Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency board meeting (March 14, 2023)

The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency board received a report on accomplishments for 2022.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk presented to the JURA board on the list.

She said there were 1,125 code enforcement and zoning inspections done in 2022 and 327 permits issued. Total fees generated by the department were in the amount of $25,848.

Surdyk said there are three Code Enforcement Officers in the department, “That’s 375 inspections per person for the year. And so, that takes out weekends, although frankly they’re on call 24-7, so it used to be that there may be one, maybe two a week. It’s more like four, five (inspections).”

Surdyk said the total value in permitted improvements is $2,331,561, “That’s way up from the last three years, which is great. It’s a sign of development coming back. Things are moving. Things are happening again which is exactly what we want to see.”

Surdyk said, in 2022, $1.118 million in Community Development Block Grant monies assisted 25 projects with $214,538 of HOME funds assisting 5 properties.

She said $194,000  funding also was allocated toward two Code Blue emergency shelters.

Surdyk added that $3.3 million was received for ten separate awards, including funding for the Chadakoin River Basin Activation plan as well as funding for the Comprehensive Plan.

Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency board meeting (March 14, 2023)

The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency board has approved the creation of a new position focused on housing.

Jamestown Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the city faces a monumental task when it comes to housing issues, including housing code enforcement and housing conditions.

She said following conversations with City Council members, other housing agencies, and internal staff on how to address this, she came to the conclusion that it doesn’t make sense to split the Department of Development into a department that solely deals with housing development and an economic development department, “I don’t feel that it should be separated. I still think there should be a director of development, not two directors who are working separately from each other and, very possibly, in silos. Economic development and housing and community development are very much intertwined. And so there still needs to be a really cohesive strategy and team around those even though they seem like different things, they’ve not so different.”

Surdyk said the position of Deputy Director of Housing and Community Development Manager will be similar to the Economic Development Coordinator position, but with more responsibilities, “Because housing is so complex and we really want to look at policies, and we’ve been working on some ordinances, and to attack housing and the issues that we have with housing it has to be a multi-pronged approach. And so this position will frankly free me up to do all of the things better.”

Surdyk said while the position was not included in the 2023 JURA budget, there should be enough room to fund it with the upcoming departure of Assistant Corporation Counsel Ben Haskins, other unfilled positions in DOD, as well as more grant funds.

Catherine Maycock, on far right, addresses City Council Finance Committee (February 13, 2023)

The City of Jamestown is looking for its fifth comptroller in three years.

Catherine Maycock, who was hired as the Deputy Comptroller in Fall 2022, became the interim Comptroller in December 2022 following John Sellstrom‘s resignation.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist confirmed that Maycock departed the interim position at the beginning of March for a job in the private sector.

John Sellstrom had only been City Comptroller for five months. City Council members had criticized 2023 City Budget during his tenure for having around $400,000 worth of mistakes. Sellstrom has returned to the Financial Coordinator position he previously held in the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency prior to being appointed Comptroller.

Sellstorm had replaced Ryan Thompson, who resigned in July 2022 for a job in the private sector as well. Thompson had been preceded by longtime Comptroller Joe Bellitto, who retired in June 2020.

Sundquist said it’s been tough for the city to compete with the private sector, “She (Maycock) received an offer to work for another company that offered her some different flexibility than the city is able to offer. Unfortunately, with city work we just can’t compete with work from home opportunities as well as well as much larger salary opportunities that have been coming along.”

Sundquist said internal staff is helping keep the city’s finances moving along including oversight from the Clerk’s office under Treasurer and City Clerk Jennifer Williams. He said a search for a new comptroller has been underway with interviews being conducted.

Sundquist added that in the meantime former City Comptrollers are assisting with year-end close outs as well as audit preparations.

He hopes to have a new Comptroller in place by April 1.

Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency Board meets (December 14, 2022)

The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency Board has approved the agency’s 2023 budget which includes two additional personnel.

The $1.4 million budget includes the creation of a Compliance Manager position as well as the hiring of an additional Target Area Code Enforcement Officer.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said U.S. Housing and Urban Development recommended the creation of the position, “We’re calling it a Compliance Manager because it really is.. we don’t see it as just being HUD. We are looking at it as a position that would manage all of our HUD grants, our Federal grants, any state grants we get. For all of those different types of grants there’s always some level of administration that has to go with them, there’s reporting back. HUD is probably the big example.”

Surdyk said HUD has done several monitorings of the Department of Development over the last couple years as they hadn’t done one in 15 years, “They did a series of monitorings on our financial management, processes and procedures, HOME program, CDBG. They actually monitored us twice for HOME, which was an anomoly, and our CHDOs which is our Community Housing Development Organization program that is sort of a side project out of HOME.”

