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December 12, 2022 Regular Meeting

Mayor James M. Jaroszynski
Trustee Anthony Cavallaro
Trustee Timothy Dunn
Trustee Alan Gustafson, Jr.
Trustee Annette Miller

Gregory Peterson, Attorney
Cindy Capestrani, Village Clerk
Bryce Webster, Fire Chief
Paul Andalora, Code Enforcement Officer-excused
Carl Caprino, DPW Superintendent
Laurie Becker, Library Director

The regular meeting of the Village of Falconer Mayor and Board of Trustees was held on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. in the Firemen’s Exempt Hall with Mayor James Jaroszynski presiding.

Pledge of Allegiance & Roll:

Trustee Gustafson, Trustee Dunn, Trustee Cavallaro, Trustee Miller and Mayor Jaroszynski were all present.

Visitors

Pat Bellardo
Nina Gustafson
Steve Garvey
Peter Fuller
Glen Dickerson
Brian D Nelson
Jim Ribaudo
Brenda Weiler
Alan Gustafson Sr
John Sellstrom

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR

VISITORS ARE ALLOWED A MAXIMUM OF THREE (3) MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. THIS IS NOT THE TIME OR PLACE FOR A DEBATE. IT IS A MEETING FOR THE BOARD TO CONDUCT VILLAGE BUSINESS. ALL COMPLAINTS/REQUESTS WILL BE CONSIDERED AND REVIEWD AT A LATER TIME.

Visitor Comments

Comments made from visitors addressing the board.

  • Steve Garvey, whose property borders the park on 2 sides, presented a visual of the current green space area in the park along with a photo showing over 500′ of black fencing that would be put in that area for the proposed dog park.
  • Jim Ribaudo spoke about the dog park survey that was previously sent out to village residents. The survey did not mention where it would be in the park, so he wonders if the answers would have been different if they had known it would be taking away an area that the summer rec program uses. On a separate issue, across from his residence on 27 Valmeere there is an open lot between 10 and 26 Valmeere that is not being maintained. The grass has been overgrown and the garage in the back is falling apart. Mayor Jaroszynski noted that the concern will be forwarded to Code Officer Andalora to contact the resident that owns the property and will report back to Mr. Ribaudo.
  • Brian Nelson – inquired again on leasing the village owned empty lot on West Main Street as soon as possible for $1000/year. He would like the village to grade and mill the property and plans to put 12 sheds on the lot. He understands the property is for sale and would vacate the property within 30 days of notification. Mayor Jaroszynski noted that the DPW has been busy with leaf collection and may not have the time to grade the property now. Superintendent Caprino noted that if it is approved, he would try to make time but that would depend on the weather.
  • Nina Gustafson, Falconer Rotary – Thanked the village, DPW, Falconer Library, Fire Department and fire crews for their help with the Santa Parage and tree lighting. The 25 days of Reading Program is underway right now on both the Falconer Library and Falconer Rotary Facebook pages.

Minutes

Trustee Gustafson made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn, to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2022 Regular Board of Trustees Meeting. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Miller, to approve the minutes of the December 5, 2022 Work Session. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Mayor’s Comments

Mayor Jaroszynski introduced John Sellstrom to the board as the new village treasurer effective 1/3/2023. John comes to us with municipal experience and a financial accounting degree.

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Miller to appoint John K. Sellstrom as the new village treasurer. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried

Fire Chief

The chief’s November report was reviewed and noted that the department responded to 48 EMS, 15 Cancelled in Route, 2 Structure fire, 1 Natural vegetation fire, 2 system or detector malfunction, 5 Unintentional system, 3 public service assistance, 1 Water problem, 1 Electrical wiring problem, 2 Chemical release or toxic condition, 1 False Alarm, total 81 calls in November /860 YTD.

Mutual Aid Breakdown- November 2022
Given: Jamestown-11, Frewsburg-9, Kennedy-5 Gerry-3, total 28
Received: Medic 74-7, Gerry-2, Alstar-2, Kennedy-3, Kiantone-1, total 15

Trustee Cavallaro is concerned since Frewsburg is going from an ALS (advance life support) to BLS (basic life support) ambulance service, that Falconer will be responding more to Frewsburg calls and taking away from our village fire district. Fire Chief Webster said we are the only ALS agency for Frewsburg, Kennedy, and Kiantone.

