Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan, DPW/Acting Parks Director Jeff Lehman, Parks Manager Dan Stone present budget to Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

The Jamestown DPW and Acting Parks Director is expressing concerns over under-funding or lack of funding in the proposed 2023 executive budget.

Jeff Lehman presented the Public Works Department budget to Jamestown City Council Monday night along with Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan and Parks Manager Dan Stone.

Lehman said the cuts in Traffic Division equipment scare him the most with prices going up 25 to 30%, “We’re going to be over budget, I think, this year as far as some of the things we’re ordering. Just the basic things – lights, traffic control boxes, that type of thing. So that’s got me scared. And then the other thing is the laborer. There’s nothing here for summer labor, which you know, we cut that person out, well, you might not know. So, years ago, I don’t know, Kim (Ecklund), was it five, six years ago? We cut a person out of the Traffic Division. The summer laborer position is about the only way we get somebody help to get the lines all painted in the summer.”

Lehman said he didn’t see summer help funded in any of the Public Works divisions. He said his biggest items are capital items and includes the replacement of the Municipal Building roof for an estimated cost of $800,000, “We’re having some minor repairs done this year because the availability of materials precludes us from doing it this year. We’re hoping if we get approval of this, we can get it on order and have materials in place for next year, but we had pretty major leaking in the fifth floor this year.”

Lehman said with the Municipal Building being 50 years old, the infrastructure needs updating including $800,000 to fix wall facade on the outside of the building, $200,000 for air quality control in the building’s HVAC system, and $25,000 to replace plumbing in the jail. He added phase two of the Tracy Plaza deck replacement on the northern portion of the plaza is estimated to cost $1 million.

Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan presented on 20 different purchase requests from the $7.5 million in DPW and Parks equipment and replacement program requests. He said those 20 pieces of equipment were at the end of their life with three vehicles having to be taken out of services due issues that can no longer be repaired.

Parks Manager Dan Stone said his biggest concern that wasn’t reflected in the budget is having enough employees in the Parks Department to maintain the over 500 acres of park land along with everything that has been added to the parks system in the last 17 years, “This year alone, right, we put in what I consider not just a park but a destination place with the Skatepark that we just did the grand opening. But that’s a whole another huge area that we’re looking at having to maintain with the same workforce. We’ve added disc golf. Again, I think it’s going to be another destination place in one of our parks, but that’s another area to maintain as well.”

Stone said two new kayak launches have been installed this year, there are more properties and areas to mow, more garbage pick-up routes needed in the parks, and there’s more demand for parks workers to assist with events in the city, “‘Cause I don’t want to get us to the point where we’re sacrificing quality for quantity. That’s not a point we want to be at. Besides that, we plow more than what we had due to streets projects that have occurred in the alleyways and, again, more developed areas throughout the city. And we still maintain our urban forest and continue to grow and keep that as healthy as we can by trimming, removing trees, and planting new trees.”

Stone said the $10,000 budget line for flags and banners was cut entirely and he said the department was on target to spend $12,000 on that this year alone. He said the horticulture line also was cut entirely, which means the department won’t have a budget to purchase flowers, shrubs, or mulch for flower beds or flower pots in the city.

City Council will hear budget presentations from the City Clerk, Finance, Assessor’s Office, and Corporation Counsel Departments at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 24 before the City Council’s Voting Session