Pictured is councilman Brent Sheldon, R-Ward 1 and chair of the finance committee, as he reads a resolution regarding a reallocation of $640,000 to the Gateway Lofts project. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

As the Gateway Lofts project looks to hopefully get underway soon, the city of Jamestown is looking to help finance some of the project.

A resolution included and discussed at the latest City Council work session focused on an amendment to the Department of Development’s annual action plan for the years 2020 to 2024 submitted to the state Housing and Urban Development Department, reallocating $640,000 to the Gateway Lofts project. The Gateway Lofts project is expected to cost $77 million overall and is set to provide more housing opportunities in the city in the form of 110 supportive housing rental units.

“We’re told by the Director of Development that part of the plan of the Gateway project is to pay an $85,000 pilot payment to the city of Jamestown,” councilman Brent Sheldon, R-Ward 1 and chair of the Finance Committee, said. “That’s supposed to happen as being totally not for profit, non-taxed. There also is a clause in there where STEL will be providing the city with $355,000 for city-wide demolition projects.”

Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, asked if the pilot payment is something that could go away if STEL became a nonprofit. Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said they already are a nonprofit and that the pilot payment is generated in lieu of taxes right now for that property. There is no way out of the payment without approval from council, and corporation counsel Elliot Raimondo said the payment is for a term of 15 years.

How the amount for the payment came about and the amount designated for city-wide demolitions was then discussed, and the amount of demolitions the $355,000 would include. Russell then asked if this amendment was not approved by council, if there was somewhere else the $640,000 could go to, and Surdyk said in the short term there is not something else “in the hopper” right now.

“HOME funding we typically utilize for HOME rehabilitation projects,” Surdyk said. “We have several of those underway right now. … It has to specifically meet HOME requirements, we can’t do demolitions with it.”

While this amount could be used for other things, Surdyk said it would involve creating another HOME program and the city would have to have the capacity to administer that program, which they do not currently have with the number of currently open projects that they are trying to administer. There is also a sense of urgency for this funding, as Surdyk said they do not know what will be happening with HUD funding over the next few months.

“We don’t know if we will continue to be an entitlement community and receive an annual allocation of HUD funding,” Surdyk said. “While, yes, this idea came up as a way to spend that funding down quickly, it’s also something that we believe is a very good project and that we are very much advocating to utilize it for.”

With 110 supportive housing units available, staff on site 24 hours, and areas of the project set for youth transitional housing, or youth aging out of foster care ages 18 to 24 year olds, and the rest made up of low to moderate income housing for individuals and families with children, Surdyk said this project will help multiple problems seen in the city.

“We have a homelessness problem, we have a substance abuse problem, we have a mental health problem, all of the same things that are happening in other communities like ours,” Surdyk said. “This project is geared toward addressing so many of those problems and the impact $640,000 could have to help get that project started can catalyse the rest of the funding and catalyse the project. So, we’re not talking about someday we’re going to do this, we’re doing it. The site work needs to happen no matter what, and that’s what this funding would start to address.”

The project is set to also happen in coordination with the Minnow Brook project. If, for some reason, the project does not end up going forward Surdyk said the site work will still be done along with remediation and working in tandem with the city and staff on the project that is already being done, means that the funds will be utilized in a positive way.

Russell expressed one more concern regarding that the project will end up housing people that are not in the Jamestown area.

“I’m all about helping people, but I want to help Jamestown people,” Russell said. “I want to help people here, residents here. … I’m concerned it’s going to cause an influx into the city and we’re not going to be helping just Jamestown people.”

Surdyk said there is already a population in the city now that needs the project to go forward, and some organizations if they had the project now would be able to house those individuals and families. There is already a pipeline of agencies working to house people that are here, she added, and that they are not looking to advertise outside of the city.

“There is a critical need here already,” Surdyk said. “We don’t have to look outside the area. … I would guess it will be full on day one of the people that are already here.”

This is something that Surdyk said STEL and Community Helping Hands could speak to that more directly and answer any more specific questions. Russell is also concerned about the possible increase in call volumes for police, fire and EMS services that could come with this project. Surdyk addressed the call volume, saying she did not know it would necessarily change but that there will probably be calls to this particular place, and from a code enforcement perspective these type of problems are already all over the city, and that this project would bring it into one place where people would be receiving supportive care.

“I can’t predict call volume obviously, but we’re running around chasing our tails right now,” Surdyk said. “I don’t know that not doing it will take any steps towards addressing the issues that we have.”

Surdyk reiterated that STEL and Community Helping Hands are the experts on the project and would be able to better answer some of these questions, and that the City Council will have a chance to talk with them.