Jamestown Local Development Corporation meeting (April 19, 2023)

Over a half million dollars in American Rescue Plan funded grants have been approved for eight Jamestown businesses.

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation awarded $500,000 in Machinery and Equipment Upgrades funds as well as $50,000 in New Business Development funds at its monthly meeting.

Ballgame Heroes and Pearl City Cycle will each receive $25,000 under the New Business Development grant fund.

Jamestown Businesses Receiving ARP New Business Development Grant Funds

Department of Development Grant Manager Tim O’Dell said Pearl City Cycle is opening a retail store at 245 Fluvanna Avenue and will use the funds for store signage as well as painting the interior and exterior. He said Ballgame Heroes will use the funds for updating security systems, new displays inside, as well as for store programming and events.

The five businesses receiving $92,000 each in Machinery and Equipment Upgrade grant funds include:
– Colecraft Commercial Furnishings toward a $361,792 total project
– Dawson Metal Company toward a $134,900 total project
– El Greco Woodworking, Inc. toward a $143,952 total project
– International Ordnance Technologies toward a $226,600 total project
– National Wire & Metal Tech Inc. toward a $320,000 total project

Crown Street Roasting was awarded $37,500 for a $50,000 project

Jamestown Businesses Receiving ARP Machinery & Equipment Upgrades Grant Funds

O’Dell said 29 full time and three part time jobs are to be created and 163 full time and five part job positions retained through the funding.

The Machinery and Equipment Upgrades grant has a 25% match requirement for the businesses as well as job creation benchmarks that must be met or funds could be clawed back.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the department reached out to 18 businesses about applying for the Machinery and Equipment Upgrades grant. Included in that list was Jamestown Skate Products, which is owned by JLDC Board member Pete Scheira. Scheira did not submit an application for funding.

Jamestown Businesses Contacted About ARP Machinery and Equipment Upgrades Grant

Surdyk said, when asked why these specific businesses were contacted, said they were businesses that had made past inquiries and expressed interest in grant opportunities.

JLDC Board member and City Council member Kim Ecklund expressed concern that when the grant applications were being accepted in January, businesses had already developed their budgets for the year and might not have had the 25% capital match budgeted that’s required. She added she’d still like to see more and different businesses participate in the grant programs.

While the discussion and decision regarding the ARPA grants awarded to Jamestown Skate Products and It’s Your Day was removed from the agenda, JLDC Attorney and City Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo did share that the city was still waiting to hear back from the U.S. Treasury Department, “I spoke to the Congressional representative today on that issue. The Treasury Department has, for lack of a better term, bounced him from person to person to person. So, we’re still waiting on what is the status of state and local fiscal recovery fund guidance, specifically what they mean by violations of ethical rules.”

WRFA has reviewed the federal guidelines for the $28 million in ARPA funding awarded to the city in 2021 and did identify a provision that states “Recipients may not use [the money] in violation of the conflict-of-interest requirements contained in the Award Terms and Conditions, including any self-dealing or violation of ethics rules.”

We also have reached out to the Treasury Department office for clarification to see if any of the grants in question violated the “self dealing” provision found in those guidelines, but have yet to receive a response.

The JLDC also approved $5,100 in Downtown Programming funds for the Juneteenth Festival to hold a free concert event on the Wintergarden Plaza on Friday, June 16 as well as concert at Spire Theatre on Saturday, June 17. These concert events will be in addition to traditional festivities held in Jackson-Taylor Park in celebration of Juneteenth.

Future Crown Street Roasting owners Mikayla Certo, Nick Certo with current owners Michael Bigney, Sarah Bigney (January 9, 2023)

New owners will soon be taking over Crown Street Roasting in downtown Jamestown.

After six years of ownership, Michael and Sarah Bigney are selling the business to Nick and Mikayla Certo.

Sarah Bigney said they are moving to Florida because they felt ready for something else, “Definitely some sunshine and warm weather. And we have Nick, who has been working with us for four and half or five and half of the years we’ve been in business. And he was interested in owning it and doing more, so just the perfect opportunity came up, and to be able to raise him up to take it on. He and his wife are super excited and invested in what happens in downtown Jamestown, so it’s a win win all around.”

