Jamestown City Council voting session (May 22, 2023)

Jamestown City Council has unanimously voted to lift a hiring freeze to hire eight new firefighters.

The decision after two months of discussions drew applause from an audience mostly made up of members of the Jamestown Fire Department at Monday’s meeting.

The hiring is contingent on the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 137 agreeing to stipulations outlined in the resolution presented by Council Member Marie Carrubba.

Council President Tony Dolce said council members wanted some protections, including the union agreeing not to go back to impact in the event the city has to lay-off firefighters in three years, “Would they go back to impact, open an impact arbitration and go back to get more money? And that would be catastrophic for the city. So, we put in there.. and it was discussed back and forth about the fact on how they won’t seek to reopen the arbitration case for impact payments. It would just revert back to what it originally was under the 2002 Foster agreement. So that was one thing that we put in there. We also wanted some outside counsel to review the resolution.”

The resolution also states the union will waive its right to pursue litigation against the city should the city not be able to secure new funding for retention of the eight firefighters. Conversely, the resolution states the city will make a good faith effort to secure new funding to retain and continue the new positions.

The union will be required to ratify the tentative agreement, which will come back again to City Council for approval.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said “it’s much easier to say no, much harder to get to yes,” “And so I very much appreciate the city council, the fire union, our police and fire chiefs that have been working diligently to try to get to that end result. At the end of the day, what matters most is that we have a safer Jamestown. We’re going to be able to add eight new firefighters with no cost to our taxpayers and that’s truly an incredible thing.”

The City of Jamestown was awarded in February a three-year $1.8 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to do the hiring.

Based on financial projections provided by former City Comptroller Joe Bellitto, the total cost to the city is between $2.2 and $2.6 million, leaving at least $400,000 that the city has to make up.

Council member at large Jeff Russell pointed out that this figure does not include any overtime costs, “Now, we know that’s not realistic. So those numbers are actually going to be larger cause you know they’re going to be called in on off shifts and callbacks and everything else, so that’s been the question all along. How do we pay for this? Numbers are unknown.”

Council members have requested that any revenue received from the two ambulances that are being staffed by firefighters be dedicated to funding the Jamestown Fire Department. Mayor Sundquist has said the city received $300,000 in revenue through billing in 2022 for use of the first ambulance.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said the hiring process will now begin immediately, with new recruits going through training at the Fire Academy in Montour Falls. He said he expects that the new hires should be on staff by Thanksgiving.

Jamestown City Council voting session (April 24, 2023)

Jamestown City Council is expected to finally vote tonight on whether to hire eight new firefighters.

Council tabled the resolution to lift the hiring freeze to hire the firefighters twice at voting sessions in March and April in order to have more discussion on the financial impact to the city.

The City of Jamestown was awarded in February a three-year $1.8 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to do the hiring.

Council Finance Committee Chair Kim Ecklund has expressed concern that the city could be faced with a $450 to $500,000 total shortfall over the three years of the grant. She said the American Rescue Plan funds used to hire four firefighters in 2022 runs out the the last year of the SAFER grant, which leaves another $382,000 for the city to fund.

Council learned during a special meeting with FEMA that they must hire eight firefighters as part of the grant agreement and that the city must maintain 62 firefighters on the roster for the three years of the grant.

Council also will vote under new business to approve awarding $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to Southern Tier Builders Exchange for a Pre-Apprenticeship Program. The funding had been approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation on May 17 but as the amount was over the $100,000 threshold, it requires council approval.

The voting session takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall. The meeting is open to the public and it will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Jamestown City Council holds special meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (May 16, 2023)

Jamestown City Council members were able to get more details about the SAFER grant received by the City during a meeting with FEMA Tuesday afternoon.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Project Manager Julia Barron answered questions council members had submitted about the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants program.

The city of Jamestown has received $1.8 million under the SAFER grant to hire eight additional firefighters.

Barron said the grant agreement included funding eight new full-time positions, “On the last page of the notice of funding opportunity announcement, it indicates that when you accept the award you accept the requirement to maintain the number of full time operational firefighter positions that you have on the day of grant award, plus the additional positions that were awarded under the grant.”

Barron said the city had 54 firefighters on the roster in February 2023 when the grant was awarded to the city, so the city must add eight firefighters for a total number of 62 firefighters on the roster. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon confirmed that initial 54 does include the four firefighters hired in 2023 using American Rescue Plan funds. Barron said the city is required to maintain that staffing level of 62 over the three years of the grant with the understanding that the number may dip below that for short time periods due to resignations, retirements, or new firefighters going through the Academy.

Another question council members had was whether the city could reapply for the grant again and the likelihood of the city receiving funding again. Barron said it usually depends on local support for sustaining the new positions and that in order to get the same grant again, that means the city would be planning on hiring new firefighters, “If you currently have a grant and you’re required to be at 62, then, let’s say, next year you apply again or in three years you apply again, let’s say you’re exactly at 62 when you receive that new grant. Well, if you’re going to add another eight positions then the minimum required staffing level for that grant would be, and those previous firefighters had not left, then the new level for that grant would be 70.”

