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Town Projects Move From Concept to Reality in 2010
By Sara F. Herrmann
Many community planning projects in Westfield will move from concept to reality in 2010.
Key among these projects is the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Association’s Grape Discovery Center. Work on the center, located on Route 20, has begun and is expected to be completed this spring. The center has been planned for many years, but kicked into high gear in August 2008, when State Senator Cathy Young announced that she had secured $1.05 million for the project through the Upstate Revitalization Capital Investment Fund.
The Center will feature educational and interactive exhibits that showcase Chautauqua County’s grape and wine industry, celebrate the region’s grape heritage and promote grape products. It will feature a gift shop and snack bar and future plans include the establishment of a Wine Tasting Center and vineyard tours. The Concord Grape Belt Heritage Association will work in concert with the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau and the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Wine Trail. The new venture is a partnership between the state and growers, processors, wineries, universities, tourism and industrial development agencies and local governments.
Ongoing planning initiatives at the Dan Reid Pier in Barcelona, part of the cooperative Lakefront Opportunity Plan, are also moving forward. Westfield Town Supervisor Martha Bills says that grant contracts are currently under review at the state level and expects that some pier improvements, including benches and landscaping, will begin in the spring.
Bills recently announced that the Town has been awarded two grants which will foster the implementation of the Lakefront Opportunity Plan. The Town is preparing a work plan for a $20,000 streetscape grant for First Street in Barcelona. A second $128,000 grant will help with improvements at the Dan Reid Pier.
Bills notes that the grants are one more step in an ongoing effort to implement improvements that have been established through a collaborative planning process involving residents, business owners and the community at large. More information on the Lakefront Opportunity Plan is available at: http://www.behanplanning.com/bpafiles/WRLOP/WRmain.html.
The Chautauqua Creek Fishway Project is slated for construction this summer as well. The fishway project will provide access for native fish species including steelhead trout, to high quality spawning areas within the upper reaches of Chautauqua Creek in a five-mile stretch between two small dams. The project, part of the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration Program, involves the partial removal of the lower dam and a rock ramp fishway at the upper dam. The improvements will continue to provide a barrier preventing the migration of sea lamprey to the upper areas of Chautauqua Creek. The US Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have reached an agreement on the project and funding is in place. The project will have a positive ecological impact and an economic impact as well, as high quality fishing opportunities are expanded in the region.
There are several other projects currently being reviewed and assessed by the Town, including the proposed Pattern Energy Commercial Wind Power Project. The proposed project involves the construction and operation of up to 82 wind turbine generators, 47 of which are proposed to be located in the Town of Westfield with the remaining turbines in neighboring Ripley. The Town of Ripley is co-lead agency on the project with Westfield. The installed capacity for the project is estimated to be 125 megawatts.
Sara F. Herrmann is a freelance writer and editor and lives in Westfield with her husband, Alan. .
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