By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
The Olean Common Council voted down a proposed local law Tuesday that was designed to make sure costs associated with brownfield cleanups in the city were the responsibility of the developer, not taxpayers.
Aldermen voted 4-2 against the proposed local law submitted by Mayor Amy B. Sherburne.
Council President Vernon Robinson Jr., I-Ward 6 and Alderman John Crawford, D-Ward 5 voted to approve the local law, while Aldermen Lawrence Bennion Jr., R-Ward 1; Joseph Keary, R-Ward 2; Sonya McCall, D-Ward 4 and David Anastasia, D-Ward 7 voted against the local law. Alderwoman Jennifer Forney, R-Ward 3, was absent.
The proposed local law set several permit fees including $500 for an operating permit, a $25,000 infrastructure bond, $25 a day for medium-duty trucks and $75 a day for heavy trucks over 26,000 pounds plus $1 a cubic yard for up- to 1,000 cubic yards of soil, 75 cents per cubic yard for up to 10,000 cubic yards and 50 cents per cubic yard above 10,000 cubic yards. And for projects above 5,000 cubic yards, a $5,000 escrow account would also be required.
Keary, who was a sponsor, said the local law was “too narrowly focused,” and was unfair. He said he could support an escrow bond for damage to streets, but would vote no on the local law as written.
McCall said there needs to be a comprehensive look at the impact of heavy trucks, not just trucks involved in remediating brownfields. The city benefits from these brownfield cleanups.
Anastasia, who noted most of the brownfield cleanup work is in his ward, he would also be voting no.
At a public hearing prior to the council’s vote in the local law, Donald Benson of Benson Construction Co., Olean, spoke at length at the state oversight of brownfield cleanup — both the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Transportation.
Benson’s company has participated in several brownfield cleanups in the city. “They’re all over,” he said of the sites. We’ve invested a lot of money cleaning up over 40 acres of contaminated property in the city of Olean.”
The local law, he said, adds costs to the cleanup, which benefit the city by providing clean property for business development.
Before the vote, Bennion said the local law was in response to a $480,000 sales tax exemption for a current brownfield cleanup, of which the city would have received $120,000 in sales taxes.
Benson is the owner of the brownfield site off River Street that is to be cleaned up.
Bennion noted that the cleanup projects are generally short-lived, but while underway, require lodging for out-of-town engineers and oversight personnel. The city gets bed tax and sales tax revenues from their local spending.
The proposed restrictions on trucks hauling soil would not be applied fairly or consistently. Much of the usable land in the 940-acre target area has already been remediated. Bennion said he could support a $25,000 escrow to cover road damage.
Crawford said he supported the local law — especially for large-scale projects. He also called for a study on how to assess road damage by other heavy vehicles.
Robinson said many municipalities place restrictions on similar projects, including road use agreements. “The city is behind the curve ball on this,” he explained.
The area in question is “an environmental area that requires attention, more than normal road wear and tear,” to remove and replace contaminated soil,” he said.
IN OTHER ACTION, the council:
- Approved an amendment to the city’s sidewalk rebate program to provide 50% of what the city’s approved contractor receives for sidewalk replacement with a cap of $1,500.
- Transferred $263,003 in 2025-26 bed tax revenue to Capital Fund #252.
- Transferred $250,000 from the water purification capital fund to the waterline repair and replacement capital fund and $65,831 from the sewer maintenance capital outlay to the sewer line repair and replacement fund.
- Adopted the Cattaraugus County Hazardous Mitigation Plan.
