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Ellicott officials are investigating a quality of life ticketing system in an attempt to decrease the volume of code cases making their way to town court.
Brandon Shelters, Ellicott code enforcement officer, made the suggestion during the Ellicott Town Board’s July 7 meeting. Rather than sending code violations to Ellicott Town Court, which ends up driving up the number of cases in court and allows code cases to stay open longer, Shelters suggested the use of violation tickets for common code violations.
Jamestown’s quality of life tickets give code enforcement officers the option of writing tickets – similar to parking tickets – for things like animal waste and feces, exterior junk and debris, high grass, weeds, overgrowth, dangerous trees, unauthorized motor vehicles and prohibited burns. The city will also dismiss the ticket if problems are remedied within five days. There is also an opportunity for those who receive a ticket to plead guilty or not guilty, at which point there is a resolution hearing and, eventually, a court date. Board members unanimously approved the code enforcement compliance tickets, 3-0, with two members absent.
Bob Whitney, a Chautauqua County legislator from Jamestown, also spoke to board members about a home at 693 Baker St. Ext. The property’s owner is trying to fix the house, but Whitney said Shelters told the homeowner that once the renovation project reaches the studs of the house, it must follow new state construction laws. Whitney and Danton Hilldale of Jamestown, the property’s owner, are asking to be grandfathered into previous construction laws so the project can be finished and the property sold. Janet Bowman, town supervisor, said she will have Marilyn Fiore-Lehman, town attorney, look to see if there is a way around the state code regulations on this property.
Robert Pickett, town highway superintendent, said the Fluvanna Water and Sewer project may break ground in August. Easements for the project are being returned, Pickett said. Pickett said it also appears the town will be able to hook up residents in the area at no cost to them.
A public hearing may be scheduled on the town’s Battery Energy Storage Systems local law in August. Bowman said the town is pursuing a less restrictive local law due to the presence of Electrovaya in the town. Electrovaya, a maker of lithium ion battery systems located in Ellicott, is participating in a U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") funded project led by Binghamton University to develop and demonstrate a next-generation energy storage system for critical infrastructure applications.Electrovaya officials said in May they want to demonstrate the battery storage system at the Ellicott plant rather than use a diesel generator as a backup power source – but a moratorium on battery energy storage system in Ellicott could have made that difficult.
The board also approved a $2,000 donation to the Chautauqua Lake Association.