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn to approve membership of Preston Crooks into the Hook and Ladder Company, effective immediately. Satisfactory background and medical evaluation documents were reviewed by the board and filed with the clerk. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Miller to approve membership of Amy Nichole Smith into the Hook and Ladder Company, effective immediately. Satisfactory background and medical evaluation documents were reviewed by the board and filed with the clerk. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson to accept the Chief Officers of the Falconer Fire Department, Chief Bryce Webster, 1st assistant chief Keith Babcock, 2nd assistant chief Avery Faulkner, 3rd assistant chief Brenton Yager. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Code Enforcement

The November code officer report was reviewed. It was noted building permits totaling $ 125 were issued, 5 building inspections were performed, 12 phone calls/personal contact/emails were addressed.

Alan Gustafson Sr. reported that he was involved in a recent meeting with Code Officer Andalora and Don Harrington’s architect for his East Main Street project that is back on track.

Highlights:

  • 9 E. Main Street – owner has plans to renovate the upstairs having completed work on the roof with work on the lower portion of the building starting soon.
  • 4 Carter – upcoming meeting with contractor regarding a structure to be built next to the existing building.
  • 23-29 W. Main Street – New building permit issued to continue renovation on the interior of the building.
  • Will be updating schedule by end of December for winter hours

Department of Public Works

The DPW report was reviewed for the period November 11 – December 8, 2022.

Superintendent Caprino reported that Casella had offered a one-year extension on the current waste/recycling contract at a 4% increase versus 8% for a new contract. Attorney Peterson stated that we could only give an extension if it was stated in the original contract, otherwise it will need to be rebid.

Mayor Jaroszynski asked Superintendent Caprino if the 2 Fire Department doors had been repaired. Superintendent Caprino said he would make a call in the morning to get them fixed.

Library

The November 15, 2022 – December 12, 2022 library report was reviewed.

Highlights include:

  • The “Adopt a Book” program that started in October has been very successful bringing in $894 so far with 45 books added to the library collection.
  • The library has partnered with the Falconer Rotary to bring “25 Days of Reading” program back this year. Each day in December a member of the community will read a children’s Christmas book which will be shown on the Falconer Public Library and the Falconer Rotary Facebook pages.

Committees:

Finance:

  • EMS Services payment – need direction for recording. Trustee Cavallaro will speak with Steve, chairman of the Fire Advisory Board, to get something written up to be approved by the board. Treasurer Trask recommends making a reserve account, specified for ambulance, but include it in the current capitol F account. Community building chimney/parapet repairs need to be addressed
  • ARPA fund balance = $131,762
  • Fire Department balance that was not covered in the Community Foundation grant need to know what fund to be paid from – general fund or fire hall reserve? Clerk Capestrani will check notes from last meeting and report back.

Legal: 

none

Public Safety:

The Fire Advisory Board met recently and plan to look into, the amount received from the first Chautauqua County EMS payment as it was lower than what was anticipated.

Downtown Development

Mayor Jaroszynski informed the board that Paula Blanchard with Hanna Commercial Realty will be putting together a listing agreement to market Falconer Square as there is some interest from a few potential developers for the property.

Farmers Market:

Trustee Miller is looking into the NYS Farmer’s Market Resiliency grant program that will help farmers strengthen their markets and make more local food accessible to consumers.

Parks: 

none

Pine Hill Cemetery:

Trustee Gustafson commented that the American Legion would be participating in an event called “Wreaths Across America” at noon on Saturday, December 17th at the cemetery.

Planning/Zoning Board: 

none

Old Business:

Community Building Camera System Upgrade – Trustee Gustafson provided a handout detailing the current cameras’ megapixel and installation dates in Falconer Park, the DPW and firehall buildings. He feels that we may not need to swap our the current FSC systems at this time and would need to get a new quote as the quote from September had expired. Trustee Dunn commented that the cameras in the fire hall are 7 years old and are only 1.3mp. Without a higher resolution camera, they will not be clear enough to identify an individual’s face. These older cameras should be updated sometime in the future. The camera system was tabled. Trustee Gustafson will follow up with new quotes.