She added that the HUD monitoring is standard procedure and wasn’t punitive or disciplinary in nature.

Surdyk said the new Code Enforcement Officer will be funded through Community Development Block Grant funds from HUD. She said the current Code Enforcement Officers are over-burdened and struggling to keep up, “We do have some additional grants that we are partnering with other agencies on. And those grants are utilizing our Code Enforcement Officers and their experience and what they do on a daily basis. And in that partnership, one of them in particular is the Healthy Homes Production Grant that’s with the County.”

She said DOD will receive administrative funds from that partnership.

The addition of the position will bring the total number of Code Enforcement Officers in the Department of Development to four.

Surdyk said the over $300,000 increase in the 2023 budget from 2022 can be mainly attributed to increased staffing and staffing costs. Aside from the new positions approved in the budget, JURA also is now contributing to the cost of the shared Grant Writer position and the Associate Corporation Counsel position, the latter which had previously been funded through a

Jamestown City Council holds special voting session to override vetoes to the 2023 City Budget (December 12, 2022)

Jamestown City Council has voted to override all of Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s vetoes to the 2023 City Budget.

The $38.68 million budget as passed by Council on November 28, 2022 will stand following the special voting session. There is no tax increase in that budget.

Council voted 8 to 1, with Bill Reynolds voting no, to override the veto of the $75,000 increase to sales tax revenue. On the veto of the $6,500 cut to the Mayor’s Office travel and education lines, Council overrode that by a vote of 6 to 3. Councilmembers Regina Brackman, Bill Reynolds, and Jeff Russell voted on on that.

Council voted 7 to 2 to override the $5,600 cut to the engineering supplies line. Regina Brackman and Bill Reynolds voted no on that measure. And the veto of the $3,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency was overriden by a vote of 8 to 1 with Regina Brackman being the only no vote. A procedural veto of the appropriations line was overriden unanimously.

Finance Committee Chair and Council member at large Kim Ecklund said due to the errors needing to be corrected in the proposed budget, it was council’s unanimous decision that all departments felt the pinch through cuts, not adding items, or keeping lines stagnant, “While I truly understand the risk in the sales tax, I also do know that there was another $52,000 that was found in error in the budget. Without showing that and having that, my personal opinion is to let those ride and come together in an over-under.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said the budget process was made more difficult this year by Comptroller Ryan Thompson resigning in July with someone new coming in.

Mayor Sundquist said this is democracy in action but he is still concerned about Council’s increase to sales tax revenues, “I do not think it is realistic and I think it sets the city up for failure for that high of a sales tax amount. Given the fact we’d only budgeted 2% to 3% and this amount incorporates almost 6, 7% to last year, it’s a little high for my taste. In fact, the County only budgeted about 5%.”

Sundquist said the 2023 budget is balanced as it now stands.

Jamestown City Council

The five vetoes on the voting agenda include Mayor Eddie Sundquist‘s veto of Council’s $75,000 increase to sales tax revenues. The veto of the $6,500 cut to the Mayor’s Office travel and education line. A veto of the $5,600 cut to the Engineering supplies line. The veto of a $3,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency. And the fifth veto is of the Appropriated Fund balance, which is to allow Council to reappropriate additional funds to balance the 2023 budget should they not override some or all of the vetoes.

Sundquist has proposed a further budget amendment to eliminate a bond interest payment in the amount of $52,964 that was related to the bond payment cut by Council from the budget. He said that by passing the amendment, Council could avoid a full veto override of the three cuts. It would also reduce the sales tax revenue increase needed by $37,864.

Council President Tony Dolce along with Finance Chair and Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund put out a statement last week about the Mayor’s veto of the cut to JURA in response to a news item that ran on a Buffalo television station, WKBW.

Both said the $3,000 cut was to a $5,000 increase from the 2021 budget. In 2021, the JURA budget was increased by $12,000. Dolce and Ecklund said the amount cut by council was “never designated to fund anything specifically for the homeless nor communicated that was the intention.”

They added that “…every department had to be evaluated and cut in places to make up this difference considering we are close to our constitutional tax limit. While we completely understand no one wants a cut we don’t appreciate the false narrative being shared considering the recent story which aired. The City of Jamestown was recently awarded a grant of $194,000 from HUD to address homelessness in Jamestown so this council is not ignoring the issues.”

The special voting session will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. It is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist presents budget vetoes to City Council (December 5, 2022)

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist has issued four vetoes on the 2023 city budget that would restore $15,100 in cuts by Council and reduce the sales tax revenue increase Council had passed.

