The state's Public Employee Relations Board arbitration panel has awarded Jamestown police officers a two-percent pay increase for 2016 and 2017...
On Thursday, the Post-Journal reported the PERB panel voted 2-1 in favor of the Kendall Club-Police Benevolent Association. The paper reports that the PBA requested five-percent pay increases for each year, while the city countered with no pay increases. The city cited Jamestown's status exhausting the state's constitutional taxing limit, and financial issues as reasons the city has no ability to pay. The decision states that the city's case was weakened by "countervailing evidence." The board said despite the stresses it faced, the city's "careful and skillful budgeting" resulted in a surplus of more than $1.2-million in 2017. However, union members will have to contribute more towards their health care. We have a call into Mayor Sam Teresi for comment on the decision.
Testimony from all sides has been heard by a three-member State Appellate Court-tribunal regarding the city of Jamestown's effort to annex about four-acres of property in the village of Falconer at the city line....
Mayor Sam Teresi confirms that he was among the people called to testify before the panel last week on the city's proposal to take the property owned by the Board of Public utilities for it's Dow Street Substation.
The village, along with the town of Ellicott and Falconer School District oppose the annexation because they will be losing taxable property and, sustain loses of tax revenues due to the change. The city has argued that it needs the property to reduce costs, and claim it would be able to better maintain the location. Teresi says the tribunal will now review the case and, make a final recommendation to the full court in Rochester. He says they'll then hear oral arguments from the attorneys in the matter before the end of the year.
The investigation is continuing into a crash in which a box truck struck a house in the village of Silver Creek, that also closed a portion of Route 20 early Thursday morning....
Sheriff's officers say the truck, driven by 25 year-old Jacob Bostic of Buffalo, slammed into the house at 323 Central Avenue shortly before 8 AM. Deputies say the truck also struck several street signs and a tree before hitting the house. Bostic was treated at Lakeshore Hospital for minor injuries. Officers say Silver Creek fire rescuers had to help residents get out of the second-floor of the house and, the county's HazMat Team was called in to deal with a diesel fuel leak at the scene. None of the residents were hurt. They are being helped by the local Red Cross. Bostic faces several charges, including speeding, and unsafe lane change.
More than 40 teachers from across Chautauqua County got to learn first-hand about local manufacturing jobs and required skills during a Teacher Development Day yesterday at the Manufacturing Technology Institute at Jamestown Community College....
The event was organized by the Manufacturer's Association of the Southern Tier and it's "Dream it Do it" program. MAST Executive Director Todd Tranum addressed the teachers, saying there are dozens of openings across the county, and they're growing.
Tranum noted that these manufacturing jobs aren't the ones our grandparents had. He says these are high-tech jobs in "very clean" facilities. He says a highly-skilled workforce is the major need and that's where the teachers come in. Tranum says even lower-end jobs are paying well, including $40,000 a year on average for production jobs. He adds they increase to $80,000 for industrial engineers. The teachers also got to tour Weber Knapp Corporation, and Artone Manufacturing prior to the program at the MTI.
A new report finds that when it comes to federal government, New York gives more than it receives....
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says taxes paid by residents and businesses last year total about $24 billion more than the federal funds allotted to New York. It's the third straight year that's happened. New York is one of 11 states with such an imbalance. Only New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts receive a smaller fraction of what they contribute.
Village of Fredonia....
Fredonia Village lawmakers voted 3-2 to eliminate the village administrator's position, which has been vacant since July when long-time administrator Richard St. George resigned. Trustees Kara Christina, James Lynden and Michael Barris voted in favor of eliminating the position while Doug Essek and Roger Britz Jr. were opposed.
Expect the rollercoaster weather pattern to continue over the next several days...
That's the word from Meteorologist Heather Kenyon of the National Weather Service in Buffalo. The air was cold enough Thursday morning to change rain showers to snow showers over parts of Western New York. Temperatures didn't get very warm yesterday, but there should be some moderation today. She says we should see the upper 50s. Temperatures dropped into the low to mid-30s Thursday morning, and, while there were no reports of any accumulation in Chautauqua County, there was two-inches of the white stuff reported near Humphrey in Cattaraugus County.
