The news came Tuesday when city development Director Cyrstal Surdyk informed the Jamestown Riverfront Management Council that a feasibility study focusing on the train excursion proposal has finally been completed, but it wasn’t the high caliber report officials were hoping for.

In 2016, Jamestown was announced as the recipient of $10 million dollars in state economic development funding through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program.

A year later, the final list of projects and allocations was determined, with $670,000 of the money going toward helping to install necessary rail infrastructure to support the advancement of a regional excursion train connecting to Buffalo and Niagara Falls to Jamestown, as well as enhancing existing opportunities from east, west, and south.

Under the DRI rules, all of the $10 million must be spent by the end of this year. Because the train excursion feasibility study didn’t have the end result city officials were hoping for, the $670,00 will now go to other projects on the DRI list.

A passenger excursion train, like the Delaware & Ulster Railroad service in Delaware County, NY (pictured), could be in Jamestown’s future, linking the city with Buffalo, 70 miles to the north. (Image courtesy of ScenicRailroadExcursions.com)

JAMESTOWN – City officials say funding is now in place to move forward with a feasibility study into bringing an excursion train to Jamestown.

On Thursday Jamestown Development Director Vince DeJoy said that after two long years of trying to put together enough partners to fund the feasibility and implementation study with the City of Jamestown for the Western New York Regional Rail Project Feasibility Study, the city now has successfully assembled enough funds to do so.  The city has committed up to $30,000 of its own money for the project, with another $27,500 coming from a variety of sources, including the Industrial Development Agencies in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Erie County Counties.

Additionally, the City of Jamestown has been awarded a $670,000 grant from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative for a project to install necessary railroad infrastructure to support the advancement of a regional excursion train connecting Buffalo and Niagara Falls at the Gateway Station in Jamestown that is now The National Comedy Center and Comedy Center Park.

As a result, a special “signing ceremony” is scheduled for next week, along with a meeting to further discuss the study.

On Monday Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi was one of several individuals who attended a Regional Economic Development Summit in Buffalo to review grant applications for various economic development projects in the region. Also in attendance was Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Teresi tells WRFA the meeting involved prioritizing all of the proposed projects on a 20-point grading system and then passing that list on to Albany. He said the local projects that were on the list – including funding for the creation of the National Comedy Center, the renovation of the Lillian V. Ney Renaissance Center to accommodate a downtown micro-brewery and restaurant, and a feasibility study for an excursion train service – all received high grades.

However, he also said that was only the first part of the grading process, with 80 percent of the decision-making still to take place in Albany. As a result there’s no guarantee any of the projects will receive all, or even some, of the funding they have requested in their applications.

State economic development officials will review the list of projects and corresponding grades in the coming weeks and will likely announce who will receive the funding in late November or early December. A total of $709 million in funding is expected to be awarded this year across New York State.

Can downtown Jamestown support a microbrewery/restaurant? The Jamestown Renaissance Corporation thinks it can.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The Jamestown City Council has given its approval for the application of three different grants from New York State to help with downtown economic development.

In addition to approving a grant application to help pay for feasibility study for an excursion train service between Jamestown and the Buffalo-Niagara Region, the city council approved two other grant applications that will be filed on behalf of the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC). One grant will be used to help with Phase II improvements to Wintergarden Plaza on N. Main St., while the other will be used to make improvements to the Lillian V. Ney Renaissance Center on the corner of W. Third and Washington Streets, so that it would be able to accommodate a downtown microbrewery and restaurant.

JRC deputy director Peter Lombardi says the microbrewery would be a brand new business to the area.

“This would be a new business in downtown Jamestown that I think will work in sync with the opening of the National Comedy Center next year and help to provide a lot more activity in that area between the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts, that needs to become more active,” Lombardi said. “We need to have a bridge of activity between the west end of downtown and the east end to make it as positive an experience as possible for visitors.”

Lombardi said that the project could receive between $100,000 to $500,000 in funding from the state’s Main Street grant program. He added that because the planning is still in the preliminary stages, he could not provide the name of who currently is developing the micro brewery, only to say that they are not an already established business in the area.

Lombardi also said the state grant application for the Wintergarden Plaza improvements would be to cover 75 percent of the cost for the $130,000 project and would include improved seating and a canopy to provide more shade for the plaza.

A passenger excursion train, like the Delaware & Ulster Railroad service in Delaware County, NY (pictured), could be in Jamestown’s future, linking the city with Buffalo, 70 miles to the north. (Image courtesy of ScenicRailroadExcursions.com)

As for the excursion train service, it’s something that Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi first discussed publicly earlier this month, when he said the city department of development has created a task force, consisting of various community and regional stakeholders, to determine what would be needed to bring an excursion train service to Jamestown. As part of that process, it has identified a couple of consulting firms – including Stone Consulting of Warren, PA – that would be able to help create a detailed study and plan.