Sundquist cited a slowed increase in sales tax revenues for 2022 and a concern that the City could fall short of projected revenues for this year as the reason he was vetoing a $75,000 increase to that revenue line that Council passed by amendment.

Another line vetoed by Sundquist was the $6,500 cut to the Mayor’s Office travel and education line. Council member at large Jeff Russell asked if the Mayor’s office was traveling more than before with Sundquist responding that he is compared to 2020 and 2021, “The former mayor spent around, anywhere from $8,000 to $9,000 in travel expenses per year. So, I think the budgeted amount that we had this year was somewhere around $11,000. We’re currently at about $9 or $10,000 for traveling this year. The majority of it is for conferences for the New York Conference of Mayors. We do also have conferences for the National League of Cities, which we’re a partner with.”

Sundquist said some of the travel has been reimbursed as well.

He also vetoed a $5,600 cut to the Engineering supplies line citing the increased amount road work the City is doing, “Most of it is due to federal and state funding for roads and others. The engineering line in particular usually goes to blueprints, other engineering costs for streetscapes. Sometimes it’s other miscellaneous engineering items, but really we’re focused on the items it takes to redesign some of the street work.”

The third cut Sundquist aims to restore through a veto is $3,000 from the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency, saying in his message that the cut “reflects poorly for our shared concern for the extraordinary housing issues Jamestown faces.”

A fifth veto by Sundquist is to the Appropriated Fund balance, which is to allow Council to reappropriate additional funds to balance the 2023 budget should they not override some or all of the vetoes.

Sundquist also proposed a further budget amendment to eliminate a bond interest payment in the amount of $52,964 that was related to the bond payment cut by Council from the budget. He said that by passing the amendment, Council could avoid a full veto override of the three cuts. It would also reduce the sales tax revenue increase needed by $37,864.

City Council now has until Thursday, December 15 to try to override any of the Mayor’s vetoes. It requires a 2/3 majority, or six votes, to do so.

Based on discussion at Council’s work session, Council will hold a special meeting on Monday, December 12 prior to the regular work session where they will vote on overriding any of the vetoes.

Jamestown City Council (September 26, 2022)

The Jamestown Salary Review Commission is ready to go after City Council approved the final appointments needed Monday night.

Council President Tony Dolce‘s appointments of Pat Smeraldo, Mike Laurin, and Taje Hall were approved to serve on the commission.

He said he wanted to choose people who were interested in serving and had some government background, “I know that some of the Mayor’s appointments are former department heads, so I was trying to put together a group that would understand the history and understand a little bit about the process so they’re not exactly starting from ground zero.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist‘s appointments that were approved in August are former City Comptrollers Joe Bellitto and Ryan Thompson; as well as Heather Greenfield, who is the Financial Coordinator for the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

The City Charter requires that a Salary Review Commission is convened every four years to review the salaries of all elected officials.

Dolce said the commission would likely start meeting next month. He said they are required to present a recommendation to the City Council by the end of the year. City Council then votes on those recommendations.

Any salary changes would not go into effect until January 1, 2024. The Mayor’s current salary is $72,000 which hasn’t had an increase since 2008. City Council members receive a $5,000 salary with the Council President receiving an additional $1,000 stipend. Dolce said it has been 38 years since council’s salary has been adjusted.

Jamestown City Council (August 29, 2022)

Jamestown City Council has approved allocating another $3 million to home improvement and business improvement programs funded through the American Rescue Plan Act monies.

The Roof, Private Sewer Lateral, Private Water Line Repair/Replacement Program received an additional $2 million with the Building & Property Infrastructure Improvements program receiving an additional $1 million.

Council President Tony Dolce said both programs had originally been funded with $750,000, “When we first passed this several months ago, we weren’t sure how much we would need. This just increases the amount to cover some of the need that’s been out there that people have requested. So, it’s really good for the city, for the citizens, for the businesses in the community.”

Dolce said for the roof and sewer program, homeowners who had received letters saying they were approved pending more funding will now receive that funding. He said the application process will not be reopened for either the housing nor business program.

Council approved an agreement with Zambelli Fireworks in the amount of $19,500 for the Labor Day Fest fireworks show on Sunday, September 4.

Citizen Doug Champ spoke out against the funding of the fireworks show, saying the money would be better used to support or enhance the Parks Department, “You could buy 50 recycled park benches for $385. You can create a tree and shrubbery specimen botanical garden for people to look and observe various species that can grow in our zone with potential use in their property. You can buy 19 full-sized picnic tables at a thousand dollars a pop.”

