WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley speaks with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist about hiring new firefighters, the Central Garage project, the clean up of the former Crawford Furniture building site, and more.

Eddie Sundquist

Central Garage Project Manager Jeff Lehman updates City Council on project costs (June 12, 2023)

The City of Jamestown’s Central Garage project is around $389,000 over budget.

Former Public Works Director and current Project Manager Jeff Lehman updated Jamestown City Council on the Washington Street facility project on Monday night.

He said the total original budget was $5,334,487 which included $4 million for the project, a $1 million state grant, and a $500,000 NYSERDA grant the city applied for to make the building all electric, “Because we did not get the NYSERDA grant, so we decided to go back to gas where we originally were with the building which saved us $242,000 and change on the mechanical and, sadly, only $47,741 on the electrical.”

Lehman said due to the Pandemic, bids then came in 20 to 30% higher than when the project was first put together three and a half years ago.

He said at this point the project is about 90% complete except for the electric package that needs to go in, which probably won’t get shipped until mid October. He added that the building is up and running with crews using the old electric service.

Lehman said $5,146,706 has been expended so far with about $577,000 remaining in work items that include landscaping, drainage, and parking lot repairs which will be done in-house, “Lifts are a big one. We pulled that one out of the original contract and so we plan on having one new lift and moving two of the existing lifts from 155 Steele down there. So, that’s $170,000. Oil storage and containment unit, we blocked off $50,000 for that. Again, that’s a requirement. And a CO2 Detection System, that’s just the air monitoring in the building.”

Lehman said a crane system also needs to be installed in the garage bays. Following the remaining work, the total project costs will be $5,723,706; or $389,219 over budget.

Central Garage Project Budget

He said the project will likely be completed by winter which could be tough because the city will be in snowplow season at that point.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the city hadn’t bonded for the full amount of the project and will being putting forward a resolution to do that.

Jamestown City Council members meet for work session (June 5, 2023)

Costs for the new Central Garage project on Washington Street are currently at $3.9 million.

City Council Public Works Chair Randy Daversa provided that cost update to council at its work session Monday night. He stated at the meeting the project was over budget given that the $2.8 million in funds from a bond had been expended.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said while he didn’t have the exact budget numbers for the Central Garage project, the project itself wasn’t over budget yet, “We knew the costs were going to be high, but they were not going to be as high as the creation of a completely new maintenance building that was upwards, I think, of just under $10 million. So, we’re still looking at a very low amount of funding for this building. We’ve only spent about $3 million, or a little over $3 million, so we just need to get the additional funding to finish it up. The majority of the building is actually completed now. We’re just in the final finishing portions of it.”

Sundquist said what remains to be funded will be bonded for and the city still has $1 million state Financial Restructuring Board (FRB) funds coming in toward the project.

According to a Smart City Capital Investment Program bond presentation by former Mayor Sam Teresi in September 2019, the estimated total cost at that time for a new Central Garage on Crescent Street was $6.9 million. The Teresi Administration estimated that the project would have been paid for using $5.9 million from the Smart Cities bond and $1 million from the State FRB.

Sundquist said the 2019 Smart Cities bond has been closed out, “And so, the project itself was, unfortunately, a 2019 project. With COVID, it stalled for quite a period of time and then we went a different direction. And so, we’ve closed out that bond and we’ve sent that money back and paid it off. So, we just re-bond for it, which is absolutely fine.”

Council member Marie Carrubba commented at Monday’s work session that American Rescue Plan funds should have been used toward this and other capital projects versus going out for new bonds.

Sundquist said that the remaining $1.7 million in APRA funds could be put toward the project or any other projects, but it’s up to Council if they want to go that direction.

Daversa added that former DPW Director Jeff Lehman is still working as the project engineer for the Central Garage project and he will be coming to the City Council June 12 work session to go over further budget details.

Jamestown City Council voting session (March 27, 2023)

Jamestown City Council has approved moving forward with two splash pads in city parks with the requirement that more engineering work be completed on Jackson-Taylor Park.

Council member at Large Jeff Russell cited his concerns about Jackson-Taylor Park being the best place to locate a splash pad from a safety standpoint, “There’s a lot more traffic down there now with places like Tim Horton’s there. Obviously, we’re putting a new facility (DPW Central Garage) in down there with large trucks. My ultimate fear is that a child is going to be crossing that roadway, unsupervised possibly, and is going to be struck by a vehicle and killed. That is my ultimate concern with it being down there.”

