Former Deer Management Group member Tom Nelson addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)

A former member of the Jamestown Deer Management Group is questioning what the City of Jamestown is doing in regards to the city’s deer population.

Former Council member and current County Legislator Tom Nelson questioned council members about what’s been done, what’s going to get done, and if a committee has been formed regarding deer in the city, “I know many times you get people coming to council meetings complaining they don’t have a solution. I think many of you know I put forward a solution in September of 2021 which was rejected by many members of this council. So, my question to you is, you didn’t like that plan, what is your plan?”

Council had voted down a proposal 2 to 7 at the September 2021 voting session that would have allowed 8 bow hunters to receive licenses with the two sites for hunting limited to Jones Memorial Park and the wooded area behind the Allen Park Ice Rink. This was the proposal suggested by Council member at large Jeff Russell to replace an initial proposal to allow 15 licensed hunters to take down up to 4 antler-less deer between November 1st and December 31st in five designated areas of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he still supports efforts to reduce the deer population in the city, “Typically, some kind of hunt.. that is the recommendation from the DEC (State Department of Environmental Conservation). Can’t do sterilization because it has to be tied to a university and program, and other methods are just way too expensive or not going to be allowed by the state. So, whatever you guys want to do, let me know. I remain steadfast in supporting reducing the deer population as a resident of Ward 6 who sees a lot of it, and now we’re hearing from Ward 5 and others.”

Councilmembers Randy Daversa, Andrew Faulkner, Russell, and Brent Sheldon had mentioned at the October 3, 2022 City Council work session that they had met with each other to discuss the issue, but no follow-up meetings were ever announced.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund said on Monday that whatever that work group moved forward with should be a multi-pronged approach, “When Andy Liuzzo was on council, he was adamant about a deer program and actually worked with the town of Ellicott to issue more permits. I never heard the result of that. We never got a ‘Did it work? Did it not work?’ But, living on the edge of the town, there are more deer. There’s a lot of reasons why there is more deer and you can ask many hunters. There’s less people hunting. There’s more posted property for people to not be able to hunt on.”

At the October 2022 meeting, Council member Marie Carrubba said the deer group should include not just city council members but an attorney, people in favor of a hunt, as well as people with other options for handling the deer population.

City Council President Tony Dolce reads proclamation recognizing retiring DPW-Parks Director Jeff Lehman (March 27, 2023)

Three grant allocations totaling $365,060 to Jamestown businesses have been approved by Jamestown City Council.

The three resolutions were approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation board at its March meeting, but each exceeded the $100,000 threshold, thus requiring council approval.

Summit Wealth Management‘s request of $108,705 was amended through a motion by Council member Andrew Faulkner to $83,100.

Faulkner said the amended amount is what was needed to finish the project, “They’ve already started it and been working on it. They recently purchased their building. They’re making their renovations to fit what they need, and the effects of COVID, what they needed. So, the form we got at the last work session, they had to break down all that and that will give them what they need to complete the project from here.”

Council member at Large Jeff Russell said several council members did tour the businesses, “And business owners did show them around and basically show them their project that was going on. So, there were council members that did their due diligence when they were invited to check out the projects.”

The allocation of $167,105 was approved for Panache and $114,855 was approved for Labyrinth Press Company.

Council also recognized Department of Public Works Director and Acting Parks Department Director Jeff Lehman for his 29 years of service to the city. Lehman’s last day before retiring is Friday, March 31. He served on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and City Planning Commission during his tenure, which also included overseeing the creation of the Jamestown Riverwalk.

Lehman is being succeeded by Acting DPW and Parks Director Mark Roetzer, who was sworn in at Monday night’s meeting for the temporary position while the city continues to looks for a full-time replacement.

Democrat and current Mayor Eddie Sundquist previously announced he is seeking re-election for a second term with Republican Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund recently announcing she will be running against him for the seat.

The City Democratic Committee has endorsed local attorney John I. LaMancuso to run for City Court Judge. His father, John L. LaMancuso, has held that position for 29 years. Republicans have not endorsed a candidate for that race.

Democratic endorsements for City Council At Large include Isaiah Rashad II and returning candidate Alyssa Porter. Republicans have endorsed incumbents Jeff Russell and Randy Daversa; as well as Russ Bonfiglio.

Republican Ward 1 Council member Brent Sheldon and Ward 2 Council member and Council President Tony Dolce are running unopposed.

Ward 3 Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman will again face Republican Robert Reedy. That race in 2021 was determined by three absentee ballots.

