Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist discussed the priority capital projects list that had been provided to council members.

It is hoped that the projects would be funded through the American Rescue Plan Act money the city received in May as well as through the next disbursement of those funds. Sundquist said department heads went back through the projects and prioritized them.

“There is a huge need that we try to get this resolved by the end of the year so that we can move into next year with capital projects,” Sundquist said during a work session meeting this week. “We did have each department rank some of the priorities here just to point them out.”

Sundquist said the first priority for the police department is for the hiring of four new officers, which would cost the city about $206,000. The second priority of the department is replacing five police vehicles.

“Of those five vehicles, the executive budget did include lost revenue funding for one,” he said. “Obviously there’s been some discussion on how many you’d like to replace.”

The third priority for the police department is portable radios in the amount of $144,000, while the fourth priority is the shooting range that will cost $190,000. The fifth priority is a virtual reality training with a cost of $62,500.

The city Parks Department requested funding to replace the room on the parks building that is slated to cost $250,000 — which is not included under the executive budget under the ARPA Lost Revenue section. The department also requested three laborers, but no estimated cost was reported.

Also requested were water lines at Bergman, Roseland and Jackson-Taylor parks that would cost $1.5 million. Those projects have not been recommended to be funded through the lost revenue category in ARPA funding.

However, a press box at Deithrick Park was included in the lost revenue funding area, as well as walkway paths at Deithrick Park. The press box is slated at $33,000 while the pathways will cost $10,300.

The city Department of Public Works asked for $400,000 for roof repairs for city buildings, a salt brining de-icing system at a cost of $100,000, and improvements to Third Street with a cost of $380,000. For the Third Street project, Sunquist said grant funding may be available.

The fire department requested eight new firefighters for the department at a cost of $609,000, and a roof replacement for fire station No. 4 that is slated to cost $92,000. While the request for new firefighters was not recommended for funding, the roof replacement was recommended.

Sundquist said it was important for council members to speak with the department heads regarding the projects if they would like to fund them.

“We really encourage you guys to pass the master plan so we can get working on some of these other programs, especially the economic fund,” he said. “We continue to have calls from small businesses and others that are looking for funding in order to either expand or to continue, especially during the pandemic. And we still continue to get calls from people that really need support for their homes or better the housing stock here. Obviously, we talked about plans for mental health and other community support as well as working with or mental health partners — all things that we’re really eager to make a plan to present to you guys. We do not want to put those together until we know the amount that will potentially be allocated under that master plan.”