The timetable for the city and Jamestown Board of Public Utilities task force has been altered.

The Joint Task Force on Efficiency and Cost Reduction, consisting of city government and BPU officials, was created by Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, in November. The task force was initially challenged to evaluate each of the 35 ideas that have been suggested as cost-cutting measures for city government from members of the BPU, Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier. They were also asked to look at additional ways to find cost-savings for both city government and the BPU. Also, the group was charged with discussing how to deal with future BPU profit sharing with city government. In November, Teresi said the group will have an April 1 deadline to report back on their findings.

During the second meeting of the task force Wednesday, John Zabrodsky, BPU chairman, said the goals of the task force need to be revised. He said the group should only be focusing on the city’s general fund, with the goal to have a zero percent tax levy increase in the 2016 city budget. Zabrodsky added it would be premature to look at the BPU’s five utility enterprise accounts at this time.

Gregory Rabb, Jamestown City Council president, said the mayor charged the group to look at both the city’s general fund and the BPU’s enterprise accounts. He said they were asked to look at both to possibly find ways to combine services to reduce costs.

”We can’t just look at the general fund,” Rabb said.

Anthony Dolce, task force chairman and Ward 2 councilman, said the group should look at everything ”on the table” – Teresi’s and Zabrodsky’s ideas – to find cost-savings.

Another topic discussed was the timeline for the group to report their findings. Zabrodsky said the April 1 deadline is arbitrary and is not needed. He added it’s not a sensible notion to have all the work the task force needs to do accomplished by the end of March. Dolce agreed with Zabrodsky, saying the timetable is not realistic.

During the first meeting of the group on Jan. 14, Teresi, who is not a member of the task force and didn’t attend the second meeting, said the April 1 deadline is for an initial report. He added the group should continue to work after that date to find cost-reducing measures.

During the second meeting, Zabrodsky said the task force needs to broaden what was initially asked and to have the latitude to change goals and timelines to do what is best for the city.

He said work should be split up because the task force, as a whole, doesn’t have the time together to examine closely every aspect of city government.

”A lot of details need worked out,” he said.

One suggestion was to establish a subcommittee for the task force, with the first group to look at possible ways to lower health insurance costs for city employees. Dolce agreed with the idea and formed a subcommittee that will be chaired by Joseph Bellitto, city comptroller; with additional members being David Leathers, BPU general manager; Marilyn Fiore-Lehman, city corporation counsel; Wayne Rishell, BPU Finance Committee chairman; Ross Snyder, BPU labor relations administrator; and Zabrodsky. The subcommittee was asked to meet prior to the next meeting of the task force, which has been scheduled to be at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb 9.

The 12 members of task force include Mike Anderson; BPU business manager; Bellitto; Chuck Cornell, BPU board member; Dolce; Kim Ecklund, City Council At-Large; Fiore-Lehman; Leathers; Jeff Lehman, city Public Works director; James Olson, city clerk and finance manager; Rabb; Rishell, BPU Finance Committee chairman; and Zabrodsky.