Jamestown City Council

The positions would be funded by a three-year $1.8 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant.

City Council members have expressed concern that they’d be faced with having to lay-off the firefighters if the grant money is not renewed.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said while he understands that concern, this is an opportunity to make Jamestown safer, “As of right now, we close a fire station every shift. We still don’t have enough to run ambulances right now in the city. So, when you talk about being able to add on new fire fighters that are fully funded for three years by the Federal government – we’re talking salaries, benefits, all of those things – it’s a really unique opportunity for the city.”

Sundquist said by hiring the eight positions, there would be enough to operate a second ambulance.

City Council is expected to review a resolution to use $250,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to purchase that ambulance for the Fire Department.

Sundquist said the city generated $300,000 from billing insurance in 2022 with running the first ambulance, “Now, I don’t think you’re going to double it when you add a second ambulance, but I think you’re going to get close to that and certainly add more revenue which will make up for the cost of adding new firefighters.”

Council also will review a resolution to purchase splash pads from Aquatix by Landscape Structures, Inc. for $135,000. That funding, using American Rescue Plan monies, was approved at the March voting session.

The discussion of hiring an Ombudsman in the Office of the Corporation Counsel is on the agenda again. This position is proposed to replace the Associate Corporation Counsel position, which is being vacated by Ben Haskin.

Council also will review an proposed amendment to the City Code regarding the Director of Public works position. The proposed amendment would eliminate the requirement that the DPW Director have a professional civil engineer certificate. According to the staff report, most of the people who have applied for the position have applicable experience, but do not maintain or have a professional engineer license. The City has had difficulty finding candidates to replace former DPW Director Jeff Lehman, who retired March 31 after serving in the position for 29 years. The DPW Director position is being filled on an interim basis by DPW Project Engineer Mark Roetzer.

Council will hear a presentation by New York State Climate Smart Communities Coordinator Sarah Swinko. This presentation will precede the review of a resolution for the City to adopt the New York State Climate Smart Communities pledge.

According to the staff report, Climate Smart Communities (CSC) is a New York State program that helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The program offers grants, rebates for electric vehicles, and free technical assistance. In order to take part in the program, a municipality must pass a resolution to become a Registered Climate Smart Community.

The Housing Committee also will have a discussion on homeless shelters. That committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. with the other committees meeting at 7:00 p.m.

The full council work session will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. The public is welcome to attend all meetings with the work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Eddie Sundquist

Plans for two emergency homeless shelters that will have a total of 30 beds are coming together in the City of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said a third round of meetings on homelessness in the city took place Thursday between community groups, faith based groups, resource providers and medical providers.

He said as winter weather is on the horizon, the group wanted to make sure there was emergency shelters in place for “Code Blue” nights when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, “What’s unique about these shelters is that they’re different from anything else we have. One shelter will primarily focus on families that may need emergency sheltering and support during cold nights. And another one will focus on co-ed singles, something that we do not have here in the city. We’ve experienced in a lot of encampments those issues.”

Sundquist said the city still needs state and county approval, but the proposed shelter locations will be at Joy Fellowship Church on 7th Street and the Mental Health Association at the Gateway Center.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist addresses Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

The City of Jamestown has received a $194,000 HUD grant to help deal with homelessness issues.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, in his Mayor’s report to City Council, said the city will have to develop a plan for use of the funds with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development encouraging that it be used for rapid response.

He said resource providers, local church organizations, and medical providers have met to discuss both long-term solutions and short term emergency shelter.

Sundquist said Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. has taken the lead with the county on the issue and that one to two sites have been identified as potential emergency winter shelters, “So, it would be a nighttime, usually from around 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. Those sites would also then provide security at the locations, food, we’d have other churches and other groups provide resources there. We’d have social workers and other resource providers come to that location and we were also talking about potentially having once a week a medical provider come on site.”

Sundquist said they hope to get details finalized in the next week. He said with the weather turning cooler there is a need for emergency shelters, “On an average night across Chautauqua County when there is a ‘Code Blue,’ the weather is under 32 degrees, they have about seven people across the county that they have to shelter. That number is expected to double or triple this year with just Jamestown alone.”

Sundquist said resource providers are also discussing creating a shelter just for people with addiction needs or who are in recovery. He added that most of the current shelters in Jamestown are full.

Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. presents to Jamestown Planning Commission (September 20, 2022)

The Jamestown Planning Commission has approved the site plan for a new women’s homeless shelter in downtown Jamestown.

Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. will operate the facility to be located at 303 Lafayette Street. The facility will be able to shelter 18 women and is only for women age 18 and older.

COI officials said they hope to go to bid on the project in a couple of weeks. It’s being funded through a $2.49 million grant from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The Planning Commission also has resumed discussions about establishing a Local Preservation Ordinance.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle said the ordinance would be part of the City’s zoning provision.
She said when it came to things like replacing older windows with vinyl windows or putting up siding, it depended on what was in the design standards, “And the design standards are not part of the ordinance. So the design standards.. you can’t create design standards without the ordinance authorizing their creation. And the ultimate design standards can be whatever you want to a certain extent.”

Shadle said those standards are created by a community member Preservation Board.

She said if the Planning Commission approved an LPO, it would then go to City Council for approval.

Commission Chair John LaMancuso confirmed that despite Federal Historic District designations, a historic district under an LPO doesn’t exist unless City Council designates an area as a historic district, “Nothing is a historic district until City Council says it’s a historic district. And we could adopt this as a city and city council could say, ‘Oh, well we don’t think that any place should be a historic district. We don’t want to burden people in this way,’ or maybe, ‘We want this block to be historic that includes the Jackson Center,’ or whatever. So a lot of this comes down to City Council which I think is very appropriate.”

LaMancuso requested additional information on the benefits to the city in implementing an LPO. There was no other action on the LPO.

Renderings for proposed new Salvation Army ANEW Center

The Jamestown Planning Commission has approved a site plan for the Salvation Army’s ANEW center while tabling site plans for Chautauqua Opportunities‘ Women’s Homeless Shelter.

The site plan approval for the Salvation Army facility is contingent on approval by City Department of Development staff.

The Salvation Army received $3.8 million to relocate and build a new homeless shelter for women and children. The new two-story building will have seven units and 19 beds. This $4.8 million project will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, create six additional beds and allows services staff to have offices in the same building.

The money is being administered by the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance through the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program.

The Planning Commission, under staff recommendation, tabled COI’s site plan for 303 Lafayette Street until September in order to further review building plans.

The facility will be able to shelter 18 women. It’s being funded through a $2.49 million grant from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Chautauqua Opportunities Director of Housing Josiah Lamp, speaking at a City Council meeting in February, said the City of Jamestown also is providing a $110,000 match through Community Development Block Grant funds. He said operating funds will come from the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services as well as from Chautauqua Opportunities.

Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. will receive $180,710 and the Dunkirk Housing Authority will receive $90,600.

The awards will provide funding to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said, “Access to stable housing is a basic necessity – the safety of a home is essential, especially as we continue to fight the COVID-19 virus. These Continuum of Care (CoC) program grants, coupled with the historic resources in the American Rescue Plan, will deliver communities the resources needed to ensure that every person in a respective community has the equitable opportunity to a safe and stable home.”

The CoC program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs servicing people experiencing homelessness.

Chautauqua Opportunities’ Director of Housing Josiah Lamp presents to Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council heard a presentation on the proposed homeless shelter for women to be located in downtown Jamestown.

Chautauqua Opportunities Director of Housing Josiah Lamp said the facility, which will be able to shelter 18 women, would be located at 303 Lafayette Street.

It’s being funded through a $2.49 million grant from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. Lamp said the City of Jamestown also is providing a $110,000 match through Community Development Block Grant funds. He said operating funds will come from the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services as well as from Chautauqua Opportunities.

Lamp said the first floor, which was formerly a laundromat, will be community space, “A lobby, there will be a secure entrance, and there will be a computer lab where the women can come in and look for housing, they can use that to look for employment. Then there will also be a laundry facility, storage facility, and then office space for our staff to work with them while they’re in shelter.”

Lamp said the second and third floors will have fully adaptable units with elevator access. He said the building will be secured through fob entry for the main entrance as well as for each unit. The facility also will be staff 24-7 by Housing Support Services employees.

Council member at Large Jeff Russell commented that there’s a definite need for this kind of shelter and that it’s long overdue. He asked Lamp if the women sheltered there would be just from Jamestown or from outside the area, including outside of the county. Lamp said the need is largest in Jamestown and that he doesn’t ever see anyone from outside the area being placed there.

The renovation of the Lafayette Street building is anticipated to begin this Fall with completion by July 2023.