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January 8, 2024 Regular Meeting

Mayor James M. Jaroszynski
Trustee Anthony Cavallaro
Trustee Timothy Dunn 
Trustee Alan Gustafson Jr.
Trustee Annette Miller

Gregory Peterson, Attorney-excused
Cindy Capestrani, Village Clerk
Paula Spunaugle, Treasurer
Bryce Webster, Fire Chief
Alan Gustafson Sr., Code Enforcement Officer-excused
Paul Capitano, Code Enforcement Officer
Carl Caprino, DPW Superintendent
Laurie Becker, Library Director

The regular meeting of the Village of Falconer Mayor and Board of Trustees was held on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 6:00 P.M. in the Firemen’s Exempt Hall with Mayor James Jaroszynski presiding. 

Pledge of Allegiance & Roll:

Trustee Gustafson, Trustee Dunn, Trustee Cavallaro, Trustee Miller and Mayor Jaroszynski were all present.

Visitors

Nina Gustafson
Steve Garvey
Pat Bellardo
Christopher Blakeslee – Post Journal

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR

VISITORS ARE ALLOWED A MAXIMUM OF THREE (3) MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. THIS IS NOT THE TIME OR PLACE FOR A DEBATE. IT IS A MEETING FOR THE BOARD TO CONDUCT VILLAGE BUSINESS. ALLCOMPLAINTS/REQUESTS WILL BE CONSIDERED AND REVIEWED AT A LATER TIME.

Visitor Comments

  • No visitor comments.

Minutes

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Miller, to approve the minutes of the December 11, 2023 Regular Board of Trustees Meeting with a correction in the Fire Chief Report for the FEMA grant submission to year 2024.  Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Mayors Remarks

  • Still waiting to for the NY Forward grant award to be announced for our region. A few other regions in the state have been announced by Governor Hochul.

Fire Chief

The Fire Chief’s December report as well as the year-end report for 2023 were reviewed. For the month of December, the department responded to 55 EMS incidents, 26 cancelled in route, 1 motor vehicle accident with no injury, 2 alarm system malfunction, 1 outside rubbish fire, 1 motor vehicle with injury, 2 smoke detector unintentional, 1 medical EMS assist, 1 carbon monoxide incident, 1 fire other, 2 assist invalid, 1 sprinkler activation, 94 calls, 894 total calls for the year 2023.

Mutual Aid Breakdown – December 2023
Given:  Jamestown-11, Frewsburg-4, Kennedy-1, Kiantone-1, Gerry-1, total 18 
Received:  Medic 74 -17, Alstar-10, Coroner-2, Kennedy-1, total 30

Highlights:

  • The 2023 volunteer fire department mobile man hours for response were 3,400.75 hours. Training and drills are approximately another 2,500 hours. Mayor Jaroszynski commented on the outstanding job done by all of the volunteer fire department members.
  • This past year also marked 50 years of service to the Fire Department by Trustee/Deputy Mayor Anthony Cavallaro. Thank you for your outstanding commitment.

Board Approval of Fire Department Officers

Trustee Cavallaro made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson to accept the Chief Line Officers of the Falconer Fire Department for 2024, Chief Bryce Webster, 1st assistant Chief Keith Babcock, 2nd assistant Chief Avery Faulkner, 3rd assistant Chief Brenton Yager. Also voted in at the December Fire Department elections were Captains: Ryan Delahoy and Mike Rogers. EMS Officers: Captain Terrell Colburn and Lieutenant Billy Furlow. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None.  Carried. 

Code Enforcement

The December code officer report was reviewed. It was noted 4 building permits totaling $40 were issued, 67 permits issued for 2023 totaling $2,963.

Highlights:

  • CEO’s Alan Gustafson Sr. and Paul Capitano attended the Crosby’s Grand Reopening event on January 5, 2024.
  • Work continues with pursuing compliance violations from previous reports.
  • CEO Paul Capitano begins his fourth code enforcement officer class on January 8. Upon completion and passing of the exam, he will have the credentials to fully act in the capacity of Code Enforcement Officer. 

Department of Public Works

The DPW report was submitted for the period December 7, 2023 – January 3, 2024. 

  • Trustee Dunn inquired if Superintendent Caprino had an answer on his inquiry as to the Community Building boiler system life expectancy. Superintendent Caprino reported if taken care of on a regular basis the boiler will be operational for a long time in the future.
  • There are only 9 days left on the Auctions International listing for the old sidewalk plow and leaf blower. If there isn’t an acceptable offer, the bid can be rejected. Once the bidding closes, Superintendent Caprino will let the board know before any bids are accepted.  The Village of Celeron purchased the old leaf box.
  • Quotes were reviewed from 3 vendors for the shed for Falconer Park, Brian Nelson – Vac Shop, Backyard Outfitters, and AFAB Sales. The lowest price was from Brian Nelson – Vac Shop.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Cavallaro to accept the quote for $6,200 for the salt box shed for the park provided by Brian Nelson and would propose to use ARPA funds to pay for it. After discussion, the board decided to use the ARPA funds for the shed. Trustee Gustafson and Trustee Miller will be presenting spending proposals to the board next month using the remaining ARPA funds.  Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None.  Carried. 

