Village Board Meeting Full of New Business
Village Board Meeting Full of New Business
New Hires, New Refuse Contract and New Parking Lot (Almost) Ready to Go!
Photo / ellicottvilleNOW
The Village Board of Ellicottville welcomes three new employees to fill various department openings. Gathering at the Town Hall on March 19th, Mayor John Burrell called the meeting to order and began the evening’s agenda.
What better way to start off than with good news! The Board, without hesitation, approved the motion to hire the following new employees to the Village of Ellicottville. They welcomed Erica Linderman to the Village Deputy Clerk position, Blair Hamilton to alternate to the Planning Board, and Mark Byrne as Village Prosecutor. Each addition brings with them an ample amount of experience and expertise to their respected department.
Moving along, the Village Board opened conversation to business of the floor. In attendance at the meeting was Molly Timkey, representing the Ellicottville Playground. Molly is one of the five moms in the local group who are working to create the necessary funding and planning to upgrade the Village Playground into a more inclusive, integrated and ultimately fun play space. With an update on their current goal, Molly presented to the Board an artist rendering for the manufacturing of the playground. The Board has been supportive of the project and offers their assistance as they can while the Ellicottville Playground group works to find ways to achieve the needed funding. You can follow along on Facebook at the Ellicottville Playground as well as reach out to ellicottvilleplayground@gmail.com to find ways to volunteer and contribute.
As the evening continued, discussion was led by Mayor Burrell on the changes that were accepted for a new refuse vendor, Beichner. They will be taking over the Village refuse contract June 1st. The waste management company provides services to many of the areas in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties. This will, however, result in a $5 increase to quarterly billing. It will now indicate for Residents, $40 per quarter, and for Senior Citizen Residents, $20. The charge is to reflect a vendor that will adhere to the recycling standards the Village calls for. You can visit their website at www.beichnerwaste.com and find their guide to recycling under the residential service information section.
A brief update from the Engineering Department was made to the Village Board. They are in the final revisions for the Washington Street Light Project, which serves to add safe lighting to the area while staying true to the character of the Village. Once given approval by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the project will move toward completion.
In addition, progress continues to be made with the Mill Street parking lot. The most recent information on the project concludes that they are almost ready to open. Verizon is waiting on an order for a sensor to arrive, and once available, they will be ready for the final service installation. With much anticipation, the soon-to-be-open Mill Street parking lot will ease some of the congestion in vehicle traffic in the area.
All monthly Department reports were discussed and approved with little action needed by the Board. The Planning Board, Engineering, Audit of Claims, and the Financial Report were reviewed and accepted, as well as the Mayor’s Report and the previous February Minutes without any revisions to be made.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) has started their spring clean-up, clearing leaves, brush and garbage within the Village. They have started to assemble picnic tables and garbage cans for the skatepark along with patching streets as needed - a welcomed reminder that warmer weather is on the way as we end the winter season.
Finalizing the last points of the monthly agenda, Mayor John Burrell called for the March meeting to adjourn. The Village Board meets every third Tuesday of the month at 6:00pm. For any further information on upcoming scheduling or Village needs, you can always check the official site at www.ellicottvillegov.com.