LAKEWOOD - It's not every day the county executive and a state assemblyman get involved with a local delivery.
Then again, the Southern Tier Brewing Company isn't expecting just any delivery.
The Lakewood brewing company today will be accepting a 110-barrel lauter tun - a traditional brewing vessel. The 17-foot-wide, 14-foot-tall payload is expected to take up both lanes of the Southern Tier Expressway.
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The Southern Tier Brewing Company today will take possession of a 110 barrel lauter tun. The 17-foot-wide brewing vessel traveled the Southern Tier Expressway, complete with a New York State Police escort.
Submitted photo
"It's not often you see something that size rolling down the street," said Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Chautauqua County. "I thought it would be great to help out."
Goodell said he was contacted by County Executive Greg Edwards regarding the large vessel. After making some phone calls to the New York State Police and state Department of Transportation, a coordinated road trip - including police escorts for most of Interstate 86 - was established.
A special permit from the state DOT was required to transport the payload over the weekend.
That's where Goodell stepped in.
"It's certainly a coordinated effort," he said. "We have the county executive involved, I'm involved, and so is the New York State Police and the state Department of Transportation. All of this so a local business can expand."
He added: "I was happy to help out. I had just a small role in this to make it happen."
According to Nathan Arnone, spokesman for Southern Tier Brewery, the 110-barrel lauter tun will help expand business - trumping the 20- and 30-barrel lauter tuns currently in use.
"It's a major piece in expanding," Arnone said. "It's doubling the size and it's a significant investment to the future of the company and its workers." Expansion for the brewery has been in the works for months, Arnone said.
The county executive, meanwhile, applauded Southern Tier Brewery for its investment.
"It's a private sector business investing in expanding in Stoneman Park where they said no one would ever develop," said a humble Edwards.
Goodell also expressed excitement to see growth in the county.
"They're making a local investment here and in the local economy," Goodell said. "They're making an investment that puts Chautauqua County on the map."