THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILLAGE OF ELLICOTTVILLE AND THE TOWNS OF ELLICOTTVILLE, GREAT VALLEY AND MANSFIELD,
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 27
NY
FREE
www.EllicottvilleTimes.com
SEPTEMBER 13 - 19, 2013
Pumpkinville Opens This Saturday Pink Pumpkin Festival Sept. 21-22
by Eva Potter
© 2013 KEYSTONE DESIGNERS
Saturday, Sept. 14 marks the long-awaited season opener of Pumpkinville, Great Valley’s annual fall attraction celebrating all things pumpkin. As the county’s largest tourist attraction, the 200-acre oldest continuously working pumpkin farm in New York State, Pumpkinville welcomes roughly 100,000 visitors each year from the region and faraway places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canada. It’s always a memorable time with loads to see and do, all wrapped in a fun, festival atmosphere. Thanks to the hard work of owners Dan and Diane Pawlowski and their children, Jim and Lisa, along with close to 100 employees, they turn 25 acres of their 200-acre farm into a magic pumpkin fairyland for kids and grownups of all ages. What’s New Every year the Pawlowskis strive to add a new feature to their pumpkin kingdom. This year, Pumpkin Jumpin’ Pillows, two giant, air-filled jumping pillows, will keep the kids bouncing with delight. Another addition this year is helicopter rides. On October weekends, weather permitting, folks can enjoy helicopter rides to enjoy the vivid fall foliage from above. Annual favorites include hayrides, the corn cannon, Goat Mountain, the cow train, gem mining, Storyland, a 6-acre corn maze, petting zoo, singing animatronic chickens and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Don’t feel like picking your own? Then select from over a dozen varieties of picked and sorted pumpkins. See Pumpkinville page 9
Credit Union Opening Soon in EVL
By Jann Wiswall
The Cattaraugus County School Employees (CCSE) Federal Credit Union will be opening its new location in Ellicottville at the Ellicottville Square complex on Bristol Lane in late October or early November. This will be the credit union’s second branch — the first is located in
Salamanca at 417 Broad Street. CCSE has a long history in Salamanca. It was started in 1977 as a benefit for school employees. Initially, it was run out of a school and then a member’s home. The Broad Street location opened in 1994 and membership has been growing ever since as more schools have become members, and membership among businesses, non-profit organizations, fire departments, churches and others has grown. Today, more than 4,300 members take advantage of the credit union’s offerings. And with the new Ellicottville location, membership is expected to grow even more. “Ellicottville is the right place to be at the right time,” says CCSE’s marketing and IT chief Jamie Buffamonte. “The new branch will be much more convenient to many more of our current and eligible members, especially those See Credit Union page 8
Local Republicans Select Incumbents
By Jann Wiswall
County District Attorney incumbent, Lori P. Rieman, easily defeated County Public Defender Mark S. Williams by a margin of nearly 71 percent in the Republican Primary held countywide on Sept. 10. Rieman garnered 2,104 of 2,997 ballots cast. Williams had 864 votes.
In Mansfield, registered Republican voters were asked to vote for two of three candidates for Town Council. Incumbent Councilmembers James A. Hammond and Donald F. Mosher were selected as the two Republican candidates that will move forward to the November election. Hammond won 41
percent of the vote and Mosher won 34 percent. Challenger Larry A. Johnson received 24 percent of votes cast. A total of 59 voters cast ballots in the Mansfield primary. Mosher, who currently is in his third term on the Town Council, says he is thankful to See Republican Incumbents page 5
Ellicottville Square Site Plan Amendment Approved By Jann Wiswall
Sprague Development has received official approval from the Village Planning Board at their Sept. 10 meeting for an amended site plan at the
Ellicottville Square Complex. The amended plan allows for completion of drive-through banking lanes and parking area alterations for the Cattaraugus County School Employee
Federal Credit Union (CCSE) branch that is locating there. A number of conditions must be met by a previously See Village Planning Board page 7
Canadian to Run 104 Miles to Village Board: New Water/ EVL for Mental Health
Invites Youth to Join in Final Miles this Saturday • Chicken BBQ Fundraiser Get ready to cheer on Doug Flis as he completes his 104-mile run from Grimsby, Ontario, to Ellicottville on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 14. Flis hopes to further awareness and education about mental illness and to raise funds for Camp
New Horizons, a camp for troubled and at-risk youths. Flis plans to arrive in the heart of the village of Ellicottville on Sept. 14. He invites the youth of the area join him anywhere between the llocation of the future Tim Hortons (near the bblinking light where Route 219 jogs left as you aare heading north) and the Ilex Inn. The meeting ttime will be between approximately 2–4 p.m. ((weather depending) for the final push. Flis w will be accompanied by a police escort and will finish his run near the intersection of Monroe aand Washington streets. Once in town, Flis and his entourage will ttravel to the Ilex Inn, where owners Rick and See 104 Mile Run page 8
Sewer Rates Will Stand Fall Festival Plans Approved
By Jann Wiswall
The Ellicottville Village Board, at its Sept. 9 meeting, stated it will not revise the laws enacted in April that set new quarterly water and sewer rates for village businesses and residents beginning with the July billing period. The new rates have been a subject of much discussion since bills were mailed in June. In addition to rate changes,
the board established a new classification of commercial customers — non-restaurant businesses with 5/8-inch or 1-inch water meters. Many owners of businesses in this class complained about the $150 increase to their quarterly, minimum water/sewer bills. In the past, these businesses had been billed as residential customers, which the state required the village to change.
In response to these customers’ concerns, the board has considered over the past several months whether the laws should be rewritten. Such a change would require the village attorney to rewrite the laws at significant cost to the village and would have required new public hearings on the issue — a process that could take months. See Village Board page 7