Jamestown City Council members have voted down spending an additional $640,000 in federal money on the Gateway Lofts project.

Monday’s vote came after months of discussion and a public hearing that generated additional public comments before the start of Monday’s voting session. The Gateway Lofts project totals $77 million overall and includes 110 supportive housing units, set to help multiple ongoing problems in the city including homelessness, substance abuse and mental health crises. Before the official vote took place Monday night after the public hearing, a few more Jamestown constituents stood up to offer comments on the project, some in support and others against.

Tom Nelson, a county legislator, addressed the council saying he used to be a member of the city’s Planning Commission and has been a supporter of the Gateway Lofts project since it started in 2020.

“I’ve seen this project really evolve from what was an OK project to a better and better project and I think it’s a good thing and something the city needs right now,” Nelson said. “I just wanted to let you know I support it, and I hope you do as well.”

Steven Ald, executive director of Southern Tier Environments for Living who is doing the Gateway Lofts project, briefly addressed employment and jobs that will be created by the project. Other Jamestown residents commented on what the city has done for housing in general in the city, how this project addresses a number of concerns including lead toxicity in children, the economic concerns from the project, and the potential problems it could cause for the Jamestown police department.

Lt.Sam Piazza addressed some of these issues, including the struggle the department is already having for being understaffed.

“While I support the principles and ideas behind helping people in need in the Jamestown community, whether it’s assisting the homelessness shelter at night, assisting persons with mental health crises, taking them to the hospital possibly, a concern has come up in our department, and our officers have discussed several,” Piazza said.

One concern was on the case load, which Piazza said sometimes can hardly be handled as it is now without the Gateway Lofts existing yet. He questioned what happens when there are multiple calls to the apartment complex, with seven or eight on the outside in other places that may be priority calls.

“The issue is the staffing,” Piazza said. “We’re unable to handle everything that we have on our plate now. The issue that we’re going to have is how do you prioritize things and have it not come back and fall on the police, the council and mayor.”

Piazza also questioned where people that will live in the building will go during the day, at night, and where they will interact. He reemphasized being for supporting helping people, and discussed private security, but said some more discussion involving public safety may need to happen.

Council members also briefly discussed their thoughts on the project and allocating $640,000 to the project, which was noted to be fully funded already and going through no matter what they decided in regards to these funds.

“The Gateway Lofts leadership and project managers have towered that this project is fully funded,” Councilman Bill Reynolds, R-Ward 5, said. “The $77 million includes a 10% contingency fund of $7.7 million. I don’t believe they need the money to pull this project off. I think they have the right investors. I think they’ll be able to make it a successful project, and I wish them well.”

Reynolds added that the Department of Development and regional HUD representatives should do their due diligence to find a use for the $640,000 somewhere else in the city to help Jamestown citizens.

Councilwoman Regina Brackman, R-Ward 3, followed Reynolds by saying she agreed with what has been said that the project does not need it but added that she understands that the Development Department does not currently have anything else the $640K can go towards.

Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, said that no one on the council is unsympathetic to the population that will be going to live in the Gateway Lofts, and that the project is going forward even without this allocation. He addressed that people in the city are hurting, and his past working as a police officer and working with people and children in poverty, and that he lived in poverty himself.

“I know poverty, but this isn’t the greatest use for this $640,000,” Russell said. “Keep it for the taxpayers who put us here.”

Council president Tony Dolce commented after the vote, saying while the project was never the city’s project he is hopeful that the Development Department can find somewhere else to reallocate the $640,000 and that the city will not lose it.

“Again, it was a difficult decision and I want to thank the members of the council who did their due diligence and asked questions and who met with the department heads and discussed this,” Dolce said. “It’s not an easy decision dealing with large sums of money that are allocated to us. Again, that money came from the federal government, it was HUD money, not local tax dollars being spent. It did not come out of the city budget, but hopefully with some work we can reallocate that money and use it somehow, and again we will hopefully move forward and I wanted to thank everybody for their work on that.”