Architect Chris Cooke presents on Prendergast Landing Project to Jamestown Planning Commission (May 16, 2023)

The Jamestown Planning Commission received an update on the Shawbucks and Prendergast Landing projects at their monthly meeting.

Project Architect Chris Cooke presented on the Prendergast Landing project which is located at the corner of Fairmount Avenue and West Eighth Street. The property was formerly owned by The Resource Center before being purchased in November 2021 by Rahsaan Graham under Jade Empire LLC.

Cooke said the first floor will be retail and mixed use space, “..with a cafe in the back corner. This office level here on the second floor will be a WeWork kind of model, which is small offices for start-up businesses. The third floor will be three apartments there used for a mix of short-term and long-term rentals.”

Cooke said an elevator and ramp entry will be added to the back of the building for accessibility. He said Jade Empire is the developer of the project and that they have already worked with the New York State Historic Preservation Office to find information on the building which was built in the 1880s.

Shawbucks owner Kurt Johnson provided an update on his project to renovate the existing restaurant and bar.

Johnson said he was approved to purchase a 25-foot sidewalk owned by the city in August 2021 so that he could build a three-story balcony on the West Second Street side of the building, “Phase one is moving the bathrooms to the back of the building so that the front of the building is visible. We’ll be leaving eight feet of sidewalk on the front and the sides of the building, which is more space between the buildings than the ones around us. So, right now we’ve started relocating the bathrooms into the back of the building. We’ve got our permit, our first inspection.”

Johnson also plans to build an elevator to increase access to all floors of the building. He said the second floor will include event space, restrooms, and a second kitchen. Johnson added that a future phase of the project would be to turn the rooftop into a green space.

Both projects will likely come back before the Planning Commission in June for site plan approval.

Jamestown BPU General Manager Dave Leathers speaks with Jamestown City Council (May 15, 2023)

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities‘ General Manager doesn’t see a proposal to register Jamestown as a Climate Smart Community as negatively impacting the utility’s operations.

Dave Leathers met with Jamestown City Council Monday to give his thoughts on a resolution that would register the city as a Climate Smart Community in New York State.

Leathers said the BPU is very focused on clean energy standards and the Climate Leadership and Protection Act, “Those are state mandates, state laws that are focused on significant changes in the New York State economy related to greenhouse gas emissions and green energy as well as transportation, and buildings, and agriculture, and waste, and industry. So, that’s really where all of our efforts and all of of our focus are.”

Leathers said he sees the Climate pledge as a municipal effort and that it’s up to the City administration and Council to decide what they want to pursue, “Approving a resolution to take the pledge, I don’t see it as some huge, significant step. And I definitely don’t see it as anything that’s going to impact the BPU operations.”

Under the Climate Smart Community certification, local governments accumulate points for planning and implementation actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resilience to the worsening impacts of climate change.

Certified communities can take part in the Climate Smart Communities Grant Program, which is a competitive 50/50 matching grant program for municipalities to implement projects focused on climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation.

Leathers said the pledge doesn’t commit the city to anything hard, “If in a year from now, you’ve gone into this and you decide you want to rescind that resolution for some reason, you could do that. There are items in the list of potential tasks that the BPU staff would be involved in and would be supportive.”

He said if the city has been certified as a Climate Smart community it could gain the city extra points when applying for grants.

Climate Smart Guidelines include:

1)    Build a climate-smart community.
2)    Inventory emissions, set goals, and plan for climate action.
3)    Decrease energy use.
4)    Shift to clean, renewable energy.
5)    Use climate-smart materials management.
6)    Implement climate-smart land use.
7)    Enhance community resilience to climate change.
8)    Support a green innovation economy.
9)    Inform and inspire the public.
10)    Engage in an evolving process of climate action.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said if the pledge was adopted that she could see the city’s Principal Planner acting as the required Coordinator for the program with the Planning Commission serving as the Task Force.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund asked for information on any upfront costs that might be involved with the city taking the pledge.

Acting DPW Director Mark Roetzer explains how the professional engineer certificate works within the DPW Director role to City Council (April 10, 2023)

Jamestown City Council members don’t seem in favor of removing a professional engineering certificate requirement for the Public Works Director position.

