On Monday night the City Council acted on more than two dozen mayoral appointments to various boards and agencies, including the BPU. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said that keeping with tradition, he wanted to appoint the new council president to the BPU.

“I have two council members that I need to appoint [every two years] in accordance with the city charter… and I’ve had a long-standing tradition of appointing the council president to the board,” Teresi said. “I just feel it is important to have the council president being one of the two council members to serve on the board because of all the coordination that happens between the city council and the BPU.”

Carrabba will take over the seat occupied by former city council president Greg Rabb, who did not win reelection last November. However, Rabb will remain active on the BPU and was appointed by Teresi to serve a four-year term.

Teresi said it was important for him to keep Rabb in the fold, given his years of experience.

“Greg was a good fit. Obviously he knows the lay of the land. We are dealing with a variety of issues right now that are in mid-stream and I think that continuity as well as the cohesion on that board is important,” Teresi said. “I thought that keeping that board in tact was important.”

Teresi said among the items the BPU is currently focused on is the annexation effort of the Dow St. Substation property from the village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott, an effort to purchase a natural gas pipeline that feeds into the BPU Generating Station, the proposed sale of the city Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC), and an effort to request the state Public Service Commission to allow for the increase of electric rates in the next two or three years.

Rabb will take over the seat that was help previously by BPU member Martha Zenns (a term of four years). Zenns meanwhile was reappointed to a two-year term to fill the seat previously occupied by Tyler Case, who was not reappointed to a new term. Instead, Case was appointed to the JLDC board.

Also being reappointed to the BPU was councilwoman Maria Jones (D-Ward 4), along with community representatives Ralph Wallace and Chuck Cornell.

A highlight of the meeting will be the appointment of a new council president. The new president will replace former council president Greg Rabb, who did not win reelection last November.

With Democrats on the council holding a slight 5 to 4 majority, council members will likely select another Democrat to serve as the new president.  Among the Democrats who could be selected are councilwoman Marie Carrubba (ward 4), councilwoman Maria Jones (ward 5), councilwoman Vicki James (ward 3), councilman Tom Nelson (ward 6), or councilwoman Vanessa Weinert (at large) – who is the newest member of the group following her election win in the November.

Meanwhile, the longest serving council members are in the group of four Republicans and could also be in the mix for appointment to lead the council. They are councilman Tony Dolce (ward 2) – who also chairs the city’s finance committee, along with councilwoman Kim Ecklund (at large).  The other two republicans to round out the list of council members are Brent Sheldon (ward 1) and Andrew Liuzzo (at large) – who also won election in November and is beginning his first term on the council.

Council to Review and Act on Mayoral Appointments

In addition to appointing a new president, the council will also review and act on a series of appointments to several city agency boards and positions brought forward by Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi. Among those appointments are membership to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities – where five out of the nine seats will be up for appointment.

Rabb was one of the two city council members appointed to the BPU, but because he lost his bid for reelection last year, his seat will be vacated and will have to filled by another council member.

The four other BPU members whose term expires at the end of 2017 and would have to be reappointed or replaced Monday night are:

• BPU Chairman Chuck Cornell (appointed to BPU to fill a vacated seat in June 2014);
• City Councilwoman Maria Jones;
• Ralph Wallace (appointed to BPU in January 2016);
• and Martha Zenns (appointed to BPU in January 2014).

The city website has not posted any of the appointments that will be acted on during Monday’s meeting, so it’s not publicly known who any of Teresi’s nominations are for any of the agencies or positions that have seats up for appointment, including the BPU. However, the mayor has indicated to WRFA that it’s likely all four of those individuals currently on the BPU will be reappointed to new terms during the meeting.

Besides appointing a new council president and approving appointments from the mayor, the council members will also take their oath of office and will assign committee chairs for the new term.

Monday’s meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the city council chambers and is open to the public.

The BPU is comprised of four city officials along with five citizen members.  The city officials who serve on the BPU are the mayor (currently Sam Teresi), by virtue of office, who is also the President of the Board; the Director of Public Works (currently Jeff Lehman); two city council representatives (currently Greg Rabb and Maria Jones); and five community members, each appointed by the Mayor for terms that vary in length.

At least one new member will be added to the BPU at the start of the new year.  That’s because Rabb wasn’t reelected to a new term on the city council, meaning a new council member will have to be appointed by the mayor to replace him.

