Falconer Village Board trustees are briefed by Twan Leenders, director of conservation, for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and Vince Liuzzo, a certified arborist, about the current status of the Chadokoin River Restoration Project, and the need to continue with the project to make the waterway an economic driving force, Monday. Submitted photo

FALCONER – A regional approach may be the best way to tackle the Chadakoin River’s needs outside the city of Jamestown.

Falconer Village Board members were briefed on the status of the Chadakoin River restoration project at a Village Board meeting recently.

Twan Leenders, director of conservation for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, and Vince Liuzzo, a certified arborist, updated the village trustees on the conservancy’s efforts to clean up the Chadakoin River, and the vital part the village’s section of the river plays in the overall restoration project.

“We’ve cleaned up 12.5 miles of the Conewango River and seven miles of the Chadakoin,” Leenders said. “Falconer is vital to connecting the rest of the river with Chautauqua Lake. The goal is to get the river sustainable, protect local property and return the river to become a financial driving engine – as it has been in the past – for the local economy by supporting fishing, canoeing and kayaking. However, to get to this point we’ve got to make sure its navigable, safe and cleaned up.”

Leenders then went on to explain how federal and state funds have assisted in the past few years with the clean up efforts and how the CWC can leverage this with grant writing.

“We’re just looking for a commitment to this project,” he said. “I’m a pretty decent grant writer and now is the time to move on. Federal, state and city grant funds have been used recently to fund most of this clean up. Close to $3.5 million have been invested so far.”

Gregory Peterson, Falconer village attorney,asked about the possibilities of joining with other municipalities, villages and towns where the rest of the river restoration project still needs to cover and the ownership of the riverbanks along the Chadakoin River. .

“What is the possibility, and would it be beneficial to work with say… Kennedy, and further down river?” he asked.

“I think it would be mutually beneficial … this could even help with leveraging grants,” Leenders replied.

“I think it’s also beneficial that the village owns the riverbank properties,” Peterson said. .

Liuzzo added, “This isn’t about the money, this is about protecting nature, and reviving the river to a more natural status, while preserving the homes and business along the banks.”

No commitments have been made yet. After an initial presentation in February, village officials had asked Liuzzo for a more in-depth presentation during its March meeting. While there is support for something to be done, village officials want to have additional discussions.

“I think most of us would agree this is a good thing. We may need to reach out to some of the other towns and villages down the river…maybe we could have a joint, generic, resolution,” Jaroszynski said.

In other news:

The village’s volunteer fire department reported responding to 52 incidents in February, including nine fire events; 43 rescue/EMS calls and mutual aid requests. The mutual aid requests included four calls for Kennedy, seven requests from Jamestown, one call for Celoron and one call for Alstar Ambulance.

The board was also briefed on the need to pay for replacement equipment and firefighting apparatus by Steve Vanstrom, Falconer Fire Advisory Bmember.

“We can sell some of our older equipment to help fund some of the new gear we need, and this wasn’t included in the equipment brief I gave you,” Vanstrom said.

News, which village board member Timothy Dunn appeared to support.

“The closer we can get to paying for the items and not having to finance or take a bond out… the better,” he said.