Jamestown City Council voting session (May 22, 2023)

Jamestown City Council has approved reallocating $225,000 in previous years HOME program funds to a First Time Homebuyers Assistance Program.

The Annual Action plans for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 had funds not fully expended, which Jamestown Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the city could access through the amendment process.

The funding will go to Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corporation (CHRIC) for the First Time Homebuyers Program that they currently administer.

The $225,000 would provide $4,000 to an estimated 50 low-to moderate-income first time homebuyers between 2023 and 2026.

Council also approved contracting with Highmark Life Insurance for the city’s Annual Stop Loss Program. The agreement continues the same policy but is 37% higher in costs with a budget increase of $160,521 for next year.

Another resolution approved under new business was the award of $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 required council approval.

Southern Tier Builders hopes to receive its accreditation from National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCR) by July and start classes in the Fall.

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.

Grants Manager Tim O’Dell said Southern Tier Builders will use the American Rescue Plan funds for a Pre-Apprenticeship Program through the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCR) for high school, college, and young adults, “So, if you take a look at the curriculum here you will notice that the program introduces training to a large variety of trades. And this is very advantageous because when they go through all of the courses, not all of them are listed here, they will have exposure and dip their feet in, if you will, into multiple trades. So, they can get a very good lay of the landscape of what it’s like to be in the trades and from there they can make more informed decisions of what trade they’d like to participate in for their career.”

O’Dell said the purpose of the program is to establish a pipeline for workforce development where students will have the opportunity to go into a union and start their apprenticeship or to go to trade school.

He added that Southern Tier Builders hopes to receive its accreditation from NCCR by July and start classes in the Fall.

The request will now go before Jamestown City Council for approval on Monday, May 22 as the amount approved is over $100,000.