The four other BPU members whose term expires at the end of this year and would have to be reappointed or replaced on Jan. 1, 2018 are:

• BPU Chairman Chuck Cornell (appointed to BPU to fill a vacated seat in June 2014);
• City Councilwoman Maria Jones (who was reelected to the council on Election Day);
• Ralph Wallace (appointed to BPU in January 2016)
• Martha Zenns (appointed to BPU in January 2014)

The two other BPU members are community representatives Tyler Case and Terrance Horner, who were both appointed in January 2016 and whose terms both expire on Dec. 31, 2019.

The mayor is expected to announce his appointments and reappointments to the BPU during city council’s first meeting of the new year, which is tentatively set for Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.  The appointments would also have to be approved by a majority of the city council.

The meeting will be the first for the three new members of the BPU, who were appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi and approved by the Jamestown City Council at the start of the year to replace three previous members. The three new members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace who are replacing John Zabrodsky, Wayne Rishell and Carl Pilliterri, after Teresi made the controversial decision not to reappoint the three long-time board members.  Zabrodsky, Rishell, and Pilliterri were each opposed to Teresi’s proposal in recent years to use BPU profits as a revenue stream to balance the city’s annual operating budget.

Because Zabrodsky had served as the chair of the BPU, there will also be a new board chairman for the first time in several years. An article in Monday’s Jamestown Post-Journal says the new chair will likely be Chuck Cornell or Martha Zenns, who are the two other community representatives who serve on the board and who were both appointed in 2014.

Monday’s board meeting begins at 4 p.m. at the BPU administrative offices and is open to the public.

During the city council’s New Year’s Day inaugural meeting on Friday, all nine members of the city council were sworn in to a new, two-year term in office, with just one new member joining the fold. Ward III Democrat Victoria James will be the only new member of the city council, replacing Republican Alphonso Pagan, whom she defeated in the November Election.

Also during Friday’s meeting the council approved several appointments by Teresi, including three new members for the BPU.

The newest BPU members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace. They are replacing: John Zabrodsky, appointed by Teresi in January 2000 and serving as BPU chairman from January 2002 to December 2015; Wayne Rishell, appointed by Teresi in January 2002; and Carl Pillittieri, appointed by Teresi April 2004.

The appointments came with no discussion or comment and were included in a laundry list of mayoral appointees for various agencies, commissions and boards involved with city government.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi

“After consulting with members of the city council, colleagues on BPU and senior management staff, and advisors in the community, I decided to bring in [the three new members],” Teresi told reporters on Friday following the meeting. “They come from three different disciplines and backgrounds in the community and share mine and the council’s love for the city and commitment to building the entire city of Jamestown. Each showed a great deal of interest in joining the city government family on the BPU and I’m very happy to have them join us.”

The three new members will replace three individuals who bring a combined 42 years of board experience to the BPU. Perhaps even more noteworthy, the three outgoing members have been outspoken critics of the city government’s use of BPU profits – by way of dividend payments – to help balance its annual budget each year since 2014. That dividend sharing was first used by the city decades ago, but eventually went out of favor with city leaders. However, the dividend sharing was re-introduced by Teresi in an effort to close spending gaps in the city budget the past three years.

Despite the difference of opinion on how to best use BPU profits and the ensuing (and at times contentious) debates that took place, the mayor would not say that was the reason for not reappointing the three to another term.

“I’m not going to make this about what has happened in the past,” Teresi said. “New Year’s Day is a day about looking forward and that’s exactly what we’re doing here – celebrating and thanking the contributions of those board members that I had the opportunity, the pleasure and the honor of originally appointing. They’ve been good board members that have served the public utilities of this city well, and this city as a whole well. We thank them and honor them for their service through a difficult and diverse period of challenge and accomplishments for [the BPU].”

Chase is a city resident who currently serves as Human Resources Administrator at The Resource Center, where he’s been employed since 2003. This past November he also ran as a Democratic candidate for city council in Ward 1, losing to Republican incumbent Brent Sheldon. He’s also active in several community groups and organizations.

Horner is a retired Biomedical Technician who worked at WCA hospital in Jamestown for 30 years before retiring in 2013. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran and is involved in several community and regional organizations.

Wallace serves as the Operations Manager for Jamestown Metal Products, a position he’s held for the past 15 years. He’s also worked in management for several other manufacturers including CAE Ultrasonics, Jamestown Sterling Corporation, and Visu-Wall Storage Systems.

