OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Canadaway Creek is among the targeted areas for future development in the Town of Dunkirk.

A couple of months ago, the Town of Dunkirk was one of several communities to entertain a presentation from the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Development regarding the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP).

Apparently, the Town Board was not impressed. At the latest Town of Dunkirk Council meeting, the Board decided not to proceed with a local law to support the program.

Town Board member Phil Leone was first to speak on the matter at the recent meeting. When asked by Town Supervisor Priscilla Penfold what the Board would like to do, Leone invoked laughter from the audience when he said, “I know what I want to do with it.”

Leone explained his reasons for objecting to the program, stating that the program is much more involved with governing usage of property in the municipalities listed than it appears on the surface.

“It governs what we do with both our public and our private properties,” Leone said. “… They are basically telling us how we need to run the show.”

Board member Bob Price highlighted the 44 policies the program would need to be in compliance with from the state.

“Look at the stuff that they are going to be looking to be done. If you want to do work on your own property, they are still going to have a say in it,” Price said. “I don’t agree with it. We regulate enough of it. I think that it’s not worth it for us.”

Leone was also put off by the program asking the Town to form a board/committee to oversee the process. Board member Shari Miller also expressed a similar concern.

“I really feel that when we have worked on our zoning book all those years, we had that checklist in mind when we were creating our laws,” Miller said.

Rebecca Wurster, Special Projects Coordinator with the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Development, discussed the benefits of an approved LWRP at a presentation that lasted nearly 20 minutes at Dunkirk’s April meeting.

“It’s guiding your vision of the future of what you expect and want to see in your waterfront in your community,” Wurster said.

Wurster noted that throughout discussions regarding the Town of Dunkirk, the consistent focus has been on recreation activities along Canadaway Creek to promote tourism, while not disrupting the “rural character” of the Town. Projects discussed were increased access to Canadaway Creek where it meets Lake Erie; development of land near the waterfront on both Wilbur Road and Temple Road; flood mitigation along Canadaway Creek; stabilization of land along Canadaway Creek near bridges; and development of signs that detail the history of the region.

Leone, however, offered a different solution involving the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) with efforts to improve Canadaway Creek.

“The DEC can handle that,” Leone said. “… I don’t think we need LWRP to come in and tell us how we’re going to do these things. That’s my opinion. It just seems like it’s a lot more work for something that we’re already doing.”

Wurster stated during the April presentation that an approved LWRP increases a community’s chances to obtain grant funding for projects pertaining to the development and installation of waterfront projects. The Town Board asked Attorney Jeff Passafaro whether that was the case – especially pertaining to water and sewer infrastructure – in the Board’s latest discussion. Passafaro responded, “That I cannot tell you. It may be a punch list item in the future, we don’t know. That will be up to the powers that be in Albany and in Mayville.”

The Town Board took no action on a local law for an LWRP at the recent meeting.

In other business, the Town of Dunkirk accepted a water rate increase of 25 cents per thousand gallons of water usage per the terms of an agreement with Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Water Works (CBI). The Town’s water rate will increase from $9.60 to $9.85 per thousand gallons.

During the month of May, the Town Clerk’s Office collected $2,751, including $2,125 in zoning fees. The Town of Dunkirk Justice Court handled 245 cases in the month of May, with a total of $20,014 submitted to the Town for distribution.

The Town Board will hold a public hearing before its next regular meeting, July 15 at 5:15 p.m., pertaining to the Community Development Block Grant. The Town is seeking grant funding for capital improvements to the East Lake Road Sewer District.