Carrubba said the BPU also has a payment program for those impacted by COVID. She added the City’s Department of Development and Chautauqua Opportunities also have resources available for those needing assistance.

Carrubba emphasized that if people do nothing that the problem for them is not going to go away, “You will probably find yourself evicted when Housing Court gets rid of the backlog or you will find yourself with utilities shut off which will make your apartment or home uninhabitable. So I would encourage anyone with a financial difficulty to do something now and not to wait. Because, again, it will be first come, first serve. When the resources are depleted, there won’t be funds available.”

City Council also received a report on the City’s plan to discontinue screening for marijuana for all employees except those who hold a CDL license. Employees with a CDL license would still be screened for marijuana as it is a federal requirements under the Department of Transportation.

The City’s drug and alcohol policy would still not permit city employees to work when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Police Chief Tim Jackson did indicate he was working on a policy for the Police Department as under Federal Law, officers of law are not permitted to carry a handgun and be under the influence of marijuana.

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers said with Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s ending of the state of the emergency for the Pandemic last week, they haven’t seen an extension of the utility shut-off moratorium. Leathers said the Public Service Department had typically sent out guidance on what to do when the moratorium was extended or expected to end, “I anticipate that the Department of Public Service in the coming days will issue some updated guidance that we’ll look at and try to incorporate into our planning. Because there are available protections for our residential customers, there’s available protections for small businesses, there’s a new provision in there around liens on property.”

Leathers said for customers who are experiencing hardships, they could self-certify and get protections they had under the moratorium. He said there is quite a bit of financial assistance available that people haven’t tapped into because they weren’t at risk of utilities being shut off, “But now, if they have that risk or they’re responding to a shut off we want to be sure they know what potential help they can get and what specifically they need to do to get that. But there’s money out there to help with past due rent as well as past due utilities.”

Leathers said customers should call the Jamestown BPU at (716) 661-1660 for more information.