Hotel, tourist site for Ripley | News, Sports, Vacancies

The City of Ripley will serve as lead agency on the project, which could bring a new hotel and tourism site to Ripley.

At their regular meeting this month, Ripley City Council members passed a motion to foresee the City of Ripley being appointed as the lead agency for the Onvo project on Shortman Road. Onvo is a network of travel destinations, shops and restaurants located throughout Pennsylvania and New York.

At the July board meeting, Onvo Vice President Dan Naylor presented a plan to develop a tourism area where the Lion’s Den is currently located. Although there are no firm plans yet, the square could house a hotel and shops.

Ripley Supervisor Laura K. Pless said the project was made possible by expanding infrastructure in the area. During the July meeting she said “All the changes the city has made to the sewer and water systems were a big factor in this decision.”

Over the past decade, the City of Ripley has worked to improve and expand its sewer and water infrastructure. Several new sewer and water districts were built, and sewer and water lines were extended to Shortman Road, allowing for the construction of the Love Travel Center.

Additionally, as a result of the expansion of sewer and water infrastructure, plans are underway for an industrial site in the same area on land purchased by the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency.

The shovel-ready 147-acre site is expected to bring new jobs and businesses to Western New York. According to recent articles in the Post Journal, “The goal of Project Ripley is to stimulate economic growth in Western New York.”

In a related matter, council members passed a resolution declaring the Water District 4 project complete and authorized final payment to contractors. In the same resolution, council members retained Andrew Strine as the system’s licensed operator.

In other business, council members approved several changes to the Water District 4 project budget to more accurately reflect actual costs.

Council members also established a trick-or-treat hours from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on October 31st.