ALBANY - Senator Catharine Young (R,I,C – Olean) and Assemblyman Joe Giglio (R,I,C-Gowanda) today were joined by local officials from the Town and Village of Portville to announce $336,024 of funding for construction of a single shared fuel depot. The funding is part of the Department of State’s Local Government Efficiency program which is expected to save taxpayers statewide more than $105 million this year.
The consolidated project will be shared by four government entities - the Village of Portville, Portville Fire District, Westons Mills Fire District and Portville Central School District - and replace three existing facilities with antiquated and deteriorating equipment.
“This project will inevitably improve the already constructive relationship between the Village and Town of Portville and create an even more cooperative municipal environment that will translate into more savings for the taxpayer,” said Sen. Young. “Not only will a redundancy of services be eliminated, but a number of environmental concerns will be addressed all at once. I commend the Town and Village of Portville for pursuing such a vital cooperative project that will reap extensive cost-saving benefits for their residents.”
Sen. Young and Assem. Giglio said the project will allow the partners to purchase gas and diesel fuel at bulk prices. It would also protect taxpayers from the consequences of multiple spills into the Allegany River and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation flood storage areas; reduce the costs attendant with the DEC’s inspection of three similar facilities; ensure the operation of emergency and school vehicles; and eliminate the need for three separate back-up generators during emergency situations.
"I commend all of the local governments that have cooperated in the planning and application process for this Efficiency Implementation Project,” said Assemblyman Joseph Giglio. “This project will be a prototype for local governments, school districts and fire departments across the Southern Tier to model. A shared fuel depot will certainly benefit all of the participants in that it will allow the bulk purchase of fuel and shared space, construction and maintenance costs. Taxpayers have and will continue to reap the benefits of the hard work that the local officials have put into this project."
Tom Simon, Superintendent, Portville Central School District said, “Looking beyond just the needs of the School to the shared needs of our municipal partners has given us all an opportunity to reduce costs and look for future avenues of partnership”
“With the legislative and regulatory demands upon schools driving cost of delivery up, it is nice to see successful efforts such as the shared fuel facility bringing those expenses down year after year,” said Tom Rowe, School Board President, Portville Central School District.
Tom Costa, Building and Grounds Superintendent, Portville Central School said, “Without this collaborative effort, the School would have had to spend 3 times as much money simply to become DEC-compliant and would not have reaped any fuel savings”
Tim Emley, Mayor, Village of Portville said, “Bringing down the cost of government is a big priority for us”
Terry Keeley, Supervisor, Town of Portville said, “Multiple government entities working together to lower costs to taxpayers while maintaining high levels of customer service is a win for everyone”
“This new shared fuel facility will save the Village thousands of dollars a year and avoid us having to develop our own DEC-compliant fuel facility,” said TJ Shaw, Public Works Superintendent, Village of Portville
Brad Chaffee, President, Portville Fire District said “Participating in a shared fuel facility improves not only our fuel price performance but enhances our access to larger quantities of fuel in emergency situations”
Paul Eddy, Chair, Westons Mills Fire District said, “On a much smaller scale we’ve been partnering with the Town on shared fuel for years, but now this new opportunity to further lower costs and improve accountability is just great”
Stuart Frost, Highway Superintendent, Town of Portville said, “I’m excited to see better fuel pricing for the Town and all of our partners who will benefit from this approved grant”
Tom McElheny, from the Clark Patterson Lee Company said, “Clark Patterson Lee is pleased that our contributions during the preparation of the grant submission may have helped in some way to make the ‘Portville Multi-Governmental Fueling Installation’ a reality. We have assisted the Community on many public works projects since the mid 1980’s and appreciate the continued support Portville shows in the services we provide”
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