Long term, we have to find a way for our town to join in the regional economic growth happening around us. We're starting to take some steps in that direction. Partnerships, grants and private investment are keys to growth and revitalization.

• As you may be aware, the Town sponsored a grant application on behalf of Chris Costanza who owns a few properties on Main Street. The Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the Office of Community Renewal awarded us a 3 to 1 matching grant of $306,950. Total investment including private dollars in our Main Street will be more than $408,000 through this project. Lining up contractors to do the work has been difficult, but some progress has been made in recent weeks. State program administrators have been kept informed of progress or lack thereof, and have stated that it may be possible to waive some of the bid requirements provided sufficient solicitations have been made and documented. On September 29, 2022 additional funding in the amount of $337,000 was applied for through the Restore NY initiative. On January 26, 2023 we received word that the Restore NY grant was awarded to the town.
• The library worked with M&T Bank to obtain the vacant bank building on the corner of Chapel Street and Route 53. Considerable work will be required to transform the building into a library. It is hoped that building work can commence in 2024 and be completed in early 2025. The library project would result in an additional investment in our town of about $400,000, $275,000 of which would be grants. As part of the agreement reached with M&T Bank, the ATM will remain so long as it continues to be utilized. The library hopes to partner with the M&T when building renovations are complete to return some banking services to the town.
• More than $1.6 million in aid has been announced for a proposed sewer district to serve businesses on Main Street. A few years back, a plan was put in place that would construct a small collection sewer which would connect to the school’s treatment plant. The new Town Board is reevaluating the plan to make sure it is still feasible. Necessary repairs to the school's treatment system may be greater in scope and more costly than initially thought. This project is a top prioority for the Board and other options can be considered if necessary.

The town has done a good job of developing its town government website. I highly recommend that you check it out at townofprattsburgh.org. Though a complimentary website to highlight life in our town, local events, and community organizations might still be of value, a lot of what it could achieve is already taking place on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and others. For now the project is on hold. Marketing and promotion is the type of activity that is well suited for a small local group or committee and a local area chamber of commerce. If you're interested, please send me an email at pete_scheid@townofprattsburgh.org or just use the contact link on this website.

The Town received word from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation that the former Steuben Foods site has been issued a clean environmental report. Cleanup work is complete! The greenspace that exist today is a vast improvement from the concrete wasteland that existed prior to the cleanup.

A little aside. Dairy is still the heart of Steuben Food's product portfolio. Of New York State's sixty-two counties only ten produce more milk than Steuben County. The number one producer (Wyoming County) is just to our northwest, the number two producing county (Cayuga County) is just to our northeast, and our immediate neighbor to the north, Livingston County is the number four milk producer in the state. I'm told that the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) of Erie County was largely responsible for the company's move. We need to foster a relationship with the Steuben County IDA. Their mission is to provide the most up-to-date information and incentives to start, attract and retain businesses to create job opportunities in communities like ours.

There are a number of local organizations in our community, all of them doing good work. I'd like to bring them all together for one day each year to participate in a Shared Day of Community Service. What we'll do is yet to be determined, it could be something as simple as beautifying our Main Street with flowers and planters, or something more elaborate. The point is to bring people together, to create a narrative that is focused on all that is good in our community. There is power in numbers, and I suspect we may surprise ourselves with what we can accomplish. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made this effort impractical. However, with the number of vaccinated people rising and the virus seemingly waning perhaps we can make this happen this year.

Policy development is critical if we are to effect positive change in our community. At the top of the list should be the development of a commercial property maintenance code. The situation at the old dairy plant exists, in part, because our town does not have a commercial property maintenance code in place. Before it was purchased by Empire Telephone and razed, the old Bottoni-Wood Funeral Home on Mechanic Street was owned by Stephen P. Wood, Inc. out of Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, the building fell into a state of total disrepair. Once buildings reach this point of decay they are beyond recovery. The building on Main Street that used to house the American Legion is also at risk of being lost. Windows upstairs were broken and left unrepaired for almost a year. A commercial property maintenance code would put the onus on non-residential property owners to maintain their buildings, at minimum to a safe standard, and at best to a standard that maintains their value.