An ordinance to amend the City Code to do just that came before council at its April 10 work session.

The city has had issues finding a replacement for former Public Works Director Jeff Lehman, who retired March 31, in part because of the engineering requirement.

It came to light that the only residency requirement for the position is that the director must live in Chautauqua County. Mayor Eddie Sundquist said this was a change in state law.

Council Member at Large Jeff Russell asked if removing that requirement would have any effect in the department being able to get work done.

Acting Public Works Director Mark Roetzer said the director doesn’t produce drawings that are then stamped and signed as a professional engineer, “But you’re reviewing drawings and plans and that sort of thing, specifications, so to not have a P.E. would be a detriment. If you hire someone who does not have it, they’d potentially become more of an administrator. The work that the director does now, part of it, would fall back on the other engineering staff that does have a P.E., or people under them that they oversee.”

Council member at Large Kim Ecklund expressed concern that could lead to the union requesting a stipend for extra work or change in job duties.

Roetzer said when the city receives plans, those were historically reviewed by Lehman, who had the P.E. designation. He pointed out that the DPW Director also is a member on the Planning Commission and the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

Russell stated he didn’t think the city should “lower its standards” by getting rid of the designation requirement.

Sundquist said only one application received for the DPW Director position had the required P.E. certificate, “And what we’ve heard, especially from Jeff (Lehman), to many folks who are getting P.E.’s are going into consulting firms that almost double the rate that we pay, which has been a concern. So, the county does not have a P.E. requirement for their Director of Public Facilities. Most communities do not. They have more of an administrator role at the top, which is the proposal.”

No action seems likely on the matter any time soon as the ordinance was tabled by the Public Safety committee with council members citing that city does have an acting director while the search continues.

Council also continued discussions on the proposed hiring of an Ombudsman in the Corporation Counsel‘s office. This position is proposed to replace the Associate Corporation Counsel position, which is being vacated by Ben Haskin.

Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo cited a need for a Human Resources-type of employee to help with mandatory employee trainings, “Issues with employee complaints and disputes, following up on council concerns, following up on public concerns apart from the police, following up with department heads to ensure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, handing our EAP program which I’m not the happiest with, and, recently, dealing with our health insurance program which is not functioning the way it should be functioning.”

Raimondo said he thought the position should report both to the Mayor and City Council. He said he understands that the addition of the ombudsman may lead to the Corporation Counsel position being made part-time versus full-time.

Finance Chair Kim Ecklund requested a salary schedule with a projection for future years be provided. The position would be funded through 2023 by funds previously allocated for the Associate Corporation Counsel.

Jamestown Planning Commission (March 21, 2023)

The Jamestown Planning Commission has finally approved the sale of two city-owned parcels.

The Commission, lacking a quorum at its meetings in January and February, was unable to take action until this month.

The two parcels include property on Crescent Street that originally was going to be used for the Department of Public Works‘ Central Garage with the other parcel being a vacant lot on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Crescent Street parcel received a bid for $25,000 from Falcon Conveyor owner Scott Clark, who owns the building on the adjacent property. Clark plans to use the lot for access to his building, where Falcon Conveyor is located.

The parcel on Pennsylvania Avenue received a bid for $4,900 from Kim and Shane Collins, who have a house next door. The parcel is too small to meet code requirements for building on it.

The sale proposals must now be approved by Jamestown City Council and are expected to appear under new business at its voting session on March 27.

Jamestown Planning Commission members meet (January 17, 2023)

The Jamestown Planning Commission reviewed two proposals to sell city-owned land at its monthly meeting.

The Commission did not have a quorum, so no action was taken.

The two parcels include property on Crescent Street that originally was going to be used for the Department of Public Works’ Central Garage with the other parcel being a vacant lot on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Crescent Street parcel is proposed to be sold for $25,000 to Falcon Conveyor owner Scott Clark, who owns the building on the adjacent property. Clark plans to use the lot for access to his building, where Falcon Conveyor is located.

The parcel on Pennsylvania Avenue is proposed to be sold for $4,900 to Kim and Shane Collins, who have a house next door. The parcel is too small to meet code requirements for building.

