The Spring Street parking ramp is pictured Tuesday morning in downtown Jamestown. The city is looking to install cameras and upgrade lighting at its two parking ramps. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

City officials received an earful this past summer regarding the unsafe conditions of the parking ramps on Spring and Cherry streets.

Resolutions to purchase cameras and lighting upgrades to satisfy some of those concerns were discussed Monday during a City Council work session.

While no one opposed the added safety measures, the project’s price tag and funding sources did come into question. As proposed, the total cost comes in at just under $250,000 – $178,910 for lighting and electrical work and $70,770 for 44 cameras.

The project was first discussed Monday by the council’s Finance Committee. Mayor Eddie Sundquist told the committee that the city has applied for a grant toward the purchase of the cameras.

However, he doesn’t expect the city to learn whether it will receive funding until next year. No funding in the budget has been set aside for the project.

“We have to figure out where we’re going to pay for it,” said Finance Chiar Kim Ecklund, R-At Large. “It’s an awful lot of money.”

Concerns over safety inside the city’s parking ramps had been broached previously. However, the issue came to a head in August after The Post-Journal interviewed a county employee whose vehicle had been vandalized while parked in the garage next to City Hall. At a Public Safety Committee meeting later that month, Carol Wright with the county Department of Mental Hygiene said some of her employees were hesitant to come to work.

“We have absolutely seen the ramp decline in cleanliness,” Wright told the committee. “The smell of the ramp; the various people who are in the ramp; more cars overnight that you don’t know what’s happening in those vehicles.”

“If you arrive early (in the) morning, the ramp is nearly vacant, so you’re the only person walking around,” she continued. “There certainly have been several instances of people sleeping there or nodding out.”

At that time, Sunduist said “no trespassing” signs had been ordered; once the signs were installed, Jamestown police began issuing trespass violations.

Councilman Randy Daversa, R-At-Large, said 26 cameras have been proposed for the Spring Street parking ramp and 18 for the Cherry Street parking ramp.

Ecklund asked Carol Malek, deputy comptroller, to look into how the project could be funded. Malek had suggested that interest earned from American Rescue Plan Act funds could go toward the cost.

In related news, the council reviewed a resolution to award its parking garage management contract to Premium Parking, the city’s current vendor after it recently acquired Allpro Parking. Premium suggested a gateless parking technology component with a one-time cost of about $20,000 for new signage.

Zachary Altschuler, the mayor’s executive assistant, said utilizing gateless technology in the city’s park ramps would reduce operations by one employee and free up other employees to “walk the garages during the day.”

Parking is paid by using a cell phone to take a picture of a QR code, which directs drivers to a website where payment is made.

Sundquist said Premium Parking uses a similar model at its garages in other cities, including Buffalo.

“Instead of actually having someone man the gate … we can shift those to have those employees walking the ramps and checking license plates as part of that,” he told the Finance Committee.

Councilwoman Marie Carrubba, D-Ward 4, asked what options will be available for people who don’t have a smartphone or typically pay with cash.

Sunquist noted that most users of the ramps pay for monthly parking; he estimated that about 20 people pay on a daily basis.

The mayor said he would contact Premium Parking about adding a cash collecting component.