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Jamestown Officials To Ask For More State Highway Funding Support

It has been 30 years since the reimbursement rate has increased for city maintenance of state arterial highways.

That is why Jamestown officials, and 37 other cities with maintenance agreements with the state, have proposed asking state legislators to include an increase in the 2017-18 state budget.

Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said he will be asking Jamestown City Council to approve a support resolution later this month for an increase in funds for maintaining state highways within the city.

In 1987, the state increased the reimbursement rate for cities to 85 cents per square yard. Teresi said the New York Conference of Mayors is asking for the rate to increase to $1.77 per square yard. He said the rate increase would reflect the Consumer Price Index inflation increase since 1987.

”This would more than double what the city receives now,” Teresi said. ”There has got to be some recognition to keeping time with related costs.”

Teresi said the city receives $203,000 a year from the state now to maintain state highways in the city. The maintenance agreement includes plowing snow; small repairs and resurfacing; work on gutters, curbs, sidewalks and drainage systems; and street lighting. He said the state handles construction and major repair and resurfacing work.

”Obviously in the past three decades, costs for materials, labor, fuel, equipment and maintenance has gone up,” he said.

Teresi said they don’t want to do away with the agreement with the state.

He said it is a ”win-win” situation for both entities. He added the state saves money by not having to handle the day-to-day maintenance of their highways in the city while the city benefits from not having to wait for maintenance to be done by the state. ”(This increase) will help us do an even better job of maintaining state roads inside our borders,” he said.

The state highways inside the city includes Fluvanna Avenue from the city’s northern border to Washington Street; Washington Street to Prospect Street, where the highway turns into Foote Avenue; Foote Avenue to South Avenue; all of Forest Avenue to South Avenue; East Second Street from Tiffany Avenue to where it verges with Fourth Street, ending at Prendergast Avenue; West Third Street from Monroe Street to McDaniel Avenue; and Fairmount Avenue/West Sixth Street from McDaniel Avenue to around Murray Avenue.

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