Jamestown City Council will consider a resolution to purchase the former Hartley Buick property on Washington Street for a new Central Garage. The resolution under new business states the city wishes to purchase 1425 through 1505 Washington Street from Tim Shults for $400,000.
The staff report in the pre-file stated the current Central Garage is too small for the City’s current needs necessitating the leasing of property to store City equipment. With the purchase of the property, the City would be able to renovate the existing garage at a much lower price than it would to build a new garage. In addition, a portion of the original lot would sub-divided and retained by the current owners for future development, ensuring that a part of the land remains on the tax rolls.
The report said the deal is structured to provide the purchase as a land contract for the first year to secure state funding and begin renovation, with the full property transfer to occur after that.
The city had considered building a new Central Garage on Crescent Street for a cost around $4 million. The staff report estimates this purchase would save around $1.9 million including costs savings from borrowing costs and the expected reduction in tax revenue over 10 years.
The report states the City is counting on New York State to contribute $1 million to the project.
Also under new business, Council will consider a local law that increases the rebate to homeowners for sidewalk replacement from $1 a square foot to $3 a square foot. The rebate amount has not been changed since it was put into place in 2004.
Council will vote on new fire reporting software at a cost of $154,675. This will be part of a shared services agreement with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department to bring the Fire Department into software compliance.
And Council will vote on $16,861 in installation costs for new playground equipment at the Lillian Dickson Playground. The equipment, which was supposed to be installed last year, will be installed in July. The resolution is needed due to material costs increasing since the original installation date.
The work session takes place at 7pm with the voting session beginning at 7:30 pm in City Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor of City Hall. It’s open to the public.
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