The Planning Commission is expected to take action on both items at its February meeting as long as quorum requirements are met.

The meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth floor of City Hall.

The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

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.

John Sellstrom takes oath of office as City of Jamestown’s new Comptroller (July 25, 2022)

Jamestown City Council has approved the city moving forward with a pedestrian and traffic safety strategy.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the city is applying for a federal grant to help create the Vision Zero Plan for the city, “It is essentially an added amount, added bonus, to Complete Streets which the City already has and says ‘How do we educate the public? How do we also redesign not only our streets but other components of the city to provide zero fatalities over the course of ten years?’ So there’s a lot of things that have come up over the past several years with City Council, including stop-arm cameras for school buses which we’re moving forward with as well as school speed zone cameras.”

Sundquist said the plan would also be used in designing streets and sidewalks. As part of the approved resolution by Council, the city also would develop an annual progress report on the Vision Zero goals and outcomes that would be presented to City Council.

Council has approved the shared services agreement with Jamestown Public Schools regarding sidewalk plowing.

Sundquist said the approval was needed so the school district could purchase the sidewalk plows, and that the city was continuing to work on how staffing would be done of those plows, “We’re still working with the union to determine how we’re going to handle the personnel power for that. Whether that’s going to be a seasonal position, part-time position, or full-time position, there’s a lot of factors and as you probably know in this job market right now, we’re not quite sure what we’re going to get as we start to get closer.”

The shared services agreement initially proposed hiring two Parks employees using American Rescue Plan funds at an estimated cost through 2026 of $689,672.

The Jamestown School Board passed the agreement at its meeting earlier this month.

Council has approved funding to do a Zoning Code update.

Sundquist said the city’s zoning code was originally created in the 1960s, “We wanted to provide this opportunity and the funding for the zoning so we could do both the Strategic Plan, the Comprehensive Plan, at the same time as Zoning. It is actually cheaper for the city to do that. So we’re looking at about $200,000 to do both. $100,000 comes directly from the State. The other $100,000 will come from federal ARPA funding, Rescue Plan funding.”

Sundquist said a request for proposals to do the updates will go out in August.

Council also approved four appointments to a new Broadband Ad-Hoc Committee.

Sundquist said the ad-hoc committee will determine if the city should move forward with municipal broadband or a municipal fiber network, “In the meantime, we are also working on working with our federal partners to determine what grants are out there. We know that in talking with the State Broadband Office, the City of Jamestown is probably the furthest ahead of any city or municipality. So they’re very excited about our work and are currently creating the grants that they received from the Federal funding for us to apply for.”

Brendan Fagan, Phillip Zimmerman, Dan Swackhammer, and Bill Johnston are the citizen appointments with Sundquist adding the committee will also feature representatives from local foundations, the Jamestown Public Schools District, Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, and City Council.

Council also approved appointing John LaMancuso as chair of the Jamestown Planning Commission. He replaces Greg Rabb, who resigned in June. His term expires on December 31, 2022.

Jamestown Zoning Board of Appeals meeting (July 13, 2022)

The Jamestown Zoning Board of Appeals has approved a variance extension request related to the Gateway Lofts Project.

Southern Tier Environments for Living‘s Attorney, Charles Grieco, submitted the extension request for two variances; one regarding the number of proposed parking spaces and one regarding proposed automotive use setbacks on the parcels associated with the project on Water Street. Both variances had been granted back in 2020 and were granted an extension in 2021.

Grieco said the additional extension is needed as the Gateway Lofts Project is still working on getting financing together in order to start construction. He said all elements of the project were significantly impacted by the Pandemic, “The construction industry obviously has been severely impacted, to supply chain issues, inflation issues have been very significant and that has created some difficulties, delays I guess I should say, in finalizing the financing. The client is seeking and is in the process of obtaining a bridge loan for that purpose.”

The Jamestown Planning Commission approved the $31 million project in June 2020. The Gateway Lofts project calls for creating 110 total units, although 56 of them would be intended for homeless individuals who currently don’t have any other long-term housing options available. That means a total of 54 new units would be intended for renters, most of which would be on low or fixed income.

Grieco said he anticipates that all financing will be in place by December 2022 and that construction will be able to begin in 2023.