Russell also expressed concern over the soil stability and that he had asked Parks Manager Dan Stone if other locations in the park could be used, “He said there’s really no other place to put it because of the instability of some of the soil down there and really the only logical place is the old skatepark is, where the blacktop is. And it’s even questionable whether it can be placed there. What I would hate to see is to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars putting the splash pad in that location and then have it fail a couple of years down the line and pretty much be a waste of money.”

Russell made a motion to drop the amount of the project funded with American Rescue Plan monies from $500,000 to $400,000, citing $100,000 in state funds that Mayor Eddie Sundquist said were supposed to be approved. The motion also included that the city hire a private engineering firm to look at the soil stability of Jackson-Taylor Park for the splash pad. If the study determined the site was not suitable, the motion further said that the splash pad should be moved to Roseland Park with the proposed pickleball court for that location being relocated to the Jackson-Taylor Park skate pad.

The motion passed unanimously, with the amended resolution passing 8 to 1. Council member Bill Reynolds was the only no vote, citing other priorities that should be funded.

Two community engagement meetings will be held on the splash pads with the first taking place this Thursday, March 30 at 6:00 p.m. at the Allen Park Rink. The second will be held at the Jackson-Taylor Park large pavilion at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 11. Mayor Sundquist said that community meeting will also be combined with the HUD Action Plan community input meeting.

Jamestown Planning Commission (March 21, 2023)

The Jamestown Planning Commission has finally approved the sale of two city-owned parcels.

The Commission, lacking a quorum at its meetings in January and February, was unable to take action until this month.

The two parcels include property on Crescent Street that originally was going to be used for the Department of Public Works‘ Central Garage with the other parcel being a vacant lot on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Crescent Street parcel received a bid for $25,000 from Falcon Conveyor owner Scott Clark, who owns the building on the adjacent property. Clark plans to use the lot for access to his building, where Falcon Conveyor is located.

The parcel on Pennsylvania Avenue received a bid for $4,900 from Kim and Shane Collins, who have a house next door. The parcel is too small to meet code requirements for building on it.

The sale proposals must now be approved by Jamestown City Council and are expected to appear under new business at its voting session on March 27.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist delivers 2023 State of the City Address

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist toted the allocation of American Rescue Plan funds, and investments in public safety and infrastructure in his 2023 State of the City Address.

Sundquist, delivering his address online, called the receipt of over $28 million in ARP funds transformational to the city, “From these funds we’ve helped over 300 senior households with needed home improvements. We’ve replaced over 100 heavily damaged roofs across Jamestown cost-free to working class and middle class homeowners. We’ve given businesses affected by the Pandemic resources and investments to hire more people locally and a substantial amount of funds to demolish blighted buildings.”

Sundquist said other areas that benefited include the Jamestown Police Department which received funding for more police officers, the clean-up of the lower half of the Chadakoin River, as well as needed capital spending in city departments.

With the rise in gun violence nationally, Sundquist said Jamestown was not the exception last year. He said investment in public safety was necessary, “Working with our City Council, we approved new officers to help with the protection of citizens through a new program which brings our police department staffing up to full force. This includes the approval of a Gun Task Force officers which will continue the work of decreasing gun violence in our city as well as a Quality of Life officer to deal with nuisance complaints that continue to plague our residents.”

Sundquist also lauded the Citizen Police Academy starting back up this year for the first time in decades along with the increase in the number of firefighters on staff.

He cited a record year of infrastructure improvements in the city thanks to additional funding from the state and federal government. Sundquist also mentioned the beginning of work on the new Central Garage on Washington Street that is expected to be completed this year.

In terms of what’s in store for 2023, Sundquist said he’s working with the state and federal government on addressing the lack of Essential Air Service and rail service in the area. He said his administration also will be adding new bike lanes, fixing sidewalks, and hoping to install speed cameras in school zones.

The video and text of Sundquist’s address are available at: https://www.jamestownny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-State-of-the-City.pdf

Jamestown Planning Commission members meet (January 17, 2023)

The Jamestown Planning Commission reviewed two proposals to sell city-owned land at its monthly meeting.