Democratic incumbent Marie Carrubba has been endorsed again to represents Ward 4 and will face Republican Joe Paterniti.

Republican Incumbent Bill Reynolds will face Democrat Kaycee Colburn for Ward 5 and Republican Incumbent Andrew Faulkner will be running against former Council Member at Large Vanessa Weinert in Ward 6.

For the County Legislature endorsements, Democratic incumbent Billy Torres and Republican Phillip Landy have been endorsed for District 9.

Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson will face newcomer Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg for District 10.

Republican incumbent Dave Wilfong is unopposed for District 11.

District 12 endorsements include Republican Elisabeth Rankin against former Democratic County Legislator and former County Attorney Fred Larson.

Democratic Incumbent Tom Nelson will face Republican Joseph Tickle for District 13.

Candidate petitioning to get on the election ballot begins tomorrow, February 28 and ends April 6. Any primaries necessary will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2023.

Gebbie Foundation CEO Greg Edwards addresses Jamestown City Council (November 7, 2022)

The executive directors of the Community Foundation and Gebbie Foundation made pleas to Jamestown City Council to move forward with American Rescue Plan funding.

Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Executive Director Tory Irgang, speaking to Council, reminded them how CRCF helped compile the community feedback from public information sessions held in 2021 on how to use the ARPA funds.

She said it’s easy to adopt a “scarcity mindset,” “A time when partnerships and collaborations can be mistaken as weakness. However, we have proven in this community what can happen when we have an abundance mindset. We work through public, private partnerships every day to achieve tremendous results. And I encourage each of you to lean into that shared experience by aligning the remaining ARPA funding with community-based projects that have significant leveraging opportunities.”

Irgang said projects that had been evaluated and awarded other funding from government and philanthropic sources should be considered, “Projects that provide infrastructure and programming for children and young adults, projects that yield measurable results, deliver significant community benefit, and address challenges that are multi-faceted. As we know all too well in philanthropy, our needs are always greater than our resources, but we can meet so many more needs when we collaborate and work together.”

Gebbie Foundation CEO Greg Edwards said the city has been very successful at finding partners in its mission over the last 20 years, “Over the last 20 years, many times not-for-profits have willingly stepped up and the public-private entities have stepped up because they had seen how valuable our joint mission was and invested dramatically in trying to impact the future of the city in ways we could spend a great deal of time tonight celebrating this partnership between the city and these entities.”

Edwards encouraged funding for TheZone project at the Northwest Arena. He said the Gebbie Foundation has provided nearly $4 million in funding for that project. He also encouraged Council to support the new Jamestown YMCA project on Harrison Street.

Council member Marie Carrubba asked what the plans were for the current YMCA location on East Fourth Street.

Edwards replied that the 1929 structure is complicated with the Housing and Urban Development contract for housing that remains in place for at least 13 years, “But there have been significant conversations around how that could actually be a plus to other redevelopments potentially around the city and how that building itself could be reused. I had a conversation two months ago with a private developer who was interested in turning it into what we’ll call higher end housing because it does come with some amenities that other buildings don’t. I mean, having the gyms, the pools, those sorts of things that does provide opportunities, call it built in, that make it interesting.”

Council Member at Large Jeff Russell voiced support for a new YMCA facility.

Any funding for the projects mentioned by Edwards would possibly receive funding from the proposed Non-Profit Assistance Program. A resolution to fund that program with $1.5 million in ARP funds is still awaiting Council action.

Council member Andrew Faulkner questioned how much the 19A Home Ownership program could be funded with and still be successful. Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said $500,000 would be the absolute minimum. The current proposal is requesting $750,000.

Council member at large Russell asked why the city would contract with the Chautauqua County Land Bank for $1 million, of which 20% goes to administrative fees, when the city could do home demolitions itself.

Surdyk said $500,000 of the funds requested by the Land Bank would go to contractors to do the demolition work, with administration fees going to administer that program.

She said while the DOD can administer demolitions, as it has done in the past, there are now over 16 new programs the department is now administering on top of existing programs, “To administer effectively the demolition program and these and new grant programs that we have received over the last year, it’s just not feasible without hiring new staff, specifically to do demolition. So, we can contract with the Land Bank at a roughly 20% administrative fee which would ultimately be less than what we’d have to pay to employ somebody as a city employee.”

The Finance Committee tabled the resolutions related to funding the Chautauqua County Land Bank and 19A Home Ownership Program until the November 14 work session.

