Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and City Council President Tony Dolce at City Council’s Work Session on August 22, 2022

The City of Jamestown is developing an application process for non-profits who want to request American Rescue Plan funds.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said his administration and City Council have received a lot of requests, most in the form of presentations, requesting allocations of ARPA funds for organizations that are non-profits.

Organizations that have presented to Council in recent months asking for fund include the Jamestown YMCA, the Jamestown Public Market, the ZONE at the Northwest Arena, and the Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation.

City Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the application was developed based on discussions with the Mayor and Council President Tony Dolce and the form is based on business grant applications the city has, “We suggested that $1.5 million be allocated to the program. Grants not exceed $200,000. However, anything that might receive consideration for over $200,000 would be subject to a PILOT agreement with the city. Details to be determined, finalized based on discussion we might have.”
Surdyk said organizations would still need to provide information proving hardship and how the funding would address their organization’s recovery from the pandemic.

Sundquist said recognizing that non-profits do not pay taxes, the draft does include a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes for organizations receiving over $200,000 “Which would mean you’d pay, the organization would pay, a percentage of what their tax burden would be as a not-for-profit. So we initially had some discussion about 2.5% of what your tax bill would normally have been as a not-for-profit.”
Sundquist said non-profits would then have some “skin in the game.”

Councilmember Marie Carrubba requested that organizations who received PPE loans be put in a lower category for approval of funds. Surdyk agreed and that the suggestion made sense.

Sundquist and Surdyk both requested City Council provide additional input on the application so that it can move forward.

Chautauqua County Land Bank Executive Director Gina Paradis presents to Jamestown City Council (August 22, 2022)

The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation is requesting $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Jamestown.

Land Bank Executive Director Gina Paradis presented her request to Jamestown City Council on Monday. She said the organization’s main mission is to fight issues of housing blight in the County, spending 65% of her time in the City of Jamestown.

Paradis said housing is a very expensive thing to intervene in and that the Land Bank tries to be very strategic about its acquisitions, “Things about our dispositions, our programming, and make sure we’re leveraging not only what the municipalities are spending on housing issues but also what other non-profits are doing. We really try to ensure that we’re collaborating and coordinating our efforts with both the public and the private sector.”

Paradis said over $11 million has been invested in the City of Jamestown in the last ten years, “This comes in the form of our Sales-4-Rehab program, the number of assessed value we put back on the tax rolls is around $2.5 million in assessed value from our rehab program and about $5.9 million in private reinvestment.”

She added that $2.7 million has been put into the demolition of 100 homes in Jamestown in the last ten years as well.

She said those who purchase a house from the Land Bank have to commit to a renovation plan and budget as part of the sales contract. She said the Land Bank can take a house back if the owner doesn’t meet the terms of the agreement.

Paradis said the request of $1 million in ARPA funds would cover 4-years of programming including the expansion of the Hands On program, First Time Homebuyer Incentives and Rebates, Demolition and a Land Bank Information Management Platform. She said the funds, if approved by the city, would help her leverage additional funds from New York State.

City of Jamestown 2022 Second Quarter Sales Tax Receipt Data

Sales tax receipts for the City of Jamestown saw a decrease for the second quarter as compared to 2021.

According to the Second Quarter Sales tax report prepared by City Comptroller John Sellstrom, the sales tax payment for second quarter is 5.5% lower than the 2021 second quarter payments. The city received $2,042,824, which is $118,884 less than last year.

However, the 2022 second quarter receipts are 38.8% above 2020.

The City has collected 47.6% of its 2022 adopted sales tax budget, which totals $8,131,477. This compares to 56.8% at the same time last year.

The third quarter 2022 payment will be received in October.

Jamestown City Council is expected to hear the full report on sales tax at its work session tonight.

Also at the work session, the Finance Committee is expected to continue discussion on increasing funding to several housing and business programs that are funded using American Rescue Plan monies.

And Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation Executive Director Gina Paradis will give a presentation at the full work session.

The Housing Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. with other committees meeting at 7:00 p.m. The full work session will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the fourth floor police training room of city hall. That meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

JAMESTOWN – A downtown building that saw a partial collapse last month leading to an emergency demolition will be completely raised on Friday, Nov. 4.

