Multiple activities will be going on for the city in the next few months.

At the latest city council meeting, Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund updated the council on an upcoming Red Cross project, grant meetings, an upcoming business tour and the eclipse.

On March 23 there will be a project for the Red Cross, called “Sound the Alarm”, driven out of Buffalo. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Fletcher School, over 100 volunteers will be installing over 350 smoke detectors in about 90 homes. Those wishing to help or get smoke detectors installed can call the Red Cross or visit soundthealarm.org/westernny.

“This is a win-win for the city as (Deputy Fire Chief Matthew) Coon and I have talked many times, but the reason they are coming here is because we have a high amount of fires,” Ecklund said. “So, we’re very much on the radar for the Red Cross.”

The project is free and more information can be found on the Red Cross website, but Ecklund added that if someone is stuck to call her office.

Another recent project for Ecklund is focused on getting grants. Recently she and a few other council leaders met with Senator Gillibrand’s and Senator Schumer’s offices to discuss grants for the city.

“It’s a very critical time, a very pressing small, miniscule time for us to get together to get some congressionally directed spending, so in other words, some specific grants,” Ecklund said. “We’ll be working hard in the next week and a half to put together a plan that we have to have in by the 13th, which is really kind of scary with all of the big things we have out there but we will keep you updated on what comes out of the next meeting and what we decide to put forward.”

Something else coming up in April that Ecklund said she was excited for is a planned tour of some local businesses, specifically those who received American Rescue Plan Act funding. Also in April, there will be an event on the day of the total solar eclipse at the Fenton History Center, but Ecklund emphasized that there will be no city sponsored events. Eclipse glasses are incoming from the county and Ecklund said as soon as they do she will figure out how to get them out to the public. Additionally, certain areas of concern are planning on having extra enforcement in place.

“We will have extra enforcement out for things that are concerning to us, such as power going down, communication being lost for first responders, all of those things that we have been working on behind the scenes to make sure things run as smoothly as possible,” Ecklund said.