Mayor Eddie Sundquist delivers remarks to Jamestown City Council (March 20, 2023)

New batteries are on the way for downtown parking meters in Jamestown.

Some of the meters, installed at the end of 2021, stopped automatically charging solar batteries as Fall and Winter months came with less sunlight. City officials said that while the parking meters could still be paid for using a smartphone, the option to pay with coins stopped working, causing frustration for motorists. City officials shared with City Council earlier this month that there had been issues getting new batteries purchased for the meters.

Following that meeting, a Jamestown Post-Journal article featured comments by POM Parking Meters President Seth Ward saying that the city had not reached out to the company for assistance with meters.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist responded to Council at its work session Monday night, saying the city has had communications with the company by phone and email since December 2022 about issues with the meters and batteries, “I will say that we did confirm with our Finance staff that the purchase order did not go through to purchase the batteries, which we did rectify today with the CEO (of POM). But, there were various issues as we found out. A huge miscommunication between the fact that the city deals with an outside vendor, an inside vendor of this company, as well as customer support and a few others that are all part this chain in order these batteries.”

Sundquist said 49 batteries have been purchased and the city is working with POM to figure out what to do about the meters going forward. He said the meters are costing the city now, between the battery purchases, and the monthly $5 fee the city has to pay for each meter whether it’s working or not, “As part of this grant, we had to accept all those things. So going forward, we are looking at and talking to other potential meter companies to see if it’s more feasible to look at whether we are thinking of more like stands as other cities have moved to, away from an individual meter head, or what else is out there, because the technology has changed pretty significantly in the last couple years for parking.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said that given that the company is a state vendor, she wondered if other municipalities were having similar issues and whether the state should be notified.

Sundquist said while he didn’t have a list of the municipalities, he was aware of others that have had issues with the meters.

Council members Jeff Russell and Kim Ecklund both requested the administration share the communications the city had with POM Parking Meters as well as information about the contract.

Council President Tony Dolce, City Comptroller John Sellstrom, and Information Technology Director Mark Dean at budget presentations to City Council (October 24, 2022)

The City of Jamestown is proposing to raise downtown parking meter rates 50-cents an half hour.

City Comptroller John Sellstrom told City Council that the on-street meters rates will go from 25-cents to 50-cents a half hour, for a total of $1 an hour. The parking revenue budgeted for 2023 is $245,000 versus $127,000 for 2022, a 31% increase.

Information Technology Director Mark Dean informed Council that his request for an IT Specialist was not funded in the Executive Budget. He said the $42,634 for the additional position is needed to handle cyber security needs and network hardware-software needs, “There’s a lot of activity, a lot of technical needs in the city hall. And what’s happening here is that many departments are kind of doing their own thing, taking it upon themselves to do IT. And that kind of leaves us out of the loop a little bit. And, so, when we’re asked sometimes about a certain piece of technology, we don’t know anything about it and we probably should have another person to help with that.”

Finance Chair and Council member at Large Kim Ecklund expressed concern over departments doing their own tech work when there are staff assigned to handle that already.

City Council also heard budget presentations from the City Clerk and Treasurer’s office, Corporation Counsel, and Assessor’s Office. Assessor Lisa Volpe did note that a city revaluation had been in her proposed budget for $685,000 but was not funded in the executive budget.

City Council will hear the next set of budget presentations by the Police and Fire Department at 6:30 p.m., Monday, November 7 before its work session that night.

Parking meter showing new Passport Parking app sticker in downtown Jamestown

Motorists have a new way to pay for parking in downtown Jamestown.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the Passport Parking app is now available on all parking meters, “Once you park in a spot, if you pull up the Passport app on your smartphone you’ll just be able to enter your zone or your spot. And you can pay your parking directly from the app. It also allows you to renew your parking too.”

Sundquist said there are still other ways for people to pay for parking, “In many of the meters downtown you can use a credit card. You’ll still be able to do that. You’ll still be able to use coin, but especially if you have a meter that doesn’t accept credit cards, you can use the app. So it really provides all of our users different ways to pay.”

Sundquist added there is a small fee assessed for credit card users, whether it’s used in the meter or used with the app.

The Passport Parking app is free to download from the Apple Store and Google Play.

