The state of the Cazenovia area is good and continues to improve, with over $20 million in economic development in 2016 and numerous municipal and educational advancements that have occurred. On top of that, state school aid has promised to be increased and Madison County will receive a greater share in Indian casino profits in 2017.
This was the message received by about 30 area residents last week during the annual State of the Area event sponsored by the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event, held this year at Cazenovia American Legion Post 88, offered local residents a chance to hear updates from, as well as ask questions to, their local, regional, state and national elected officials on a variety of topics. Attending the meeting were State Assemblyman for the 121st District Bill Magee; Cazenovia Town Councilor Pat Race for Supervisor Bill Zupan; Fenner Town Supervisor Dave Jones; Nelson Town Supervisor Roger Bradstreet; Cazenovia Mayor Kurt Wheeler; Cazenovia Central School District Superintendent Matthew Reilly; and Cazenovia College President Ron Chesbrough.
Invited but unable to attend was State Senator for the 53rd District David Valesky and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, both of whom sent representatives with written messages.
“The economy is booming in the area,” said Magee. He specifically singled out the new and growing businesses in Cazenovia – such as the Empire Farmstead Brewery, the Hampton Inn and Suites hotel and the incoming Aldi grocery store – as “nothing short of remarkable.”
The creation of those three businesses was a common theme during the evening, with Magee, Valesky’s written message and Wheeler all mentioning them. Wheeler said the businesses represented $20 million in economic development in the community last year, while Cazenovia, in its 200-year history, has accumulated a total $200 million in assessed value. “That’s 10 percent alone added last year,” Wheeler said. “That’s really exciting.”
Magee, Valesky and Bradtsreet also lauded the governor’s recent announcement that Madison County will start receiving more than $2 million per year from the Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenango. This proposal rectifies Cuomo’s veto last October of a bill passed unanimously by both houses of the state legislature that would have provided Madison County 25 percent of revenues generated from video gambling in the county. Madison County is the only county in the state that hosts casino gambling but does not receive a share in the revenues.
Local education was also a major topic of the night. Magee and Valesky both mentioned the positive probability of increased state aid to public schools, which the governor promised in his recently released executive budget, and their commitment to fighting for it. Cazenovia school district superintendent Matt Reilly said proposed state education spending increases could mean $73,000 in additional Foundation Aid for Cazenovia this year. Increased state education spending over the past two years has been “very positive for us … but we’re not where we’d like to be,” he said.
On the college level, Chesbrough said Cazenovia College is seeing an increase in applications and is increasing its educational opportunities for its students and for local community members. A recent study showed the college contributes $66 million annually to the economy of Central New York. Chesbrough said state plans for free and reduced tuition to public colleges concern him, however, because it does not extend to private school students. He said 86 percent of Cazenovia College students would qualify for these programs, but the programs are not available to them.
On the municipal level, officials from the village and town of Cazenovia, and the towns of Nelson and Fenner offered summaries of their recent achievements and future plans. Some of these included the approval of a new wind farm with five turbines in the town of Fenner; major Route 20 improvements and the opening of a nanobrewery in Nelson; the restart of herbicide treatments for Cazenovia Lake and the installation of a new turbine in the New Woodstock hydroelectric plant in the town of Cazenovia; and the completion of a kayak launch in Lakeland Park, the new Creekside Park behind the library and a potential solar array near the water plant in the village.
Wheeler also gave an update on the potential consolidation of the village and town of Cazenovia, saying that if it comes to fruition, Cazenovia will be the first municipality in the state to do so under the governor’s new municipal consolidation program. Wheeler said the village and town have written and submitted a grant to the state to help with funding of the possible consolidation, and next month they will submit the official application for consolidation to Albany.
