Jamestown City Council

The City Department of Development held six community input sessions on the action plan over the last two months. The next step is to have Council review the plan before going before the public a final time at a public hearing scheduled for Monday, June 26. The plan then gets submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The City of Jamestown has been allocated $1,144,750 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as well as $397,507 in HOME program funds for a total of $1,542,257.

Council also will receive a report on the Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth grant of $4,310 the city received to install a high-visibility creative crosswalk at West 6th and Cherry Streets connecting the James Prendergast Library to Dow Park.

And a resolution to lift the hiring freeze to hire an engineer appears on the agenda. According to the staff report, this resolution is to replace engineer Mark Roetzer who is now the Acting Director of Public Works and Parks Departments.

The Housing Committee meets at 6:45 p.m. with other committees meeting at 7:00 p.m. The full work session takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth floor of City Hall.

All meetings are open to the public with the full work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

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 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.

City Council President Tony Dolce reads proclamation recognizing retiring DPW-Parks Director Jeff Lehman (March 27, 2023)

Three grant allocations totaling $365,060 to Jamestown businesses have been approved by Jamestown City Council.

The three resolutions were approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation board at its March meeting, but each exceeded the $100,000 threshold, thus requiring council approval.

Summit Wealth Management‘s request of $108,705 was amended through a motion by Council member Andrew Faulkner to $83,100.

Faulkner said the amended amount is what was needed to finish the project, “They’ve already started it and been working on it. They recently purchased their building. They’re making their renovations to fit what they need, and the effects of COVID, what they needed. So, the form we got at the last work session, they had to break down all that and that will give them what they need to complete the project from here.”

Council member at Large Jeff Russell said several council members did tour the businesses, “And business owners did show them around and basically show them their project that was going on. So, there were council members that did their due diligence when they were invited to check out the projects.”

The allocation of $167,105 was approved for Panache and $114,855 was approved for Labyrinth Press Company.

Council also recognized Department of Public Works Director and Acting Parks Department Director Jeff Lehman for his 29 years of service to the city. Lehman’s last day before retiring is Friday, March 31. He served on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and City Planning Commission during his tenure, which also included overseeing the creation of the Jamestown Riverwalk.

Lehman is being succeeded by Acting DPW and Parks Director Mark Roetzer, who was sworn in at Monday night’s meeting for the temporary position while the city continues to looks for a full-time replacement.

City officials go over West Third Street redesign with residents

Over 25 people turned out Monday night to learn more about the West Third Street Redesign being proposed by the City of Jamestown.

The public input meeting held at Healing Word Ministries featured city officials giving an overview of the project that includes replacing sidewalks and driveway aprons on the section of West Third Street between Hall and Hallock Streets. New “candlestick” style street lighting also will be installed in addition to the planting of new trees that replace the “Cathedral Oaks” that were taken down at the end of 2020.

DPW Project Engineer Mark Roetzer said the city hopes to have a contractor in place by May and breaking ground by mid-May or early June. He said the project will be done one block at a time as homeowners will not have access to their driveways once digging begins.

Roetzer said doing the work to move electric lines from the backyards of the houses on the southside of West Third Street is a big part of the project, “So, the back lots, the actual moving of the electrical lines is in the future, but we’re getting the infrastructure in place this year. I don’t know when that’s scheduled for.”

Parks Manager and City Arborist Dan Stone said residents on West Third Street will have the option to select from a list of four to five trees which one they’d prefer to have in front of their house, “And with that said, I’d still like to have some kind of continuity on the street as well. For example, over at Lind Funeral Home, I was thinking of planting some American Elm trees. They have a real nice red color to them but a small leaf to them. If you’ve ever driven by, those guys were out there every day when we had the Oaks picking up acorns and leaves. Didn’t matter what time of the year or day of the week. So to make it a little easier on them and have a nice, bright canopy coming on through, but there is room for selection for sure.”

He said a root barrier that’s a combination of metal and plastic sleeves would be put down, which had never been done before, “Back in the mid ’80s, the curbs were all taken up and redone on Third Street. That was part of the issue with the stability of the trees 40 years later. So we’re looking to help avoid those kind of things and the trees be able to live in the situation we put them in. We’re going smaller trees, but they’re still going to be big trees.”

He said the trees should still eventually reach between 40 and 50 feet tall.

Residents requested the information be made available on the city’s website. DPW Director Jeff Lehman added that anyone with questions can call Public Works at 716-483-7545.

DPW Project Engineer Mark Roetzer presents West Third Street Redesign draft plan to City Council

Jamestown City Council got the first look at a draft plan for the West Third Street redesign at its work session Monday night.

The redesign follows the removal of the Cathedral Oaks at the end of 2020.

DPW Project Engineer Mark Roetzer said the project includes new sidewalks and driveway aprons from Hall to Hallock Street. He said new lighting is also proposed, “They’re the typical candlestick lighting that we have down Third Street for the rest of Third Street across the bridge. As well as replacing trees along that stretch of road. The trees will be determined by the Arborist Dan Stone, but they’ll be a variety of different species.”

Director of Public Works Jeff Lehman said Stone will work with individual homeowners to select which trees would go in front of their property.

Roetzer said homes on the southside of the West Third Street block currently get electric from poles behind the houses, which creates an maintenance issue for the Board of Public Utilities, “Because often it’s a small easement that the poles sit on but there’s no way, there’s no easement to get back to the poles themselves. So as part of this project, they’re going to along with installing the lights, they’ll be installing additional conduit underneath our sidewalks that then allows them to feed those houses from the street side still. All the lines will be underground and they’ll work with individual homeowners to get easements to get into their houses.”

Roezter said the BPU will work with homeowners to get easements with hopes to lay conduit this year.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the total cost of the project will be determined after public comment is gathered at a community input meeting.

That meeting, which is open to the public, will take place at 6:30 P.M., Monday, March 14 at Healing Word Ministries Church at 1006 West Third Street in Jamestown.

“Which, according to the New York State DOT (Department of Transportation), average annual traffic data has 3,000 more cars a day than what Barrett has. We’ll realign Prather Avenue to have a 90 degree angle connection with Baker and the same with the very end of Barrett to make sure these intersections are 90 degrees”

DPW Director Jeff Lehman said the intersections were flagged as potential safety hazards, having been first constructed in the early 1900s for horse and carriage traffic. The project will be paid for with CHIPS funding.