New developments in industry and commercial sectors earned almost half the spots on the Olean Times Herald’s top 10 list for news in 2022, based on polling of newsroom staff.
Reactions to national issues earned several spots, as well. Politics picked up several more spots, but the top story of the last two years — the COVID-19 pandemic — slipped to 10th place in the poll as case counts and death tolls, as well as economic impacts, began to lessen through most of the year.
1. Siemens Energy closes, Cimolai buys North Olean site
Olean might need to change its name to Steeltown after a steel manufacturer purchased the largest industrial site in the city this year.
July marked the end of manufacturing at Siemens Energy in North Olean, laying off more than 500 workers over a year and ending more than 100 years of heavy industry in the neighborhood.
Based on the closing alone, the story likely would have earned the top spot in the annual Times Herald Top 10 staff poll, as leaders, businesses and families prepared for a major hit to the local economy. Despite rumors of an Italian steel company being interested in the site for most of 2021 and 2022, local leaders said they were not expecting an immediate turnaround on the site.
But in September, a cooperative between Italian steelmaker Cimolai and New York-based real estate firm Related stepped forward with intent to redevelop the site — this time to make structural steel for projects like the new Buffalo Bills stadium.
Company officials plan to spend $56 million to refurbish the plant and hope to hire around 250 workers for the site when it is operational in 2025. The jobs are expected to pay between $54,000 and $180,000 a year, according to documents filed by the firm with the Cattaraugus County IDA.
The bulk of the project will take place inside the existing structures on the site, totalling almost 1 million square feet.
In November, the IDA approved a payment in lieu of taxes deal worth almost $5 million, plus more than half a million dollars in other tax incentives for the project.
For more than 100 years, the site has been home to the largest heavy industry in the city. In 1916, Clark Brothers relocated from Belmont to the site — adjacent to the Socony-Vacuum oil refinery, as the company focused production on the oil and gas industry. Through various mergers it became part of Dresser-Rand. German conglomerate Siemens bought Dresser-Rand in 2015 for $7.8 billion, and in 2020 spun off Siemens Energy, which included several areas of business that, tied to oil and gas industries, were performing poorly as focus globally turned toward renewable energy alternatives.
Siemens Energy announced in February 2021 that it would close manufacturing in Olean by mid-2022, laying off more than 500 workers. The site was later listed by a commercial real estate firm and sold to Cimolai-HY at auction for around $8 million. The 88-acre site includes two large industrial plants and a large and two small office buildings totaling about 950,000 square feet. There are another seven buildings used for storage and testing.
2. Great Lakes Cheese breaks ground
Great Lakes Cheese Co. broke ground in April for its $500 million state-of-the-art cheese plant on a 200-acre site along Route 16 north of Franklinville.
It was considered no small feat for a small county in Western New York — especially in the wake of the loss of Siemens Energy in Olean.
The site was brought to the attention of the Great Lakes Cheese Co. after efforts to find a site to build the 486,000 square-foot cheese manufacturing and packaging facility in Allegany County failed.
The Cattaraugus County Legislature paid about $400,000 for studies to show the site was shovel-ready. Later, county lawmakers added about $8 million in federal stimulus funding to that for new sewer and water lines to the site.
The Cattaraugus County IDA helped shepherd the project from the start, and have agreed to more than $150 million in tax incentives to convince Great Lakes Cheese Co. that this was the ideal site, given it is only about 15 miles from the Cuba plant. A payment in lieu of taxes agreement guarantees no property taxes for 20 years.
The new facility, which will replace a smaller cheese plant in Cuba, will employ nearly 500 employees. There are currently more than 230 employees at the Cuba plant who will move to the new facility once it opens in early 2024.
A large part of the company’s desire to build a new state-of-the-art plant as close to its existing Cuba plant as possible was to keep the existing employees.
The new facility, now under construction, will double production of the company’s Cuba plant. Some of the first employment at the new plant will involve processing and packaging of cheeses from different locations.
Jamestown Community College will help train new employees prior to the opening of the new plant in Franklinville.