Barron said the city could apply for retention fund for the eight new firefighters in a case where they don’t have the funds to keep those new positions, “There’s a lot of tricky rules around retention positions. You have to have issued them a lay-off notice within a certain period of time and you can’t lay-off during the current grant. So, it starts to get a little bit tricky with retaining these exact same positions versus hiring new and sort of allowing attrition to happen and just adding on with new firefighters.”

Barron said that while other grantees had received additional years of funding, the grant process is very competitive. She said the city has until August when they should start billing to draw down grant monies for the new positions.

Council members requested from city administration that the roster of firefighters on staff when the grant was received by the city be shared with them as well as the financial information on fringe benefits costs.

Council President Tony Dolce said the resolution to lift the hiring freeze to approve the hiring of eight firefighters with the SAFER grant funds will be on City Council’s voting agenda for Monday, May 22.

Jamestown City Council

Council President Tony Dolce said there were four basic questions that council members had for the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants program.

These questions include whether fewer than eight firefighters could be hired with the $1.8 million grant, can the city reapply for the SAFER grant in three years and what is the likelihood of being approved again; does the city have to wait a specific period before applying for the grant for the second time; and have other SAFER grantees been approved for a second round of funding and how soon after the second application were they approved.

The meeting is set for 4:00 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov

Jamestown City Council

The agenda is rather light in comparison to recent months, even with the continued inclusion of the resolution to lift the hiring freeze to allow the city to hire eight new firefighters using a $1.8 million SAFER grant.

Council also will review a resolution to replace two dump trucks for $356,240. This will be paid from the New York State DOT CHIPS funding. The trucks being replaced were taken out of service two years ago due to a cracked frame that would no longer pass NYS inspection

The Public Safety committee will vote on several special event permit applications requests including hearing a presentation from Lunar Pyros who are proposing to bring fire dancing to a May 27 Earlybird event and the July 20 through 22 Whirlybird Festival.

A public hearing regarding an amendment to the 2018 Annual Action Plan will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of city hall.

Due to this public hearing, there will not be a meeting of the Housing Committee. All other committees will meet at 7:00 p.m. with the full work session taking place at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend all meetings with the full work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Jamestown City Council meeting (May 8, 2023)

Jamestown City Council will meet with FEMA representatives to ask questions about the SAFER grant at a special council work session on May 16.

Council President Tony Dolce said there were four basic questions that council members had including if eight firefighters had to be hired with the $1.8 million grant, “The second question was, can the city reapply for the SAFER grant in three years and what is the likelihood of being approved again? Three, would the city have to wait a specific period before applying for the grant for the second time? And the other question was, have other SAFER grantees been approved for a second round of funding and how soon after the second application were they approved?”

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon shared that the purchase of a second ambulance that was approved by Council was ready to go out to bid and that the vehicle could be received as soon as one to two months.

The meeting with FEMA will take place at 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 16 in the Mayor’s Conference Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. It is open to the public.

City Council Finance and Public Works committees also reviewed and approved a lease extension request for the owner of the Chautauqua Belle to dock at McCrea Point Park.

U.S. Steam Lines has been using the dock at the park since 2019 and is asking for a new 5-year term lease with the option to renew the lease for two additional 5-year terms. The resolution now goes onto the voting session on May 22 for formal approval.

Jamestown City Council

Council is expected to have the opportunity to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency questions about the grant funding at a special work session that’s yet to be scheduled.

One of the questions Council is likely to ask is whether the number of firefighters to be hired under the SAFER grant can be reduced from the eight that were requested in the grant.

Council also will review a lease extension for the owner of the Chautauqua Belle to dock at McCrea Point Park.

U.S. Steam Lines has been using the dock at the park since 2019 and is asking for a 5-year term lease with the option to renew the lease for two additional 5-year terms.

Council also will hear an update from Grants Writer Paula Pichon on pending grants.

The Public Safety Committee will vote on five special event permits.

The Housing Committee meets at 6:45 p.m. with 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 located on the fourth floor of City Hall. The public is welcome to attend all meetings with the full work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Jamestown City Council discusses resolution to hire eight fire fighters (April 24, 2023)

Jamestown City Council once again tabled a resolution to hire eight new firefighters at its voting session.

Council member at large Jeff Russell made the motion, citing extenuating circumstances, following a lengthy discussion before a packed council chambers that included most of the members of the Jamestown Fire Department.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund cited financial concerns with the three-year $1.8 million SAFER grant, saying that costs presented to council for those three years is $2.1 million which didn’t include overtime costs, working out of title, and comp time.

