City Council members are pictured during their meeting Monday.

City Council members have voted down a pair of American Rescue Plan Act funding requests from city non-profit organizations.

Jamestown received $28.3 million in ARPA funding and has $1.2 million left after Monday’s meeting in undesignated funds. The city had designated $1.5 million to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation toward a Non-Profit Assistance Grant program, with the JLDC and council approving $1.1 million in requests over the past two weeks. There is now $400,000 remaining in the non-profit program after Monday’s votes against proposals by the National Comedy Center and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

The National Comedy Center’s request of $200,000 was to replace lost revenue due to the pandemic, Council members Brent Sheldon, Regina Brackman, Marie Carrubba, Bill Reynolds, Andrew Faulkner, and Randy Daversa voted no. A request for $200,000 for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to restore its bell tower also failed 3 to 6 with Council members Brackman, Carrubba, Reynolds, Faulkner, Daversa, and Russell voting no.

Moreover, this last resolution drew the ire of some local community members.

“Separation of church and state is a fundamental hallmark of our Constitution,” said Doug Champ, a resident of Jamestown, prior to the voting taking place. “I’m not against funding non-profits.”

JLDC members presented City Council members with more than $1.3 million in funding resolutions for the council’s approval. The city’s bylaws require a request for more than $100,000 receive the City Council’s approval.

The Jamestown Area YMCA received funding approval in the amount of $200,000 for construction of a new facility. The Y previously requested $2 million in funding, and garnered support from several council members.

“You want to talk about return-on-investment, this is an organization that serves the entire population in the City of Jamestown from the very young to the very old; from babysitting services to feeding persons to education. So, I just wish that we were able or in a position to grant more money to this project,” said Jeff Russell, R-At Large.

Echoing Russell’s sentiments was other council members regarding the YMCA and the services it provides.

“They (YMCA) should come back to the city to request additional funding, including in-kind services from city departments,” added William R. Reynolds III, R-Ward 5.

The funding resolution for the YMCA passed with a vote of 6-2, with council members Reynolds and Randy Daversa, R-At Large, voting no. Council President Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2, recused himself from the vote due to being a member of the YMCA board.

Additional funding was approved for Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. for $181,393 for the construction of a 12-unit, 18-bed women’s shelter and passed with an 8-0 vote, and the Jamestown Center City Development Corporation for the construction of The Zone for $200,000 was also approved. Moreover, $200,000 was approved for the Robert H. Jackson Center with for the renovation of their theatre as well as hiring two new positions, and passed by a vote of 6-3 cith Council members Daversa, Andrew Faulkner, R-Ward 6, and Reynolds voting no.

As the council meeting ended, Dolce stated, the $400,000 in funding not approved by Council will go back to the drawing board to determine how it can be allocated.

“So again, a lot of difficult decisions and I want to applaud council for working through those, asking a lot of questions,” Dolce said.