Jamestown Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon and Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson present their budgets to City Council (November 7, 2022)

The Jamestown Police Chief has concerns over cuts or under-funding of several areas of the department’s budget.

Chief Tim Jackson, presenting to City Council, said training and instruction was only funded with $30,000 when $60,000 was requested. He said as of October 28, the department was $25,205 over budget for that line and he anticipated similar numbers for 2023.

Jackson said funding for special operations, or the SWAT team, was only funded with $16,500 when $35,000 was requested, “As I’m sure everybody knows, we used the SWAT team a lot more this year. And we continually use our SWAT team. This past weekend we used them again. And we’ve definitely have shown an increased need to use the team. As of October 28 of this year, we are over our allocated amount by $10,022.41.”

Jackson said the K9 Handler compensation, which New York State mandates a minimum wage rate, was under-budgeted with only $10,000 allocated. He said with minimum wage rising to $14.20 in 2023, he estimates the actual compensation cost will be $15,549.

Jackson said he and City Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan put together a police vehicle and equipment replacement schedule spreadsheet, including vehicles that were recommended to be replaced for 2023.

He said none of those requested vehicle replacements were included in the proposed budget, “And we created that spreadsheet so we wouldn’t end up in the situation we ended up in last year. Some of our vehicles, to be frank, I don’t know if one or two of them are going to pass inspection.”

Monaghan said while he was grateful for the funding previously approved by Council to replace some patrol cars this year, there needs to be a regular replacement schedule so that they can avoid having to replace major components on the vehicles, “I can tell you that on four-year old vehicles, we’ve replaced the engine and transmission on them. And that’s in spite of regular, aggressive preventative maintenance programs. It’s just, those vehicles are subjected to everything they tell you should never do to a vehicle. Consider that they run 365 days a year, 24-7, under extreme conditions. And it’s just something that, by the time the third year of these vehicles is up it’s time to replace them.”

Finance Chair and Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund asked why the cuts were made with City Comptroller John Sellstrom replying that he would get back to her with that information.

Council Member at Large Jeff Russell expressed concern that the cuts to the SWAT team could result in team losing its state certification, which Chief Jackson said is possible.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon also presented his budget, with few concerns. Russell asked if grant funding could be used to replace turn-out gear, but Coon said they rarely meet requirements as one of the grants requires gear to be 14 years old and the department goes through equipment at a much faster rate than that.

The last budget presentations to Council will be by the City Department of Development and the Fenton History Center on Monday, November 14.

However, council members can begin to pre-file budget amendments as soon as Wednesday, November 9.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 16 and is anticipated to be voted on at the November 28th voting session.

Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan, DPW/Acting Parks Director Jeff Lehman, Parks Manager Dan Stone present budget to Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

The Jamestown DPW and Acting Parks Director is expressing concerns over under-funding or lack of funding in the proposed 2023 executive budget.

Jeff Lehman presented the Public Works Department budget to Jamestown City Council Monday night along with Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan and Parks Manager Dan Stone.

Lehman said the cuts in Traffic Division equipment scare him the most with prices going up 25 to 30%, “We’re going to be over budget, I think, this year as far as some of the things we’re ordering. Just the basic things – lights, traffic control boxes, that type of thing. So that’s got me scared. And then the other thing is the laborer. There’s nothing here for summer labor, which you know, we cut that person out, well, you might not know. So, years ago, I don’t know, Kim (Ecklund), was it five, six years ago? We cut a person out of the Traffic Division. The summer laborer position is about the only way we get somebody help to get the lines all painted in the summer.”

Lehman said he didn’t see summer help funded in any of the Public Works divisions. He said his biggest items are capital items and includes the replacement of the Municipal Building roof for an estimated cost of $800,000, “We’re having some minor repairs done this year because the availability of materials precludes us from doing it this year. We’re hoping if we get approval of this, we can get it on order and have materials in place for next year, but we had pretty major leaking in the fifth floor this year.”

Lehman said with the Municipal Building being 50 years old, the infrastructure needs updating including $800,000 to fix wall facade on the outside of the building, $200,000 for air quality control in the building’s HVAC system, and $25,000 to replace plumbing in the jail. He added phase two of the Tracy Plaza deck replacement on the northern portion of the plaza is estimated to cost $1 million.

Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan presented on 20 different purchase requests from the $7.5 million in DPW and Parks equipment and replacement program requests. He said those 20 pieces of equipment were at the end of their life with three vehicles having to be taken out of services due issues that can no longer be repaired.

Parks Manager Dan Stone said his biggest concern that wasn’t reflected in the budget is having enough employees in the Parks Department to maintain the over 500 acres of park land along with everything that has been added to the parks system in the last 17 years, “This year alone, right, we put in what I consider not just a park but a destination place with the Skatepark that we just did the grand opening. But that’s a whole another huge area that we’re looking at having to maintain with the same workforce. We’ve added disc golf. Again, I think it’s going to be another destination place in one of our parks, but that’s another area to maintain as well.”

Stone said two new kayak launches have been installed this year, there are more properties and areas to mow, more garbage pick-up routes needed in the parks, and there’s more demand for parks workers to assist with events in the city, “‘Cause I don’t want to get us to the point where we’re sacrificing quality for quantity. That’s not a point we want to be at. Besides that, we plow more than what we had due to streets projects that have occurred in the alleyways and, again, more developed areas throughout the city. And we still maintain our urban forest and continue to grow and keep that as healthy as we can by trimming, removing trees, and planting new trees.”

Stone said the $10,000 budget line for flags and banners was cut entirely and he said the department was on target to spend $12,000 on that this year alone. He said the horticulture line also was cut entirely, which means the department won’t have a budget to purchase flowers, shrubs, or mulch for flower beds or flower pots in the city.

City Council will hear budget presentations from the City Clerk, Finance, Assessor’s Office, and Corporation Counsel Departments at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 24 before the City Council’s Voting Session

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council approved $2 million worth of projects and purchases using American Rescue Plan funds at its meeting Monday.

Resolutions totaling $1.26 million to purchase equipment and vehicles for the Parks and Public Works Departments were approved.

Council also voted on purchasing a new sidewalk plow for $153,259 to replace a 1979 Bombardier for the DPW.

Council President Tony Dolce said they’re waiting for Fleet Manager Patrick Monaghan‘s prioritized list of specific equipment so that those can be voted on individually at a later date, “But the ones like the bombardier, we felt that was very necessary given the situation with the weather this year. And having the ability to go out and get that right now, as fast as we possibly can, being able to possibly utilize that this winter season was very important to have that piece of equipment.”

Among the projects approved are roof replacements for Fire Station #4 and the Parks Maintenance Building for a total of $337,000. $48,000 also was approved for repairs at Diethrick Stadium.

The Jamestown Police Department will purchase 60 portable radios and the Fire Department will purchase a Citywide Knox Box System.

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council heard a presentation on $1.26 million in equipment purchases for DPW and Parks that could include replacing a sidewalk plow.

Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan gave a presentation to Council on the requests that would be paid for using American Rescue Plan funds. He said the vehicles to be replaced were identified by each department as top priorities. For Department of Public Works, a salt spreader truck, a plow/dump truck, a street sweeper, and a utility tractor/sidewalk plow would be replaced for a total of $890,000.

The Parks Department equipment list includes replacing a dump truck, bucket truck, tractor with loader bucket, and an excavator/trencher for $370,000.

Both departments say the equipment needs to be replaced due to safety, high maintenance and repair costs; and obsolescence.

Council member Marie Carrubba asked what the turn around was for purchasing equipment. Monaghan said something like the excavator might be available but there is a two-year wait list for the trucks.

Monaghan also presented an alternate equipment choice for Council to consider with replacing the 1979 sidewalk plow for a cost of $154,000. He said it’s one of three sidewalk plows in the city’s fleet, with the newest of them being 22 years old. He said the company that made them is out of business and it’s difficult to find replacement parts for repairs.

Council President Tony Dolce asked if the utility tractor being proposed to be bought for DPW could be used for neighborhood sidewalk plowing. DPW Director Jeff Lehman said it doesn’t have the power to get the speed needed for the job.

Council member Carrubba said the sidewalk plow is a critical piece of equipment, especially after seeing kids walking in North Main Street after a heavy snow because sidewalks aren’t clear.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund requested that Monaghan provide to Council his priorities list for equipment replacement before the voting session on January 31.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the city will be working with the Jamestown School District on the snow removal issue as well as a larger school zone initiative. He said the school route map hasn’t been updated since 2018 and that the city will work with the school to make sure routes are plowed.

