Standing, Lt. Sam Piazza, Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association Executive Board president, addressing the Jamestown City Council about the need for new vehicles and equipment for the Jamestown Police Department. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

The president of the Jamestown Police Department employees union has addressed the need for new vehicles and equipment with the Jamestown City Council.

On Monday, Lt. Sam Piazza, Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association Executive Board president, spoke to the council about the need for new vehicles and equipment during the council’s work session meeting.

Piazza said currently there is water seeping through the Tracy Plaza deck into the indoor shooting range the officers use regularly for target practice and drills. Piazza showed pictures of the water seeping into the indoor shooting range to council members.

The water seeping through Tracy Plaza has been an ongoing issue since city officials hired Patterson-Stevens Inc. of Tonawanda to renovate the deck. During the renovation project in September 2017, a rainstorm led to significant flooding of the Jamestown Police Department. According to city officials, the flooding was due to Patterson-Stevens not properly securing the deck during the renovation project. The flooding caused damage to city equipment, files, computers and radios. The main entrance to the police department was closed to the public for months.

In July 2020, Patterson-Stevens Inc. of Tonawanda filed a lawsuit against the city in State Supreme Court in Chautauqua County. According to the lawsuit, Patterson-Stevens claimed it has suffered monetary damages of at least $306,048 because the city allegedly breached the contract by delaying the start of the project, issued an improper stop-work order, interfered with the contractor’s performance of the contract, improperly withheld payments or failed to pay or rejected invoices as required by the contract and improperly delayed completion of the project well beyond the scheduled June 30, 2018, completion date. Patterson-Stevens asked the court to order the release of the $306,048 payment, but also pay any interest, attorney fees, costs and disbursements, along with any further relief as the court deems necessary and proper.

According to the lawsuit, the city entered into a contract with Patterson-Stevens in July 2017 to oversee phase two renovation work of Tracy Plaza, which included the replacement of the plaza deck, which also serves as a roof over the Jamestown police and fire departments. The initial contract called for a payment of $1,534,864 to the firm. Additional change orders raised the total to $1,645,689.

On Monday, Elliot Raimondo, city corporation counsel, said the lawsuit is still ongoing with court depositions scheduled for February.

Besides the need for a new indoor shooting range, Piazza said the department requires new vehicles. He said several of the department’s vehicles have more than 100,000 miles. He added the cars are used 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are under constant strain like idling for long periods. There is one vehicle purchase for the department in the proposed 2022 budget.

Piazza also discussed how there is a need for communication improvements because the radios the officers carry with them don’t allow for direct communication with other public safety personnel. He said currently the officers communicate through the dispatch center when needed, which is an inefficient way for the officers to communicate with each other during an incident.

“We can’t talk to each other,” he said.

Piazza said the $28 million the city received in American Rescue Plan funding is a great opportunity to improve the vehicles and equipment the officers use to keep the public safe.

“Public safety should be the most important item going forward,” he said.

In other business, Dan Stone, city parks manager, gave a presentation on the proposed dog park that is in the 2022 tentative city budget. Stone said city officials have decided to cut the cost of the original proposal, going from a proposed $250,000 to $126,000. He said the dog park that will be located at Bergman Park will be similar in size to the one that is in Lakewood. He said items like walking paths, equipment like slides, no shade pavilions and fewer water systems are how city officials cut costs.