The pending retirement of the city’s deputy fire chief is prompting Jamestown officials to end the 22-year-old position of city public safety director.

A resolution on the City Council’s agenda for Monday would end the more than two decades of having one administrative position overseeing the police and fire departments, with the deputy fire chief reporting to the police chief, who also served as public safety director. In 202 Mayor Sam Teresi created the position of director of public safety, an administration that was meant to oversee the police and fire departments. The city was eyeing administrative savings, but in reality the administrations of the department didn’t change. The deputy fire chief largely ran the fire department, but did so while reporting to the police chief.

“The city never abolished the title of fire chief, it simply hasn’t been used since 2001, when Fire Chief Samuel

Arcadipane retired,” a staff memo included in the agenda for today’s City Council meeting states. “Since that time the deputy fire chief administers the fire Department under the director of public safety/police chief. With the impending retirement of Deputy Fire Chief (Matt) Coon the city wishes to revert to a fire chief structure and separate the police department from the fire department.”

City officials will work through the civil service process to find a new fire chief, though the salary for the fire chief’s position will remain the same as the deputy fire chief position. When Police Chief Tim Jackson retires, the city will revert the Public Safety Director’s position to be only the police chief while eliminating a stipend the police chief receives for overseeing the fire department.

Two candidates have emerged to replace Coon. Battalion Fire Chiefs Ryan Roush and Shawn Shilling attended the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control – Fire Officer III training course in February. State Civil Service law requires administrative chief officers of a career firefighting organization to meet minimum training requirements as set forth in Section 58(a) of the Civil Service Law. The New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control has made training available to meet these requirements, which includes Fire Officer Levels I, II and III. Courses are offered tuition-free via outreach educational programs through the NYS Academy of Fire Science.

Taking the course puts Schilling and Roush in line as options to be Coon’s replacement.

“”There are currently two individuals in Chautauqua County that have that training,” Coon said in February. “I am one of them, and Fredonia’s fire chief.”

In other new business that hasn’t yet been discussed by council committees during work sessions this month, the council will vote on the following:

– accepting a $25,000 grant from the U.S. EPA Local Governments Reimbursement grant program to reimburse the city for decontamination equipment for the fire department. The city incurred $100,000 in additional costs fighting the fire, with the EPA giving the city the maximum $25,000 reimbursement available through teh Superfund program. The city will use the money to update decontamination facilities in the Jamestown Fire Department to allow firefighters to safely decontaminate their equipment.

– a three-year contract between the city and the CSEA Local 1000, AFL-CIO. The contract covers the period from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2028.