City Council members will have their first opportunity tonight to review a Local Law allowing code officers to issue fines for code violations.

The proposal is aimed at curbing quality of life nuisance code violations such as high grass, junk and debris, illegal or unregistered vehicles and accumulating pet waste. City officials anticipate allowing code officers to write tickets requiring fines to be paid rather than working through the city’s Housing Court to resolve code issues.

“The current process for code enforcement from the time a complaint is received to the time the complaint is mitigated or ushered through the judicial process is cumbersome and takes an inordinate amount of time,” the staff report for the proposal states. “Upon research into other municipal best practices for cities and towns across New York state, the Department of Development is proposing the city consider revising the code to authorize code enforcement officers to ticket offenders directly for violations that are committed.”

In other business, the city is being asked to approve more than $1.3 million in federal funding to address environmental health and safety issues in city houses. The Chautauqua County Health Department received $2,000,000 from the federal government’s Healthy Homes Production grant, with $1,378,316.54 earmarked for Jamestown. The money will be paired with money in the county’s Lead Hazard Control Program and the city’s HOME, CDBG and healthy housing projects programs.

The Healthy Homes Production Program is part of the federal Housing and Urban Development department’s Healthy Homes Initiative launched in 1999. The program addresses childhood diseases and injuries in the home by addressing housing-related issues in a coordinated fashion.

Council members are also being asked to approve the bid of Gorman Enterprises of Elma to purchase a previously-approved ambulance for the Jamestown Fire Department. The ambulance will cost $217,741.

The fire department is also requesting the city purchase 40 Motorola portable radio receivers and accessories to be paid with a 2021 Assistance to Firefighters Grant and the use of $30,978 from the 2021 Assistance to Firefighters Grant for 72 Sterling FCX Personal Escape Kits to replace equipment that has outlived its useful life.

Council members are being asked to spend an additional $10,000 in federal ARPA funding for the purchase of a new salt bring system to help melt ice and snow. The system was supposed to be installed in the existing mechanic shop at 155 Steele St., but wasn’t purchased because of delays building the new Public Works mechanic shop on Washington Street. The price for the unit has increased since the council first approved the purchase.

Contingency funding is proposed to pay for a new rooftop heating and cooling unit at Russell E. Diethrick Park. The project is expected to cost $85,725 and will be paid from the city’s contingency fund.

A special council voting session will begin at 6:15 p.m. Monday in the City Council chambers followed by the council’s regular committee meetings and work session. The work session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the police training room in City Hall.