From left, Trustees Ted Farnham (deputy mayor) and David Chertoff, Mayor Jeff Molnar, Trustees David Lipsey, Maureen Stahley, and Village Clerk Brittany Mulkins conduct village business at a Board of Trustees meeting held Tuesday at 13 Alburtus Ave. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

BEMUS POINT – The ongoing construction on the Veterans Memorial Bridge over Chautauqua Lake has some Bemus Point local business owners seeing red

They’re seeing red ink, to be more precise.

“Several local businesses feel that the construction on the bridge is hurting their businesses. They’re reporting a downturn in sales, and they believe that the exit closure off the bridge isn’t helping their case either,” said Bemus Point Mayor Jeff Molnar during a recent Bemus Point Village board meeting.

The $78 million bridge reconstruction project began in March 2024 and will reconstruct the 4,000-foot main bridge that was completed in 1982 as well as the two 500-foot-long bridge structures that split off on the eastern end of the main bridge. The fourth bridge structure that carries the westbound Southern Tier Expressway ramps to Route 430 will also be resurfaced and receive new bridge joints. Additionally, Work on the project will progress over four construction seasons, with initial work focusing on the creation of crossover lanes to move traffic during future project phases. One lane of traffic in each direction of I-86 will be maintained throughout the bulk of the project, however, motorists should be prepared for some overnight closures of the highway in 2024 and 2025 to facilitate the pouring of the new bridge decks.

“I’m setting up a meeting with DOT officials (New York State Department of Transportation), myself and Larry Anderson (Ellery town supervisor) soon,” Molnar said. “We need to support our local business owners.”

The 24-span Chautauqua County Veterans Memorial Bridge sees heavy commercial traffic with an average daily traffic count of 13,000 vehicles, according to the Erdman Anthony Engineering Firm that is overseeing the $78 million project.

The Bemus Point Village Board also passed Resolution 25-5, supporting businesses that are affected by the repair and construction of the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

In other business:

-The board unanimously passed resolution 25-7, which supports Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel and Chautauqua County Legislator Chairman Pierre Chagnon (R-Ellery) who have formally opposed and called for a halt to New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) implementation of the Freshwater Wetlands Act.

In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law revisions to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. New York’s original Freshwater Wetlands Act was enacted in 1975 to regulate activities near larger wetlands, greater than 12.4 acres starting in 2025 with the threshold decreasing to 7.4 acres in 2028. The regulations also affect smaller wetlands considered to be of unusual local importance, a designation that affects Chautauqua Lake, meaning there is no acreage trigger for a wetlands designation.

-The village is set to hold its inaugural Farmers Market from June 14 through Aug. 30 from 10 to 2 p.m. on Saturdays at the village park, 1 Lakeside Drive.

“This is our first year doing this, and we are not charging the vendors a fee,” said Brittany Mulkins, village clerk and treasurer. Molnar said that the village conducted surveys and overwhelmingly a farmers market was highly requested, and that the trustees unanimously support the inception of the market.