On Monday night, Sundquist and city comptroller Ryan Thompson went over the details of the nearly $1.8 million bond authorization proposal, which would cover costs associated with upgrades to the Cherry St. and Spring St. parking garages, Security Cameras in all three parking garages, additional downtown Parking Meters, and the installation of a bike sharing program.

Sundquist explained that the city would have to borrow to cover the cost for the projects because they wouldn’t be covered by the nearly $29 million in COVID-19 relief money recently announced for the city.

“As of right now, we have not received guidance from the Treasury Department on what will or will not be reimbursable. We are going by the law, itself. It needs to be related to a water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure project; or an economic development piece related to COVID; or a reimbursed expense for loss revenue to the city. So as of right now, its not specifically authorized under the federal funding,” Sundquist explained.

A breakdown of the cost for proposed projects involving parking and a new bike sharing program for the city of Jamestown, presented to the city council on March 22, 2021.

In 2019, the city council approved borrowing up to $9.4 million for new equipment and infrastructure improvements, with nearly $5.5 of it now borrowed. The majority of the remaining balance is earmarked for a new central garage for the Department of Public facilities, should the city ever move forward with that project.

In the meantime, Thompson and Sundquist both pointed out that with the city only at 36% of its constitutional borrowing limit, and with interest rates extremely low, now is the time to borrow for projects that would improve city parking garages, which are in need of attention.

But city council fiance committee chair Kim Ecklund said she wanted to see more information on the bike sharing program, which would cost $145,000.

“I would like more details. I have no issue, obviously the parking meter stuff needs to be done. The concern I really am running into right now is the bike sharing installs and the liability and all that kind of stuff. I would like to see more details on that,” Ecklund said.

A breakdown of the cost for proposed projects involving parking and a new bike sharing program for the city of Jamestown, presented to the city council on March 22, 2021.

Meanwhile, the council also reviewed the police department’s Police Reform and Reinvention Plan for the final time.

The draft plan was put together by the city police department, with invited input from community members, during the past several months. The plan was mandated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last summer, who said all police agencies in the state would have to access their public safety operations and develop a reform plan utilizing public input. The mandate came after national protests against public safety and law enforcement took place, due to high profile incidents – including the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd while being taken into custody by police.

A copy of the plan is at the city website. It will be voted on by the council next Monday and sent to the state for its review.

Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce talks with WRFA to give an update on some issues and initiatives facing the city and council.

Tony Dolce

The legal notice on the public hearing was posted Tuesday in the Jamestown Post-Journal.  The city charter requires the notice to be published at least seven days prior to the hearing date.

Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the public is not allowed to attend the hearing in person. Instead, any comments on the budget must be provided in writing ahead of time. Comments can be sent to the city clerk at Clerk@Jamestownny.gov and must be submitted by 5 p.m. Sunday.

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Reduction in Overall Spending and Tax Rate

On Oct. 9, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist presented a $34.86 million proposed 2021 spending plan, which  is $1.66 million (4.5%) lower than the current year’s budget. The spending plan contains no layoffs and also proposes a 0.72% reduction in property taxes, resulting in a savings of 17 cents per thousand assessed value.

Adjustments to Retiree Healthcare Plan, Pension Payments Yield Large Savings

A key savings in next year’s budget comes from a proposal by the mayor for the city to unilaterally move eligible retired city employees off of the city healthcare program and over to a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage healthcare plan. The city would pay for the full premium of the members who’ve switched to those plans. Sundquist said the proposal would save the retirees over a $1,000 each year, while also saving the city as much as $1.1 million in healthcare and prescription costs in 2021.  But it remains to be seen if this change can be legally accomplished, as the current retirement health plan was negotiated with collective bargaining groups and the change may require each group’s consent before it can move forward.

“It’s a bit of a grey area,” Sunquist acknowledged during a recent interview with WRFA. “We’re working with our legal counsel to figure out what is involved with it. The difficult thing is that unions can not negotiate for retirees and we as a city can not go to retirees and say we want to bring you all together and renegotiate this. Our requirement is that we have to provide equivalent coverage.”

The proposed spending plan also calls for the amortizing of a portion of next year’s pension costs for all employees, freeing up $368,000 in the budget. That’s something that is being recommended by both the State Comptroller and the city Bond Counsel, due to a sharp increase in projected pension contributions for next year.

