Jamestown City Council (December 19, 2022)
Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce said 2022 was a “very challenging year” in his year-end remarks.
Dolce, speaking at the December 19 Council meeting, said deciding how to allocate the $28 million in American Rescue Plan funds the city received has been difficult at times.
He cited the retreat Council had in March at the Robert H. Jackson Center as one of the times councilmembers gathered to discuss possible spending plans for the money, “I’ve always told people in the community that this is like a family member who passes away that leaves all the family the money and everybody fights over it. And everybody in the community wants a piece of it and everybody has an idea of where the money should go.”
Dolce said he thinks Council has done a good job with distributing funds in a way that “touches all areas of the community” so far, “We’ve put quite a bit of programs and quite a bit of money into business and industries, as well as millions of dollars for seniors, and neighborhoods for demolitions. So, through the Department of Development we’re still working on some plans that are going through there. Tonight we passed some more resolutions for ARPA. We touched on public safety. This past year was a very challenging year. We had an increase in gun violence.”
Dolce said public safety investments included the hiring of additional staff for the police and fire departments, vehicle purchases, equipment upgrades, and infrastructure upgrades for the fire department for long needed repairs.
He said a lot of money was spent in the Department of Public Works and Parks Department for badly needed vehicle and equipment replacement. Dolce added the clean-up of the lower section of the Chadakoin River also benefited from use of the ARPA funds.
Dolce said for those who criticized council for moving too slowly in process, that spending $28 million is a daunting task given the need in the community, “To bounce all those balls around and try to hit every department, hit neighborhoods, hit development, hit economic development, hit public safety, as well as other programs that are in the works and still in the works out there; infrastructure, and manpower, all of those. I think Council took their time and did their due diligence in working through those and coming up with the best solutions.”
Dolce commended Council for its work on the ARPA funds as well as on the work done on the 2023 Budget. He said he also feels Council was transparent during the budget process
City Council will hold its first meeting of 2023 on Monday, January 9.
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