department overview 2010

2010 Annual Report

Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development, Planning & Tourism

Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development, Planning & Tourism 303 Court St., Little Valley, New York 14755

Phone: (800) 331-0543 Website: www.cattco.org

Department Overview Crystal J. Abers, Director

The mission of the Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism is three fold: 1) Economic Development: Economic Development is the driver behind everything we do within our department. We are continually

working on ways to strengthen our existing businesses, and are working closely with the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the Cattaraugus County Business Development Corporation (BDC), the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board (STW) and any other available economic development agency to offer the best package incentives and benefits to new start up businesses and the attraction of larger companies (see the PTAC Highlights pages 3-5 for other Economic Development activities).

2) Planning: Our Planning staff works daily on the sustainable balance between rural preservation and urban development with each of our individual Towns and Villages and the County as a whole. We are a great resource to our communities and offer the opportunity to strengthen our local Towns and Villages. The Planning Division also functions as staff for the Cattaraugus County Planning Board, the Cattaraugus County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board and the Cattaraugus County Equine Advisory Committee (see the Planning Highlights pages 6-10 for a more detailed description of these activities).

3) Tourism: We are very proud of our County with all of its natural beauty and abundance of the four season activities. Our Tourism

staff works daily to promote Cattaraugus County as a great tourism destination and its vast variety of tourism opportunities (see the Tourism Highlights pages 11-12 for a more detailed description of these activities).

The Department serves as a source of information and technical assistance for our County residents (pop. 80,317), 32 Towns, 13 Villages and 2 Cities. We are willing to work with our businesses and various other agencies to be able to provide the best incentives from a new start up business to an already existing business. The Department staff (see photo and listing below) has continued and increased its use of ever-changing technological tools such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning Systems) for computer mapping and database management.

Director Position The Director’s position was filled January 2010 by Crystal J. Abers. Crystal brings to the department a background in business, entrepreneurship and is a lifelong resident of Cattaraugus County. She has served on a Town Board for 14 years, and was a Legislator for 10 years and is active in many Cattaraugus County organizations.

Economic Development, Planning and Tourism Staff L-R: Paul R. Bishop, Senior Planner; Debra L. Opferbeck, Tourism Specialist; James H. Isaacson, Senior Planner; Margaret E. Puszcz, Stenographic Secretary; Becky L. Smith, Tourism Assistant; Crystal J. Abers, Director; Lenora A. Leasure, Development Specialist; Jeremy M. Knab, Web Technician; Joseph J. Williams, Procurement Specialist; Deborah L. Miller, Junior Accountant.

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(800) 331-0543 2010 Annual Report www.cattco.org New York State Snowmobile Grant The Department once again assisted the Cattaraugus County Federation of Snowmobile Clubs in securing trail grant funding from NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP) in the amount of $170,470.00. This funding helps the nine area snowmobile clubs to improve and maintain the over 359 miles of funded snowmobile trails in Cattaraugus County. The registration fee paid by snowmobilers provides this funding. The department works with the clubs and the federation to ensure that the trails are GPS’d at a minimum of once every three years. James Isaacson, Senior Planner went into the field this year and worked with several clubs to maintain trail accuracy.

The Department utilizes a number of tourism promotion efforts to build the snowmobiling economy here in the County. A new and improved snowmobiling brochure and map was again printed and distributed free to visitors this year. In addition to trails, it identifies numerous small businesses along the trails that offer snowmobilers assorted services. This is just one of a broad range of integrated marketing tools that are utilized by the Department to generate tourism revenues from snowmobiling and other niche markets. Examples of snowmobile marketing include: the County Activities Guide, Snowmobile Trail Guide, Enchanted Mountains website, the toll free Tourism Information Line, the New York State Snowmobile Association (NYSSA) Spring Forum and www.SnowTrailTV.com. Tourism Grant Program The Tourism Grant Program continued in 2010 with Chamber of Commerce’s as the recipients of these funds which assists them to fund tourism promotion endeavors. The Program is continually being refined to be able to provide grants for advertising and promoting various new or expanded tourism events, unique festivals, attractions and experiences that will attract more visitors for extended stays. Through this grant program, it is important to establish opportunities to promote our entire county and enhance the level of visitor experience in our county. Casino Revenue Sharing Background Casino revenue funds flow to the County via New York State and the City of Salamanca as per a Gaming Compact between the State and the Seneca Nation of Indians. The initial share of revenue funds from the Casino arrived in late 2005, which the Department subsequently went to work on implementing during 2006 as per the pre-approved spending plan. These first year funds were tied to the Casino’s first eight months of operation in 2004. The funds were mainly used for tourism promotion activities including: Enchanted Mountains Advertising, I86 Info Center staffing, Specialty Tourism “Theme” Brochure printing, Countywide Video production and Consulting funds to “implement” concepts of the Allegany State Park Perimeter Study. A Casino Spending Plan is completed for each projected payment and submitted to New York State for approval. We have been asked by New York State to submit a plan for the 2009 payment. At the conclusion of 2010, the County had received all of the 2008 money.

