MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature’s Audit and Control Committee has balked at a resolution that would provide tax-payer funding to the establishment of a facility dedicated to all things Bigfoot.
According to an article in the Post-Journal, committee members Thursday discussed using proceeds from the county’s bed tax to fund the creation of the National Bigfoot Center.
Funding for the project – which is being spear-headed by Peter Wiemer, owner of We Wan Chu Cottages and organizer of the Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo – was suggested by the county’s Tourism Review Panel. However, the review panel made funding to the National Bigfoot Center contingent upon proof of the project’s viability.
The proposed $4 million project aimed to utilize property near the Interstate 90 exit in Ripley. The project requested the maximum $10,000 from the occupancy tax fund for 2015 and 2016.
Projects that would be awarded funding (all under $10,000) would be the Lucy Town Half Marathon and 5K, Chautauqua Gran Fondo Cycling Tour, and the Chadwick Bay Bike Run.
Lawmakers said they didn’t feel enough information was available to them to prove the Bigfoot Center project was viable, and suggested Wiemer return next year and request the funding again.
Not everyone was in favor of encouraging the Big Foot project to return next year and ask for funding. County legislator and Audit and Control committee chairman John Runkle (R-Stockton) said if approved, it would be the most ridiculous appropriation of taxpayer dollars he has ever seen his entire life.
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