Jamestown Public Works Director Jeff Lehman says the building at 10-12 E. Second Street is scheduled for demolition today and as a result, the Contractor will restrict traffic. He adds that at times, workers from H.H. Raugh Construction may need to close the portion of E. Second Street between N. Main Street and Pine Street.

Motorists will experience delays when traveling through the project area and may wish to use alternate routes of travel.

Cost of the demolition is being covered by funding from the New York State Attorney General’s Office that was secured by the Chautauqua County Land Bank.

City officials discuss how to proceed with the demo of a building at 10-12 E. Second St. in Jamestown following a roof collapse on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. The building has since undergone emergency demolition, with the controlled demolition expected to be completed by mid November.

JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown has received a major break when it comes to paying for the demolition of an abandoned downtown building that suffered a partial collapse last week.

On Thursday the building at 10-12 East Second Street suffered a partially collapse roof. The cause of the collapse was because the building had sat vacant without upkeep for more than 10 years.

Because of safety concerns city officials made the decision to totally demolition of the structure, which is owned Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation & Improvement Corporation (CHRIC).

The cost of the full demolition, clean up and abatement is expected to run between $150,000 and $200,000. That created a concern for city officials, because the city would have had to pay for the cost upfront and then worked to recoup that money.

However, city development director Vince DeJoy says that CHRIC was able to transfer the property over to the Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation.

“What that means is it is now eligible to use Office of Attorney General funds from the land bank to demolish the property, so the cost burden isn’t put on the shoulders of the city of Jamestown,” DeJoy said.

DeJoy said the emergency demolition has now been completed and the city is now awaiting necessary permits to be filed and approved to move forward with the controlled demolition. He said that process will take about ten days.

“From there, the rest of the building will be demolished. The rubble pile will be cleaned up and sent to the Chautauqua County Landfill, where we’ll be using municipal landfill credits,” DeJoy said. “From there we’re going to come up with the next phase, which is basically making the site safe and not looking like a terrible ‘missing tooth’ in a hole in our downtown core.”

At 7 p.m. the Jamestown Neighborhood Alliance (JNA) will host a discussion by Mark Geise, land bank Executive Director, and Gina Paradis, land bank Administrative Director, concerning the many ways the organization is fighting blight in the community.

“Chautauqua County Land Banking 101,” will outline the Land Bank’s history and mission.

The presentation will be held on at 7 p.m. The Lillian Ney Renaissance Center is located on Third Street at the corner with Washington St. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman was joined by housing advocates and local lawmakers at the Jackson Center to unveil a new, three-year report detailing the results of his office’s recent efforts to prevent foreclosures, keep families in their homes, and rebuild communities hit hardest by the housing crash.

According to Schneiderman, the three programs outlined in the report—the Homeowner Protection Program, New York State Mortgage Assistance Program, and AGScamHelp.com—have helped tens of thousands of New York families, including nearly 7,000 homeowners in Western New York and the Southern Tier, avoid foreclosure.

The programs are funded by more than $100 million from the settlements that Attorney General Schneiderman negotiated with the nation’s largest banks following the collapse of the housing market.

Schneiderman chose Jamestown to release his report because the area is served by the Chautauqua County Land Bank, which has received a total of $2.8 million in funding from the his office, which has been used to demolish between 40-50 highly distressed properties, as well as preserve and resell 40-50 vacant “side lots” that will be converted to open space and transferred to responsible owners who will put the lots back on the tax rolls.

Complete details of the report can be found online at the Attorney General’s website.

WRFA Public Affairs Director Jason Sample talks with County Land Bank executive director Mark Geise and Administrative Director Gina Paradis, who provide details on the county land bank – including why it was established and what service it provides to the community.

Fred Larson

JAMESTOWN –  Long-time local attorney Fred Larson will become the second city judge of Jamestown.

Mayor Sam Teresi announced Larson as his selection during Monday’s Jamestown City Council voting session, saying that considering there were a number of qualified candidates for the position, it was very difficult decision for him to make. However, he said that given Larson’s experience and record as a long-time local attorney, he felt that Larson was the best qualified candidate for the job.