DPW Director Jeff Lehman said with the capital projects, he feels like “a kid at Christmas who gets a bunch of toys but still wants more,” “There’s a considerable amount of equipment in here, but there’s not that much equipment in here, in my opinion. This is a one time shot where we’re getting a considerable amount of money and I think we should be trying to pick up some of this equipment, try to catch up.. Tony will tell you.. Marie will tell you.. We’ve been playing from behind the eight-ball for quite some time.”

Lehman said that two of the sidewalk plows the city uses were bought in 1979. Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan said his biggest concerns are for the city’s dump trucks, but even if they ordered the four new ones proposed in the budget by January 1st, vendors are telling him they’re two years out from delivery.

Council Member Marie Carrubba said she supports using the American Rescue Plan funds toward the needed equipment replacement and infrastructure improvements. She said she would prefer buying now to avoid bonding later.

Council Member At Large Kim Ecklund asked Lehman if he requested the addition of the Assistant Director of Public Works position. He replied that he sees it as a “placeholder” position for whenever he’s ready to retire so someone could be trained to fill his position. The assistant is proposed to be funded at a $75,000 starting salary using American Rescue Plan monies.

Lehman said he’s concerned the budget has summer laborer positions being funded using CHIPS, or Consolidated Highway Improvement Projects, monies, “Which is something we tried this year because we didn’t budget any money. I’m just afraid now you’re going to pick away that CHIPS money and if this starts to happen it’ll never change. You know what I mean? And that could be two streets right there that aren’t going to get done in the future by doing this. So in my opinion, it’s a concern I have.”

Lehman added one of the items not funded was $400,000 in roof repairs, which included the roof repair for Fire Station 4 in his request.

Parks Manager Dan Stone said the inclusion of three new laborers using American Rescue Plan funds would help with increased Park maintenance, “The addition of the Riverwalk and the Bike Trail are fantastic. And our department can build anything, any playground you give us, any building, any trail. Maintaining them is the hardest part to do. So those two entities together basically become their own park. And because of that they’re not getting the attention that I feel that they should have. I don’t want to sacrifice quality of what we have here in the city for quantity of work.”

Stone said Bergman Park alone should have two full-time employees with all the activities and amenities there now, not even including what’s proposed in the future. He added more manpower is needed as projects have been added to the department’s work list like the mowing of delinquent properties, saying one property hasn’t been mowed in two months.

Stone said the city’s parks system saw a big increase in use during the pandemic. He said a number of new projects are proposed to be funded using American Rescue Plan funds including a frisbee disc golf course and a $250,000 dog park at Bergman Park, “For the last two years, three years, we haven’t been using field one. That’s the first one as you come in, the second entrance across from City View into Bergman. I figured that would be a great location for a dog park. That way it’s close to the sidewalk itself, so even on those nice winter days we have, it could still be accessible.”

A new playground at Nordstrom Park has proposed ARP funding as well. Stone said that park is home to the City’s youth rec baseball league and the future adult kickball league. He said the city is also proposing bringing back the summer playground program at four park locations.

The building of a splash pad had been mentioned in budget presentations by Mayor Eddie Sundquist but a closer reading of the budget book shows that project is not being funded using general fund or lost recovery monies under the American Rescue Plan at this time.

Finance Committee Chair and Council Member At Large Kim Ecklund expressed frustration during Monday’s budget session that the budget as presented isn’t transparent, “I literally went through this entire budget line item by line item, and what you sent me, writing down what we expended, and trying to find stuff. And I’m experienced with budgets. I can’t imagine how some of these people feel. It’s terrible. [Comptroller Thompson responds, “Thank you”] It’s not your fault. I’m not blaming you 100%, but you’re expecting us to make multi-million dollar decisions with ARPA and with all this stuff and I gotta bug you a million times for information. That’s not fair to us. That’s not fair to you. And that’s not fair to the public.”

Ecklund’s comments came after she made multiple requests at the meeting to Comptroller Ryan Thompson to provide breakout costs for the building mechanic’s overtime, summer laborer salaries, and other salary related items.

