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32 Supplement to the OBSERVER • Saturday, March 24, 2012 VISION 2012
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Members of the Chadwick Bay Regional Development Corporation include (from left: the city of Dunkirk, the villages of Fredonia, Brocton, Silver Creek, the towns
of Pomfret and Portland as well as the towns of Sheridan and Dunkirk.
Chadwick Bay — still being developed
By GIB SNYDER
OBSERVER City Editor
Bring up the name
Chadwick Bay and many
people in Northern
Chautauqua County will
not know where it is.
The name, however, is
associated with the city of
Dunkirk harbor — and
water, while it was not a big
part of the reason the
Chadwick Bay Regional
Development Corporation
was officially formed in
2003, is now.
Water — or more accurately
its purification and
delivery — is a focus of the
CBRDC. Made up of local
elected officials who serve
on its board of directors,
along with community representatives,
the most
pressing goal of late has
been the creation of a
North County Water
District. Member communities
are the city of Dunkirk,
villages of Fredonia,
Brocton, Silver Creek and
the towns of Pomfret,
Hanover, Sheridan,
Portland and Dunkirk.
Kathy Tampio took over
as CBRDC executive director
in January, after serving
on the board of directors
when she was Town of
Hanover supervisor. She
said the primary goal at this
point is a regional water
district plan.
“We’ve received an ARC
grant through Southern
Tier West for $150,000.
Matching funding is
required for this grant and
the search is on to find such
funds,” she explained.
“This is for the implementation
plan itself.”
While water has been the
focus in recent years,
recently CBRDC members
have been asked to check
with their local boards or
councils to find out what
would be important to
them.
A waterfront development
plan that was being
developed a few years back
was stymied by a lack of
funds but not before a
“great deal of work had
been done,” Tampio
explained. “We’re revisiting
those efforts.”
Tampio was asked who,
or what, was the moving
force to get the CBRDC off
the ground?
“The original driving
force was from prior Town
of Sheridan Supervisor
John Walker,” she replied.
“He and several other
municipal leaders began
meeting together informally
in the 1990s to discuss the
potential for regional initiatives,
and then later took
steps to formally organize.”
Walker explained the
idea had been around for a
while to get the municipals
together, as they had been
meeting on an ad hoc basis.
According to Walker,
when Mark Thomas was
elected county executive
the idea was pushed along.
“He got the groups
together and gave them a
one-on-one with his
department heads, something
which hadn’t happened,”
Walker explained.
“We met along that idea for
a while, basically different
entities meeting with different
department heads.
Then we went for a USDA
rural development grant to
put things together with a
structure, to make it formal.
“We were fortunate to
get the grant that was delivered
by Congressman Jack
Quinn. That’s when we
became a formal unit and
then went 503c so we
would be able to apply for
funding and receive it
directly.”
The next step was setting
out some goals.
“Water wasn’t the major
issue,” he recalled. “Each
community was working on
water issues, but a regional
system was not started at
that time.”
Walker was elected the
first chairman of the
CBRDC and said Maclain
Nichols was the first executive
director and Randy
Brown provided a lot of
help early on.
Walker said things
pickedupspeedwhenthe
county moved to create a
presence with its Industrial
Development Agency in
the north county, joining
the Empire Development
Zone and Women in
Business in a central location
in Dunkirk at the then
Boorady Building.
“As the group set down
goals they knew they were
going to need financing to
achieve those goals, so
that’s when they sat down
and decided on a per capita
rate to be charged to the
communities,” Walker
recalled. “They’ve done
that several times since the
beginning, but not always
at the same figure. A lot of
the goals were met, some
are ongoing.”
One thing that has
changed over the years is
the CBRDC board membership.
“When you think about
it the Chadwick Bay group
as it sits right now has basically
run full cycle,” Walker
said. “Basically, everybody
involved since I was there
have all changed.”
Walker explained every
municipality brings something
to the table.
“In the last couple years
funding has been extremely
difficult and it’s a lot easier
to keep going when you
have a few wins under your
belt. As Chadwick Bay sort
of shifted into water mode
because of the definite
need in the region, and this
is something that will happen,
whether through
Chadwick Bay or some
other, the infrastructure is
necessary.
“When you set goals as
large as that one the need
for grants plays a huge role.
It’s a multi-million dollar
project for the region, eventually.”
Since its inception, the
CBRDC has been successful
with several initiatives
and projects, including a
completed Chadwick Bay
Region Strategic Plan, the
preparation of the
Chadwick Bay Local
Waterfront Revitalization
Plan and completed the
regional water feasibility
study.
The CBRDC has also
helped along projects of
area governments and
agencies, all in an effort to
advance the prospect of a
successful and thriving
Northern Chautauqua
County.
Comments on this article
may be sent to gsnyder@observertoday.com
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