The Jamestown City Council approved the purchase of four new police vehicles during its regular voting session meeting Monday. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

The Jamestown Police Department will have four new vehicles to use in the future as they patrol the city.

On Monday, the Jamestown City Council during its voting session meeting approved a resolution to purchase four new vehicles – not exceeding the cost of $40,000 each for a total of $160,000 – for the police department. The funding for the new police vehicles would be appropriated from the American Rescue Plan Act lost revenue funds.

Kimberly Ecklund, At-Large councilwoman, thanked the council for not rushing to use American Rescue Plan Act funds, with several proposed purchases being included, but then removed from the 2022 city budget. She said it was important for the council to take its time to make sure the federal stimulus funding will be used toward essential projects like new vehicles for the police department.

Jeff Russell, At-Large councilman, said, along with the purchase of a police vehicle in the 2022 budget, this is the first time in a decade the city has funded the purchasing of new police department vehicles. Usually, asset forfeiture funds are used to buy new vehicles.

During the 2022 budget deliberations, the council heard from Timothy Jackson, Jamestown Police Department chief and city public safety director, and Lt. Sam Piazza, Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association Executive board president, about the need for new vehicles for the police department.

Jackson had requested five new vehicles in the 2022 budget, but only one was included. In November, he said daily the department uses at least five vehicles to serve and protect the city. He added three of the department’s patrol vehicles have more than 100,000 miles, which includes vehicles with 162,572, 131,910 and 125,017 miles respectively, as of the end of October. The department also has a vehicle with more than 91,000 miles.

In other business:

¯ The council tabled the resolution to approve a new contract with the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association (JPFFA) Local 137. Marie Carrubba, Ward 4 councilwoman, said the council would like more time to analyze how the new contract will impact city finances.

Last week, city officials and the union announced the tentative contract agreement that will run through 2024. The union approved the contract earlier this month.

According to a news release, the new contract provides for the hiring of four additional firefighters, along with the deployment of a second ambulance. Additional contractual terms include wage increases of 2.5% for the years 2021 through 2023, followed by a 2.75% increase in 2024. The agreement also includes percentage increases to the city’s health insurance plan by union members, along with the end of lifetime health insurance for all newly hired firefighters.

¯ The council approved a new contract agreement with the Jamestown City Administrative Association (JCAA) for the period Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2025. The JCAA has two employee bargaining units that include public works, assessors and controllers office employees as well as Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA) officials.

The resolution provided in the council’s agenda didn’t provide any details about the contract and no city officials announced the details Monday. With the council approving the agreement, JURA will now need to approve the agreement before it’s finalized.

The last contract agreement reached between the city and JCAA was in July 2019 when a retroactive contract for the years 2017 through 2021 was approved. The contract included no salary increases for 2017, 2018 and 2019. The JCAA”s two bargaining units have between 25-30 employees depending on the city’s budget, received a 2% pay increase in 2020 and 2021.

¯ The council approved a resolution designating $277,750 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for phase one of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Chadakoin River Stabilization project that will include debris removal and tree clearing.

Earlier this month, Twan Leenders, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s ecological restoration manager, gave a presentation to the council regarding the worrisome state of the Chadakoin River within city limits.

“For those who are not aware, there are 5.75 miles of Chadakoin River within the city limits of Jamestown which, in itself, is kind of crazy to think about,” he said. “The section between McCrea Point and the water dam is less than a mile — it’s where all the attention goes to the river because it’s the connection to Chautauqua Lake. It’s the obvious spot that seems to be the obvious driver for economic development.”

Leenders said there are 3 1/2 miles of river that have not received attention in a while.

He pointed out various portions of this section of river that have broken retaining walls, areas that require some type of retaining system, and other areas where water is running over and through areas. Leenders said this is due to a large amount of water currently in the Chadakoin, which could be further impacted by the snowfall that could happen over the winter.

In other areas, there are exposed banks that have been caving in over the years due to the current from the river. In one photo, Leenders explained that a homemade wall of old tires and the trees that had grown in between them were the only things keeping the bank up in that section of the river.

The overall projected budget totals $633,908 for the two-year proposal. This includes five phases: debris removal and tree clearing, invasive vegetation removal, revegetation of exposed banks, risk assessment, plan development and outreach and emergency bank stabilization.