Library  

The December 11, 2023 – January 8, 2024 Library report was reviewed. 

Highlights:

  • The front door reconstruction has had some major delays. Contractor Nate Goot met with the library board to discuss the plan for moving forward as there have been many issues with the project: The project started late, the stain on the trim was not acceptable, the inside door opening is not uniform, the contract did not include the handicap mechanism needed for the front door so new quotes will be needed and the location of the proposed book drop needs to be relocated so that it is ADA compatible requiring additional work to the outside entrance area. The project is being funded from a grant and needs to be completed by June 31st for payment. Mayor Jaroszynski will contact Attorney Peterson to see if we can terminate the existing contract and look for another contractor to complete the project.
  • Trustee Gustafson attended the library advocacy meeting held on December 17 in which both Laurie Becker and Sandy Thies were in attendance representing the Falconer Library. Laurie did a great job on her presentation giving Falconer’s perspective on issues affecting libraries. Senator Borrello, Assemblyman Giglio, and Assemblyman Goodell were also in attendance at the meeting.
  • Jan Dekoff, Chautauqua Cattaraugus Library System Director, will be attending the next library board meeting will be held on Thursday, January 18th at 8:00 am.

Committees:

Finance: 

  • Nothing to report

Legal:  

  • Nothing to report

Public Safety: 

  • The Dog Control Report for December was reviewed. 
  • Attorney Peterson is doing research regarding the Town of Ellicott’s responsibility on picking up stray dogs when the village dog officer is not available.
  • Request from Alan and Nina Gustafson to transfer the special dog permit for 3 dogs that was issued in October 2023 for 121 Hickory to their new residence at 125 N. Ralph. Matt Abbey will be contacted to do an inspection of the property for the transfer of the permit.

Downtown Development:  

  • Nothing new to report

Farmers Market:

  • Nothing new to report

Parks:

  • Pickleball Court Discussion
    Trustee Miller went over the information provided to the board regarding repurposing the Falconer Park Tennis Counts to Pickleball Courts. The packets included photos and costs from other area parks, La Grega in Lakewood, Bemus Point and Betts Park in Warren, Pa.

    Some of the key points for consideration:
    • Existing courts are unusable and Falconer School has 3 tennis courts available to the public when not used by the school tennis teams, pickleball appeals to both young and old
    • Surface costs – options for repairing, resurfacing or replacing – compare costs
    • Existing fence around courts in good condition
    • Net Posts – Temporary vs. Permanent
    • Center Fencing
    • Paddles and balls – bring own – provide through sign out
    • Signage with game rules
    • Hours of use as pickleball can be noisy
    • More people using the park will deter anyone who wants to do harm to park
    • Pickleball was No.1 suggestion from Park Survey conducted in May/June 2022
    • How to finance the project – grants – sponsors
    • Need to create a plan for next steps once we know more about existing surface condition

Pine Hill Cemetery:

  • Trustee Gustafson reported they had to bring in a crew to take down an ash tree and a maple tree that had split. 

Planning/Zoning Board: 

  • Working on scheduling a meeting in January or February to review rezoning of several properties. 

Old Business:

  • Nothing new to report

New Business: 

  • Nothing new to report

Correspondence:      

  • Walk to End Alzheimer’s – January 18, 9:00 am in Bemus Point

Trustee Gustafson’s letter, dated January 8, 2024, which acknowledged his review on January 7-8, 2024 of the unpaid vouchers for Abstract #8 (FY 23/24) and bank reconciliations from M&T Bank, Community Bank and NYCLASS for the month of November 2023 was placed into record.

Abstracts

Motion:  It is moved by Trustee Dunn and seconded by Trustee Miller that Abstract #8, General Fund in the amount of $210,607.02 be approved for payment. There was a discussion questioning if there is a requirement for multiple bids when using FEMA award money. Clerk Capestrani will follow up with Attorney Peterson.  Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Motion:  It is moved by Trustee Gustafson and seconded by Trustee Dunn that Abstract #8, Cemetery Fund in the amount of $4,502.97 be approved for payment.  Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Motion:  It is moved by Trustee Miller and seconded by Trustee Gustafson that Abstract #8, Library Fund in the amount of $1,779.32 be approved for payment. Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Abstain, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Motion:  It is moved by Trustee Cavallaro and seconded by Trustee Miller that Abstract #8, General Fund Hand Items in the amount of $84,358.75 be approved for payment.  Roll: Gustafson: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Cavallaro: Aye, Miller: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: none. Carried.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:26 p.m. Ayes-all. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Capestrani, Village Clerk