Front row l-r: Debra Opferbeck, Tourism Specialist, Cathy Hill, Federation Trail Coordinator, Lisa Foster, Federation Treasurer, Mary Rembold, Becky Smith, Tourism Specialist, and Chad Salzler. Back row l-r: Don Williams, Mark Parsternak, Max Gross, Kirk Hayes, Al Biekel, Gus Werchowski, Joseph Williams, PTAC Coordinator, Bob Bach, George Couell, Director NYSSA, and James Isaacson, Senior Planner. Photo by EDP&T

Summary of Cattaraugus County's 2nd Half of 2008 Casino Revenue Funds Economic Development Spending Plan

Expenditure Category: Onoville Marina Infrastructure Economic Development Fund

Note: Each category contains a number of specific "action item" components.

Snowmobilers enjoy the bountiful snow and sunshine near Randolph in January 2010. Photo by Jack Berger

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(800) 331-0543 2010 Annual Report www.cattco.org

Procurement Highlights Joseph J. Williams, Jr.

Program Manager – Industrial Program Specialist

Lenora Leasure PTAC Small Business Counselor – Development Specialist

Cattaraugus County Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) The Cattaraugus County Procurement Technical Assistance Program is a special economic development tool used to assist small businesses in Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chautauqua and Wyoming Counties to obtain federal, state and local government contracts. The PTAC offers training to businesses on how to research and bid on government solicitations and assists them in registering and using e-commerce. The services provided are free of charge. The PTAC is designed to help small, HUBZone, small disadvantaged, women-owned, veteran-owned and service disabled veteran businesses compete for their share of government contracts. The PTAC program offers many services to our clients. Mr. Williams and Ms. Leasure work with a software company, Outreach Systems, to provide clients with a web mail bid matching program. The program includes a bid matching service called MyBidMatch and it allows clients the ability to access their web page and bid match notices from any computer. The software is continually being improved. The software allows us the ability to track client conferences, calls, workshop attendance and to submit custom surveys to our clients. Another great feature of the software is that when a client calls and asks for assistance regarding a specific notice, we have access to the client’s web mail and can talk them through issues or problems. The Cattaraugus County PTAC has implemented so many aspects of the software that Outreach has actually used our eCenter Direct website as a model for other PTACs to look to when implementing features. The PTAC has participated in many seminars, trainings, and presentations throughout the year. In 2010, the PTAC personnel once again assisted the Cattaraugus County Business Development Corporation (CCBDC) by presenting the Government Marketing program and Web Site Marketing and web related training to small business owners at the CCBDC’s training classes. In addition to CCBDC presentations, we also instructed several trainings for the small businesses planning to attend the SBA Small Business Matchmaker event. The PTAC worked with the Rochester Institute of Technology/Center for integrated Manufacturing Studies (RIT/CIMS), holding several presentation workshops throughout the Southern Tier entitled “Manufacturers’ Guide to Doing Business with the DoD”. Working with the DCMA office, we hosted a training on the Wide Area Work Flow invoicing system and we also held another seminar with a contracting lawyer on Debriefings. New in 2010, the PTAC began offering trainings/seminars through GoTowebinar which allows our clients to attend from their home or office, saving both the client and the PTAC program travel time and expenses. PTAC Staff: Joseph J. Williams, Jr., Program Manager; Lenora Leasure, PTAC Small Business Counselor; Jeremy Knab, Web Technician; Deborah Miller, Junior Accountant.

Manufacturer’s Guide to Doing Business with the DoD Seminar, Jamestown, NY, February 3, 2010. Pictured from left to right Mr. Brian Duddy, RIT/CIMS Senior Program Manager, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret.); Mr. Joseph Williams, PTAC Program Manager; Ms. Lenora Leasure, PTAC Small Business Counselor. Photo by EDP&T

Manufacturers’ Guide to Doing Business with the DoD Seminar, Jamestown, NY, February 3, 2010 . Photo by EDP&T