• READ MAYOR’S APPOINTMENT LETTER

The City Council Monday night approved the appointment of Larson by a vote of 8 to 1, with councilman Brent Sheldon voting against appointment, saying he felt the judge should be selected via local election, not through mayoral appointment. However, following the meeting Teresi explained that under guidelines of the legislation establishing the position, it was intended to be filled via appointment and not through election. He also said that it was imperative the city act as quickly as possible to fill the seat and get a second judge on the bench, adding that any challenge to the appointment process would only create a further backlog of cases.

Larson currently sits on Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, the Chautauqua County Legislature, the County Airport Commission and the County Land Bank Corporation.He will have to step down from those positions prior to taking the bench. In the past he’s also served as Jamestown City Councilman, County Attorney and member of the Southern Tier West Railroad Authority.

Larson – who will turn 63 in November of this year – is a Jamestown native and a law graduate of Yale University. He received his undergraduate degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University. He’s practiced law in the Jamestown area since 1977. He joins judge John LaMancuson as the city’s second judge. His term will last 10 years and will expire in 2024.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan Delivers the 2014 State of the County Address on Wednesday, March 26, as members of the county legislature look on.

MAYILLE – Chautauqua County is “ready for growth.”

That was the message delivered last night by County Executive Vince Horrigan during his first state of the county address to the Chautauqua County Legislature.

Horrigan spent nearly 30 minutes delivering his state of the county, highlighting both the positive news and the challenges that have cropped up during the past year. Among the highlights was the effort by local, state and federal officials to save the NRG plant in Dunkirk.

“We are now well on our way to the successful repowering of NRG in the city of Dunkirk, to provide a reliable source of clean gas energy and a stable tax base in Dunkirk and in our schools,” Horrigan said, adding, “And this is the result of a coalition – a coalition of people in government, in the private sector, and in labor… to be able to bring us together.”

Horrigan also pointed to the start up of the County Land Bank Corporation, which is helping to remove blighted property from several communities and bring that property back in the tax roll. And he announced that it was a strong year for tourism, with the county’s bed tax receipts seeing a $400,000 increase in 2013, compared to the previous year.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan.

As for challenges, Horrigan pointed to the recent news that ConAgra would be leaving the north county within the year and taking more than 400 jobs with it. He also pointed to the challenges with the county’s aging infrastructure and finding a new air carrier for the county airport. And Horrigan highlighted mandates in the county budget the local government has no control over, saying that 90 percent of the budget come by way of unfunded mandates from Albany.

In addition, Horrigan said the county’s low sales tax rate has made it difficult for the county to bring in additional revenue. “Ninety percent of the counties in New York State have a sales tax rate of 8 percent or more. Only six out of 62 have a sales tax rate of under 8 percent, and Chautauqua County is one them – the only county in Western New York.”

Besides pointing out the highlights and challenges of the past year, Horrigan also looked to the rest of this year, announcing a new initiative he’s calling Operation Jump Start.

“You’ve heard the good news and you’ve heard the reality. So what is the current state of our county? I call it ‘Ready for Growth.’ We must grow Chautauqua County by working together and we’ll do that by what I’m calling Operation Jump Start,” Horrigan said.

Horrigan says Operation Jump-Start will focus on five key issues: Collaboration; Workforce Development; job retention; job expansion and growing tourism. He said that when it comes to collaboration, partnership between public and private sectors is going to be essential.

“Privatization and public-private opportunities must be exploited to reduce the cost of government,” Horrigan said. “Privatization is the only way to cut down government taxation while still provided services through the public sector, where possible. The key to property tax relief is growth in our tax base. we need to welcome more taxpayers, not impose higher taxes.”

In order to succeed with his plan of action, Horrigan said he was modeling Operation Jump-Start after a similar plan used in Oswego County.

A full copy of the state of the county is available on the county website. WRFA will also provide the address, in its entirety, during this week’s Community Matters program (6 p.m. Thursday, Noon Sunday).