Fire Alarm Quote Approval for Community Building, Fire Department, DPW & Exempt Hall – Allied Alarm Quote

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson to approve, using ARPA funds, the Community building, fire department, DPW and Exempt Fire Hall fire alarm system per the quote received. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski:

Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Dog Park – Some of the comments made by the village trustees at the meeting include:

  • Conversations have been heard both for and against the dog park in the Falconer Park.
  • Dogs are walked in residential areas as well as have kennels in backyards so the argument of a dog park not belonging in a residential area is not a valid argument.
  • Rotary has presented ways to solve all of the issues presented but feels the proposed area is not large enough especially for larger dogs that need space to run.
  • Other locations in the village that are larger in size should be considered and looked into further, that would also allow for more parking spaces.
  • Area proposed is used for summer recreation activities as well as the village Easter Egg Hunt in the spring.

The board agreed to table the dog park placement in Falconer Park and continue to look for an alternative space.

Santa Parade – Mayor Jaroszynski commended the Falcoper Rotary on the fantastic job they did on the Santa Parade and tree lighting ceremony. There was a request for additional lighting near the Santa House for next year. The Rotary would like to look into planting a permanent tree or having provisions in place to aid in setting up a cut tree.

Request to lease village owned lot by Brian Nelson – Attorney Peterson recommended that Brian Nelson submit a letter to the board outlining the agreement as he stated to the board regarding the lease of the village owned lot on W. Main Street.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson pending DPW having time to prepare the property, pending code enforcement and planning board approval, approving the mayor and legal to review and agree upon a legal document with Brian, we would approve leasing the property to Brian. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Community Building Chimney & Parapet Repairs

Superintendent Caprino noted the library side of the parapet was fixed when the emergency roof was repaired over the library. The building was reviewed by an engineering company a few years ago with a cost of 65K to repair the chimney and over 400K for all of the suggested repairs. The side of the building facing Davis Street is in the most need of repair. It was questioned if we would be able to do a portion of the parapet at a time in order to continue to save money in the community building fund.

Mayor Jaroszynski commented that he would have our grant writer look to see if there are any NYS preservation grants available to help with the project.

The question was also brought up on whether we needed the chimney and if it could be removed. Superintendent Caprino said we could put a power vent in and have previous estimates for that work. He also commented that code enforcement needs to research how high the chimney needs to be. Trustee Dunn asked if Superintendent Caprino could confirm with code enforcement on how high the chimney needs to be and to also bring the previous quote for the power vent to the next board meeting so that they have an idea on the cost and if the funds available would be sufficient to cover the chimney/power vent.

New Business:

Resolution to set public hearing for CDBG funding for Jamestown Container Project Trustee Dunn made a motion for a resolution, seconded by Trustee Gustafson fixing date and notice for the public hearing for Community Development Block Grant on January 9, 2022 at 6pm. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Correspondence:

A thank you card addressed to the Mayor, Board of Trustees, and Greg Peterson from retiring Treasurer Trask was read by Clerk Capestrani.

An email from Janice Langford was read to the board regarding concerns of a Falconer Fire Department member recently elected to Captain. This matter will be discussed in executive session.

Abstracts

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Dunn and seconded by Trustee Miller that Abstract #7, General Fund in the amount of $102,304.63 be approved for Payment. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Gustafson and seconded by Trustee Dunn that Abstract #7, Cemetery Fund in the amount of $663.14 be approved for payment. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Miller and seconded by Trustee Gustafson that Abstract #7, Library Fund in the amount of $1,090.31 be approved for payment. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Abstain, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Cavallaro and seconded by Trustee Miller that Abstract #7, General Fund Hand Items in the amount of $34,303.99 be approved for payment. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Trustee Gustafson’s letter, dated December 12, 2022, which acknowledged his review of the November 2022 unpaid vouchers and bank reconciliations for M&T Bank and Community Bank on December 11, 2022, was placed into record.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Cavallaro to adjourn the meeting and enter into executive session to discuss municipal contract negotiations at 7:24 pm. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Abstain, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Executive Session:

No action taken by the board.

Trustee Miller made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn to re-enter the regular meeting at 8:28 pm. Ayes-all. Motion carried.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Cavallaro to accept all line officers, as presented in the December meeting for 2023. Ayes-all. Motion carried.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Cavallaro to adjourn the meeting at 8:31 pm. Ayes-all. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Capestrani, Village Clerk