Kendall Club President Sam Piazza addresses Jamestown City Council

Jamestown Police Department officers appealed to City Council again to designate more American Rescue Plan funds toward public safety.

Kendall Club President Sam Piazza said the wish list created by Police Chief Tim Jackson was the bare minimum needed and made a case for using funds to hire more officers, “When you train a new officer, that officer is probably not going to be comfortable for the first two, three years where he’s actually on his own or need to make a life-death situation right off the bat where a brand new guy, there’s a lot of responsibility in his actions. Again, it just doesn’t happen overnight so we need to make sure we have the staff as well.”

Piazza also requested that any patrol cars that are added to the budget be “front line patrol cars” due to the heavy, daily use.

Council members did not discuss any specific capital projects to be funded under lost revenue funds.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund did say in regards to the resolution to adopt the American Rescue Plan Act Recovery Funds Master Plan that she recommended that Comptroller Ryan Thompson provide break-out information on how much money was being allocated for each category.

Ecklund said the goal is not to vote on a “bucket” of ARP projects, “Every project will have its own vote, just like we do in the general fund. So once we vote on that allotment, every project is going to have its own vote. Every project is going to say yes or no, just like the budget. The cost associated with it will be in the form, just like the county did, here’s your plan, here’s how much is going to be spent, here’s the vote for it.”

Ecklund also requested council members send their recommendations on ARP funded capital projects to her by Wednesday.

A photo from Google Images showing the currently wooden playground equipment in place at Chadakoin Park.

JAMESTOWN – On Monday night the Jameson City Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a letter of intent to enter a $150,000 grant agreement with KaBoom! Inc. for the purpose of funding construction of a new playground in Chadakoin Park.

The effort to upgrade the playground equipment has been underway for a couple years now with councilwoman Vicki James (D-Ward III) helping to spearhead the effort. She said she new equipment is needed at the park.

Chadakoin Park has the last wooden playground in the city of Jamestown. It has been grandfathered in and I believe the grandfather clause will expire in a year or two, so [the new playground] will be right on time,” James said.

James said the grant hasn’t been approved yet, but she’s hopeful Kaboom! Inc. will sign off on it.

“We had a 90-minute interview with them, probably two or three weeks ago, and everything looks really good. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and, like I said, we’ve got the lord on our side,” James said, referring to the widespread community support for the project that includes pastors from two local churches.

James also thanked the numerous individuals who’ve helped with the effort to secure the funding, including city Parks and Recreation staff members John Williams and Julia Ciesla-Hanley.

Kaboom! Inc. is a national foundation to help communities pay for playgrounds across the country. If the grant is approved, James said the city would have to pick up the local share of about $10,000, which is being raised through fundraising efforts, with about $8,000 already raised.