauqua Lake property owners pay some of the heftiest prices in the county for their homes and, by extension, ...

County’s Oversight Of Battery Storage Site Is Only Beginning

The sale of nearly 12 acres of vacant land in Ellicott for battery storage likely won’t see any development for a few years as required studies are completed. And that’s a good thing, because a rash of fires at three such facilities in New York last year alone raises some questions about how local fire departments will handle such storage facilities. Within a two-month period from late May to late July 2023, a battery at a substation on Long Island caught fire, followed by a fire in one of two battery units in Orange County and then another fire in a battery on a solar farm near ...

Proposed Wetlands Regulations Leave Too Much To Imagination

There is a lot of concern over new wetlands designations and what they mean for the future of Chautauqua Lake. Since The Post-Journal began writing about the new designations earlier this year, two basic schools of thought have formed. One group is saying there is nothing to worry about because the new regulations are meant to clarify old, imprecise regulations and any additional authority won’t be used to make major changes to the way Chautauqua Lake is managed. Another group reads the proposed regulations to mean major changes are very possible to Chautauqua Lake and for property ...

Campaign Claims Can Play Fast And Loose

The 2024 presidential campaign has had more than its share of drama, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what went down in 1968. That was the election where President Lyndon Johnson withdrew from the race, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on the campaign trail, and rioting happened in the streets of Chicago outside a Democratic National Convention that was notable for its anger and division. In the fall, Republican Richard Nixon staged what once seemed like an improbable comeback, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey in the popular vote by seven-tenths of a percent after being ...

County Should Designate How Your Money Will Be Spent

County legislators had quite the discussion last week about how much more of your money the county should keep for a rainy day. In the past the county’s Financial Management Policy gave legislators a 10% range between 5% and 15% of the county’s budget where the county’s surplus should fall at the end of each year. Legislators approved a change to the policy last week recommending a 12.5% of the county’s budget be kept in the surplus. For comparison, the surplus coming into this year was 13.9% of the county’s budget. Having a surplus isn’t a bad thing. It prevents the ...

New Code Blue Shelter Is A Good First Step

The opening of a new Code Blue shelter in Jamestown is a good next step in dealing with the homeless problem in Jamestown. That isn’t to detract from previous shelters the city tried to open with non-profit partners in 2022. But this different approach recognizes a couple of lessons have ...