And DPW Director Jeff Lehman reported that leaf pickup is ahead of schedule with Phase 2 already underway this week. He said crews do plan to go back through the city again after the completion of Phase 2 to try to pick up any piles of leaves that were missed the first time.

Jamestown City Council work session (October 3, 2022)

While a deer hunt will not take place in the city of Jamestown this year, the discussion of options to deal with deer overpopulation is back on the table.

Council member at large Randy Daversa said he had met with Council member at large Jeff Russell as well as Council members Andrew Faulkner and Brent Sheldon on the issue. He said they hope to have a formal meeting soon.

Russell said with deer hunting season starting October 1, it’s not feasible to do the hunt this year, “We’re not able to move that quickly with tags and get this together. So, we all knew that this was going to take place, to come up with a plan, if it’s approved, that it would be for next year’s season.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said in conversations with members of the community, there were recommendations on who should be included in the discussion group, “Corporation Counsel or another attorney about the liability to the city, having someone who is in favor of it (a hunt) from the community, someone who has other ideas as we had someone here last week who talked about other options. I think if we have a more inclusive group than just council members. And not just the hunters. I think last time we just had the bow hunting group.”

Daversa agreed his plan was to include various community members. Russell said there will be a notification for when the deer group meets next.

Council also discussed hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween with the consensus being to keep them at 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Council President Tony Dolce said there would not be a Halloween Fun Fest this year but that the Parks Department was looking at other options including a “trunk or treat.”

Jamestown City Council work session (October 3, 2022)

Jamestown City Council continued discussions on how to use American Rescue Plan funds as new programs are proposed.

Council reviewed resolutions totaling $4 million in allocations that would create a Non-Profit Assistance Program, a Business Expansion & Building Acquisition program, a 19A Homeownership Program; and give funding to the Chautauqua County Land Bank.

Finance Committee Chair and Council member at Large Kim Ecklund, expressed concern that if all proposed allocations are approved in addition to a proposal to add more funding to the Senior Citizen Home Improvement program, that will leave just over $4 million left in unexpended ARP funds.

One proposal would give $1 million to the Chautauqua County Land Bank to create a First Time Homebuyer’s Assistance Rebate Program, to support the expansion of the Hands On Neighborhoods Program, and to assist in the Land Bank’s purchase of an information management platform.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the Land Bank also will use funding to help with demolitions in the city. She said the city is limited by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to $150,000 for how they use federal funding for demolitions. With the average cost of demolitions around $30,000, Surdyk said the city runs out of funds fast every year.

She said there are 50 homes in need of demolition this year and that there are only about 4 local contractors who have the background to do the demo’s.

Council President Tony Dolce said demolitions are important, “Last summer when we had our meetings, a lot of people had spoken about, talked about that. We don’t have a large fund for demolition and I think we need to look at that.”

Ecklund said her concern was whether demolitions should be done internally or contracted out.

Council member Andrew Faulkner said that was one of his concerns as well, “Under their proposal, they’ve got $200,000 in administrative fees. They’re going to do demo’s. That’s quite a few demo’s in that $200,000 in admin fees that could be done.”

Surdyk said she will be passing along questions and concerns to Land Bank Executive Director Gina Paradis with hopes to have her at the next Council work session on October 17 to provide more details.

Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce, Eagle Scout Gary Moffat, Mayor Eddie Sundquist

Jamestown City Council has approved hiring new three police officers and four firefighters.
The new positions will be funded with $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds.

Council President Tony Dolce said it represents a large chunk of the funding the city received, “But given the situation in the city right now, given the crisis in EMS, given, obviously, the rise in gun violence, to add three new officers, two of which will be specifically put on gun violence detail. One will be a quality of life officer, who will deal with some of the other issues that the other officers don’t have time to deal with the fireworks and the loud motor vehicles and some of the other neighborhood issues.”

Dolce said the second ambulance that will be manned by the new firefighter positions still needs to be purchased. He said the cost to the city once the ARP funds runs out by the end of 2026 is between $800 to $900,000 a year, “In the meantime, we’re going to have to figure out in four years do we get rid of those positions through attrition, do we continue to fund them after four years? Again, depending on who the mayor and the council is at that time, those are decisions they will have to make. I do know, at least with the EMS, there will be some revenue. That could be as much as two, three, $400,000 per year.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the approval of these hires is just one step in dealing with gun violence in the city. He said there are other funding opportunities from the state and federal government that should help as well, “As well as with this Gun Violence Unit, we’ve been working directly with the FBI, our state partners, the U.S. District Attorney’s office, and others on a program to have here in Jamestown to help get guns off the street. So we’re working through that. It’s also included with the Sheriff’s Office and others to try to work on a few other things. More to follow on that.”

