CCS Owner Pat Smeraldo said his wife got the idea for the event from something similar she attended in Warren, Pennsylvania, “They dress up. It’s only women. There’s dance music. There’s treats. She has really worked her tail off and she has probably 10 or 12 baskets for a basket raffle collected. So, it’s a great event.”

The event takes place from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. in the Northwest Arena Reception Room on Saturday, September 3.

Tickets are $25 and attendees must be 21 to attend.

For more information, visit http://ccsolutions716.com/

Jamestown Local Development Corporation Board meeting

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation board has approved downtown programming funds for several events, including the four proposed by Collaborative Children’s Solutions.

CCS Director Patrick Smeraldo requested $40,000 for four events that would span seven days.

The events that would take place include a children’s carnival downtown followed by a Tarp Skunks game at Diethrick Stadium on June 24; a Christmas in July event downtown on July 22 and possibly a three-on-three basketball tournament downtown followed by a Tarp Skunks game on July 23; a beer tasting event downtown on September 3 and the Labor Day Fest at Bergman Park on September 4; and an event around a scheduled hockey tournament at the Northwest Arena on December 2 with the downtown holiday parade on December 3. All four events would include fireworks.

Smeraldo said the events are designed to be for kids and families and that he’s not trying to make a profit on them, “I mean, we can put on these events for kids and then take the funds that are raised through grants and things like that or agencies coming in and then put on a Chris Heron, who came here and spoke to the kids at Jamestown High School. That’s the intent. To feed the money back into the kids and see how we can draw and create opportunities for them.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist informed the JLDC board members that Smeraldo has been working with city staff to ensure the proposed events are in compliance.

The Board of Public Utilities had requested $50,000 in programming funds for a Climate Technology Conference. This conference is being funded in part by a NYSERDA grant received by the BPU that had a required match by the City of Jamestown. The two-day event is scheduled to take place October 18 and 19, 2022 and would tentatively utilize the Northwest Arena, Doubletree Hotel, and several other ancillary spaces downtown. JLDC approved the request contingent on approval by Corporation Counsel on the legality of a city entity using the program funds as the match.

The third proposal approved was a $6,000 request by Doug Sitler for a 10,000 Maniacs concert. The event had previously been awarded $25,000 in downtown programming funds but hadn’t included a request for sound and lighting. The total now approved for the event is $31,000.

Collaborative Children’s Solutions’ Pat Smeraldo address Public Safety Committee

A local organization is hoping to bring four events to Jamestown this year.

Collaborative Children’s Solutions‘ Pat Smeraldo made a presentation to the City Council Public Safety Committee about the activities he has begun working on.

CCS was the organization that took on organizing the downtown holiday parade this past December.

Smeraldo said it’s his mission to collaborate with the city, local agencies, and schools to create events that are family friendly, “To create seven days and evenings within the city starting from June 2022 to Christmas time, to go back and run four separate events. And actually since I met with the Mayor and his team last week, I’ve been approached about a couple other things.”

The four events include two with the Jamestown Tarp Skunks, events on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day that include the traditional Sunday festival in Bergman Park, and the downtown holiday parade in December. All four events would include fireworks.

Council member Marie Carrubba requested that Smeraldo look into the possibility of the use of “low noise fireworks” for the four shows due to concerns about how fireworks affect pets and people with PTSD.

Public Safety Committee Chair Brent Sheldon said Smeraldo is working with the city on all of the events and has his own sponsorships. He is expected to be filing the special event application permits and insurance certificates needed in the near future.

Jamestown Local Development Corporation Meeting. (Standing on Right) CCS’ Pat Smeraldo

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation approved $3400 in downtown programming funds for the Jamestown Holiday Parade that’s scheduled for Saturday, December 4th.

Collaborative Children’s Solutions‘ Pat Smeraldo said this funding will help the event break even between five credit unions funding the fireworks show along with support from The Resource Center and Chautauqua Connections.

Smeraldo also thanked the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce for their help with signing up participants. He said 35 groups have signed up including the Jamestown High School Marching Band. Those interested in participating in the parade can sign up on the Chamber’s website at jtny.events.

Smeraldo said it was important to get kids involved and some students created posters for the event, “One little girl, I complimented her today, never would have thought of it, she made a Spanish version. So good for you, never would have thought of that. We have Western New York News Now will be streaming the parade from City Hall with Justin Gould and his team. And there will be some high school kids shadowing them. I’m actually speaking with an accounting class next week to talk about budget process. With the company that I have it’s really important to me to get kids involved in real time projects.”