The new plant will also double the amount of milk Great Lakes Cheese will purchase from dairy farmers in the region, giving farmers a stable market. The new plant will buy 4 million gallons of milk from farmers in the region and will be linked to about 600 farming jobs.
In addition, the IDA is looking to locate other support businesses in the Route 16 corridor with an eye toward additional jobs. Much of the site is located in the town of Farmersville.
The Epprecht Family-owned business is privately owned with Great Lakes Cheese Company’s 3,000 employees. It was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Hiram, Ohio.
There are eight facilities in five states across the country where Great lakes Cheese Co. products are manufactured, processed and packaged. The Cuba facility produces primarily provolone and mozzarella cheese products. Great Lakes Cheese Company’s plant in Adams produces the company’s award-winning cheddar cheeses.
3. Langworthy survives twists and turns of new 23rd Congressional District
The 23rd Congressional District election saw several twists and turns from the start to the election of New York Republican Chairman Nicholas Langworthy.
Langworthy defeated Democrat Max Della Pia, a retired Air Force colonel 63% to 34% in a seven-county 23rd District that includes part of Erie County and six Southern Tier counties — Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben, Chemung and Schuyler.
Steuben County Republican Chairman Joe Sempolinski beat Della Pia in the Aug. 26 special election to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, who resigned in May to take a lobbying position with Prime Policy Group in Washington, D.C. He had announced earlier in the year that he wouldn’t seek a seventh term after a news story alleged he inappropriately touched a lobbyist in a Minneapolis bar in 2017. Reed acknowledged the allegation and said he would not run again for any political office — including a rumored run for governor.
Republicans had challenged the new districts approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul as “gerrymandered” by majority Democrats. State Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister of Bath agreed and assigned a court master to redraw the lines.
Former State Sen. Cathy Young of Olean expressed interest in running for Reed’s unexpired term as well as a full two-year term in November. She bowed out of contention when Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Utica, decided the new 23rd District looked better than the new 22nd District and announced she would run for the seat.
When Tenney later decided she would run in part of Rep. Chris Jacobs’ old district, Young again considered running in the new 23rd, but relented when Paladino and Langworthy announced in the wake of Jacobs’ decision not to seek re-election over Second Amendment comments he made in the wake of the shooting massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. Jacobs’ willingness to co-sponsor legislation to prohibit military-style assault rifles cost him political support across the Republican spectrum.
To get to the November Election, Langworthy first had to go head-to-head with Buffalo developer Carl Paladino in a Republican primary. Paladino carried the Erie County Southtowns, but Langworthy received backing from many moderate Republicans in the six Southern Tier counties.
Paladino loaned himself $2 million and accepted very few contributions. He campaigned mostly on television and radio and appeared in local parades, rarely taking questions from reporters. By comparison, Langworthy was a more accessible candidate and made regular appearances at groups of Republican supporters throughout the new 23rd district.
Della Pia, the Tioga County Democratic chairman, was the only Democratic candidate to announce for the special election. Because of the overwhelmingly Republican district, he lost to Sempolinski, then had to turn around and start running in a smaller, but just as Republican in enrollment district against Langworthy.
The Republican enrollment caused the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to pass on investing in Della Pia, just as it had done two years ago and four years ago with Tracy Mitrano.
Langworthy, who takes the oath of office on Jan. 3, hasn’t announced where he will live yet. The former Erie County GOP chairman had since moved to Niagara County, which is not in the district.
4. Community comes together for Heart of Olean mural
The Heart of Olean mural, “Vantage Point,” was dedicated in October at the Library & Liberal Arts Center at SUNY Jamestown Community College’s Cattaraugus County Campus after six months of work and artistic contribution from over 1,000 volunteers.
Designed by world-renowned artist and Olean native Meg Fish Saligman, the mural is full of references to the poem by native son Robert Lax, “Circus of the Sun.” The artwork pays homage to the Olean area and JCC after months of research, interviews with community members and Saligman’s own experience growing up in Olean.
