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 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.

Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo makes case for new ombudsman position to City Council (April 17, 2023)

Jamestown City Council heard the case for bringing back the Ombudsman position to fill human resources needs.

Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo has requested the title be brought back to replace the recently vacant Assistant Corporation Counsel position in his office. He said the salary range for the position is around $54,000 to $85,000. The position is currently funded through the end of 2023.

City Council President Tony Dolce voiced concern that the city would have to fund two full time positions when the ombudsman position was eliminated over 20 years ago to save money, “As you look into 2024, you have to consider, especially if you’re going to go to a higher range within that someone is hired and they move up and they keep moving up. That’s obviously going to have a long term effect down the road on the budget to have a full time Corporation Counsel and a full time Ombudsman. You could be at some time doubling the costs that you have.”

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said human resources needs of the city have changed “tremendously,” “We’re seeing more and more mental health issues. We’re seeing more and more disputes between employees that we’ve not seen in many, many years. And our EAP only covers so much of that. And so we’re trying to bring an HR position in to assist in that process on top of the litigation that Mr. Raimondo is currently engaging in, which council is aware of, that will take a significant amount of time.”

Council member Marie Carrubba agreed that there are more HR issues for businesses today than in the past and that it would be difficult for the Corporation Counsel to wear “both hats.”

Council also reviewed a request to purchase new accounting software.

The City chose Springbrook Software following a request-for-proposal process. Mayor Sundquist said the bid of $63,986.50 for the purchase and $42,300 annual maintenance cost is higher than the bid received in Fall 2022 due to the former request not including an accounts receivable feature.

The software would be purchased using American Rescue Plan funds and would replace the KVS accounting system that’s been in use by the city since the early 2000s.

Sundquist said the new software would help the city continue digitizing some of its paperwork, “It would also allow us to approve purchase orders and that sort of things for departments as well move all of our timesheets online. Right now we do all timesheets on paper, as well as paper slips for each different departments. It would also allow employees their own access, in fact this is something we’re getting from a lot of the newer employees, which is the ability to see their paystub and not get a paper stub, as well as to change their tax filings.”

Sundquist noted the software will free up staff time and have cost savings in paper purchases. He added that the last audit of the City recommended that the city move to this kind of system.

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.

JHS Battle of the Classes

The 42nd annual Jamestown High School Battle of the Classes takes place tonight.

The event is at 6:30 p.m. in the McElrath Gymnasium. Proceeds from the annual competition will benefit the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County.

The school-wide competition will include games, skills contests, and dance-off.

Over the last four decades, the school has raised over $300,000 for community organizations and charities.

Proceeds will help benefit MHA’s “Code Blue Warming Center” established earlier this year.

MHA executive director Steven Cobb said the donation from JHS students will help to make physical updates to the association’s Gateway Center space to provide shower, laundry, and technology services to those in need across the community.

Those interested in donating can contact Tony Dolce at anthony.j.dolce@jpsny.org. Tickets for the event $2 at the door.

Jamestown City Council voting session (March 27, 2023)

Jamestown City Council has tabled a resolution to hire eight firefighters using federal grant funds, citing the need for more discussion.

Finance Committee Chair and Council member at Large Kim Ecklund said while council had asked for more information from the administration since the beginning of March about the future financial impact, not all questions were answered, “So in the interest of doing it not the justice it deserves, we feel, through Finance Committee, and the rest of the Council agrees, that we’re going to table this and get those numbers in front of us. Get the correct information, the adequate information, in addition to bringing the information of the ambulance forward which is part of the numbers that were presented to us.”

Ecklund emphasized that Council is not anti-public safety, “And with ARPA and with last year’s budget, I just want it clear that roughly $2.1 million was given to the Jamestown Fire Department and $2.3 million to the Jamestown Police Department. That’s almost $5 million in ARPA funding and budget changes to help, clearly probably not enough as they will attest to, but to clearly try to show the support to help those departments.”

The City of Jamestown has received a three-year $1.8 million grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program to hire the firefighters.

City Council President Tony Dolce said the concern is having to lay off those firefighters when the grant ends, “And we want to make sure that the numbers add up and what are our changes of getting a renewal to that (grant), and with the second ambulance and increased EMS service, what would that cover at the end of this. So, again, we’re in the 180 day window (to hire). An extra month, we’re still in good shape to get those people going.”

Council is expected to revisit the hiring resolution at its work session on Monday, April 10.

Jamestown Police Department (Google Maps)

An appliance fire damaged an office in Jamestown City Hall on Friday, March 17.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist informed City Council that an office in the Jamestown Police Department was heavily damaged, “And so we’re in the process of cleaning that up and trying to restore that. We’re working with our insurance department and we’re going through that process now, but it’s going to take a little time. Luckily, the Fire Department was very, very quick in responding (Council President Tony Dolce ‘They’re right next door’). They were right next door, yes! And they were able to get that out but obviously it’s caused some damage in the Police Department.”

Sundquist said Chautauqua County government‘s insurance is involved as well as the office was being used by members of the District Attorney‘s office.

Grant Manager Tim O’Dell presents on business grant fund to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation board. (January 18, 2023)

The vast majority of board members who serve on the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC) have not received any training that’s required under state law.

That’s according to information provided by the State Authorities Budget Office, which is responsible for making public authorities more accountable to state law.

According to data from ABO, eight of the nine current JLDC board members – including mayor Eddie Sundquist – have yet to participate in the required state training that focuses on a board member’s legal, fiduciary, financial and ethical responsibilities. Under state law, all board members of local authorities like LDCs and IDAs must receive the training within a year of joining a board.