She said in 2022, personnel expenses in the Fire Department were $250,000 over budget, “Talking financially, this grant will not provide all those previously mentioned items I just talked about as well as training, estimated at $46,000, uniforms estimated at $46,000, and other incidental expenses. While people don’t want to hear this, we as a council have to remain fiscally responsible and understanding the needs of our departments and empathetic to the future of Jamestown.”

Ecklund said based on these numbers, the city could be faced with a $450 to $500,000 total shortfall over the three years of the grant. She said the American Rescue Plan funds used to hire four firefighters in 2022 runs out the the last year of the SAFER grant, which leaves another $382,000 for the city to fund.

Crowd for the Jamestown City Council meeting (April 24, 2023)

Ecklund said a second ambulance would bring in more revenue but running the two ambulances would not bring in the $750 to $900,000 needed. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon had informed Council previously that the estimated revenue from running two ambulances is about $400,000 total a year.

Council member Marie Carrubba commented that former City Comptrollers Joe Bellitto and Ryan Thompson had both previously stated that the hiring of the four ARPA funded firefighters would “stretch the city’s budget to its limit,” “The idea that we’d hire an additional eight would be unsustainable and we have to look at that. And I don’t always agree with Mr. Champ, but I think you said it very well tonight. We have to be concerned not only with the present, but the future and the financial condition of the city when we are reaching our constitutional taxing limit, when we’re not able to raise taxes, my question to all of the citizens are what do you want us to cut?”

Ecklund asked Mayor Eddie Sundquist if the SAFER grant would allow the city to hire less than the eight firefighters proposed.

Sundquist responded that if Council provides him a number, he can ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency about that. None of the previous discussions by the city administration until Monday’s voting session indicated that the grant allowed the city to hire less than eight fire fighters under the grant.

The motion to table the resolution until May passed with just Council member Regina Brackman voting no.

In a related resolution, Council did approve purchasing a second ambulance for the fire department with $250,000 in American Rescue Plan funds.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)

Jamestown City Council will vote tonight on whether to hire eight new firefighters.

The positions would be partially funded through a three-year $1.8 million SAFER grant. Council learned at its last work session that the estimated costs of the salaries and the city’s contributions to social security, state retirement, health insurance, worker’s compensation, and a one time purchase of turn-out gear comes out to $2,119,678 over a three year period. That equates to a total of $319,678 the city would have to cover over that three-year period.

City Council members have said their main concern is that they’d be faced with laying off the eight firefighter positions should the city not qualify for another round of federal funding in three years.

In a related resolution, Council also will vote on purchasing a second ambulance for the fire department with $250,000 in American Rescue Plan funds.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon told Council that the estimated revenue from running two ambulances is about $400,000 total a year.

Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund goes over fire fighter hiring financials (April 17, 2023)

Jamestown City Council members voice concern over costs and future layoffs on the issue of whether to hire eight new firefighters.

Council was provided by former City Comptroller Joe Bellitto the estimated costs to the city for hiring the firefighters as well as the estimates of costs once a three-year federal SAFER grant ends.

While the grant is $1.8 million, the estimated costs of the salaries and the city’s contributions to social security, state retirement, health insurance, worker’s compensation, and a one time purchase of turn-out gear comes out to $2,119,678 over a three year period. That equates to $319,678 the city would have to cover.

Council member at large Jeff Russell noted those estimates only covered the annual base salary, “These numbers do not include any overtime at all. They do not include comp time sell back, or any kind of impact pay, or other form of compensation from what I’m seeing. So, these are assuming that these firefighters do not work a single hour of overtime in 36 months, which is unrealistic. There’s going to be overtime involved.”

Russell said, should the city not receive the SAFER grant again after it ends in mid-2026, the costs to the city over the next three years would be $2,428,453, “We all know that our budget cannot increase by $2,428,000, which means, ultimately, if we apply for this grant three years from now and we don’t get this grant and we don’t get this grant money, we’re going to be laying off at least eight firefighters.”

Council members asked Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon if a proposed second ambulance could still be staffed if the additional eight firefighters were not hired. He responded that the four American Rescue Plan funded firefighters hired in July 2022 could staff that vehicle.

Coon said the estimated revenue from running two ambulances is about $400,000 total a year.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund said of the list of potential retirements in the fire department, that there were only eight employees she saw who may actually retire by 2026, which raised her concern that once the grant and ARPA funding runs out, there may be more than just the eight firefighters who would have to be laid off.

Council President Tony Dolce said while the city has an obligation to public safety, council also has a fiduciary responsibility, “So that’s why we’re sitting around the table, looking at numbers, and scratching our heads. And we want to provide service and we want to do this, but we also want to look at can we afford it and how long can we afford it for? What happens when this runs out and we can’t, we or whoever is at the table, can’t do this anymore? Then what happens?”

Dolce requested Council members continue looking at the numbers and talking to those in City Administration about questions they have. It is anticipated that Council will vote on this resolution at the voting session scheduled for Monday, April 24.