Parking Revenue Would Increase if Council Approves Recommended Adjustments to Fees, Fines

Perhaps the most controversial item in the proposed budget is a recommendation by the mayor to increase Downtown Parking rates and parking fines. Sundquist is calling for increases in parking violation rates, on-street rates at parking meters, and also increased rates at parking lots and garages. The mayor is also calling for the elimination of 150 free parking spaces in the core of the downtown.

The total increase in revenue is projected for the three categories is $519,000, $68,000 more than what had been budgeted in 2019 (the final full year before then novel coronavirus pandemic began).  However, City Planner Ellen Shadle said during an October city council meeting that the city is losing as much as $117,400 each year by not charging in the free parking zone, under the current rate of 50 cents an hour. That number jumps to over $230,000 if the city were to increase hourly parking rates to $1. As a result, revenue from the parking adjustments could be significantly higher than the conservative estimates in Sundquist’s budget proposal.

But much of the downtown business community has expressed opposition to the proposal. Some members of the city council also appear reluctant to move forward on at least some of them. In response, Sundquist has proposed a compromise where all on-street downtown parking spaces would offer up to 20 minutes of free parking to motorists in exchange for bumping up rates and also eliminating the free parking zone, but it remains to be seen if the council would approve such a move.

New Positions, No More Library Funding

Other key items of the city budget is the additional of two new positions: a Communications/Grant Writer in the mayor’s office and a citizen’s affairs & Community Engagement Captain in the Jamestown Police Department.

The budget also sees the elimination in $100,000 in aid to the James Prendergast Library, due to the library having its own funding district that was approved by city voters during the June school budget vote.

Budget Deliberations Continue

Even with the public hearing on the budget is set to take place on Monday at 6 p.m., the city council itself has yet to wrap up its own budget hearings with various departments. Following the public hearing, the council will meet at 6:30 p.m. with the city’s Department of Development to review the budget from the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA), which is a contract expense of $429,400 for next year – an increase of $14,400 over the current year’s original budget.  The council will also review the spending for the Fenton Mansion (which is owned by the city and leased to the Fenton History Center) and also the Senior Center.

The departmental budget hearings are also closed from the public attending in person, but will be streamed live on the city website.

A complete copy of the budget is also available on the city website.

In October, Sundquist presented a city budget that called for increases to downtown parking rates. And later in the month, city principal planner Ellen Shadle attended a Jamestown City council work session and went over the details of the plan to eliminate the free downtown parking spots. During her presentation and also later in the month during an interview with WRFA, she said the adjustments would be a benefit for downtown visitors because it would help to free up more parking spaces and making it easier to find a spot, while also diverting more parking into the city’s parking ramps and parking lots, especially for those work or own businesses downtown.

The announcement didn’t go over well with the downtown business community, which has voiced opposition to the proposal because they feel it would serve as a deterrent for customers from coming into the downtown.  Several members of the city council also appear reluctant to move forward the with the changes.

This week, Sundquist presented what he calls a compromise. He said that the city would move forward with installing meters in the downtown free parking zone, but also that all meters in the downtown would also provide 20 minutes of free parking time.

“This is something they recently did in Boise, Idaho and its one of the compromises we proposed to city council,” Sundquist said during an interview on WRFA. “Let’s make every metered parking spot in the city offer a free 20 minutes. So you’ll get whatever you put into the meter, plus an additional 20 minutes. And if you have to just run errands, go to the bank, run somewhere else, you don’t even have to put money in the meter. You’ll get 20 minutes and can go from there.”

Sundquist said the proposal would also include a digital chalking method to be used by parking enforcement, which would allow them to keep track of vehicles that may be parked in a spot longer than 20 minutes.

“It’s easy for us to calculate because we would be moving to digitally chalking cars based on scanning their license plates,” he said.

Sundquist said none of the changes are motivated by an effort to increase city revenue.

Eddie Sundquist

“It’s not about more revenue for the city and it never is for us,” Sunquist said.  “I’ve been very clear to all our employees and department heads that the work we do should be data driven. What are some of the best practices we’re seeing in other communities and other cities? so as part of that, we brought together all of our parking operations – parking enforcement officers, traffic division, and development office. And we asked, ‘How can we reimagine how parking should be in the city. What are other cities doing and what are the best practices?”

