Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council members promised “more is to come” after approving over $2 million in American Rescue Plan funded projects Monday night.

While Council members Regina Brackman and Andrew Faulkner voted no, all other council members approved $500,000 toward the redesign of West Third Street.

Council President Tony Dolce said the decision to remove the Cathedral Oaks over a year ago was difficult and emotional, “I know there was a lot of talk of, at that point, of doing some work. That it was a time to start that entrance to the city. To start over. Those sidewalks are in rough shape. It is a major thoroughfare for people to walk and drive, although the street is not going to be reconstructed.”

DPW Director Jeff Lehman said the project will go before the Jamestown Planning Commission in April, with work hopefully beginning in May. He said the new trees will be planted by the Parks Department in the Fall.

Council also approved using $750,000 ARP funds for a Roof, Private Sewer Lateral, Private Water Line Repair/Replacement grant program.

Council member at large Jeff Russell said he was happy to support the resolution as it will help homeowners, “I understand that there has to be equal money that goes toward our businesses and our downtown but I’m surely am not going to forget about the elderly people that might be struggling to make their mortgage payment with super high inflation going on and they can’t afford some of these repairs. And I will push for some of this money to continue to go back to the taxpayers.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said her office often receives calls from seniors, retirees, and veterans with limited funds who are looking for help with housing issues, “And try to get roofs repaired especially in some of the older homes that they occupy is extremely difficult along with replacing water and sewer lines. I’ve heard that excavators, I think, start around $6000 to have one in your front yard. Most of the people that, you know, if you look at the median income around $43,000 in the city, it’s not affordable for individuals to maintain their properties when these kind of emergencies occur.”

Council also approved using American Rescue Plan funds for replacing water mains, equipment for DPW, upgrades to the fire stations, and creating a Tree-Damaged Sidewalk Replacement Rebate program.

Dolce said when it comes to the ARP funds received by the city, the council has a fiduciary responsibility to see that it’s spent wisely and they do get a return on investment, “There are a lot of people who have a lot of needs. $28 million is just a drop in the bucket for what is needed in this community. We’ll do our due diligence and do the best we can to expend the money as we see fit. Again, a delicate balance in neighborhoods versus providing for our business downtown and our industries. There is a lot of need in different areas. We’re looking at all those different areas when we’re making these decisions.”

Council also approved allocating $1.227 million in additional American Rescue Plan funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development toward a Rental Rehabilitation Program. Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said she anticipates submitting the program for approval by HUD by the end of this week.

Under new business, Council will vote on a resolution using ARP funds to establish a Roof, Private Sewer Lateral, Private Water Line Repair/Replacement grant program for the amount of $750,000.

They also will vote on using $500,000 in ARP funds for the redesign of West Third Street that includes new driveway aprons, new sidewalks, new lighting, and the planting of new trees.

Other ARP funded projects up for consideration include $483,000 to replace water mains on May Street and Gwendolin Avenue, $185,000 for a salt brine de-icing system, and resolutions totaling $252,735 to provide back up generators for fire stations, new entry doors, new overhead doors, and the truck floor renovation at Station 5.

A resolution using $100,000 in ARP funds to create a Sidewalk Replacement Rebate Program also will be voted on.

Council also will vote to allocate $1.227 million for a Rental Rehabilitation Program. The funding is coming through the American Rescue Plan Act for jurisdictions that qualified for HOME Investment Partnerships Program allocations. This funding is in addition to what the City received in American Rescue Plan funding. A public hearing on the HOME-ARP Allocation plan will be held at 7:00 p.m., prior to the voting session.

Council also will vote to pay a $51,168 settlement to Royal Housing LLC.

The settlement is in regards to a case between the City and Royal Housing LLC that had been ongoing since 2014. According to the staff report and court filings, the city was found to have violated constitutional rights for condemning an entire multi-unit building located at 1091 East Second Street for drugs under the nuisance ordinance rather than only the impacted units.

The City Council voting session starts at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall. It’s open to the public and will be livestreamed as well.