The mayor said the feasibility study will focus on four main areas, including the economic impact the excursion service would have o the region, as well as outline any opportunities and challenges associated with the project. It would also focus on what would be needed to renovate the abandoned engine house just to the west of the Train Station, and provide details of the business and operational plan needed for the excursion service.

All grants would be submitted through the New York State Consolidated Funding Application program, which has a deadline of July 31 in order for any proposed project to be eligible for the next round of founding from the state’s Economic Development Council.

• COMPLETE JULY VOTING SESSION AGENDA

Among the items to be acted on is the hiring of a new police officer. The hiring is needed because the city will also be entering into a contract with the Jamestown School District to add an additional school resource officer, who will be assigned to work at the Ray Fashano Tech Academy on Fourth St.

The addition of the SRO is in response to an increase of incidents happening at the Tech Academy, during the 2014-15 school year, including the assault of a teacher by two students in April.

The school already has one JPD officer assigned to the district at Jamestown High School.

Because an officer will be devoted to working at the Tech Academy full time during the school year, the JPD will be hiring a new officer to work regular patrols. Funding for the SRO position will be provided for by the Jamestown School District.

In other business, the city will act on accepting a $33,395 grant from the State’s GIVE initiative for the police department to help combat gun violence and drug trafficking in the city. The GIVE initiative replaces the former SAFE Grant program the city had previously participated in.

The council will also act on a resolution applying for funding from the state’s Consolidated Funding Application (CFA). The application will involve a feasibility study for an excursion train services between the city and the Buffalo/Niagara region.

And the council will act on a resolution to submit the city’s 2015 – 2019 Consolidated Plan and the city’s draft FY 2015 Annual Action Plan including the specific CDBG and HOME activities to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those documents were initially going to be acted on in June, but the city had learned from HUD that it needed to revise information regarding the homeless population in the area before it would be accepted.

Monday’s meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the city council chambers of city hall and is open to the public.

A passenger excursion train, like the Delaware & Ulster Railroad service in Delaware County, NY (pictured), could be in Jamestown’s future, linking the city with Buffalo, 70 miles to the north. (Image courtesy of ScenicRailroadExcursions.com)

JAMESTOWN – Mayor Sam Teresi say passenger train service could once again return to the city.

On Monday night, Teresi updated the Jamestown City Council on the steps that would be required to bring an excursion train service into the city.

According to the mayor, the first step is for the city to apply for a grant through the state’s Consolidated Funding Application program by July 31, which would be used to help pay for a passenger train viability study.

“Back in my 2014 state of the city address I said that I thought it was time that the city take a good hard look at the possibility of incorporating passenger rail service back into the city,” Teresi said, adding, “Not regularly scheduled Amtrack service – I think we all realize the economic limitations of it, but to look at the possibility of periodic passenger rail excursion activity principally between Buffalo and Jamestown.”

Teresi said the excursion service would tie in well with other development projects in the city, given the recent renovation of the Jamestown Gateway Train Station and the development of the National Comedy Center, along with other economic development activity in the downtown.

As a result, the city department of development has created a task force, consisting of various community and regional stakeholders, to determine what would be needed to bring an excursion train service to Jamestown. As part of that process, it has identified a couple of consulting firms that would be able to help create a detailed study and plan.

Mayor Sam Teresi is encouraging the Jamestown City Council to apply for state funding that would be used to create a feasibility study for a rail excursion service between Jamestown and Buffalo.

“This task force has been communicating with companies that do this as a business,” Teresi said. “And much to our surprise, we learned that probably the foremost expert in the field is a company called Stone Consulting, that work all over the country if not all over the North American continent in doing this type of work – not necessarily with rail excursion, but as a consultant with railroads and with communities and figuring out issues within the rail business. They’re located 25 miles down the road in Warren, Pennsylvania.”

The mayor said the feasibility study will focus on four main areas, including the economic impact the excursion service would have o the region, as well as outline any opportunities and challenges associated with the project. It would also focus on what would be needed to renovate the abandoned engine house just to the west of the Train Station, and provide details of the business and operational plan needed for the excursion service.

Teresi said in order for the city to qualify for state funding to help pay for the feasibility study, it needs to submit a grant application to the state by the end of this month. As a result, the city council will be acting on a resolution during its July voting session to give permission to apply for the grant, and work toward bringing the project to fruition.

The estimated cost for the study is $60,000, with the city required to match 50 percent of the funding for the project. Teresi said he and his staff are currently talking with possible local funders to help offset the local portion of the cost, should the state approve the grant request.