Teresi said he believes the diverse backgrounds of the three new members will serve the BPU well, ensuring representation from all aspects of the city and also bringing new energy and ideas into the fold.

“This is not about the three members that gave 16, 14, and 12 years of dedicated, good service to the community. It’s a matter of moving forth and refreshing and replenishing,” Teresi said. “It’s not the first time there have been new members brought onto the BPU and it certainly won’t be the last time.”

The six other members of the BPU, in order of seniority, are: Jeff Lehman, serving by way of position as DPW director since 1994; Teresi, serving by way of position as mayor since 2000; Greg Rabb, serving by way of position as city council president since 2008; Maria Jones, serving as city council liaison since 2013; Martha Zenns, appointed by Teresi in January 2014; and Charles “Chuck” Cornell, appointed by Teresi in July 2014.

Members of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities listens to Chautauqua Co. Chamber of Commerce President Todd Tranum during the Nov. 23 board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The projected property tax increase in the city of Jamestown’s 2016 budget now sits at 4.06 percent. The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities on Monday approved giving the city a $482,000 dividend payment for next year following a 6-2 vote.

The $482,000 payment is $232,000 more than what Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi had proposed in his initial 2016 budget. That’s because the Jamestown City Council, during closed-door budget deliberations last week that were not open to the public, came to a unanimous decision to request $482,000 – the same amount the BPU gave the city for the current fiscal year.

City Council president Greg Rabb said the additional $232,000 will bring down the projected tax hike by 1.5 percent.

“[The $482,000] is almost double what the mayor requested, so it does have an effect on the budget. I think the the tax increase – whatever it might work out to be next week – might be much worse if we didn’t have the additional funding. So it does help a lot,” said Rabb, who also sits on the BPU.

The BPU spent more than 90 minutes discussing the dividend payment before acting on it, with board chairman John Zabrodsky, board member Carl Pillittieri, and general manager David Leathers saying the don’t support the payment because it would deplete the BPU reserves in either the electric or water divisions. If taken from the water division, it would create a rate increase higher than the 2.3 percent already being projected. If taken from the electric division, it could compromise a future 2.5 percent electric rate increase currently being considered by the state Public Service Commission (PSC).

The BPU was going to act on finalizing and approving its 2016 electric and water division budgets but held off following a request by Teresi, who wants to first find out if there could be any further cost saving measures in the water division budget before it is finalized. The issue of whether or not taking money from the electric division would impact the PSC rate case is something he also felt should be investigated further.

Rabb agrees it wouldn’t hurt to hold off on approving the two division budgets.

“There was much discussion about how we were going to handle this and I believe we tentatively committed to Dec. 7 as an additional board meeting for the BPU so that we could deal with the electric and water divisions, with the mayor making the point that now that we’ve agreed to the $482,000, can we go back and take a look at the budgets and make sure there isn’t something else we can ring out of the budget so we don’t have to talk about a rate increase.”

Both Zabrodsky and Pillittieri voted against giving the city the $482,000 dividend payment. BPU members voting in favor of the resolution included Teresi and Rabb, along with Chuck Cornell, Maria Jones, Jeff Lehman, and Martha Zenns.  Board member Wayne Rishell was absent.

CHAMBER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DIVIDEND PAYMENT

Chamber president Todd Tranum.

Prior to discussing the dividend payment, several members of the public addressed the BPU, including Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association president Todd Tranum. Tranum criticized the board for approving dividend payments in past years, saying it’s the reason why the BPU electric division had to file for the rate increase request with the PSC.

“Based on our reserach and looking at the numbers, the current rate increase submitted by the BPU is absolutely unnecessary,” Tranum said. “It is an indirect tax driven by the city of Jamestown, taking money from this utility.”

Tranum also told officials that if they continue to profit share with the city, it would continue to force the BPU to increase its rates, causing it to lose its edge as an affordable utility provider to both residents and businesses not only in Jamestown, but the entire service area including the communities outside of the city.

Tranum also pointed out that the BPU already pays $3.5 million a year in the form of tax equivalent payments, adding that the dividend payments are excessive.

According to an article in the Jamestown Post-Journal, seven of the 12 members of the Joint Task Force on Efficiency and Cost Reduction were in attendance for the meeting. The task force was set up by Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi late last year to discuss various cost cutting measures for city government and the Board of Public Utilities.