Four resolutions related to American Rescue Plan funds, including two new positions, have been postponed for discussion until November. Ecklund said this is due in part to how ARP funds are co-mingled into the proposed budget, which won’t be voted on until November. She also requested the administration provide a detailed budget of how the ARP funds will be spent.

Comptroller Thompson said he had attended the New York State Conference of Mayors recently and that no other city or village there had started spending their ARP funds yet, “And really, the advice was to slow down and take your time because there’s a lot of things that could change in the next year or so between the infrastructure bill and everything else going on.”

Thompson reported out on third quarter financials, saying sales tax is continuing to perform well. He said sales tax receipts are up $271,000 for this year, or up 13.67% from 2020. He said revenues were up $328,000 from before the pandemic in 2019, or up 17%.

However, Thompson said of the revenues for the parking meters, parking violations, and the parking ramps and garages, only 55.5% has been collected, “Our revenues for our parking garages are still not enough to cover the operating costs between all of the clean-up inside and all of the payroll and that kind of thing. We’re not even matching our expenditures, so we’re not turning a profit and that doesn’t include our debt service on them, so concerning for sure.”

Mayor Sundquist said the city is looking at possible costs savings through automating the parking garages. Thompson said expenditures are in good shape overall with health insurance remaining on budget.

Police Chief Tim Jackson, while presenting his budget to City Council last night, said there are nine front line cars that are used every day of the week, “And some of the mileage – 162,000; 131 (thousand), 125(thousand), (thousand), and so on. the cards aren’t going to last much longer that’s a fact. Thankfully, it was included this year that we are getting one new vehicle and that is the first time since 2011.”

Fleet Manager Pat Monaghan said city mechanics are working on the police cars every day, “Some of them, within five years we’re replacing the engine and transmission. It’s not due to lack of maintenance it’s just simply usage. I would argue that the city does not own a vehicle that’s subjected to more severe duty than a police car.”

Council Member at Large Jeff Russell expressed concern, “If you have a police car that has a 130- or 160,000 miles on it and officers are involved in a pursuit, how’s that vehicle going to hold up to a pursuit with higher speeds? Is this thing going to fall apart in the process? Is the officer going to be injured? Is the civilian going to be injured if things are coming apart?”

Jackson said asset forfeiture has previously been used to buy new cars, but that fund is not reliable and there is only enough to get maybe one new car.

Monaghan added there is a very long lead time with getting police vehicles. He said an order submitted in April is still pending.

Jackson said replacing the range used for firearm training at a cost of $190-thousand dollars is his second priority, although that estimate has likely gone up since he got the quote in Spring of 2021. He said the current one is around 30 to 40 years old and is beyond its useful life, “The console is broke. The traps are getting old, or they are old I should say. To turn the targets, we can’t do that anymore and it leaks. The range.. we can’t do anything more with it. We can’t buy new parts for it, as long as it’s going to make it.”

Jackson said the range is used to two to three times a year to qualify officers on firearms, which is required, as well as for other training. He said there are no other indoor ranges in the county that the department could use.

Council Member Russell asked if a proposed capital project to purchase Virtual Reality Training for $62,500 dollars could be rented out. Jackson said it could be as it’s mobile and it would be the only VR tool in the county.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said getting new firefighters trained is an issue right now, especially with seeing an 9% increase in calls compared to last year.

Coon said one issue is that the state-run Fire Training Academy, while there is no tuition cost to the city, now has a lead time of up to 12 months to send a recruit through the Academy. They’re also not allowing the city to request a “placeholder” for potential new training recruits, “Going back to fourth quarter of 2020, when we approached the Academy about potentially having openings in the spring session, they advised us that they needed student names as they were putting their rosters together as of January 1st. Myself along with several other career chiefs from around the state who were involved in this particular zoom call expressed our displeasure with that because we have budgetary constraints. No bringing people on before January 1 when the budget takes effect.”

Coon said the Academy’s response was maybe cities need to align with the state’s fiscal year, which starts April 1st.

Coon said facility maintenance issues were his top capital budget concerns for the Jamestown Fire Department, “So top of the list would be the roof at Station 4. That was included. I can’t thank the DPW staff enough for helping us put all of that together. We do have quotes to do that roof depending on when we can fit it into the pipeline. We will probably have to get that re-quoted to be sure the material costs haven’t changed.”