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The Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism was once again awarded a Cooperative Agreement Award from the Department of Defense in the amount of $121,025. The funding is awarded on a competitive basis annually. The award is for the base year (2008) and three option years. The total program costs of $161,367 are funded by the Cooperative Agreement Award, Cattaraugus County and other in-kind contributions from the Cattaraugus County Business Development Corporation. The contract includes an increase in funding provided by the Department of Defense. Over the twenty-three years of the PTAC program, total program costs have increased by $64,797 while the County’s cash outlay for the program have actually decreased by $10,742, thanks in large part to the efforts of Mr. Williams, Program Manager. The Defense Contract Management Agency audits the program and submits a recommendation to the Defense Logistics Agency for the upcoming year. The Cattaraugus County Procurement Technical Assistance Center will begin its twenty-third year of assisting small businesses on January 16, 2011. Government Marketing Information The PTAC utilizes the Internet for much of the information made available to businesses. The web site contains links for every department in the federal government and the Department of Defense, including links for purchase cardholders, drawings, agency forecasts, contacts, registration links and research information. The program works closely with the Small Business Administration to market the SBA and PTAC programs. The PTAC introduced Webinars for seminars and training for clients in the last quarter of 2010. By utilizing this program we will be able to save our clients and staff valuable travel time. Clients and prospective clients are able to remain in their office and spend the time managing the business. Another very helpful component of the Webinar package is GoToMeeting. Using this feature the PTAC staff is able to assist clients from our office. We contact the client or person having trouble with a registration or locating a notice and invite them to an on-line meeting. We can give them directions while watching the client computer screen. Our clients that have used this type of assistance have been very excited in this new technology. PTAC Consultations and Clients The Center processed one hundred twenty-nine initial and nearly four hundred follow-up consultations with small business concerns from the area. The PTAC currently has over three hundred active clients that are using the Center’s resources. The MyBidMatch bid-matching program, which includes daily solicitations sent to businesses via email, had one hundred thirteen active businesses participating. The monthly average of solicitations sent to business concerns was nearly 20,000. The PTAC database contains over fourteen hundred contacts. The PTAC helped build awareness and assisted businesses with registering on several Federal web sites including CCR, Small Business Dynamic Search, Online Certifications and Representations (ORCA), HUBZone and GSA as well as participated in the planning and training for the SBA and Business First Expo and Matchmaker in the Buffalo Convention Center in May 2010. In 2010, PTAC clients were offered the opportunity to complete the required quarterly surveys as well as general satisfaction surveys online. Through nine different surveys, we received 128 responses. As we continue to implement the eCenter Direct, we expect this number to increase. PTAC Contracts Our PTAC clients were awarded over $21,800,000 in contracts during 2010. Cattaraugus County businesses received nearly $14,000,000 in federal, state or local contracts. A total of two-

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hundred seventeen contracts were awarded to our clients, with Cattaraugus County businesses receiving over 51% of these contracts. According to the Department of Defense, the PTAC is credited with creating or maintaining 451 jobs in the area it serves. PTAC Logo The PTAC staff developed a new logo to help in the branding of the Cattaraugus County Procurement Technical Assistance Center. Mr. Terrence McIntyre, ACO/Business Operations Supervisor, commented after looking at the logo, “After viewing the PTAC’s new logo, DCMA believes that this logo can lead to a good branding technique for the PTAC. This logo is geared towards what the PTAC program represents, which is the partnership between Cattaraugus County and the Department of Defense. DCMA would like to see this new logo be incorporated into the PTAC’s website, as it is very eye catching. DCMA believes that contractors will be able to relate to this logo and know that they can get involved with DoD work.” The logo was created using ArcView and Photoshop. It has the PTAC four county area of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Allegany and Wyoming draped by the American Flag and an American Eagle. The logo was added to our eCenterDirect website as suggested by Mr. McIntyre. We have also created new business cards, letterhead and a new PTAC pamphlet utilizing the logo.

PTAC pamphlet (front cover)

PTAC logo

The Cattaraugus County PTAC was featured in Outreach System’s marketing campaign to PTACs and Small Business Development Centers throughout the country.

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Planning Highlights James H. Isaacson, Senior Planner and Paul R. Bishop, Senior Planner

Margaret E. Puszcz, Stenographic Secretary

(County Planning Board Annual Report as required by General Municipal Law Section 239-c.4.)

The Planning Division serves the County, its 47 municipalities (32 towns, 13 villages and 2 cities), and citizens with many different services that are designed to provide a positive impact on the quality of life in the County. The Division’s activities have been grouped into functional areas to provide a clearer understanding of the many different services they provide. These functional areas include Countywide Planning, Cattaraugus County Planning Board, Local Technical Assistance, Agriculture, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Information Services, and Additional Activities. Countywide Planning

The County is involved in many inter-municipal and countywide plans and development projects. Work in this area is often performed with partners where the County Planning staff has a defined role representing the County’s interest in the project or activity. Cattaraugus County Equestrian Initiative

The Cattaraugus County Equine Advisory Committee continued to advance the County's Equestrian Initiative. 2010 saw the nationwide airing of Best of America By Horseback's two episodes on RFD-TV. These two episodes highlighted the equestrian heritage and trail riding opportunities of the Cattaraugus-Chautauqua region. The area was promoted to a wide audience, and much positive feedback was received from this nationwide showing. The County assisted in bringing the popular TV show to the region with funding from the Casino Plan. The County also completed its production of a short equestrian promotional video. This video highlights the diversity of equestrian activities that Cattaraugus County offers, from trail riding to shows and competitions. This project was also funded from the County's Casino Plan, and will be used to showcase the county's diverse offerings to a wider audience. The Equine Advisory Committee has initiated a program to educate various stakeholders in the care of abused or neglected horses. The Committee began working with local law enforcement, the SPCA, and the District Attorney's Office to increase the awareness among these crucial participants of the concerns for the welfare of horses. This year saw continued improvements to the Pine Hills Trail System in the Town of South Valley. The Committee oversees improvements to these trails and other equine trails throughout the county, coordinating volunteer days and trail rides for area enthusiasts. Also, the Committee assisted with a new update to the County's equestrian trails brochure.

