City council briefly discussed conferences and travel expenses that are approved annually to allow for reimbursement during the work session. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

There isn’t much spending on conferences and training by the mayor and City Council members, but that doesn’t mean the continuing education isn’t encouraged.

Council members recently discussed a resolution to give permission for attendance of meetings of the Chautauqua County Conference of Mayors, the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board, the New York State Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and any other job-related conferences during 2026, with expenses paid.

Councilman Brent Sheldon, R-Ward 1 and chair of the council’s Finance Committee, briefly mentioned the resolution during his report to the whole council.

“There was a comment made that we don’t have much travel or we haven’t had much travel by the mayor lately,” Sheldon said. “We have to make this resolution so we can get reimbursed.”

Mayor Kim Ecklund clarified that it is encouraged for all council members and staff to participate in any conference that might come up, including those online. She added that in her office people do a lot of online things versus traveling for meetings.

“Southern Tier West I go to every month and some other stuff, but the travel I’ve had lately is 100% reimbursable,” Ecklund said. “So that’s why you’re not seeing big stuff.”

Other Finance Committee resolutions discussed included the annual approval of the city bank, the procurement policy and authorizing the amendment to the 2025 General Fund Budget, removing $150,000 from Nova Chip and giving it to the Slurry/Micropaving line item. Sheldon said that was a mistake made in the 2025 budget as Nova Chip is paid for through CHIPS funding and not the general fund budget.