Jamestown City Council voting session (October 24, 2022)

Jamestown City Council has approved the purchase of a new SWAT vehicle.

The $247,516 Bearcat will be paid for using American Rescue Plan funds.

Council President Tony Dolce said the SWAT team has been using regular vehicles for raids and with the number of raids they’re doing on top of the amount of guns on the streets, he said an armored vehicle will be more safe, “And this also gives the Police Department the ability, God forbid if we did have a major shooting, where they can actually rescue people and take them out of a situation in a much safer environment to get them out of there. And also, that vehicle can go through things and get a lot closer and make much safer not only for themselves but for residents.”

Dolce said delivery of the new vehicle is expected to take a year.

Council also approved $1.3 million in grants to seven local businesses through the ARP Business Property and Infrastructure Improvement program. The grants had been approved by the Jamestown Local Development Corporation, but as all the requests were over $100,000, City Council also had to give their approval. The businesses receiving funds for capital improvements include Artone, Colecraft Commercial Furnishings, Dawson Metal, El Greco, International Ordnance, National Wire and Metal Technology, and Shawbucks.

An additional $500,000 of American Rescue Plan funds have been put into the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive Program. This brings the total amount of funding to that program to $1 million. Dolce said Council is looking to fund another round of $500,000 which would satisfy all the applications that met the requirements.

And council approved $8,000 out of the city’s contingency fund for emergency roof repairs at the Fenton History Center. Dolce said the roof had been leaking, “It has reached a point where it’s causing interior damage to the walls and the structure of the building. So this is an emergency stopgap measure to at least repair that part roof. The entire roof, at some point, is going to need to be done. They’re going to be getting bids and quotes on that, so that will be much more money coming down probably in the next few months.”

The Fenton mansion is owned by the City of Jamestown and is, thus, the responsibility of the City to maintain.

Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson and members of JPD SWAT team present to Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

City Council members voiced support for the purchase of a new SWAT vehicle for the Jamestown Police Department.

Council heard a presentation by Police Chief Tim Jackson as well as members of the SWAT team about the need for vehicle. The cost would be $247,516 and be funded using American Rescue Plan monies.
Jackson said since 2016, the SWAT team has been deployed 199 times.

He said the vehicle is multi-purpose, “It can be used for rescue, search and rescue; evacuating people, and a trauma center, so it has multiple uses. It’s not just for SWAT raids.”

Council member at large and retired Jamestown Police officer, Jeff Russell, addressed concerns about the appearance of the bearcat, “This vehicle, if you look at it, if you see photographs of it, it looks somewhat like a Brinks truck. No one seems to be afraid of a Brinks truck when it’s going down the road and it’s collecting cash at various locations. We need to get over the appearance that this is scary looking and that it’s out hunting people or it’s too militaristic looking. This isn’t only to protect the men and women of the Jamestown Police Department, but it’s also to protect citizens.”

Council member Bill Reynolds, who also is retired from the Police Department, voiced his support for the resolution as well.

Chief Jackson estimated that if the purchase is approved it will take one year for delivery. He said Erie County and then State Police in Batavia have the next closest available SWAT vehicles in New York State.

In other business, Council Finance Chair Kim Ecklund requested input from the Information Technology Director on the proposed purchase of new accounting and payroll software. $91,683 in American Rescue Plan funds would be used for the purchase with the annual maintenance cost of $19,405 being part of the regular budget. Ecklund said her concern is that the software operates in the cloud and wants to know what security issues there may be.