Regional Watershed Initiative

Cattaraugus County Planning is participating with the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board in a multi-year process that will lead to the development of a Watershed Analysis of the watershed basins that impact Cattaraugus County and the Southern Tier West region.

Significant portions of three watersheds are in Cattaraugus County. They are:

The Upper Allegheny The Cattaraugus The Conewango

Clean and abundant water is a valuable asset to our County. Issues such as stormwater, drainage, streambank erosion, flooding and water pollution, however, are still present in all of our watersheds. This watershed assessment and analysis will help us identify areas of particular concern and guide the County in its efforts to balance growth with the protection of our watersheds and ecosystems.

Tom Seay and Jim Little. Photo: Best of America by Horseback

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Census 2010 April 1, 2010 was CENSUS DAY for the 2010 Census. It is vital for our County and State that every resident is counted. To that end, the County Planning Board was designated as Cattaraugus County's "Complete Count Committee" and partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau and Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board to distribute promotional materials and provide regular updates and publicity to ensure that every County resident was counted in the 2010 Census. In March the 2010 Census Road Tour bus spent the day in the City of Salamanca. Many visitors stopped by to learn about the Census and then left with a variety of promotional materials in support of the Census. In October the U.S. Census Bureau, Boston Region, presented the Cattaraugus County Complete Count Committee with a plaque, pictured to the right, in appreciation of .."the time and resources your organization dedicated in helping to ensure a successful 2010 Census."

Cattaraugus County Planning Board The Planning Division serves as staff for the County Planning Board, which must act upon referrals from local municipalities sent to the County under Sections 239 l., m., and n. of New York State General Municipal Law (GML). Two more communities executed Referral Exemption Agreements with the County Planning Board: the Town of Randolph and the Town of Ellicottville, bringing the total municipalities who utilize this tool to six. This agreement allows a local municipal board (i.e., planning board, zoning board of appeals, or legislative board) to determine that an action is a local issue and therefore does not need to be referred to the County Planning Board under GML 239 l. and m. The County Planning Board has prepared a list of items it deems to be of local concern, and this agreement permits the local boards from referring these items. This helps to expedite local reviews of projects and reduces the workload of the planning staff and County Planning Board. The staff makes recommendations to the County Planning Board regarding these referrals. In addition, the staff also makes recommendations on State Environmental Quality Reviews (SEQR). During 2010 the following Planning Board activities were accomplished: Reviewed 42 Section 239 l., m., and n. referrals Reviewed 3 SEQR environmental documents Hosted Annual Leadership Conference

Presented monthly reports to the Planning Board pertaining to on-going Department projects.

2010 Cattaraugus County Planning Board: Standing L-R: Michael Zaprowski, Assistant Secretary County Planning Board and Chairman City of Salamanca Planning Commission; Robert Keis, Supervisor Town of Mansfield, Vice Chair Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board; Tina Abrams, Seneca Nation of Indians Counselor, Director of Class II Gaming; Mark Smith,Supervisor Town of Dayton; Florence Fuller,Councilwoman Town of Carrollton; Richard Fuller, Yorkshire; David McCoy, member Town of Portville Planning Board; Paul Mager, Vice Chair County Planning Board, Alpaca Farmer, Little Valley. Seated L-R: David Rivet,Commissioner of Public Works, Cattaraugus; Ann Padlo, Secretary County Planning Board, Active Volunteer, Olean. Missing from photo Kameron Brooks,Attorney,Randolph; Jack “Ol’ Dad” Berger, Photographer, East Randolph;and Charles Couture, Chair County Planning Board, Member Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board, President Cattaraugus County Farm Bureau, West Valley. Photo by Paul Bishop.