Jamestown City Council work session on March 21, 2022

Jamestown City Council discussed the proposal to spend $500,000 on the West Third Street redesign project at its work session Monday night.

Council President Tony Dolce said there has been some confusion over the scope of the project. He said it’s not a street reconstruction but the replacement of curbs, sidewalks, driveway aprons, new lighting, and new trees, “A big chunk of the project is the movement of the backyard services, electrical services, to the front and burying them. So the question that I had earlier today was can the BPU not fund part of that and if not, why not? Since they were planning on, they’ve been talking about doing this in different parts of the city. This seems to be the opportune time to do it cause we’re doing the construction.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said they’ll look at the cost and get back to Dolce. Council Member Marie Carrubba, who sat on the BPU board until recently, said in the Council Finance Committee meeting that the BPU had been discussing moving the poles for the last two years.

Council member at large Jeff Russell said while the cost has been contentious to some, he sees the project as benefiting everyone in the city. He said while some think the people on the street are being shown “favoritism” he doesn’t see it that way, “I look at this as something that, in totality, it benefits the entire city, all the citizens. That’s a major artery [‘Coming in’ – Council member Bill Reynolds] and it’s been breathtaking over the years. It was sad that they [the trees] had to come down. It seems some of the same people who were complaining about the trees coming down are now complaining about the cost to replace that which is sad.”

Dolce added he supports the project and that this is the opportune time to do it.

The funding for the project would come from American Rescue Plan lost recovery monies.

Council also reviewed a resolution to use $100,000 in ARP funds to create a Sidewalk Replacement Rebate Program. The pilot program would be used to replace a blacktopped portion of a sidewalk with concrete where a damaged concrete block was taken out due to tree root damage. DPW Director Jeff Lehman said it would be a 50-50 match with the city paying $6 a square foot for the block replacement.

Mayor Sundquist announced that a special retreat work session of the City Council will be held this Wednesday. The meeting will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Robert H. Jackson Center with discussion centering on American Rescue Plan projects. The meeting will not be livestreamed but is open to the public.

Jamestown City Council

One resolution is to allocate $1.227 million for a Rental Rehabilitation Program. The funding is coming through the American Rescue Plan Act for jurisdictions that qualified for HOME Investment Partnerships Program allocations. This funding is in addition to what the City received in American Rescue Plan funding. A public hearing on the HOME-ARP Allocation plan will be held Monday, March 28.

Two resolutions focus on the Spring Street Parking Ramp with one using bond monies to spent $410,000 to modernize the elevator. The other resolution would be to accept a $5,000 grant from Art Services Inc. through the New York Council for the Arts for the beautification of the ramp.

Council also will review a resolution to spend $232,300 to purchase materials for a pre-engineered metal building that will be constructed on the site of the new Fleet Maintenance Facility on Washington Street. The funding comes from a state grant received in 2019.

Under American Rescue Plan funded projects, a resolution will be presented to use $500,000 in ARP funds for the West Third Street Redesign project. The initial project cost estimate was $479,605 and the resolution’s amount is meant to build in a contingency for the project. The costs include removal and replacement of driveway aprons, sidewalks, new lighting, new tree plantings, as well as landscaping the terrace.

Another ARP funded project resolution would authorize spending $185,000 to purchase a salt brine deicing system. The staff report said this system could save the city up to 10%, or over $40,000, on the City salt budget.

And council will review a resolution that would use $100,000 in ARP funds to create a Sidewalk Replacement Rebate Program. The City would offer $6 a square foot, which is an additional $3 per square feet over the normal sidewalk rebate, to replace tree damaged sidewalks. Homeowners would submit an application for the program and would be reimbursed in a similar fashion to the current sidewalk rebate program.

Public Safety Committee also will review a block party application from the James Prendergast Library as well as special event permit applications from Grow Jamestown Garden Fair Earth Day Event, Gold Star Memorial Day weekend event, and Whirlybird Festival. Public Safety also will continue a discussion on fireworks.

City Council Committee meetings start at 6:45 with the full work session being held at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth floor of City Hall.