The city plans to hire the three Police Officers in June with the Firefighters brought on board in August.

After voting down the contract in April, Council unanimously approved a $500,000 contract with the Jamestown Local Development Corporation. That will go toward administering American Rescue Plan funds for Department of Development programming.

Following regular business on the agenda, Council member Andrew Faulkner requested a resolution to send Captain Bob Samuelson to the FBI Academy in Virginia from July 11 through September 15 be brought to the floor for a vote.

He referenced six dates from the first two weeks of May where illegal guns had been removed from the streets by Jamestown Police officers, “Nobody can deny that right now is a time of increased gun violence and gun crime. Tonight, one of our resolutions that passed was to add three police officers to the force in order to combat gun crime and quality of life issues. This shows that the Jamestown Police Department needs full staffing and then some in order to combat our current issues.”

Following Faulkner’s request, Council unanimously voted no, although Council President Dolce said there was confusion over whether council was voting down bringing the resolution to the floor or voting down the resolution to send Captain Samuelson to the training, “It was put on there originally by the Public Safety Committee. There were some concerns that were mentioned by Councilwoman Ecklund as well as Councilman Russell and Councilman Faulkner. It was not passed through Finance, so we had it pulled from the agenda. So I was under the impression that they wanted to put it back up, but I guess they just wanted to vote on it so that’s all I can say. That’s all I know. There were concerns about sending someone at this particular time because of gun violence and having an administrator go and so forth.”

City Council also recognized Eagle Scout Gary Moffat, who built and repaired city park benches using wood that came from the Third Street Cathedral Oak trees.

Jamestown City Council (April 25, 2022)

Jamestown City Council passed over $5 million in American Rescue Plan funded projects, with four resolutions for economic development related initiatives failing to pass.

Council members Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, and Randy Daversa voted no on three resolutions related to giving funding to the Small Business Development Center for a business marketing program, a branding and marketing program for the city, and a program to provide marketing funding to businesses. Brent Sheldon was absent at Monday’s meeting, so the resolutions failed on a tie vote. The fourth program that failed was a resolution to contract with the Jamestown Local Development Corporation for $500,000 to administer the ARPA program.

Council member Faulkner said he voted no because he felt some of the proposed programs were duplicates. He also said other communities have used an average of 11.1% of ARPA funds toward economic development and workforce development, “If we were to allocate the full $7.5 million tonight, that would have been 27% of our entire ARPA funding. From the start, I thought we were pushing too much money toward the economic when we have other issues that need to be dealt with. So seeing those statistics of how we are almost three times higher than what everyone else is doing kind of reassured me of that.”

Faulkner said he wants to see funding more focused on public safety and housing initiatives.

Two programs for business building and infrastructure improvements and equipment and machinery upgrades had funding reduced from $1 million to $500-thousand each under an amendment proposed by Faulkner that council approved. Faulkner said if the programs run out of the money, then the Department of Development can always request additional funds be added.

Council President Tony Dolce said he was surprised that the four resolutions failed. He said one concern some council members had was having enough oversight of how the money was allocated under the proposal to contract to the JLDC for administration, “We have three members on the JLDC board – myself, Councilwoman Ecklund and Councilman Russell, as well as JURA, we have representation. So anything over the $100,000 threshold would have come back to the City Council anyways for a vote. So I’m not so sure.. I mean the whole purpose of having council representation on any board or commissions is to have some oversight and a direct link to the City Council.”

In other business, a request home rule legislation from the state to put speed zone cameras in school zones will move forward.

An ordinance to establish a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return (TNVR) program for feral cats in the city was approved in addition to a contract with the Chautauqua County Humane Society for $5,000 to run that program.

Council also approved a resolution to purchase 12 mobile data terminals for $40,000 for police vehicles and to purchase 75 service duty pistols for $9,643 using American Rescue Plan funds.

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council members promised “more is to come” after approving over $2 million in American Rescue Plan funded projects Monday night.

While Council members Regina Brackman and Andrew Faulkner voted no, all other council members approved $500,000 toward the redesign of West Third Street.