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A Successful Business and Its Ties to the Community

The Cattaraugus County Planning Board held its Annual Leadership Conference on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at the Seneca Allegany Casino Events Center in Salamanca with 120 people in attendance representing Cattaraugus County’s municipalities, County Legislature, and County Planning Board. The focus of the meeting was “A Successful Business and Its Ties to the Community”. The Keynote Speaker was James E. Stitt, Chairman, CEO and President of the CUTCO Corporation, the largest manufacturer and marketer of high-quality kitchen cutlery and accessories in the United States and Canada. Mr. Stitt presented a short video on their manufacturing process from the Travel Channel show “John Ratzenberger’s Made in America”. He continued with a detailed timeline of the company’s history and CUTCO’s philosophy which is centered on a set of core values: ethics in all aspects of the business; opportunities for employees to grow and share in the success of the business; recognition and rewards for dedication; corporate financial strength; outstanding product performance and quality; first-class customer service, and the improvement and well being of the local community. He also emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship in today’s economy. Being a CUTCO sales representative is as much a learning opportunity as it is an earning opportunity. Each of these sales representatives creates, in effect, a small business. The lessons learned from their experience can then be applied in their careers. Mr. Stitt believes that the country’s future lies with these entrepreneurs and their ability to create the jobs necessary to drive our economy.

Brooks Patterson Community Leadership Award The County Planning Board, at its Annual Leadership Conference held at the Seneca Allegany Casino Events Center in Salamanca on July 28, 2010, awarded its annual Brooks Patterson Community Leadership Award to Michael Hutchinson for his outstanding leadership and years of dedicated service in Community Planning and Development for the Village of Gowanda in Cattaraugus County. The recipients of this annual award are chosen to give countywide recognition to leaders and volunteers who make lasting contributions to the people and communities of Cattaraugus County and its region and who exemplify the outstanding spirit and example that Torrance Brooks and Donald Patterson set during their lifetime of dedicated service to their respective communities, County Legislature, County Planning Board, and regional agencies.

Upon receiving the award, Mr. Hutchinson stated that “when I look down through the projects listed, I don’t see what I have accomplished, but I see all the people working together to get these projects done.” He then acknowledged a number of people in the audience who had worked with him through the years on the various projects. “I’m humbled and inspired,” he said. “Thank you. I really do appreciate this”.

Local Technical Assistance

The Planning Division provides technical assistance to the County’s 47 municipalities, many of whom have little or no municipal staff available to work on planning and zoning issues. The Planning Staff provided support to these municipalities in the areas of comprehensive planning, land use regulation and zoning, geographic information systems, downtown revitalization, and infrastructure development. Training

Provided and arranged for training, in accordance with NYS Law, to municipal and county planning and zoning boards of appeal members. Training was provided in the following areas: Local Planning for Agriculture: What Can Your Town Do? A Successful Business and

Its Ties to the Community

Emerald Ash Borer Land Use Learning Program

(1) Zoning: The Basics (2) Comprehensive Planning

L-R: Charles Couture, Chairman, County Planning Board and Michael Hutchinson, recipient of the 2010 Brooks Patterson Community Leadership Award. Photo by Jack Berger

James E. Stitt, Chairman, CEO and President of CUTCO Corporation, keynote speaker. Photo by Jack Berger

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Comprehensive Planning and Zoning In 2010 the Planning Staff provided several municipalities with assistance in creating or revising their comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. The Town of Hinsdale continues to work on developing a comprehensive plan. The Town of Carrollton completed their comprehensive plan and they are beginning the process of investigating land use controls. Both of these Towns were provided technical assistance through map creation, data and information gathering, document review and meeting facilitation. This type of municipal service continues to be a focus of the Division's activities. Properly instituted comprehensive plans and zoning can have an immediate, positive impact on land use at the local level.

Agriculture

The Planning Division serves as a policy and technical advisor to the Cattaraugus County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, whose task is to promote and preserve agricultural resources in the County and address agricultural-related issues that have an impact on the County's diverse farming communities. New York State Agricultural Districts Program Review

The Planning Division administers the Cattaraugus County Agricultural Districts Program, consisting of six (6) Agricultural Districts throughout the County. These Districts provide certain protections and benefits for landowners who wish to keep their property in agricultural production. The Planning Staff conducts ongoing reviews of the Agricultural Districts. Through this review process, these districts will continue to provide agricultural landowners with the Agricultural District Program benefits made available by the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law.

Agricultural District Annual 30-Day Inclusion Period

January 2 through January 31 is Cattaraugus County’s annual 30-day open period for inclusions into an existing agricultural district. This requirement is defined in New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, Article 25AA, Section 303-b. In 2010, for the first time since this process was implemented, there were no requests for inclusions into Cattaraugus County’s Agricultural Districts.

Cattaraugus County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan Implementation

The Planning Staff continued in 2010 its focus on assisting the County's Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board in ways to implement the Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan. Submitted a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Application to the Cattaraugus County Legislature

for adoption and submittal, through the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board's three-county CEDS document, to the United States Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration for review and approval.

Created a “Living in the Country – What to Expect from Your Farm Neighbors” brochure that

was distributed to towns and realtors. Realtors are utilizing this brochure as part of the Real Estate Disclosure notice that notifies new landowners in rural areas of agricultural activities that may occur near their property. The brochure identifies and explains, in detail, those agricultural activities.

Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Allegany-Cattaraugus, presented "2010 Friend of Agriculture" plaque to the department "In Grateful Appreciation for Many Years of Support

Toward Furthering the Mission of Cornell University Cooperative Extension." Sponsored a "Local Planning for Agriculture in Cattaraugus County: What Can Your Town

Do" workshop for planning boards, zoning boards and municipal officials. This workshop

highlighted the tools that local officials can use to promote and protect agriculture in their communities.

Prepared the map for Cornell University Cooperative Extension's “Visit the Farm Day” held in

September.

2010 Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board. Standing L-R: Barbara George, Vice Chairman and farmer; Crystal Abers, Director EDP&T; Robert Neal, Legislator; David Zilker, Chairman and Farm Bureau representative; Dan Brown, farmer. Seated L-R: Dean Sprague, Cornell Cooperative Extension representative; Henry Steuernagel, farmer; James Ellis, Soil and Water Conservation representative; Brian Davis, agri-business representataive and Donald Telaak, farmer. Missing from photo Daniel Martonis, Director Real Property Tax Service. Photo by EDP&T

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Information Services

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful mapping and analysis tool used by the Planning Division to bring data analysis and information to the County and its municipalities, businesses, and the general public. The Staff produced numerous maps for various clients that they used in their decision-making and operations. Mapping

Most municipalities in the County do not have access to aerial imagery, up-to-date parcel information, flood plain delineation or the many other data layers available to the County. As part of the Planning Division's municipal support program, maps are continually being created using the County’s Geographic Information System (GIS) for distribution to municipalities throughout the County.

Additional Activities

The Planning Staff represented the Department at meetings as follows:

Community Transportation Coalition of Cattaraugus County Seneca Trail Resource Conservation & Development Council Cattaraugus County Water Quality Council Cattaraugus County GIS Users Group Southern Tier West Community GIS Users Group Route 219 Association Cattaraugus County Route 219 Corridor Development Committee Cattaraugus County Traffic Safety Board Salamanca Main Street Partnership Southern Tier West Transportation Committee Southern Tier West Mobility Management Committee

The Planning Staff attended or organized various events as follows: Organized a workshop on "Local Planning For Agriculture In Cattaraugus County: What Can Your Town Do?"

held March 30th at the Great Valley Town Hall. Organized a workshop on the Emerald Ash Borer held June 30th at the Randolph Fire Hall. Served as panelist at the STW Fall Planning and Zoning Conference held November 16th in Chautauqua County.

Organized March and September meetings of the Route 219 Corridor Development Committee.

Participated in numerous webinars on topics such as agriculture and rural development.

Attended "Complete Streets" meetings in Gowanda and Salamanca.

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Tourism Highlights Debra L. Opferbeck, Tourism Specialist

Becky L. Smith, Tourism Assistant

It was a busy year for tourism with some journeys into new endeavors as well as maintaining the established day-to-day elements that are necessary for the promotion of Cattaraugus County and its wonderful assets. Following is a more in-depth explanation of this year’s activities:

2010 Activities Guide

The 2010 Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus County Activities Guide is the largest marketing tool we use. The guide covers the largest assets such as Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel, Allegany State Park, Holiday Valley, HoliMont and Ellicottville as well as the plethora of activities, attractions and events that can be enjoyed here in the Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus County. The first 29 pages of the guide feature the assets that are used to entice tourists to come to our area. A large county map (24” x 36”) is stitched into the middle of the guide. Our Calendar of Events is located on this pull-out map so that visitors will have the list of events while they are using the map. The middle section contains grids that show hotels/motels; bed & breakfasts; campgrounds & cabins with the last pages containing all the tourism related businesses and attractions listings and advertisements. Once the information was gathered and pages were developed, the guide was sent to Green Pear Press in Allegany for the design work to be completed by their designer. Once completed and proofed, 170,000 copies of this 48 page, 4 color piece were printed by Kenyon Press in Sherburne, NY.

New York’s Amish Trail 2010 saw the continuing development of New York’s Amish Trail, which is a combined effort with Randolph, Leon,

South Dayton, Gowanda and Cattaraugus County Tourism. While using the Amish community as a “lure”, marketing campaigns are under way that will promote the “English” businesses that are within or near the Old Order Amish Community in our county. Projects include: the development of a brochure with a map that has pinpointed all the English and Amish Shops with GPS (Global Positions) points; sign posts for wayfinding that will also indicate that the business is part of the Amish Trail; vinyl window clings to be used in participating stores; shirts, hats, and other souvenir items. Barn Quilts Trail

The Barn Quilts Trail was added as part of the New York

Amish Trail to complement the draw for unique experiences. These quilts are painted onto boards and then participating businesses and residents place them on the sides of their barns, houses and outbuildings or in their yards. A brochure was developed to highlight the trail of barn quilts and draw tourists that are interested in quilting to the Amish Trail area.

