Jamestown will be seeing new equipment for the DPW, an increase in some of the fines for certain traffic offenses and the refinancing of millions of dollars in bonds in 2013.
The City Council unanimously voted for the adoption of several resolutions on Monday that had been discussed in detail during previous sessions.
The Department of Public Works has been authorized to purchase several new vehicles, including two 2013 Ford F-150 extended cab 4x4 pickup trucks, a 2013 Ford Transit Connect van, a John Deere 1600 Turbo Wide Angle Mower and a Caterpillar 420F IT backhoe with attachments. Both of the trucks and the van will be purchased as part of the capital budget, while the mower and backhoe will be purchased using a portion of the bonds that were authorized earlier in the year.
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Jamestown City Council members unanimously voted on several resolutions including: a DPW vehicle purchase pilot program, an increase in parking violation fines and the refinancing of an 18-year-bond used for city parking ramp construction.
P-J photos by Ryan Atkins
According to Jeff Lehman, director of the DPW, some of these purchases will be used for a new pilot program that will be tested out.
The program, which would see vehicles being traded in every two years towards new equipment, is something that the city has been considering for some time now.
"We're starting to do what we've been trying to do for years," said Lehman. "We'll be trading in these vehicles while it's still worth it."
PARKING VIOLATIONS
A resolution was also passed on Monday increasing the fines for offenses related to meters in violation, meter feeding and overtime in zone.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, the fee for these types of violations will be increased to $10, with fines doubling after 10 days and tripling after 20 days.
"This new fine schedule came after consultation with the administration and it's been brought to our attention that the fines have remained the same for the last eight years," said Vince DeJoy, D-Ward IV. "A comparison of other mid-sized cities showed that this was significantly less."
REFINANCING
The bond refinancing that was approved on Monday was originally discussed during the Dec. 3 City Council meeting.
The refinancing, which would potentially save the city approximately $600,000 over the next 18 years, encompasses millions of dollars of bonds that were used to finance the construction of parking ramps on Cherry Street and Main Street in Jamestown.
Currently, the bonds have an interest rate of 5.9 percent, but thanks to the extremely low interest rates prevalent in the market today, refinancing the bonds could bring that rate down by as much as 2 percent. This would result in a savings of roughly $35,000 every year for the remainder of the life of the loan.
CLOSING REMARKS
"It's been a busy year for us," said Tony Dolce, R-Ward II. "The work we do is always difficult and sometimes we take some heavy criticism, but I think that this year we worked well and accomplished a lot. I'll be looking forward to the next year."