Champ also cited negative environmental impact caused by fireworks as additional reasons for not funding the program.

Dolce said he understands that fireworks are expensive but it’s not something the city does on a regular basis, “People enjoy it. They’ve come to expect it, especially on Labor Day. A lot of people, that’s the highlight of the day for them. They go up and picnic. Again, I understand his concerns but I just think it’s one of things where the community.. it’s been three years since they’ve really had a chance to celebrate. And it’s not something we do every day and we try to do the best we can to make it as safe as possible.”

Dolce said the funding is coming from the city budget’s Parks Festival line.

Council tabled a resolution to fund the 19A Homeownership program with $750,000 of ARPA monies. Dolce said the Finance Committee had questions that were not answered prior to the voting session and that the resolution will likely be on the September agenda for reconsideration.

Council also approved appointments by Mayor Eddie Sundquist to the Salary Review Commission. Former City Comptrollers Joe Bellitto and Ryan Thompson were named to the advisory group as well as Heather Greenfield, who is the Financial Coordinator for the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

Dolce said he, as Council President, as will have three appointments that he hopes to bring forward in September, “The City Charter requires that we put together a Salary Review Commission every four years to review the salaries of all elected officials. That would be the City Council as well as the Mayor. And then they make a recommendation back to the City Council as to what they think the salaries should be, should they be changed, added, whatever, and then the Council gets to vote on it.”

Any salary changes would not go into effect until January 1, 2024. Dolce added that the Mayor’s salary is $72,000 which hasn’t had an increase since 2008, “If you look at the list of salaried employees in the city, the chief executive officer (mayor) is way down at the bottom below firemen, policemen, and other city workers, so maybe it’s time to look at that. The City Council, it’s been 38 years since there has been an adjustment.”

Council members receive a $5,000 salary with the Council President receiving an additional $1,000 stipend.

Dolce also announced details have been finalized for a city-wide public forum. The event will be held at Christ First United Methodist Church located at 663 Lakeview Avenue at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 14. Dolce said Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson will be on hand to discuss and answer questions about public safety with Director of Development Crystal Surdyk also attending to discuss housing concerns. The forum is open to the public.

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

Jamestown City Council has approved a new contract with the Jamestown Firefighter’s Union.

This is the second time Council voted on a contract this year after voting down the one presented to them in January.

Council President Tony Dolce said the issue then was that the contract included adding four firefighters to man a second ambulance, “They were removed from that, so now they’re being funded by ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for those four positions. And so basically, other than that, it is identical to the Police contract that was passed back in January as well. So, we’re glad to have that behind us. I’m sure they are as well. And again, all the different units being under contract, it’s nice to have that out of the way.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the contract with Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 137 would cover January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2024, “They would provide pay raises similar to our Police Department and other bargaining units, providing a 2.5% increase from 2021 to 2023 and a 2.75% increase in 2024. It does provide some additional funding for firefighters to maintain their EMT certification.”

Also in the contract, firefighter’s health insurance contribution rates will raise from 21% for 2021 to 23% for 2022 through 2024.

Council also approved contracts totaling $4.5 million toward the renovation of the new Fleet Maintenance Building.

The new facility will be located on Washington Street in the former Hartley Buick building.

Public Works Director Jeff Lehman stated at the work session before council voted that the project is about $2 million over budget at this point.

Sundquist said construction costs have nearly doubled and tripled with inflation, “We do have (American) Rescue Plan funds that we can use to pay for it, but we want to remind folks that if we were to rebuild or create a completely new garage, we were looking at ten-plus million dollars at this point given inflation and others. So, the fact that we’re still hovering around $4 to $5 million for the rebuild, in addition some of that property was sold to a for-profit business that will have a business on it, I think it was a good result overall.”

Sundquist added the city had received $1 million from the State’s Financial Restructuring Board toward the project and has applied for an $800,000 NYSERDA grant to make it a “green” building, or environmentally friendly. The rest of the project is being funded through a bond approved in 2019.

Council also approved the appointment of John Sellstrom as the City’s new Comptroller.

Sundquist said Sellstrom has been an employee of the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency for several years, “So he’s been dealing with a lot of different accounting and other financial things across the city, so we’re really excited to bring him on. It is obviously a very large position to take on. We’ve been very lucky to have our former comptrollers, both Ryan Thompson and Joe Bellitto, step in to provide some training and support. And we’re still actively looking for a deputy comptroller to provide additional support for John.”

Sellstrom replaces Ryan Thompson, who resigned as Comptroller on July 8 to take a job in the private sector.