Nick Certo said he has no changes planned for the menu or the coffee, “I’ve been learning the roasting now for the last several months. Michael has taught me everything from the beginning from where we get the beans and just the whole process to the point now when it’s time to roast, I’ve been roasting everything for a while.”

The Bigney’s will be transitioning the ownership over to the Certo’s sometime in the next week or so.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown city officials spent a great deal of time Monday night responding to a series of complaints about downtown noise and entertainment raised by a city resident during the past few months.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, City Attorney Peter Larson, and Zach Agett from the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC) spent 40+ minutes during the Jamestown City Council’s work session responding to a series of recent complaints and allegations of code violations brought forward by downtown resident Gary Templin.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi discusses recent complaints from a downtown resident regarding outdoor music events during the city council’s June 3 work session.

Since February, Templin has attended several city council public safety committee meetings to voice his displeasure about outdoor events that feature amplified music, saying they are in violation of city code. He’s also said the city’s special event permit process that allows for outdoor events is in violation of the city zoning law.

The most recent complaints brought forward by Templin included an 11-page letter to the public safety committee in May, in which he not only lays out his charges of code violations by the city, but also is heavily critical of city officials – past and present – along with the JRC. The letter also tried to connect downtown events to a decline in downtown business, claiming they’ve resulted in more businesses leaving downtown because of the street closures that are required for some of them.

Teresi said several of the items listed in that letter were flat out wrong and incorrect, including the claim that events are driving businesses and development away from the downtown area.

“What killed retail in downtown Jamestown? Was it the advent of suburbs? Shopping malls? Big box stores in a no-growth economy? Was it the advent of Internet shopping? Or was it a few public events a year in which a street might have been closed down for a matter of a few hours?” Teresi asked rhetorically.

Teresi also pointed to over $250 million in private and public investment in downtown development during the past 15 years, saying it illustrates that there is a renewed interested in the downtown and recent years and part of that relates to the activities and entertainment that it provides.

“It’s being driven, not by a desire to be out on Walden Pond some place, but the investment in downtown residential is being driven by people wanting to be downtown because of what downtown currently offers and what downtown has the potential to offer,” Teresi said.

Peter Larson discusses his interpretation of city code, as it pertains to entertainment events in downtown Jamestown, during the city council’s June 4 meeting.

Larson also addressed Templin’s alleged code and zoning ordinance violations, saying he disagrees with Templin’s interpretation of the law, though he couldn’t get into to many specifics during the public portion of the meeting because of the possibility of litigation.

“I am of the conclusion that the practices of the council and the public safety committee, as it has been, is within the code,” Larson explained. “I will go into more detail in executive session because i do have to, at this point, consider Mr. Templin a potential litigant to the point that I don’t think the city should discuss potential strategy in open session.”

While the city feels it is on legal ground to continue having downtown events with amplified music moving forward, Teresi acknowledged that it may be time to update the city code as it pertains to downtown entertainment activity to ensure there is no confusion about what can and can not be permitted.

“There’s language that may not be applicable for today, such as ‘amusements.’ That’s a term from the 50s,” Teresi said. “Amusements conjure up an amusement park, circuses, the firemen’s gala days. Not a folk music concert series or a public market that runs for a limited time or ends before everybody is going to bed.”

Currently there is no mention of amplified music or musical entertainment in the city zoning law and instead, the only thing that is mentioned is restriction on where Amusement Enterprises can be located.

Meanwhile, Teresi concluded he feels city officials are doing the right thing to help improve the quality of life for residents and businesses in the community and they will continue to allow downtown entertainment activities to continue in the future.

“We try very hard and in some cases you’re not going to make everybody happy, but if the bulk of the community is in agreement and is benefiting. And the business community is happy, that’s what we can shoot for so just keep doing what we’ve been doing and try to be the best at it,” Teresi said.

Agett was and said that by and large, the downtown businesses his organization has talked to have all said they appreciate downtown entertainment activities, even if some lead to temporary street closures. He shared positive comments from two downtown businesses – both Forte Restaurant and Full Moon Rising Bakery. In addition, representatives from Crown Street Roasting Co. were also in attendance and said there business benefits the downtown events and hope they will continue in the future.

Templin was not in attendance during last night’s meeting.