Sundquist said his office has been working with the State Compliance Office on the issue, “Where they’re well aware of the situation and they talked to us about what things need to happen. Number one, they gave us some additional dates for fiduciary training, which we found out is actually required for public authorities. And, unfortunately, with COVID, a lot of that went to the wayside for quite a period of time, but we want to make sure we’re compliant and doing the things that we need to do.”

JLDC serves as the lending arm of city government and, in 2022, the Jamestown City Council authorized it to oversee and appropriate neary $9 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money aimed at economic development. As a result, the JLDC was given more appropriating power than at any other time in its 42-year history.

Besides Mayor Sundquist, other board members who reportedly have not completed training include the three board members who applied for federal grant money administered by JLDC.

As WRFA reported last week, JLDC board members Pete Scheira and Luke Fodor each applied for and received American Rescue Plan grant money for businesses or organizations they have a material interest in. Additionally, the wife of city councilman and JLDC board member Jeff Russell also applied for and received funding. In all three cases, the board members in question did not vote for their respective grant award, but both the JLDC bylaws and state laws have conflict of interest rules that appear to prohibit JLDC from awarding funding to entities that board members own a material interest in.

Only council president Tony Dolce is listed as recieving training, but that was in 2012 – over 10 years ago.

By comparison, five of the seven members of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency have received state training, with two of those being in recent Pandemic years and two who have yet to receive training, having only joined the board within the past year.

In response to the likely violation of JLDC bylaws, Mayor Sundquist has said it was the city’s legal interpretation that the conflict of interest rules did not apply because JLDC was only acting as a pass-through agency for the federal money and did not receive it directly.

He said the U.S. Treasury Department is who oversees the ARP funds, “They’ve actually gotten rid of their staff that focuses on compliance in the Treasury Department, so it’s been a challenge for us to try to figure out what’s the proper way to do things when it comes to this federal funding. So, we’re working through that process, we’re going to be talking to the JLDC board about what we have found out through this process of working with the state and working with some of our federal partners because we really want to have that public discussion of what happened and where do we go from here.”

The mayor has also said the city is continuing to look into the conflict of interest situation and will work to rectify it should either state or federal officials verify it was not allowed.

Editors Note: A previous version of this article indicated Jeffrey Russell applied for a grant. That was incorrect and it was his spouse who filed the application for her business.

Jamestown City Council hears presentation on Splash Pads (March 6, 2023)

Jamestown City Council learned more about the two proposed Splash Pads for Jamestown Parks at their work session Monday night.

Both splash pads proposed for Jackson-Taylor and Allen Parks are estimated to cost $250,000 each which includes contingency funds.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the location for the pad at Jackson-Taylor Park would be on the current skate park pad, “We picked that spot, we looked at a couple different spots, in fact, at Jackson-Taylor Park. That one has probably the best surface that we could apply it to. As you know, Jackson-Taylor Park tends to sink when we install things. So we were really looking for surface quality, soil quality as part of it as well as location to bathrooms and other required amenities and obviously water lines.”

Sundquist said the water flow rate is 45-gallons per minute, with the play structures operating on a timed button system where users have to push a button for water to flow out. He said both splash pads would not have a circulating water system, “Circulating water system means we have a set amount of water that would be in there, that would continue to circulate back and forth. We would then require New York State testing. We’d have to have a bunch of additional staff in order to maintain it and manage it. In talking with the engineers for this, they actually recommended that we go with a fresh water system. So, it would be water that you would see from your tap coming through whenever you pressed the button.”

Sundquist said the water then drains out with no standing water. He added they’d work with the Board of Public Utilities to not get charged double for water use.

Council President Tony Dolce questioned if the push button system for the Splash Pad could be turned off, for example, at night or other times.

Parks Manager Dan Stone replied that everything is on a timer, “Everything runs on a timer and that would be based off of.. we haven’t gotten into big talks about that yet.. but it would be based on the season, obviously, but also maybe what’s going on the weekends, week day, activities in the park, those kind of things.”

Stone said the Splash Pad can be shut down on colder summer days to avoid water waste. He said the structures can be covered or even removed during the winter.

Sundquist said the Allen Park splash pad will be located at the corner of West Virginia Boulevard and Elizabeth Avenue due to availability of water lines, soil conditions, and its proximity to restrooms and parking.

He added that both splash pads would be ADA compliant. Sundquist said park staff will be trained by the company that installs to system on how to manage the pad.

Stone said trees will be able to provide shade for the pads. He said while the Jackson-Taylor location already has a fence, they haven’t discussed a fence for the Allen Park site yet.

Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund asked if maintenance was built into the cost and expressed concerns about vandalism.

Stone replied that they don’t have funds budgeted for maintenance once the pads are constructed, “I don’t think that’s stopped us on any project we’ve ever done since I’ve been in the Parks. That just means I keep coming at you for more Parks employees. Concrete is what it’s going to be. So it’s a concrete pad. Other than maybe getting dinged up by something, it shouldn’t really be an issue. It’s at least four inches thick, I think the specs call for. Vandalism, it doesn’t matter what we do, right? It doesn’t matter where it’s at. Stuff is going to get vandalized.”
While the total cost of the project would be $500,000, Sundquist said there is a $100,000 grant they’re waiting to hear on which would help offset the amount needed from American Rescue Plan funds.

Two community engagement meetings will be held to get input from the public on the two Splash Pads. The first will be held at the Allen Park Ice Rink at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, March 30. The second will be held at the Jackson-Taylor Park large pavilion at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 11. Sundquist said that community meeting will also be combined with the HUD Action Plan community input meeting.

If Council signs off on funding the project this month, Sundquist said engineers have told him the splash pads could be constructed and in operation by sometime in July 2023.