FREE! TAKE ONE! VOLUME 5 ISSUE 11
MARCH 18 - 24, 2016
The Official Newspaper
www.EllicottvilleTimes.com facebook/theEllicottvilleTimes
of the Village of Ellicottville, the Town of Ellicottville, Ellicottville Central Schools and the Towns of East Otto, Great Valley and Mansfield, New York
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, East Otto, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Randolph, Salamanca, Springville and Beyond
All Things Maple
Upcoming Events
Maple Weekends Are Here!
March 19 Pond Skimming Holiday Valley
By Alicia Dziak
This weekend brings the last day of winter, the first day of spring and more importantly, the world of maple products to the people of Western New York. The state-wide annual Maple Weekends are happening March 19-20 as well as April 2-3 when bring the area’s maple producers open their doors to the public. NYS Maple Weekends have been one of the highlights of spring since 1995, when sugar houses first began inviting the public to see first-hand how syrup is made. The Ellicottville area is fortunate to have many sugar houses that are participating in Maple Weekend. Visitors can expect a range of handson activities at these sugar houses, including guided tours, tree tapping demos, maple syrup product samples, pancake breakfasts, and the sugar-on-snow treat known as “jack wax.” Some places offer specialty items like maple cotton candy and maple hot dogs, while others will feature craft vendors and unique retail items for sale. Check out Sprague’s Maple Farms, at 1048 PortvilleObi Road in Portville, which boasts a breakfast-all-day, full service restaurant (open yearround) serving up their own 100 percent pure maple syrup. During Maple weekends, Sprague’s also offers maple production tours and demonstrations in both their authentic old-fashioned sugar house and their state-of-the-art production facility. Sprague’s will also offer wagon rides to the sugarhouse for tastings, maple cake donuts, maple
March 19-20 April 2-3 Maple Weekends
© 2016 Ellicottville Times / Keystone Designers Inc.
March 20 Northwind Super G Holiday Valley April 10 Tentative opening for Holiday Valley Golf Course May 7 Happy Half & 5K Holiday Valley May 7 Allegany Adventure Run Allegany State Park June 3-5 Cycling Weekend Holiday Valley June 18 Mudslide Obstacle Run Holiday Valley July 1-3 Summer Music Festival Holiday Valley
See Maple Weekend page 5
Burrell Defeats Coolidge Lowes, DiPasquale Win Board Seats
By Jann Wiswall
John Burrell, former Town of Ellicottville Supervisor, defeated long-time Village of Ellicottville Mayor Charles Coolidge by 22 votes (113-91) after an impressive number of voters made a point to get to the polls on Tuesday, March 15.
In addition, the race for two seats on the board of trustees resulted in incumbent Trustee Patra Lowes and candidate Joseph Dipasquale winning with 114 votes each. The other incumbent candidate, Bob Brogcinski, was defeated. Brogcinski also serves as Deputy Mayor. A total of 206 votes (including 30 absentee ballots) were cast. The village has 284 registered voters, according to the County Board of Elections, and fewer than that according to other tallies. Depending on the total used, voter turnout was somewhere between 73 and 80 percent.
Kevin Burleson, the Democratic commissioner of the County Board of Elections, commented that “Ellicottville is noted for having active elections when there are competitive races.” The new Village leaders will take office on April 1. Burrell said he is “thankful to all the people who helped and supported me and voted for me. I had a great campaign team who put forth a tremendous amount of effort and work on my behalf.” Lowes and DiPasquale also thanked the voters for See Election Results page 3
Mardi Gras a Success
Mardi Gras Queen Darlene Allen Photo Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce
To say that the Ellicottville Mardi Gras Parade was a hit would be an understatement, judging from all of the reactions. Floats and walkers
More photos on page 5
alike had an enthusiastic crowd lining the streets Saturday night in a gesture to bring an end to the Ellicottville’s winter season and usher in the start of
the “Green Season.” “This parade was a success because of the dedication of a great team that really rallied time and effort,” Barb Pump, Events and Membership Manager for the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce, said. With 11 floats, five walking groups, and a drum ensemble, the 24th annual parade gave a brief tour through many of the great businesses and organizations. According to Deb Rapp, the committee representative in charge of judging, the decision on winners was one of the hardest ever. See Mardi Gras page 5
Four Odyssey Teams Head to States By Mary Heyl
On Saturday, March 12, Ellicottville Central School sent five teams to compete at the Odyssey of the Mind Region 19 Tournament at AlleganyLimestone Central School. Program Coordinator Colleen Bower reports that four of these teams will be going on to the state competition at Binghamton in just two weeks! Odyssey of the Mind is an international See Odyssey of the Mind page 4
Village Approves 2016-17 Budget WWTP Additions Proposed By Jann Wiswall
A public hearing on the 201617 village budget was held on Monday, March 14, on the Eve of the village election for mayor and two village trustees. Two members of the public (including mayoral candidate
John Burrell) attended the hearing and stayed for the meeting, but neither made any public comment. The 2016-17 budget shows total appropriations of nearly $1.9 million for the general fund and the sewer and water departments. The budget was approved as presented by roll call vote.
Village Engineer Mike Smith reported that 85 percent of the wastewater treatment plant’s total budget has been expended to date as the project nears its target completion by May 31. Contractor STC is 90 percent complete with its portion of the project, while the electrical contractor still See Village Board page 8
Town Board Reviews Spring Projects
By Jann Wiswall
Town of Ellicottville Supervisor Matt McAndrew briefed the board on several upcoming projects during the March 16 meeting. First off, he reported that Southern Tier West has a record storage program available to municipalities that
may be of interest to the Town of Ellicottville. The program takes hard copy documents, scans them and stores the electronic documents on disk. Several board members were familiar with electronic records programs and thought it could be useful as long as the electronic files are user-
friendly and searchable. They asked McAndrew to get more information about STW’s program and report back. McAndrew met with the Rotary Club this month to work out a memorandum of understanding for the Rotary Auditorium at the Town Center. See Town Board page 6