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FEBRUARY 22-28, 2019
LOCAL
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 8
SPORTS
ENTERTAINMENT E’ville venues will rock at ‘Winter Music Jam’ this weekend ....see page 4
SGI students head north to Quebec City ....see page 11
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
Fredonia ends Springvilles’ season early with 55-39 upset ....see page 10
Angling for a better creek
By Rick Miller
DEC evaluating response to Upper Cattaraugus Creek proposal
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is evaluating comments received last month on plans to restore connectivity to more than 500 miles of Upper Cattaraugus Creek and its tributaries. The draft Upper Cattaraugus Creek Fisheries Restoration Plan by DEC coincides with the lowering of Scoby Hill Dam on Cattaraugus Creek near Springville by 25 feet. The draft plan is a roadmap for fisheries management practices following the planned fish passage project at the Springville dam. The project, slated for 2021, includes building a fish ladder for steelhead trout while maintaining a sea lamprey barrier. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the Springville Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project in August 2017. The 38-foot dam produced electricity for the village of Springville until 1997. It will be lowered to 13 feet. The fish ladder, combined with trap and sort capabilities, will keep invasive species like the sea lamprey from reaching the Upper Cattaraugus. The dam has blocked connectivity with 34 miles of Cattaraugus Creek between Lake Erie and Springville for 100 years. There is limited access to Cattaraugus Creek below the dam. Much of it is in the Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area and the Seneca Nation of Indians Cattaraugus
Photo by Rick Miller The Scoby Hill Dam in Springville that cuts off the Upper Cattaraugus Creek from the Lower Cattaraugus Creek will be lowered by 25 feet in 2021. A fish ladder will be installed to let steelhead trout migrate above the 34-mile Lower Cattaraugus, but prevent the invasive sea lamprey.
Territory. Despite limited access, the creek is considered the highest quality steelhead stream in New York state by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Springville village board updated on wastewater treatment plant aftermath
By Kellen M. Quigley
Ten days after the incident at the village of Springville wastewater treatment plant, the Board of Trustees were updated on what happened and what needs to be done moving forward. At Tuesday’s regular village board meeting, Rich Zifra, chief operator at the treatment plant, was there to explain the situation and answer any questions about the plant. “No one feels worse about this than me because I’m the chief operator and responsibility falls on me for that,” he said. “Trust me, if this could have been prevented this, it would have been prevented. It could have happened at any time.” However, Zifra said he wasn’t entirely surprised it did happen. Two weeks earlier, he said they had been having some issues at the plant at they were in the process of trying to remedy it. “We did contact the manufacturer to let them know and to look for direction from there,” he said. Zifra said it took a couple days for the manufacturer to return his calls to See Aftermath page 5
“Lower Cattaraugus Creek is regarded as one of the premier destinations in North America for steelhead anglers, and upper Cattaraugus Creek provides excellent angling opportunities for resident rainbow
and brown trout,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement. “This plan seeks to enhance Cattaraugus Creek as a premier destination in Western New York for a year-round, high-quality sport fishery.” The Scoby Hill Dam stretches 300 feet across Cattaraugus Creek between Cattaraugus and Erie counties. Lowering the dam in the $7 million project and allowing steelhead to migrate into the 557 miles of the Upper Cattaraugus Creek and its tributaries will increase the opportunities for steelhead fishermen, according to DEC. There are already more than 30 miles of DEC fishing access above the dam where anglers will begin seeing steelhead over the next 10 to 15 years. “I’m in favor of allowing fish to move upstream,” said Vince Tobia, owner of Cattaraugus Outfitters, who probably knows Cattaraugus Creek’s fishery as well as anyone. Providing proper safeguards are in place against the sea lamprey getting past the dam, Tobia said he thinks the trout fisheries above the dam will be fine once the creek is opened up. It will lead to natural reproduction by the steelhead in tributaries in the Upper Cattaraugus, Tobias said. “There’s more high-quality water upstream,” he said. “Ultimately, the goal is more naturally reproducing fish.” The DEC stocks more than 90,000 “Washington strain” steelhead yearlings See Angling page 4
SCA to present Simon comedy ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’
By Alex Simmons
Coming to the Springville Center for the Arts next week is a 1950s semi-biographical comedy sure to provide 23 floors worth of laughs. Written by Neil Simon, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” directed by Matt Boyle, tells the story of a group of writers in the early years of television who hysterically compete for the attention of Max Prince during his ongoing battle with NBC. The story focuses on Neil Simon’s early years as a young writer for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour.” Rick Manzone, who plays Max Prince, is a “trained theater professional,” Boyle said. “This is not his first rodeo.” The play primarily focuses on Max Prince,
ck
a B k o o L A
Performances of “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” begin Feb. 28 at the Springville Center for the Arts, 37 North Buffalo St. in Springville.
a comedy/variety show star and his writing crew. Auditions were held in October and the cast has been rehearsing for the past two months. One actor was “pretty
much off book on day one,” Boyle said, showing how much dedication the actors and actresses really have when it comes to performing at SCA. “I’ve been thinking
about this show for a number of years so we did a table read with the play reading committee,” he said. “We read multiple plays but I knew this was See Laughter page 5
A Look Back:
Eggs and butter
By Jolene Hawkins the Springville Express, said they would Looking back accept butter and eggs on account for the to the time when our subscription of the newspaper. The Barter foremothers came into system was going strong when cash was low. town and sold or traded the At the clothing store of P Hein in 1874, it extra eggs and butter for money. It wasn’t just Ma Ingalls that took her eggs states in their ad that butter and eggs will be to Oleson’s Mercantile to be sold and gathered money taken in exchange for the clothing. How cool from Mrs. Oleson in “Little House on the Prairie.” Throughout is that?! One lady claims that she purchased a rug there with her butter and egg money. the years, we had several stores in town that took them Prior Store and CJ Lowe even advertised to bring them in and get the best prices. This was some of the money that the woman Spencer and Nash, a store that was present on Main Street in 1844, alone controlled. What she did with it was has an ad in the paper stating, “in exchange for goods, we want ashes, her choice. In 1880, L.B. Nichols had established a grain, flaxseed, feathers, beeswax, old cast iron, butter, eggs, etc.” business in town and he promised to be a By 1845, prices were being listed. Butter was 10 cents and eggs great benefit to producers. He proposed to were 7 to 8 cents. Now, of course, it does not give the quantity of them, but I think it was probably one pound of butter for 10 cents and pay cash for butter, cheese, eggs, apples and all other kinds of produce. This is just what a dozen eggs for 7 to 8 cents. See A Look Back page 5 Even the newspaper we had in the 1840s, which was called
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