The JLDC also approved $35,000 in downtown programming funds to the National Comedy Center for the Riverside Saturdays program that was held this summer.

The NCC had applied in May for $136,000 in funding. The board discussed the concern over the amount of the request with Council member Kim Ecklund adding she didn’t think the downtown programming fund was supposed to go toward repeating events, “And, or, already had. So in other words, like the Babe Ruth World Series did not come forward asking for money because it’s an on-going, repetitive event. This wasn’t the first year of the funding of the downtown movies. A little different of a program. However, we had them the year prior.”

The board approved the lesser amount that would cover the purchase of the dual projector-screens system contingent on a written agreement that the City would also have use of that equipment.

Photo courtesy of discoverjamestown.com

The Jamestown Holiday Parade is back on.

The City of Jamestown put out a brief announcement that they are partnering with Collaborative Children’s Solution (CCS) to organize the annual holiday event.

Businesses or organizations interested in supporting or being in the parade should contact CCS CEO Patrick Smeraldo at 716-499-4065 or ccsolutions716@gmail.com.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown Mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist has put together a Transition Team and established a series of public input sessions as he prepares to launch his initial mayoral term on Jan. 1.

During a special announcement Friday morning at the National Comedy Center in downtown Jamestown, Sundquist was joined by several supporters and members of his transition team. According to Sundquist, his transition team is a voluntary committee designed to create a community conversation on his priorities, evaluate current city operations, and provide suggestions and recommendations for immediate and long term goals to help ensure a smooth transition from one administration to the next. He also said the team is non-partisan and includes representatives from a variety of community organizations and businesses will be broken down into four subcommittees.

Sundquist said the team will be focused on his top priorities for 2020:

• Creating a City for the Future;
• Strengthening Housing Initiatives and Supporting or Neighborhoods; and
• Tackling Financial Burdens.

“We are embracing openness as we focus on creating the Jamestown of the future,” Sundquist said. “To do that we will build on our strengths, work collaboratively with community partners, businesses, neighborhoods and employee groups. Community input is not only welcome, it is strongly encouraged. We hope to have a good turnout for these public meetings, and I am very pleased with the Transition Team that has been assembled.”

Economic and Business Development Subcommittee

• Rich Dixon, Chief Financial Officer with the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency
• Greg Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of the Gebbie Foundation
• Tory Irgang, Executive Director of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation
• Ricky Turner, President of Blackstone Advanced Technologies.

Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee

• Len Faulk, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Fredonia
• Rev. Luke Fodor, Rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
• Dr. Lillian Ney, former City Council Chair, and former Medical Director and VP of Medical Affairs and Cardiology at WCA Hospital
• Taylor Scott, real estate agent with ERA Team VP Realty.

Financial Stability Subcommittee

• Tom Benson, Managing Director of Vineyard Group, LLC
• Maria Kindberg, Dean of Arts Humanities, & Health Sciences at Jamestown Community College
• Todd Tranum, President and CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier
• Kristy Zabrodsky, shareholder of Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C.

City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee

• Andy Johnson, Senior HR Advisor at TitanX Engine Cooling
• Peggy Kaltenmeyer, owner of Forté the Restaurant
• George Panebianco, President of Lewis & Lewis
• Patrick Smeraldo, Teacher/Education Consultant at Jamestown Public Schools/Chautauqua Connections Inc.

Serving as Communications and Public Relations Liaison for the Transition Team is Sheila Webster, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Governmental Affairs for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce.

Public meetings have been scheduled for December to get input and recommendations from the community. They will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. as follows:

• Economic and Business Development Subcommittee, Thursday, December 5, at Jefferson Middle School
• Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee, Tuesday , December 10, at Washington Middle School
• Financial Stability Subcommittee, Wednesday, December 11, at Persell Middle School
• City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee, Tuesday, December 17, at Jamestown High School.

“The purpose of these sessions is to listen and to open a dialogue. Primarily, we are seeking input, recommendations, and comments relative to each subject area. This will provide the subcommittees with crucial information as they begin their evaluation process in early January,” Sundquist said. “The experience and diversity of backgrounds in this group is a great starting point. We not only welcome, but invite, all input from all residents of Jamestown.”