Coon said replacing the deteriorating floor of Station 5 and purchasing gas-fueled back-up generators for stations that currently do not have one are the other top capital goals.

We’ll have more details on Monday night’s budget hearing in Wednesday’s newscast.

Sam Teresi presented his $12.9 million Smart City Capital Investment Program to members of the Jamestown City Council during the Sept. 9, 2019 work session at city hall.

JAMESTOWN – Mayor Sam Teresi has less than four months to go before he leaves office at the end of this year, but that’s not stopping him from rolling out an ambitious borrowing program that he says could result in the city saving half a million dollars on an annual basis.

On Monday night Teresi, city staff, and the Jamestown City Council spent over two hours reviewing the proposed 2019 Smart city Capital Investment Program, which involves the city borrowing $12.9 million in order to address capital and equipment challenges facing the city.  An additional $1 million would also come from the state Financial Restructuring Board (FRB).

The mayor said that unlike borrowing proposals of the past, this proposal is geared toward an effort to identify and go after large expense projects in an effort to create efficiency and save money.

• READ DETAILS OF THE PLAN

“This is our first major foray into a true, smart city initiative where everything that we’re investing in has an efficiency, a revenue-generating potential, and has a savings potential. A lot of our bonding initiatives, as you’ve seen in the past, have been reactive to things. And some of the things that we borrowed on didn’t meet the definition of smart city,” Teresi said.

The plan involves borrowing money for seven main categories – three of which would focus on needs at the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and the other four would focus on city infrastructure, facility needs, and vehicle and equipment replacement and upgrades for both Public Works and Fire Departments.

For the BPU, an estimated $3.5 million could be borrowed to address sewer lines, water mains, and needs at the wastewater treatment plant – although the specific amount wont be known until after BPU officials finalize a detailed plan for the borrowing.  That final plan could come by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the other $9.4 million would be borrowed to cover everything from possibly building a new DPW garage to replacing and upgrading vehicles in the city fire department. Deputy Fire Chief Sam Salemme said that right now, several vehicles in the fleet are in very poor condition and borrowing as much as $1.2 million would go a long way addressing the problem.

“In one of the trucks – something as simple as a braking system has become obsolete. We pay through the nose to get just a caliper and brake pads to repair one of the trucks,” Salemme said. “It’s just costing us a lot of money to repair these trucks.”

Jamestown City Councilman at large Andrew Liuzzo (center) discusses the smart city Capital Investment Program with Mayor Teresi and other council members during the Sept. 9, 2019 work session.

Another major component of the borrowing would go toward the DPW, with $1.9 million being used to help pay for equipment and vehicle needs. In addition, $1 million from the FRB, making the total investment $2.9 million.  Another $4 million would also be used to construct a new DPW garage on Crescent Street.

DPW fleet manager Patrick Monaghan said right now the garage on Steele Street isn’t adequate to meet the needs of the department.

“One of their strongest recommendations for us – in order to put in place what they believe would be an effect fleet management program going forward – is that we need a larger and more adequate facility. Not only for maintenance, but just for simply managing a vehicle from the moment we buy it to updating and serving the vehicle to the day that we dispose of it,” Monaghan said. “Now, are we getting the work done? Yes. But we can do it a lot more efficiently, a lot quicker and a lot easier if we had the facility to do that.”

The total borrowing could be as high as $12.9 million and not all the projects would come on line at once if the borrowing did take place. However, Mayor Teresi said that by packaging all the items together under one borrowing program, it could help save the city nearly $150,000 in administrative costs and other fees that are typically associated with the bonding process.

“As we’ve done in the past with the BPU, when we package bonding initiatives together we are able to piggy back on top of each others efforts and basically share those costs so that we’re not going out in 2019 and doing $150,000 in costs and then the BPU is going out in 2020 or 2021. We’ll take them under one initiative and we’ll share the proportionate costs.”

If all projections were met, the mayor said the city would realize a projected annual savings of $599,500 through the program.

While the project was only publicly revealed on Monday night, the program is on an aggressive timeline to be reviewed and then acted on by the city council. According to the mayor, the council may give its authorization to proceed with the bonding process in a resolution that could be voted on as soon as this month’s Sept. 30 voting session.