Olean budget presenters cut some consulting, plan splash-park staffing; OATS partnership request noted

City of Olean planning and parks & recreation staff presented budget highlights at the March 20, 2025 finance meeting, outlining reductions to consulting and training lines, planned spending tied to grant obligations, and staffing changes for new recreation facilities.

Planning Department staff (identified in the transcript as Carrie) said there are "minimal changes" overall but that she had cut consulting fees to $0 for the coming year. Carrie said the department paid consultants in past years for specialized engineering, design and environmental work but does not foresee needing consultant contracts for the capital projects currently on the schedule because some work (for example, Marcus Park) proceeded via a completed RFP and executed contract. She said the department reduced office supplies and recording fees and eliminated travel and training budget lines where in-house or free online resources suffice.

Carrie told council members the planning budget still includes small grant-related line items: a 1% grant amount due to Empire State Development for a Comprehensive Development Plan award and a 1% grant amount for the Marcus Park award. She said the department's Zoom and Adobe Acrobat Pro licenses and application fees related to Empire State Development projects are included in the line item that was pared back.

During questioning, council members asked whether the consulting line historically covered architecture, engineering, environmental review and other specialized services. Carrie answered that those uses were typical in past years but said she did not foresee the need for large consultant contracts in the coming fiscal year for the department's scheduled capital projects.

Parks and Recreation staff reviewed changes in the youth and recreation budget. Staff said they trimmed $25,000 from personnel services because the Warvettes pool will not open this year; at the same time they added funding for an additional staff position to collect admissions and monitor the new splash park, which requires on-site supervision because of its distance from the main building. Concession stand inventory was cut $250, and the miscellaneous contract services line was pared back to about $19,000 to reflect historical rent and background-check costs tied to the former Saint John's School rental.

Aldermen asked whether the same pool-attendance staff could also work at the splash park; staff said the splash park's layout and distance from the building will require additional monitoring and that the first month or two will be a learning period.

The transcript also records a request from Allegheny County (as relayed by staff) for $30,000 from the City of Olean for the annual OATS partnership; planning staff said they would follow up by email with partner-share amounts for other contributors and the precise contractual arrangements. A line in the transcript that appears as "$56.30.447" could not be verified from the excerpt and was not used as a definitive fiscal amount in the presentation.

Council members also asked about the planning board stipend: a personnel-services request listed $2,800, which staff explained covers modest annual payments for seven members and amounts to only a few hundred dollars per member annually.

Presenters said many training resources are available free online (Public Authorities Accountability Act guidance, Authority's Budget Office materials and regional trainings) and that staff would rely on those where possible to reduce subscription and consulting costs. No formal budget votes were recorded in the transcript excerpt; the segment reflected departmental presentations and questions.