FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

OLMSTED PARKS TO RECEIVE COUNTY FUNDING

Erie County Legislature Chair Lynn M. Marinelli (D-Buffalo, Tonawanda) is announcing the Olmsted Parks Conservancy has been assured it will receive the $360,000 matching grant the County Legislature approved for 2009 programming and other needs in its efforts to maintain the Olmsted Parks in Buffalo.

"On behalf of the community and the Erie County Legislature, I am pleased the Olmsted Parks Conservancy has received assurances from the administration that the agreement providing the funds approved by the County Legislature for 2009 will be signed next week," Legislature Chair Marinelli said. "As a longtime outspoken advocate for the Olmsted Parks system, particularly with Delaware Park being situated in the 11th District, I commend the administration for finally advancing the funding."

Legislator Marinelli reported Olmsted Parks Conservancy President and CEO Thomas Herrera-Mishler testified that volunteers for the conservancy have doubled in the last year during a Finance, Management and Budget Committee 2010 proposed budget hearing.

Legislature Majority Leader Maria R. Whyte (D-Buffalo) and Community Enrichment Committee Chair Legislator Betty Jean Grant (D-Buffalo), also members of the Finance, Management and Budget Committee, are also sponsors of the funding.

"My colleagues and I are also concerned there is no funding for the conservancy in the administration's 2010 budget proposal," Legislator Marinelli said. "With the administration planning to withdraw from the intermunicipal parks agreement between Erie County and the City of Buffalo, there is no certainty the Olmsted Parks will be funded to the level their services and programs deserve."

"The Olmsted Parks have proven themselves time and again to be an excellent resource enjoyed and appreciated by all and part of the cultural tourism engine that will help drive Erie County's renewal," Legislator Marinelli added. "We must not allow this treasure to be ignored or neglected."

Legislator Marinelli, who led the efforts on the 2004 intermunicipal agreement, and others acknowledge that the staff, board and volunteers have achieved major successes in the operation and maintenance of the 1,200-acre Olmsted Park and Parkway.

The Olmsted Conservancy, under the current intermunicipal agreement between Erie County and the City of Buffalo, maintains the major Olmsted parks: Cazenovia, Delaware, Front, Martin Luther King Jr., Riverside and South Park, and the adjoining parkways, circles and smaller spaces.

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