S.T.A.R.T. to receive grant funds for trailhead - The Salamanca Press

S.T.A.R.T. to receive grant funds for trailhead from the February 18-20, 2000 issue of The Salamanca Press

By Laura Howard-City Editor

CATTARAUGUS- One of the first steps in creating a 12.14-mile recreation trail linking tree communities along the abandoned New York and Lake Erie Rail line has been funded.

The Cattaraugus Local Development Corp. (ClDC) has received word from New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Bernadette Castro that a $59,500 grant has been awarded through the national Recreation Trails Program. The funds will be utilizzed by S.T.A.R.T. (Southern Tier Association for Rails-to-Trails), a volunteer group formed to create and maintain the trail.

The money will be used to develop a trail head at the foot of Main Street in Little Valley and will cover a quarter-mile section of trail. The project will include a rest area and park with a gazebo, picnic tables, a self-contained rest room, renovation of a turn of the century caboose, construction of a building for horses and snowmobiles and purchase of various trail maintenance equipment.

The grant will be administered locally by Allegany State Park’s Mike Mieczinkowski, who serves as regional grant representative.

“This grant is the only one awarded in the three conties of the Southern Tier. We know that this will be excellent project,” said Miecznikowski.

Brad Walters, chairman of S.T.A.R.T and the little Valley Revitalization and Economic Development Committee (LVRED) notied the site will provide green space for a nearby industrial site and momentum for other development efforts in the community.

“This is very important ot the region’s revival and all the projects that we have under way in Little Valley,” said Walters.

Village Clerk Tammy Buchhardt, member who co-wrote the grant and is a S.T.A.R.T. member, said, “This grant assures a beautiful gateway into the trial at Little Valley.”

From the conception of the rails-to-trails project, S.T.A.R.T. has been working with CLDC to seek funding and ownership of the rail bed.

“We want to publicly say thank you to everyone involved : Gov. Pataki, Commissioner Castro, Mike Miecznikowski, Pat McGee, Cathy Young, county legislators, Mayor Bonnie Bigelow, and the hundreds of people that have been a part of helping to garner this grant,” said CLDC Executive Director Rick LeFeber.

The CLDC is in the process of taking over ownership of a 12.14 mile, 147-acre abandoned railroad bed from the Cattaraugus Industrial Development Agency, which approved the change of ownership in 1999.

The rail line was last used to run excurision trains from Gowanda to the Salamanca Rail Museum. The tracks have not been used in several years and sections of rails and ties have been removed. The property spans from the Salamanca city line, through the Town and Village of Little Valley to the edge of the Village of Cattaraugus.

In addition, the Village of Little Valley has sponsored the CLDC as the applicant for a TEA-21 grant for $1,300,000 to complete the entire trail. That application ewas reviewed by the Buffalo office of the New York State Department of Transportation last year and has been forwarded to Albany for final determination. Congressman Amory Houghton, State Senator Patricia McGee and Assemblywoman Cathy Young have expressed support for the grant.

The Rails-to Trails project is one of nine economic development projects with which CLDC is currently involved. The organization holds monthly meetings at the former Gramco building at 330 Main St. in Little Valley, while S.T.A.R.T. meets the first Wednesday of the month in the same location. Persons interested in contacting either organization may call 257-3239 or 938-6343.