After starting with two meet-and-greet sessions on campus in November 2021 where Saligman asked community members to share stories, thoughts and history of the Olean area, the renowned muralist returned to her hometown in February to dive deeper for feedback and ideas.
Saligman was struck by the building’s unique lines and its visibility from North Union Street, the Olean Center Mall and much of the downtown business district. The idea of circles — like the cogwheel and millstone — rose as an overarching feature of the design from the “O” in Olean on the signs to the roundabouts on North Union Street to the face of the clock tower.
To bring the “Heart of Olean” to life, photo submissions were requested, showing scenes from the Olean area and a short description. The photos could be of anything and from any time as long as they were taken in and around the city.
About 30 community paint events were planned over the course of the project where volunteers of all ages and art skill levels left a mark on the community through a paint-by-numbers system on 30-square-foot cloths.
The project’s expected budget was $100,000 with the bulk going toward scissor and aerial lifts, paints and salary/stipends for the trained artists that will be on-site to cover the 10,000-square-foot, four-sided mural.
The season of fall faces North Union Street, and a high-tech addition on that wall made of an old, longtime Olean product — a QR code made of Olean tile is on the side of the building, the tile having been retrieved from the bottom of the Allegheny River. Click it and you’ll get the self-guided tour of the symbols and their meanings, as well as the Olean references, on the walls.
“Vantage Point” is a collaboration with Saligman, the Tri-County Arts Council, Jamestown Community College, Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation, Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and many sponsors and donors.
Saligman is a Philadelphia resident and 1983 Olean High School graduate who has produced several notable community-driven murals in the United States and around the world. The Olean native was inspired to pursue the project by her late father, Olean attorney Don Fish.
5. Economy sees projects pop up amid rising prices
While the country and world slowly began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, the economy continued to struggle. Many economists, including those at the Federal Reserve, believed that 2021’s inflation would be temporary and ease in 2022 as supply chain issues got resolved and people slowed their spending.
Instead, consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago. That was down sharply from 7.7% in October and a recent peak of 9.1% in June, but still a significant increase from pre-pandemic years.
One of the hardest-hit industries was the oil business as average gasoline prices sharply rose following the onset of war in Ukraine. While the national average for a gallon of gas is about 20 cents lower than a year ago and New York state’s average is about 4 cents lower, average gas prices in Olean remained as much as 40 cents above the average in New York.
Meanwhile, area nonprofits have also seen less support as in years past as costs for corporations and bills for individuals generally increased across the board. Officials at nonprofits expressed thanks for any support the public gave to those in need, especially after the past two-and-a-half years.
The United Way of Cattaraugus County’s annual Community Day raised $3,600 in its 30th year, up from $3,160 in 2021 but still down from $4,500 in 2019. And while the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation reported $271,974 was donated for the Cattaraugus Gives program for GivingTuesday, it was still down 24% from 2021.
On the other hand, general consumer spending locally did generally increase in 2022. Most recently, Cattaraugus County saw sales tax receipts of $3.79 million in November, up 9% from November 2021. Since Jan. 1, receipts total $44.91 million, a 5.6% increase from the first 11 months of 2021. Allegany County saw sales tax collections of $1.99 million in November, up 7.2% from November 2021. Since Jan. 1, receipts total $26.11 million, up 8.1%.
Despite increases in costs, several business ventures received greenlights during the year. In June, the Allegany County Board of Legislators confirmed Runnings Inc., a Minnesota-based chain focusing on home, farm and outdoors equipment, would purchase the former Kmart building in Riverwalk Plaza in Wellsville.
Then in July, a $2.9 million development of a new 11-unit tiny homes village along Route 242 located near the base of HoliMont Ski Resort began construction.
In October, the Olean Planning Board approved proposed projects for a Starbucks coffee shop and a pad for two future businesses at 2810 W. State St. Breaking ground in October was construction of a Chipotle restaurant and a new WellNow urgent care center is set for October at 2727 W. State St., with openings expected in the summer of 2023.