FAM Tours

Our County hosted a group of 5 Travel Writers from the New York City area. This was done in a joint effort with New York State I LOVE NY and our Chautauqua-Allegheny Region partners. The writers were very impressed with the Enchanted Mountains and enjoyed a tour of the Amish Trail. A tour of Holiday Valley with a stay at the new Tamarack Club was the end of their first day here. The next day, the writers were given a tour of Griffis Sculpture Park, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and Sprague’s Maple Farms. There were 2 videos produced that included these areas and ran on Val’s About Town, as well as 2 articles written by Allison Tibaldi for Family Travel Forum and Gerald Bartell for AAA Car & Travel, New York. Enchanted Mountains Geo Trail

Because Geo Caching has become a popular activity for families and individuals to participate in, our Department developed and designed a trail that would entice cachers to come to all points across our county the first year and bring them back for the second part of the trail in year two. The debut of the Enchanted Mountains Geo Trail was in May 2009 at the annual Allegany State Park’s GeoBash, which is a “Mega” event (over 500 people attend). Pamphlets were handed out that day for locating the caches around the county. There are a total of 32 towns to visit, half of the caches were placed in 2009 and the other half was placed in 2010. Successful collection of all 32 wooden nickels will entitle the cacher to a special commemorative Cattaraugus County GeoCoin. Cachers from Chautauqua County and Pennsylvania have stopped in our office for their coins. These people stated they never would have gone to the other parts of the county without having to locate caches!

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Cattaraugus County Arts Council

Our Department had much interaction with the Arts Council’s programs throughout the year, including the county wide Routes to Art event which brought visitors into our county for this unique trail that lead them from one artisan to another. Our Department assisted the Cattaraugus County Arts Council with its second annual Routes to Art, an initiative wherein artists across the county opened their workshops to visitors along a trail that was created to connect the workshops specifically for this use. This year it was expanded to include artisans of the Seneca Nation of Indians. This was a successful event that drew visitors from Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Western New York. Our Department spoke at the orientation for the artisans that were part of the route, explaining the importance of the roles each played in promoting the county and encouraging visitors to return to the other attractions in our county. Debra Opferbeck also participated in the Community Arts Grant Awards by sitting on the board that determined the awards given to applicants to further participation of the arts in our county. This grant comes from New York State Arts Council and is administered by our local arts council.

Onofest

The 3rd

Annual Onofest was held on August 7, 2010 at Onoville Marina Park. Hundreds of visitors enjoyed live music by three local blues bands, food from local restaurants and crafts from various vendors as well as lots of sun and outdoor recreation. The day concluded with fireworks at dusk! The event was organized by Tonia McAllister of the Randolph Area Community Development Corporation with the assistance of Jeff Davis, Onoville Marina Manager, and the Marina staff.

Brochures

Our department is continuously upgrading our theme brochures and creating new ones to meet the ever increasing demand for theme brochures. This year all brochures were redesigned to have one consistent look. Also, working with Dan Martonis, GIS Coordinator, maps are developed that highlight our trails and attractions for each of the themes. These brochures are promotional tools that are used in racks around the county and at the I-86 rest area in Allegany. They are also placed in the packets of information that are sent out in response to calls on the 800# or requests made on our website. Tourism Trailer

The third year of using the Tourism Trailer as part of our outreach was successful. Tonia McAllister of Randolph Area Community Development Corporation was contracted with to oversee the staffing of the trailer while it was at events. We attended many events across the region using this moving billboard as part of our marketing tools.

Travel Shows

Once again, Cattaraugus County was involved in staffing needs at several travel shows as part of the Chautauqua-Allegheny Region’s marketing efforts. Booths were set up at shows in Cleveland, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Syracuse, Rochester and Hamburg, NY for an outreach to sportsmen and travelers in those areas. Additionally, on a local basis, our Department participated in shows in Bradford, PA; Buffalo, NY and across Cattaraugus County at the events of many communities. Rest Area

The Allegany River Rest Area continues to have a major impact with tourists traveling through our county. The number of visi tors continues to increase, which creates an increasing need to reach this touring market with our marketing messages when they visit the rest area in hopes that one day they will return specifically to visit our county’s attractions and events. Main Street Partnership

Cattaraugus County Tourism has participated in numerous meetings with the Main Street Partnership committee in order to develop a plan to improve the downtown portion of Salamanca and help create a tourism destination using the Seneca Nation’s culture and artisans as the central theme.

