A retroactive contract agreement has been reached between the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association and the city of Jamestown.

The tentative agreement is for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 and is slated to be voted on by the Jamestown City Council during its voting session meeting today. The agenda for the meeting sent to city officials and the media included the resolution the council will vote on, but the resolution doesn’t include any details of the contract agreement other than the years it covers and that the union membership has already approved the arrangement.

The contract agreement follows the decision in December by the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany to not hear the city’s motion to appeal the 2018 arbitration panel’s ruling of awarding Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association members a 2% pay increase in 2016 and 2017.

The highest court in the state made the ruling to not hear the case, which was an option for the court because the New York State Supreme Court Fourth Judicial Department Appellate Division’s decision was unanimous in favor of the police union.

In July 2020, city officials decided to appeal the Appellate’s Division’s ruling to the highest court in the state. In July, Elliot Raimondo, city corporation counsel, told The Post-Journal the appeal wouldn’t cost the city any additional money because their lawyers — Bond, Schoeneck and King — haven’t allocated all of the $25,000 the Jamestown City Council approved to pay for the appeal to the Appellate Division.

In April 2019, the council approved appealing the arbitration panel’s decision following the ruling by state Supreme Court in Mayville in March 2019 upholding the pay increase. In November 2018, a three-member arbitration panel released its split decision, 2-1, on the issue of a 2% pay increase, with independent arbitrator Howard Foster and John Crotty, police union representative, siding with the police and Todd Thomas, former city clerk and administrative services director who represented the city, provided the dissenting opinion.

The last contract agreement between the city and police union expired at the end of 2015.

In other business, the council will vote on possibly adopting the Jamestown Police Reform and Reinvention Plan. Last week the council discussed the plan prior to its work session meeting. The draft plan has information on the police department, crime statistics, a summary of feedback received by the community through the stakeholder meetings the task force held over the past few months and goals and objectives for the Jamestown Police Department to reach in the short, medium and long term. The city has a deadline of April 1 to submit the plan to the state.

The council will also vote on possibly approving a $1,967,559 bond to finance the cost of improving the city’s parking garages, acquiring parking meters and to purchase an ambulance. During the council’s work session meeting earlier this month, Ryan Thompson, city comptroller, discussed borrowing additional funding for upgrades to all three parking garages, with a focus on the Spring Street parking garage. The improvements would include security cameras for all three garages, which also includes the Cherry and Main street garages; access equipment upgrades for Cherry and Spring street garages; and elevator and lighting improvements at the Spring Street facility. The additional borrowed funding would also go toward purchasing more downtown parking meters and bike sharing stalls and bikes.

Jeff Lehman, city public works director, said the improvements at the Spring Street parking garage are much needed, with the last major repair project occurring in 2009. He said if the garage had to be demolished, it would be a multimillion-dollar project to replace the garage.

Thompson said the city is only at 36% of its Constitutional borrowing limit. Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist also said that interest rates are favorably low right now.

The council will also vote on possibly approving the parklet pilot program for a second year. A parklet is a sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Usually parklets are installed on parking lanes and use several parking spaces. Parklets typically extend out from the sidewalk at the level of the sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space.

The program was first approved last summer to assist restaurant owners with providing more seating after indoor capacity limits were set by the state following the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the first year of the program, two downtown Jamestown businesses applied and were approved for a parklet. Brent Sheldon, Ward 1 councilman, said the parklets were approved for 4 Below Haggy’s Bar and Grill, located at 104. E. Second St., and Labyrinth Press Co. and Brazil Beer and Wine Lounge located along East Fourth Street.

Following the voting session meeting, the council’s Public Safety Committee is slated to vote on approving the parklets for 4 Below Haggy’s Bar and Grill and Labyrinth Press Co. and Brazil Beer and Wine Lounge for this year.

The council will also vote on possibly approving a city ordinance establishing small cell infrastructure in the city. Last month, the city’s Planning Commission approved the ordinance after months of deliberation. The ordinance will allow for the new 5G cell phone antenna technology, which is an opportunity for the city to generate revenues from cell phone companies for each pole attachment in the city. The ordinance also protects the city’s infrastructure and right-of-ways.