Sundquist also noted that while there is also a proposal in his budget to increase parking fines from $10 to $15 for a standard parking violation, he is also calling for an extension in the length of time given to pay for the fine. Currently a violator has 10 days to pay a fine before it is doubled, and if 20 days passes before a fine is paid, it would be tripled. Under the new proposal, the length would be increased.

“We want to provide a $15 fine for parking days, but you will now have 20 days to pay – so you’ll have double the time. So once 20 days hits, it doubles, and once 30 days hits, it triples,” Sundquist said.

he new compromise proposal will now go to the city council for its consideration as part of the 2021 budget proposal.

Jamestown mayor Eddie Sundquist discusses several issues involving the city of Jamestown, including a recap of his 2021 Executive Budget and an updated compromise involving the issue of downtown parking.

Eddie Sundquist

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown Principal Planner Ellen Shadle to discuss downtown parking in the city, including a proposal to remove 150 free parking spots in the city’s downtown Free Parking Zone, and replace them with metered parking spots.

Newly hired city planner Ellen Shadle gave a presentation on downtown parking to the city council, explaining the city is missing out on revenue due to the free parking.  Shadle said that the city loses revenue by not having meters in the current Downtown Free Parking Zone and is also resulting in an under-utilization of the city’s public parking garages and lots.

According to Shadle, the city is losing as much as $117,400 each year by not charging in the free parking zone, under the current rate of 50 cents an hour. That number jumps to over $230,000 if the city were to increase hourly parking rates to $1.

She also told the council that there is no such thing as “Free Parking” because parking spaces can all be attributed to having a cost and value.

“Free parking is never really free. Ultimately, in terms of the cost to own and operate an automobile, we are passing that off to the city or our fellow taxpayers to provide a parking space for the vehicles. So, thank you for paying for my parking spot when I come downtown and park in the free zone. Likewise, I’m also paying for you to park for free as well. So free parking is really never free.”

Shadle also argued that by not charging for the spaces, the city is not getting a fair market return on the actual value of the spaces, pointing to studies out of larger metropolitan areas that put a premium price on parking spaces, stating their real estate value is higher than the actual value of most of the vehicles that park on them. However, there is a difference between the value of on-street parking spaces and the value of multiple parking spaces within a parking lot that can be developed for another purpose. Shadle didn’t clarify if she was referring to the real estate value of an on-street parking space, or of a parking space found within a lot.

City Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt asked Shadle if she had any comparative data or information comparing Jamestown to other cities of similar size and socioeconomic challenges, and she admitted that she had taken a “silo” approach to evaluating Jamestown’s downtown parking situation.

When city council woman Marie Carrubba mentioned that downtown business owners would be opposed to removing the free parking, Shadle countered by saying a city parking enforcement employee claimed business owners are the ones who mostly use the free parking.

“It confuses her that a business owner would express fears that they would lose patronage due to a lack of free parking in front of their business, when the business owner is the one who is parking there,” Shadle said.

A map highlighting the free 2-hour “courtesy” parking spaces in downtown Jamestown.

Prior to Shadle’s presentation, the city clerk read a correspondence from city resident and downtown property owners Peter Miraglia, who voiced some concern about removing the free parking zone from downtown.

“I believe the high rate of utilization in the free zone is partially created because the spaces are surrounded by pay parking, and not necessarily by demand created by businesses in the zone. I believe utilization there will drop significantly if it becomes metered, and that overall visits to downtown will decrease,” Miraglia stated in his letter to the council.

“In the almost 20 years, that I have been actively involved downtown, I have felt that the ‘parking system’ has been downtown’s greatest impediment to growth. When I visit very active and successful downtowns like Saratoga Springs, and Owego, who offer free on and off street parking, I wonder why Jamestown continues to make coming to downtown so challenging,” Miraglia concluded.

Council president Tony Dolce said the issue will likely be discussed by the council in the future and no action is expected during this month’s voting session on Oct. 26.

Three years ago the council also considered eliminating the free parking zone, but the idea was eventually tabled.

Meanwhile, the council also discussed a plan to increase downtown metered parking by 50 cents an hour and also increase fines by $5. The increase is built into the mayor’s 2021 city budget.

That was also met with some concern and additional discussion will likely take place prior to any action by the council.