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Web Technician’s Highlights Jeremy Knab, Web Technician

Web Technician Responsibilities The Web Technician's responsibilities are on-going and include web design, graphic design, programming, markup, site editor, site analysis and reporting. Developing web sites is a process and a process that is always evolving. Cattaraugus County Government websites CattCo.org www.cattco.org and ww2.cattco.org In 2011, the old site that uses ASP will no longer exist and www.cattco.org and ww2.cattco.org will be one in the same. The new site uses the Drupal Content Management System and Framework. Website Training for Departments' Personnel was offered throughout 2010. Some departments jumped right into the redevelopment process while others did not participate. In 2011 all department pages will be on the new site. There are many projects to complete on the new system and there is a growing push for open government solutions. With our new website we can create these new features easier. Dog Licensing System for Townships In November of 2010, I was asked by Paul Frey, GIS Coordinator, and Chris Crawford, Water Resource Specialist, for my input on a Dog Licensing system that the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets was not going to administer on January 1, 2011 (see the announcement at http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/AI/DogLic.html ). I recommended to Paul Frey and Chris Crawford that we build a dog licensing system off of the Drupal Framework using the new Cattaraugus County website. We had a meeting with the City of Salamanca Clerk to view the current NYS Dog Licensing System and to set a road map. The system is improving every other week. maps.cattco.org/websites/parcel Assisted the Cattaraugus County Department of Real Property Tax Service with updating its website concerning taxes. Procurement Technical Assistance Center I work with PTAC clients when they have questions about websites, marketing online and optimization by providing them with review materials and reference websites. I worked with Joe Williams, Program Manager for PTAC, and Lenora Leasure on migrating the PTAC content into the PTAC client system ( http://cattco.eCenterDirect.com ). The Cattaraugus County site will continue to promote PTAC Events, Classes and FAQs. Enchanted Mountains of Western New York - EnchantedMountains.com This site just keeps on getting better and better. During 2010, I worked with Enchanted Mountains Tourism to create seasonal templates, new graphics and new features (Integrated our Flickr group). Shane Hvizdzak, consultant through the Cattaraugus County Business Development Corporation, wrote blog entries through the summer season, and worked on the newsletter and revised content. We planned to integrate a videos section, a section for each community and other new features. New York's Amish Trail - AmishTrail.com Tourism has been pushing the site's businesses to write about themselves. SnowmobileWNY.com We made plans to incorporate SnowmobileWNY.com (a snowmobile forum) into the EnchantedMountains.com web site's forums. Onoville.org Yearly updates were made to Onoville.org

http://www.cattco.org/

http://ww2.cattco.org/

http://www.cattco.org/

http://ww2.cattco.org/

http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/

http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/AI/DogLic.html

http://www.linkedin.com/in/shanehvizdzak

http://ccbdc.org/

http://ccbdc.org/


ONOFEST

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Hundreds of visitors enjoyed the 3

rd

Annual Onofest held at Onoville Marina Park on August 7, 2010, which featured lots of sun, live music, food and craft vendors and fireworks at dusk! Photos by Anne Adams and Margaret Puszcz


The Tamarack Club at Holiday Valley opened early in 2010. Photo by Holiday Valley.

The Great Valley Regatta is sponsored yearly by the Great Valley Volunteer Fire Company. 2010 marked the 35

th

year for this event which has grown from just a few hundred participants to thousands of participants. The course is 14 miles long and is fun for spectators and participants. There is a canoe/kayak race in the morning but the majority of competitors are in it "for fun" with contests for best decorations and more. Dinner, music and refreshments top off the day! Photos to the left and below by Jeremy Knab.

This was the 3rd year of using the Tourism Trailer at events across the region. Here it is at the Olean Chamber of Commerce’s Sports Show in September. The photo to the right depicts some of the outdoor displays at the show. Photos by EDP&T

L: Randolph is one of the many stops along The New York Amish Trail. Photo by Jack Berger

Lucas and Haylee Adams enjoy one of the many rides at the Cattaraugus County Fair. Photo by Margaret Puszcz

L: Sleigh rides are one of the many winter activities available in the Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus County. Photo by Crosspatch

The Cattaraugus County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board meets with consultant Phil Gottwals in January 2010. Photo by Rick Miller

R: Guests at the County Planning Board’s Annual Dinner meeting held at the Seneca Allegany Casino July 28, 2010. Photo by Jack Berger

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Cattaraugus County Department of Economic Development, Planning & Tourism 303 Court Street Little Valley, New York 14755

Phone: (800) 331-0543

Website: www.cattco.org

Cattaraugus County Department of

Economic Development, Planning & Tourism

2010 Annual Report

To:

Place

Stamp

Here

Department Disciplines

Agriculture & Farmland Protection Business Attraction

Business Retention & Expansion Community Development

Comprehensive Planning & Assistance Economic Development

Grant Administration Housing Improvement Industrial Development

Land Use Planning & Zoning Marketing Assistance

Microenterprise Loan Fund Mapping & Demographic Data Services

Recreation Facility Development Small Business Assistance

Trail Development Tourism Promotion

Transportation Study & Planning

department overview 2010

Documents