Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist outlines bond proposal as Council President Tony Dolce listens (May 15, 2023)

The City of Jamestown is proposing to bond for $6.4 million in order to do a variety of building improvements and repairs.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist presented the initial bond proposal to City Council Monday, saying the projects were limited to just municipal facilities.

He said the list of projects is just a draft because he wants Council to discuss the proposal. Sundquist said $3.15 million would go toward improvements and repairs at City Hall, including a $1.8 million roof replacement and façade work, “We had hoped that the patching we did on the roof was going to hold. We are still seeing leaks within the building on that roof and so it’ll need to be replaced. As a reminder, the building opened up in 1971.”

Sundquist said security improvements and HVAC upgrades are also part of the project. He added that 17 windows need to be replaced for a cost of $350,000.

Council member Marie Carrubba suggested that the city should be considering replacing the current gold-filmed windows, which she says are not energy efficient, “When you talk about climate action, these (windows) are horrible. Go down to the second floor and half of the windows you can’t look out of. I don’t know if they’re on the list to be replaced, but I can’t even imagine. I haven’t counted all of the windows in this building. But, I almost feel like we’re throwing good money after bad to keep trying to get these windows, which are very hard to get, they’re very expensive, versus trying to begin a process of replacing these windows in a manageable fashion.”

Sundquist said it was something the city could look into.

The replacement of the Fenton Roof at a cost of $2 million is also included in the bond proposal. Sundquist said the historic mansion is owned by the City and needs a new rubber roof due to leaks that are impacting the Fenton History Center‘s collection. He added that the $2 million price tag may get reduced if the city is able to find grants for the project.

Other projects that would be funded under a proposed bond include $250,000 to fix the roof at 145 Steele Street and $500,000 for a new water line at Bergman Park.

Sundquist said $500,000 is also included as gap funding for the Fleet Maintenance Building on Washington Street. An information sheet said this funding is due to increased labor and material costs that could not be foreseen when the project was initially budgeted. Sundquist said the city has applied for a $1 million reimbursement from New York State.

He added that the city is able to “comfortably” borrow up to $12 million, “We’re very low on our actual debt right now as a city and so we wanted to confirm with them what we think we can borrow. The other thing I’ll point out is that we still have ARPA funds. I didn’t include it in here because I think it’s a discussion for everyone. There is still $1.7 million in ARPA funds that could be applied toward this should the council wish. That obviously for some further discussion which would lower that debt level.”

Council member at Large Kim Ecklund requested information on other bonds the city has in addition to how a $6.4 million bond would impact the city budget.

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.

Earlier this month the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council (WNYREDC) submitted its 2016 Progress Report – entitled A Strategy for Prosperity – to New York State. The progress report details the council’s achievements in implementing its five-year strategic plan and reflects Western New York’s progress on efforts to ensure sustainable and long-term economic growth.

The report also recommends 32 priority projects to advance the region’s growth objectives, including six from Chautauqua County. These priority projects were announced in September and included the National Comedy Center’s Gap Funding project in Jamestown, with $1.5 million requested (the total cost of the project is $20.4 million).

And the report also scores dozens of other projects from across Western New York that have applied for funding but weren’t given “priority” status. These projects scored either a 20 (categorized at “other priority project”) or a score of 15 (“regionally significant priority project”).

Projects in downtown Jamestown receiving a score of 20 include the National Comedy Center, the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts Master Plan, and the Tracy Plaza renovation project.

Those receiving a score of 15 include the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation’s Stabilization plan for buildings located at 10-12 E. Second St, Phase II of the Winter Garden Plaza, Façade work at St. Luke’s Church, and the archives project at RTPI.

Downtown Jamestown projects that didn’t have a score listed include the Riverwalk Illumination Project, the JRC’s Up Close regional plan, and the Fenton Mansion ADA porch restoration.

To encourage the implementation of the Regional Economic Development Councils’ strategic plans and to continue to motivate investment opportunities and job creation, the 10 Regional Councils across the State are competing for up to $175 million in capital funds and $70 million in Excelsior Tax Credits for projects.

the 2016 funding award announcements are anticipated in mid-December.

The Fenton History Center is located at the Fenton Mansion on Washington Street just south of the Washington Street Bridge past the Forest Ave. traffic light. The museum is open year-round Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. For more information visit www.fentonhistorycenter.org or call 716-664-6256.

For the uninitiated, Fireball run is a life-size game of trivial pursuit with exotic vehicles as the pieces and America as the game board.  Over 75 business leaders, including elected officials and industry celebrities are involved.  But there is nothing trivial about its purpose or results. The Race to Recover America’s Missing Children is the largest active recovery effort for missing and exploited children in the country.

Participants will be rolling into Jamestown on Sunday afternoon and visiting several local destinations, including the Fenton Mansion, Panama Rocks, The Jackson Center, Infinity Performing Arts and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.

Follow the action live online September 21-29 on www.FireballRun.com/LIVE.