PRESORTED
STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #9 APALACHIN, NY
CARRIER ROUTE POSTAL CUSTOMER
BROWN ENTERPRISE AND MARKETING 7830 STATE ROUTE 434 APALACHIN, NEW YORK 13732
APALACHIN • OWEGO • NICHOLS TIOGA CENTER • NEWARK VALLEY
CAMPVILLE • BARTON • CANDOR SMITHBORO • CATATONK
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER • www.CommunityPress.us JANUARY 2017
Volume 32
Progress in the Town of Nichols
Number 1
The Town of Owego: 2016 in Review Looking Ahead to 2017 By Donald Castellucci, Jr., Town of Owego Supervisor
2017 is looking to be a great year for the Town of Nichols, with the continuing expansion of Tioga Downs - the new casino opened in December and a new six-story hotel is expected to open this fall. Further expansion is happening in the Lounsbury area of Nichols with the future home of Crown located south of Best Buy, and the new Fed-Ex facility located near the Army Reserve Facility. Crown is a leading supplier of metal packaging products worldwide. Lounsberry will be a new beverage can plant
for specialty can sizes. Crown will also produce two-piece aluminum cans in a range of sizes. Crown will address a broad range of beverage categories, including soft drinks, beer, ready-to-drink tea, coffee, spirits, sprinkling water, wine, juice, cider and nutritional beverages. The Fed-Ex Freight Cross Dock Facility is being constructed on a 21-acre site and will have a 24,000 square foot service center with 52 truck docks and 73 jobs
Fed-Ex Photo by Jim Raftis Sr.
Photo by Jim Raftis Sr.
By the time this makes print it will be 2017! It seems winter will make an appearance this year as the snow storms are already making up for last year’s absence. As I enter my 22nd year in town government and longer in local politics, I want to thank all of you for the support, criticisms, and friendship along the way. No one can be successful without the help and support of others. I often quote Clarence the “angel” from “It’s A Wonderful Life”: “No man is a failure who has friends!” I hope I continue to earn that support and friendship over the next year. 2017 promises to be another challenging year as we continue with our final projects resulting from the 2011 flood. We received the FEMA funding to move forward with the remaining Apalachin sewage treatment plant mitigation. That will include moving electrical panels to the second floor and as well as moving administrative offices to the town hall campus. Several other upgrades will be completed as well. The Main Street well house is up and running and a fence was installed surrounding it. Highway
expended 1.4 million dollars on various asphalt road repairs in 2016. The department was also able to reclaim 20 thousand tons of asphalt and crushed over 15 thousand tons of creek gravel. It is anticipated that in 2017 the department will work on eliminating dirt roads in the town. The Planning and Zoning Department was busy taking reservations for Hickories Park’s pavilions the first working day of the year and expect the same in 2017. Building permits for new single family homes remained stagnant. While there has been little commercial activity in the town, we welcome Visions to Apalachin, the conversion of an old barn off Route 434 to a distillery, Upstate Shredding has added “Micro Fines” to their facility for recycling, there will be a new Perkins Restaurant located at the Comfort Inn on Rt. 434, and a new vehicle repair facility is slated to open on 17C across from Tioga Gardens. Hopefully as the economy eventually improves so will additional development in the town. Continued on page 3
2 0 1 7
Photo by Jim Raftis Sr.
CROWN