The Commission did not have a quorum, so no action was taken.

The two parcels include property on Crescent Street that originally was going to be used for the Department of Public Works’ Central Garage with the other parcel being a vacant lot on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Crescent Street parcel is proposed to be sold for $25,000 to Falcon Conveyor owner Scott Clark, who owns the building on the adjacent property. Clark plans to use the lot for access to his building, where Falcon Conveyor is located.

The parcel on Pennsylvania Avenue is proposed to be sold for $4,900 to Kim and Shane Collins, who have a house next door. The parcel is too small to meet code requirements for building.

The Planning Commission is expected to take action on both items at its February meeting as long as quorum requirements are met.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist addresses Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

Construction on Washington Street will not be completed this season.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the city received notice from New York State on the status of the project, “And, as a response to that, Jeff (Lehman) and his team have formally put the state on notice for the current state of the road, the curbs, and other issues. We have sent them written notification of defect. We’ve asked them to take care of those items because there’s going to be a huge issue with not only plowing but mobility and access and others to the various areas.”

Public Works Director Jeff Lehman said he heard from state they’re working with their contractor to “better the situation.” He expressed concern that the state of the street will be hard on city plows.

Washington Street is a state road with the state responsible for its maintenance.

In regards to a different project on Washington Street, Sundquist said the foundation is in place for the expansion of the former Hartley Buick building that will be the new Central Garage for the city. He said they anticipate that project will be done in Summer 2023.

The project was last estimated to cost $2.1 million, which Sundquist said in June 2021, is a savings of $1.9 million over the original cost estimates.

A question had been raised whether the Planning Commission could approve the plan even though the city doesn’t own the property yet. Public Works Director Jeff Lehman said this has been done before, “We can make that a contingency of the approval that the city has ownership. Obviously, like I said it’s in the attorney’s hands, the deal has been reached, city council has approved it, it’s just a matter of the paperwork being signed.”

City Council had approved purchasing 1425 through 1505 Washington Street from Tim Shults for $400,000 at its June voting session.

The Planning Commission also approved the request from Shawbucks’ owner Kurt Johnson to purchase a city right-of-way at 212 West Second Street. This purchase will allow Johnson to build a 3-story balcony for outdoor seating for the restaurant.

The negative declaration and site plan also was approved for Lutheran Social Services Green Home project.

And the Planning Commission continued discussions on the Local Preservation Ordinance with plans to schedule a special meeting specifically to discuss LPO language and details.

Jamestown City Council

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the original plan was to build a new Central Garage on Crescent Street for a cost of $4 million, but costs have since gone up astronomically for a new build. Sundquist said with the purchase of the Hartley Buick property, the city can do an adaptive reuse renovation of the garage on that site to accommodate some of the larger city vehicles like fire engines.

He added the construction costs for the project of $1.7 million combined with the $400,000 property acquisition costs actually save the City $1.9 million over the original cost estimates, even with parcels coming off the tax rolls, “On average, that entire parcel has an annual tax revenue of about $18,000. When our Comptroller Ryan Thompson ran through the numbers, looked at the total amount of the additional bond, plus the construction costs, we are looking at with this savings a break even of about 122 years to make up for that savings just in the annual tax revenue lost.”

New York State has committed a $1 million grant toward the project.

Department of Public Works Director Jeff Lehman says the current garage is out of room with vehicles even parked outside, “It’s just really not a good situation. And also, it affects the DPW itself because we have equipment parked outside so part of this allows us to get stuff back inside, let the Fleet Management Department, hopefully by the first of the year, be up and running at that site once we get the addition put onto the building.”

Lehman says with the new Central Garage, DPW won’t have to lease additional space for vehicles and be able to bring everything back onto one campus.

Council also approved new fire reporting software at a cost of $154,675. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said the software will bring the Fire Department up to date in large way, “A lot of reporting for the Fire Department is still done on paper by hand. Not only will the software increase our efficiency when it comes to fire reporting, it’ll help us maintain compliance with the National Fire Incident Reporting System. It also has the added benefit of being fully integrated with the County’s E-911 Center.”

Coon said this means information about pre-plans and hydrant information will be integrated into the system for when crews respond to incidents or have to write reports.