Among the items to discuss is BPU profit sharing, which has become a contentious item in recent years with the city budgeting additional money from the BPU’s electric and water divisions to help pay for the cost of running the city. Teresi has said that since the city owns the BPU, it has the right to use some of the profits in the BPU budget – which some members of the BPU have said that all profits should be reinvested in the utilities to help stabilize rates.

The task force is chaired by Jamestown city councilman Tony Dolce – who also serves as the chair of the city council’s finance committee. It also consists of other city council members, department heads and officials from the BPU.

According to the article in the Post-Journal, Wednesday’s task force meeting was attended by Dolce along with city council president Greg Rabb, city controller Joe Bellitto, city clerk Jim Olson, city DPW director Jeff Lehman and BPU members Chuck Cornell and Wayne Rishell. Those not attending included city councilwoman Kim Ecklund, city attorney Marilyn Fiore-Lehman, BPU board chairman John Zabrodsky, BPU general manager David Leathers and BPU business manager Mike Anderson.

The Post-Journal says Wednesday’s meeting involved the task force reviewing several cost savings ideas that have been put forward by officials with the BPU, which include consolidating the city DPW into the BPU as well as whether or not city government should oversee the operations of Diethrick Park. Those ideas will be revisited during the next meeting, which is set to take place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28 and is open to the public.

Beth Kresge

The Chautauqua County Legislature once again has 19 members after lawmakers approved the appointment of a Jamestown democrat during Wednesday night’s meeting.

Jamestown’s Beth Kresge of Lakeview Ave. was added to the panel by a unanimous vote of the other 18 members. The vote was a stark contrast to last month, when the legislature voted 10 to 7 against the appointment of Jamestown’s Chuck Cornell to the legislature.

Kresge will take over the District 12 seat that was vacated by Fred Larson in April, after he was appointed to serve as Jamestown’s second full time city judge. The stay-at-home mom previously worked at Keywell corporation in Frewsburg prior to it closing its doors and who’s also worked for both Congressmen Jack Quinn and Amo Houghton. She will remain on the legislature until at least November, when a special election will take place for the District 12 seat.

During Wednesday’s legislature meeting, County lawmakers also approved a new, five-year contract with for the sheriff’s department’s supervisors union. According to media reports, lawmakers voted 16-to-3 in favor of the agreement. It includes no retroactive wage increase for 2012, but does include staggered increases for each year after up through 2016.

During Wednesday’s scheduled legislature meeting, a local law amending the county charter is on the agenda. The amendment deals with how a new legislator would be appointed to a vacant seat.

Under current law, any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the same political party as the person who vacated the office and shall be nominated by the district committee of said party. That nomination would then be approved or denied by the full legislature.

The proposed amendment would instead have the political party of the district committee appoint the replacement without the need for full legislature approval. As with the current law, the seat would be filled by the appointment until the next general election.

The amendment is in response to last month’s meeting, when Jamestown Democrat Chuck Cornell was unanimously nominated by members of the local Democratic committee to fill the seat vacated by recently appointed city court judge Fred Larson. However, that nomination was defeated 10 to 7 by the full legislature. As a result, Cornell was not added to the legislature and the District 12 seat has remained vacant.

KRESGE LIKELY REPLACEMENT FOR DISTRICT 12 SEAT

Fred Larson’s replacement on the legislator could be determined tonight. Jamestown Democrat Beth Kresge of Lakeview Avenue has been nominated by the local democratic committee to fill vacant District 12 seat. The seat has been vacant since April, when Larson was appointed to become the second Jamestown City Court Judge.

According to a report in the Jamestown Post-Journal, Kresge has never served in public office, but has served as a liaison for former Congressman Jack Quinn and also worked for former Congressman Amo Houghton.

The County Legislature will hold its regular meeting Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the legislative chambers of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville. It is open to the public.

Chuck Cornell

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi has named his appointment to fill a recently vacated seat on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

Jamestown resident Chuck Cornell will fill the BPU seat recently vacated by recently appointed city court judge Fred Larson. His appointment was confirmed by the city council during its monthly voting session on Monday night.

Last month Cornell was nominated by the county Democratic Committee to fill Larson’s District 12 seat on County Legislature, but that nomination was defeated in the legislature by a 7-10 vote.