Chautauqua County Legislator Dan Pavlock addresses Legislature (December 20, 2023)
Concerns over the condition of the Jamestown Municipal Building are being raised by County Legislators.
Legislator Dan Pavlock said he couldn’t support a one-year lease renewal with the City of Jamestown for office space for the Department of Mental Hygiene, “One is, we have leaky roofs. And the department has been issued citations (by New York State) for this. We are also leasing space that we’re not able to utilize because of the conditions. I had a hard time agreeing to another lease agreement that really wasn’t that beneficial.”
Pavlock said he understands it is hard for the Department to “up and leave” but he was voting no due to the conditions and the “uphill battle” to get the City to remedy the issue.
Jamestown City Council did pass a resolution Monday night to contract with Greenman-Pederson Inc. to do engineering work for the roof that’s necessary before it’s replaced. However, Council has not taken action on how to fund the estimated $1.8 million project. The project was included in a $6.9 million bond proposal by Mayor Eddie Sundquist, but council members had been looking at using American Rescue Plan monies to reduce the amount the city would have to bond.
The resolution for the lease agreement passed the County Legislature 16 to 2 with Pavlock and Legislator Bob Bankowski voting no. Legislator Billy Torres was absent.
The Legislature also tabled a resolution to use bed tax monies to create a public art program.
Legislator Dave Wilfong made the motion to table, saying that while he’s not against art programs, he wants to see how the proposed $100,000 would be used, “And maybe come back and visit it another time. And give the IDA the opportunity to come back to us and give us a business plan on what actually they plan on doing with the money and how it’s going to stimulate each one of the communities.”
The motion to table passed 17 to 1 with Legislator Terry Neibel voting no.
The County Legislature will hold its organizational meeting at 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 2, 2024. It is open to the public and will be livestreamed on the Chautauqua County Government YouTube page.
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