Jamestown City Council voting session (January 30, 2023)

Jamestown City Council has approved a final installment of funds to the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive Program.

The additional $377,528 in American Rescue Plan funds will cover any remaining approved applications that could not be funded due to lack of funds in previous rounds.

The Finance Committee had recommended the previous week using $282,856 in ARP funds to make the program whole based on numbers provided by Assessor Lisa Volpe, but Finance Chair and Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund said those figures were incorrect, “So, last week when we went through this she (Volpe) had estimated a $94,000 savings that she approached to us. When I got the final numbers, in talking to her, in talking to the Acting Comptroller, it was provided in error. So, therefore, it had to go back in to make that the $377,000 to bring this whole so that everybody who applied and was accepted and approved will get the project done.”

Total funding for the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive Program now stands at $1.87 million.

Council also approved using $900,000 in ARP funds for water main replacements and street restoration on Roland Road and Juliet Street. The Department of Public Works and Jamestown Board of Public Utilities recommended the work be done after multiple water main breaks on both streets over the decades.

Ecklund said at this point, $26,230,703 has been spent in ARP funds out the over $28 million received.

A resolution for the City to adopt the New York State Climate Smart Communities Pledge was tabled for more discussion. Ecklund said while the pledge allows the city to apply for certain grants, there were some misunderstandings from the public and council that needed to be cleared up, “And I asked specifically if the legal team had looked at it before we signed anything and they had not. So, just to cover our bases and make sure we’re not locked into something that we can’t get out of, if you will, I would prefer the legal team to look at it.”

Council approved several appointments to boards and commissions from Mayor Eddie Sundquist including appointing Thomas Benson of 141 East Virginia Boulevard to serve on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Board. He replaces Tamu Graham-Reinhardt who has resigned. They also approved appointing Reverend Luke Fodor to the Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees. He will fill out the unexpired term of Dr. Lillian Ney who also had resigned.

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities meeting (December 19, 2022)

Solid waste fees will be going up in 2023 for Jamestown Board of Public Utilities customers.

The BPU Board approved the rate increase for residential and some commercial customers.

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers said some expenses in solid waste went up significantly in 2022 including fuel expenses, landfill tipping fees and labor costs, “The division is going to end with a net loss this year. So, as we looked at that, you know we want to continue to give financial credit as an incentive for people to recycle, so we thought it was time to bump that up a little bit. But the overall rate went up a $1.50 and if you recycle once a billing period as a residential customer, the overall rate goes up $1 per month. So, we felt that was manageable.”

Leathers said most dumpster service rates are doubling for 2023. He said everyone who receives that service has been notified already.

The BPU Board also approved the Electric Division’s budget with no rate adjustment for 2023.

Monday’s meeting also was the first time the meeting was livestreamed on the BPU’s website. Leathers said the video of the meetings will be archived on their site at jamestownbpu.com/live

The Board will vote on both the 2023 Solid Waste and Electric Division budgets. There is no rate increase for the Electric division.

For the solid waste division, the proposed rate increase is $1.50 per month for the basic service charge for all residential customers. Additionally, there is a proposed $0.50 increase to the monthly recycling credit. For residential customers who recycle at least once during a billing cycle, the rate will increase $1.00, from $12.50/month to $13.50/month. A similar increase is requested for small commercial customers.

A 100% rate increase is proposed for dumpster service.

The meeting is open to the public and will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the BPU Operations Center located at 92 Steele Street. The meeting will also be livestreamed at www.jamestownbpu.com/live.

While there is no rate increase for 2023 for the Wastewater budget, the water division’s proposed budget includes a 3% rate increase.

The meeting takes place at 4:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the BPU Operations Center at 92 Steele Street.

The meeting also will be livestreamed for the first time at www.jamestownbpu.com/live.

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Board meeting (October 24, 2022)

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities board has approved the 2023 District Heating budget with no increase and will be considering a proposed 3% increase in Solid Waste and Water rates.

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers said he hopes to see Solid Waste, Wastewater and Water Budgets approved in November. He said all budgets are seeing difficulties on the expense side, “All line items on the expense side are threatened by inflationary costs, supply chain challenges, not necessarily personnel, but I think that’s the biggest issue right now. And we’re really being careful in trying to be considerate that we don’t just have rate increases in all divisions. So, as presented I think we’ll have District Heat and Wastewater with no rate adjustment for 2023.”

Leathers said the draft Electric budget will be reviewed at the November board meeting and approved in December.

Jamestown Salary Review Commission holds first meeting (October 18, 2022)

The Jamestown Salary Review Commission is looking at options for the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to pay a stipend toward an increase in the Mayor’s salary.

The Commission held its first meeting Tuesday to discuss salaries for the Mayor and City Council. By City Charter, the advisory commission is required to meet every four years and present a recommendation for any adjustments to salaries to City Council. Council then can choose to accept or take no action. Any changes would not go into effect until January 1, 2024.

City Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo made a suggestion that the commission approach the Jamestown BPU about contributing to the mayor’s salary, “One of the suggestions we had is that the Mayor in his current role serves as Chairman of the BPU Board. The Commission, as a whole, would like to know how much time the Mayor is spending as the Chairman of the BPU Board and whether that time should be compensated by the BPU Board. So that is something we have to explore as a Commission.”

The mayor’s salary is $72,000 and hasn’t been increased since 2008. Council member salaries are $5,000 with the Council President receiving an additional $1,000 stipend. Those salaries haven’t been increased since 1984.

Commission member Pat Smeraldo asked how much salaries have increased for union contracts going back five years, now that all bargaining units are current. Raimondo replied that with looking back five year until now, it’s a 10-12% increase.

General consensus by members is that both the mayor and city council have had an increased workload, especially with social media making it easier to reach out to elected officials.

Tage Hall was selected as the Chair of the Commission. Their next meeting will be 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 15, 2022.