Council approves year-end resolutions, contract for river-basin activation and Jefferson Street change order

The Jamestown City Council approved a slate of year-end administrative and capital resolutions at its meeting, including depository designations, contract awards and personnel backfills. Council members also asked staff about environmental review and cost increases on two infrastructure projects.

Key approvals recorded or announced at the meeting included: designation of banking depositories, adoption of the procurement policy for fiscal year 2025, authorization for the Jamestown Police Department to purchase a 2025 Nissan Sentra for $20,832.50 from Auto Group (funding from the capital request and vehicle sales was cited), authorization for a fire lieutenant to attend a New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control supervisory class in January 2025 (fees to be paid by the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services), and approvals to suspend the hiring freeze and fill two public-works positions (a laborer and a mechanic) due to retirement and resignation.

The council approved a contract with C & S Companies for design and implementation of the Chadakoin River Basin Activation Project. The consultant amount was discussed during finance remarks; staff described the funding as grant money from New York State and noted prior ARPA spending for cleanup. Council members asked whether the work could be affected by anticipated Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) waterfront stabilization rules; John Fitzgerald of C & S Companies responded, “This particular team works with them all the time,” and said the project is focused on stabilization and activation largely within the basin and on adjacent land. Fitzgerald said the team does not anticipate new DEC proposals will affect the basin project.

Council members also approved a change order for the Jefferson Street Reconstruction 2024 contract, increasing the contract by $19,546 to address additional brick replacement and field conditions discovered during work. Staff said the original bid for the street section was about $83,000 (an increase of roughly 20–25 percent). The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) agreed to pay about $13,000 for damage in the section that staff attributed to a BPU water main blowout.

Other items on the consent/finance calendar passed with little discussion: setting the council meeting schedule for 2025 (beginning Jan. 27, 2025, Monday evenings), designation of the official newspaper for 2025, games-of-chance licenses for local charitable organizations, and approval of routine attendance and training authorizations. Staff reported ongoing audits for 2023 and work on 2025 tax bills, and flagged issues with a new Springbrook tax billing system that could prompt citizen inquiries when bills issue.

Votes and procedural details: the meeting transcript records that these agenda resolutions were “approved” or “passed”; explicit roll-call tallies, movers or seconds were not recorded in the discussion excerpt provided.

The council also discussed two city-hall leases and a transition that moves the Renaissance JRC off the third floor so county mental-health staff can occupy space near city social services, and informational items such as holiday-light contest logistics. Several items will return to council committees for follow-up as staff completes budgets, funding confirmations and environmental coordination.