Most recently in December, two wind power developers are eyeing thousands of acres of ridgeline between the Chipmunk area in the town of Allegany to Rock City Park in the town of Olean as possible sites for two commercial wind farms.
6. Olean police review board moves ahead after veto
A city of Olean police review board got the final approval this year — twice — after more than two years of effort.
The first suggestions of a review board came during public meetings in the summer of 2020, in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The case sparked protests nationwide and locally over the role of police in society and systemic discrimination against minorities.
The Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative recommended the city create a review board in late 2020, and in March 2021 provided the Common Council with a recommended plan. Also submitting a plan to the council was Council 82, the union representing the city’s patrol and command officers.
Taking a middle-of-the-road approach, the council began drafting its own legislation eyeing an advisory role in mid-August 2021. Following more than a year of rewrites and input from union and city leaders, as well as the public, city officials hosted a public hearing in August. At the hearing, a representative of the city’s police unions informed the Common Council that the local unions “will certainly be addressing their options for challenges” if the proposal moved forward.
Such a challenge would not be without precedent. The union representing the city of Geneva police filed a challenge against that city’s law in 2021, which saw a county-level court shoot down the law in April. The Geneva city council did not appeal the decision, and a plan in July for a new committee was rejected in July.
However, after another public hearing on Oct. 25, the Common Council unanimously passed the legislation with minor changes.
The proposal hit a roadblock on Nov. 23 when Mayor Bill Aiello vetoed the legislation, citing concerns from residents over the ability of “the Olean Police Department to have the ability to make split-second decisions without the threat of being second-guessed by civilians.”
On Dec. 27, the council voted again — this time 5-2 — to overturn the mayor’s decision. No word on when the committee will form, or if legal challenges will start in 2023.
7. Action, reaction on guns, abortion, bail reform
Gov. Kathy Hochul in July signed into law a bill designed to provide some restrictions on who gets a concealed carry permit and where firearms can legally be carried. The new law was designed to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that overturned the state’s concealed carry permit system for handguns.
Under the law, which went into effect Sept. 1, sensitive areas include all public parks with few exceptions, and all private property without expressed permission. Exemptions exist for current and retired law enforcement, peace officers, licensed security guards, active duty military personnel, individuals engaging in hunting activity, persons operating programs in their homes that would otherwise be considered a sensitive location and government employees involved in natural resource protection.
Cattaraugus County lawmakers voted in August to oppose the law and urged others to challenge the law as unconstitutional. In September, the Allegany County Board of Legislators voted to support a nonbinding resolution opposing changes to concealed carry laws, echoing a growing number of governments and groups opposed to the new limits.
No carve-outs in the law appear to exist for ceremonial purposes — such as honor guards on Memorial Day or Veterans Day — or demonstrations and activities like Civil War reenactments. Less than a month before the streets of Angelica were to fill with men in blue and gray, the 19th Angelica Civil War Reenactment was canceled over the state’s new gun law.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 court ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right, revoking the right from women and shifts authority over the procedure to the states. States across the country now have the legal authority to ban abortion outright for the first time in 50 years.
In response, New York would enshrine abortion rights — as well as gender expression rights — following the overturning of Roe v. Wade under a proposed state constitutional amendment. Locally, women’s rights marches were held in Olean and Wellsville.
As part of New York budget negotiations in March, Hochul pushed a package of public safety proposals in a 10-point plan that includes expanding the number of bail eligible crimes to cover more gun charges and would allow judges to consider a suspect’s criminal history and set bail for repeat offenders.
When the new budget was passed in April, both Assemblyman Joseph Giglio and Sen. George Borrello said the bail reform tweaks included were not enough. Hochul was faced with resistance from downstate Democrats over any bail-reform changes. Later in April, Giglio joined his Republican colleagues in speaking out following the decision by Assembly Democrats to block a number of bills in committee related to bail reform fixes.
Bail remained a hot topic during election season as area GOP candidates continued to hammer Hochul on the issue and call for an overhaul while Democrats mostly aligned with the governor. In response, Hochul defended changes that expanded the list of bail eligible crimes and made it so judges have more authority to set bail when dealing with repeat offenders.