Council President Tony Dolce said the decision to remove the Cathedral Oaks over a year ago was difficult and emotional, “I know there was a lot of talk of, at that point, of doing some work. That it was a time to start that entrance to the city. To start over. Those sidewalks are in rough shape. It is a major thoroughfare for people to walk and drive, although the street is not going to be reconstructed.”

DPW Director Jeff Lehman said the project will go before the Jamestown Planning Commission in April, with work hopefully beginning in May. He said the new trees will be planted by the Parks Department in the Fall.

Council also approved using $750,000 ARP funds for a Roof, Private Sewer Lateral, Private Water Line Repair/Replacement grant program.

Council member at large Jeff Russell said he was happy to support the resolution as it will help homeowners, “I understand that there has to be equal money that goes toward our businesses and our downtown but I’m surely am not going to forget about the elderly people that might be struggling to make their mortgage payment with super high inflation going on and they can’t afford some of these repairs. And I will push for some of this money to continue to go back to the taxpayers.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said her office often receives calls from seniors, retirees, and veterans with limited funds who are looking for help with housing issues, “And try to get roofs repaired especially in some of the older homes that they occupy is extremely difficult along with replacing water and sewer lines. I’ve heard that excavators, I think, start around $6000 to have one in your front yard. Most of the people that, you know, if you look at the median income around $43,000 in the city, it’s not affordable for individuals to maintain their properties when these kind of emergencies occur.”

Council also approved using American Rescue Plan funds for replacing water mains, equipment for DPW, upgrades to the fire stations, and creating a Tree-Damaged Sidewalk Replacement Rebate program.

Dolce said when it comes to the ARP funds received by the city, the council has a fiduciary responsibility to see that it’s spent wisely and they do get a return on investment, “There are a lot of people who have a lot of needs. $28 million is just a drop in the bucket for what is needed in this community. We’ll do our due diligence and do the best we can to expend the money as we see fit. Again, a delicate balance in neighborhoods versus providing for our business downtown and our industries. There is a lot of need in different areas. We’re looking at all those different areas when we’re making these decisions.”

Council also approved allocating $1.227 million in additional American Rescue Plan funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development toward a Rental Rehabilitation Program. Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said she anticipates submitting the program for approval by HUD by the end of this week.

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council voted down a contract with the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association in a vote of 5 to 2 at its voting session Monday.

The contract covered January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024 and would have included hiring four new firefighters in addition to pay increases each year and increases in healthcare plans. Health insurance for new hires would have ended at the Federal Medicare eligible age.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said adding four firefighters would cost the city an additional $1.23 million dollars over four years,

“However, with the removal of the removal of the lifetime healthcare, for every new officer we hire within the city, we will save over $2 million per firefighter we hire each year. It is a significant amount. It also runs the second ambulance service, another revenue generating source for the city.”

Council member at large Kim Ecklund clarified that the first year the city would see the $2 million healthcare savings would be 2061.

Council member at large Jeff Russell commended Sundquist and his team for negotiating the end of lifetime healthcare, “But like Kim said, that’s a very long term savings and we’re looking at a cost of $1.2 million. Well, my concern is that we’ll be back here in two or three years. We’ll have a room full of firefighters because we’re going to be laying people off. That’s my concern and I don’t want to see that happen.”

Council members Brent Sheldon, Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Randy Daversa, and Jeff Russell were the no votes on the resolution. Council member at large Kim Ecklund recused herself from the vote as her husband is a retired firefighter and she would benefit financially from the contract.

Sundquist said he was deeply disappointment with council’s decision, saying the city had a chance to save money with negotiating the end to lifetime healthcare for retirees which is a huge legacy cost, “Tonight the council has signified that they want no part of that. They’d rather continue going like we always do which is mostly like to be to arbitration, which is unfortunate. Because if we’ve negotiated without having to go to arbitration, all of the police and fire contracts which were six or more years behind and to be all under current contracts is a really incredible thing in the first two-three years.”

Sundquist said the additional cost of adding the four firefighters could be initially covered by American Rescue Plan funds and he understands there could be a potential for lay-offs down the line, “But if you have an opportunity to hire four firefighters to run a second ambulance that will generate anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 a year in additional calls, you’re never going to complete make even with public safety. And that’s something we have to recognize. It’s a service that we pay for through our taxes for our citizens and we’re never going to come out even in this regard.”

City Council did unanimously approve a contract with the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association. That contract covers January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2024. The contract also includes wage increases of 2.5% for 2021 through 2023, and a 2.75% increase in 2024. There also are increases for prescription costs and health insurance plans