8. Cattaraugus County Legislature redistricting
There was very little discussion this year of the Cattaraugus County Legislature’s redistricting plan that was approved by voters in November 12,950 to 10,471.
The redistricting plan was not discussed by legislators in committees, but was introduced for immediate consideration at the end of a meeting to set a public hearing on the plan two weeks later.
Due to the 2020 census, the county was required to redistrict the legislative districts because changes in population made them unevenly represented. It reduces the number of legislators from 17 to 15 and reduces the number of districts from eight to five.
According to David Koch, the lone Democrat on the 17-member county legislature, it’s a clear case of gerrymandering. The plan put Koch in a district with several Republican towns, which he said would make it difficult for a Democrat to ever get elected from the new district.
Democratic County Chairman Frank Puglisi said his biggest concern was that the redistricting plan “groups unlike towns and cities together.” The City of Olean, where three Republicans now control the seats, would add the towns of Olean, Portville and Hinsdale. That didn’t sit well with the supervisors of those towns who fear city legislators will control all four seats in the district and the towns’ interests would take a back seat.
Supervisors Tim Emley of Portville and Annette Parker of Olean urged voters to vote against the redistricting plan. Other supervisors also opposed the plan.
In addition, some of the districts are huge, Puglisi said. The town of Lyndon is in a district with 10 other towns. That’s too large, he said. Democrats actively campaigned against the redistricting plan.
Republican Chairman Mark Heberling said the redistricting plan called for fewer legislators, which Republicans favor. He said it reduces the number of legislators and lowers the cost of government by about $25,000 in salaries.
Not passing the proposition would have left the same districts on the ballot in November 2023. The legislature would probably have had to go to a weighted voting system as it has in the past when it did not approve a redistricting plan in time.
The City of Olean is included in the four-legislator District 5 with the towns of Olean, Portville and Hinsdale. It has 21,435 residents or 5,385 people for each legislator.
District 1 — Towns of Dayton, Leon, New Albion, Otto, Perrysburg and Persia and the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory with a total of 9,915 residents and two legislators each representing 4,957 people.
District 2 — Towns of Ellicottville, Franklinville, Ashford, East Otto, Farmersville, Freedom, Great Valley, Ischua, Lyndon, Machias and Yorkshire and the Oil Springs Reservation with 20,192 residents, each of four legislators representing 5,048 residents.
District 3 — City of Salamanca and towns of Little Valley, Salamanca, Conewango, Mansfield, Napoli, Randolph and South Valley with 14,986 residents and three legislators, each representing 4,995 people.
District 4 — Towns of Allegany Carrollton, Coldspring, Humphrey and Red House with 10,514 residents and two legislators, each representing 5,257 residents.
9. Mall, Market Basket, First National
Several large housing projects in the downtown area made major headway in 2022.
After 25 years of vacancy, several owners, and most recently a global pandemic, the First National building welcomed its first tenants this summer.
Savarino Properties officials reported that while the project at 101-107 N. Union St., is behind schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the $13 million project began leasing apartments over the summer and by the end of the year most were rented.
From the outside, little has changed. Under the programs used to fund the renovation, exterior changes had to be kept to a minimum in order to preserve the historic facade. The Corinthian columns, marble floors and ornate decorations remain in the former bank lobby. The vault with its massive door remains intact, with hundreds of lock boxes ready for whatever future use they may have. However, a new elevator and larger stairwell make access upstairs easier and safer, and new dividing walls on upper floors created around two dozen market rate apartments.
A Sept. 6 groundbreaking marked the beginning of a $16 million renovation at 422 E. State St. — the 64,000-square-foot former Market Basket warehouse — into State Street Apartments by new owner CDS Monarch Inc. The Webster-based nonprofit organization plans to create 46 apartments in the structure, including 14 units with supportive services, five will be equipped for those with mobility issues, and two will be equipped for those with hearing or vision issues. The project will take about 18 months to complete, putting the opening at early 2024.
“There is a need for senior housing in Olean,” said Andrew Sewnauth, president and COO of CDS Life Transitions, parent of CDS Monarch. “The State Street Apartments project continues our growth in New York, allowing us another opportunity to further our mission to provide safe and affordable housing in communities across the state.”
Officials noted that the building will include free Wi-Fi for all residents with 24/7 IT management, a community room with kitchen, a computer lab, fitness center, and a laundry room on each floor. Improvements to the 2.4-acre site include a new parking lot with EV charging stations and the installation of a new playground, as well as a courtyard area created by demolishing about 10,000 square feet of the structure.
Work to redevelop the Olean Center Mall continued, highlighted by state aid for the site. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Dec. 21 that the redevelopment at the Olean Center Mall would receive $1.25 million in Restore New York Communities Initiative aid for the first phase of the project.
Phase 1 will open with the demolition of the former Bon-Ton anchor store and interior mall renovations pegged at $2.7 million. The entire property is a former commercial and industrial area, and will require pollution remediation efforts, state officials reported. Afterward, a second phase would construct a $17 million, four-story apartment building on the cleared area for more than 60 senior apartments.
City officials, who backed the application in September, reported the developer has the $270,000 in required matching cash on hand and is looking to finance the remaining $800,000 for the work.
The mall opened to much fanfare in 1977. Olean Town Centre LLC, led by Rochester developer Angelo Ingrassia, purchased the mall in December 2021 from original developer Zamias for just under $6 million.
10. COVID continues, but death toll drops
The number of COVID-19 cases in Cattaraugus County more than doubled in 2022, but thankfully coronavirus deaths were down.
Through Dec. 27, there were 12,329 cases of COVID-19 in 2022, fueled in large part by a combination of omicron variants and sub variants, people taking fewer precautions, and a lower rate of vaccinations and boosters. The county recorded 74 deaths in 2022.
With four days to go in this year, the total number of COVID-19 cases since the first one was confirmed March 27, 2020 has climbed to 24,167 and there have been 284 deaths.
January 2022 proved to be the month with the greatest number of COVID-19 infections — both this year and over the course of the pandemic. There were also 21 COVID-19 deaths in January.
Early in 2022, concern was growing among health officials and others over so-called “breakthrough” cases of the coronavirus, where fully vaccinated people were getting COVID-19.
It was due not only to waning immunity from the vaccine, but from sneaky viruses that were mutating to overcome the defenses provided by vaccines. Vaccine providers fine-tuned their vaccines to fight the Omicron variant and sub variants. They are now available to most children aged 6 months and older.
Cattaraugus County Public Health Director Dr. Kevin D. Watkins continues to encourage residents who are not vaccinated to register for the shots. Vaccination clinic appointments may be made online at www.cattco.org. For those who have completed their vaccine series, he urges the new bivalent boosters, as the chance of getting seriously ill, becoming hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 are much greater if unvaccinated.
Still, 33 of the 64 COVID-19 deaths in 2022 were people who had been vaccinated. Almost all had serious health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart failure, coronary artery disease, or high blood pressure.
Watkins noted that there are therapeutics available to lessen the effects of COVID-19 which is available by prescription. They must be taken within five days of the onset of symptoms to be effective.
Just over 20% of the county’s cases involved adults 60 and older. The 19 and younger age group represents the highest percentage, 21.7%. Other age groups range from 15.9% to 13%.
This year January led all months in the number of cases, 4,738. That is more than the number of cases reported in any month since the pandemic started.
Other months in 2022 cases were: February, 1,138; March, 410; April, 742; May, 1,435; June, 492; July, 437; August, 802; September, 848; October, 684; November, 312 and 309 through Dec. 27.
COVID-19 deaths by month were: January, 21; February, 6; March, 4; April, none; May, 2; June, 2; July, 3; August, 5; September, 8; October, 3; November, 7; and three deaths so far in December.
(The Olean Times Herald will include additional articles recapping 2022 in a special edition that will be included in the Jan. 10 edition.)
Source link