Common Council - Regular Meeting

I guess we have an executive session.

Good evening, everyone. I now call the regular meeting of the City of Dunkirk Common Council to order on this sixth day of July 2026 at 5.30 p.m. Clerk, please conduct the roll call.

Council Member Leskowiak. Here. Council Member Terrain.

Here.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Here.

Council Member Civiletto.

Here.

Council Member at-large Weiser.

Here. Thank you, clerk. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you all for joining us this evening. Before we continue, the council would just like to take a moment to thank Kathy Kern on her 30 years of employment with the city. We wish her all the best in her retirement. Next, we have the certification of prior meetings.

This is to certify that an official copy of the common council, the minutes of the common council meeting of Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 was presented to the mayor on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026. Pursuant to Section 3.03 of the Dunkirk City Charter, all items presented to the Mayor are now in full force and effect. In witness whereof, I have here to set my hand and seal of the City of Dunkirk, New York, this sixth day of July, 2026.

Is there a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approve them as presented? Moved by Council Member Fredrickson, seconded by Council Member Laskowiak. Please call the roll.

Council Member Laskowiak. Aye. Council Member Turing.

Aye.

Council member Fredrickson. Aye. Council member Civilletto.

Aye.

Council member at large Weiser.

Aye. The minutes are approved as presented. We now move to privilege of the floor.

The privilege of the floor shall be extended to any person appearing for themselves, in which case each individual appearing shall be limited to three minutes and to any person representing any group who shall be limited to a maximum time of five minutes. The privilege of the floor is reserved for members of the public to speak on any subject pertinent to the affairs of city government. The city clerk shall have the duty of maintaining such time limits. The chair may determine in their discretion whether individuals are speaking for themselves or representing groups. The chair shall maintain good order and may require any speaker to cease speaking if remarks are made in bad taste or slanderous or not germane. The time limit specified shall be adhered to except that the chair may allow any person speaking to complete a statement or a thought started before such time expires. and a longer time may be allowed by the chair with the approval of the majority of the council.

Thank you. Before we open the floor, just to clarify the point of process, public comment is an opportunity for residents to address the council on the record. It's not designed as a back and forth with the council, the mayor, or her administration. They're generally amenable to fielding any questions, though, that you have outside of the meeting, so please note that before we begin. With that said, the privilege of the floor is now open. If there are any members of the public who wish to speak, please step forward, state your name and address, and address the council.

Hello. My name is Alan Gustafson, and I serve as the city's housing, building, and zoning officer. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak this evening. So I'm hereby to respectfully ask that you postpone consideration of local law number five 2026 that's being proposed tonight. My concern is whether the housing building and zoning department has the staffing and capacity to permanently assume these additional responsibilities without affecting the essential public safety services we are already required to provide. Several years ago our department had four employees. Around that time, we assumed responsibility for the city-state mandated property maintenance and fire safety inspections after the fire department could no longer legally perform them. Since then, one code officer position was eliminated, and those responsibilities were redistributed among the remaining staff. During the 2024 budget process, we warned that eliminating that position would significantly affect our ability to perform our duties. Today, the well's expansion is ongoing, and construction will soon begin on two large apartment complexes, further increasing our workload. Despite the significance of this proposal, our department has not been consulted about its operational impact. We learned about this proposed local law only after receiving the common council agenda last week. I respectfully believe the employees who were responsible for carrying out these duties should have the opportunity to provide input before a permanent decision is made. I also ask council to consider whether this proposal is addressing a staffing issue in another department by making a permanent change to the city charter. If the clerk's office is experiencing staffing challenges, maybe those challenges should be first addressed before those responsibilities are permanently transferred to our department. Before voting, I respectfully ask the council to consider three questions. Has a workload analysis been completed to determine whether our department has the capacity to absorb these additional responsibilities? Has the impact on the building inspections, code enforcement, and state mandated fire inspections been evaluated? If these duties are permanently transferred, has restoring staffing been considered? I respectfully request that Local Law Number 5-2026 be tabled until our department has been consulted, the workload and staffing analysis has been completed, and the operational impacts have been fully evaluated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Gossipson.

Hi, my name is Wanda Zawadzki and I'm a building inspector and code enforcement officer with the city's housing building and zoning office. I'm here tonight to respectfully ask the council to postpone consideration of local law number five, 2026 until its operational staffing and contractual impacts have been fully evaluated. I understand the desire to improve efficiency and I support changes that genuinely improve services to the public. My concern is whether this proposal has been fully evaluated before permanently changing the city charter and city code. Historically, electrical and plumbing licensing has been administered to the clerk's office. In fact, this council recently adopted a resolution outlining these duties of the clerk, which included issuing licenses. Then in May, the city announced reduced public hours for the clerk's office so staff would have additional time to process licenses and other administrative responsibilities. During that same period, housing building and zoning was directed to assume additional licensing responsibilities. Now, this proposed local law would permanently transfer not only licensing, but also board administration, records management, meeting coordination, notices, agendas, minutes, certifications, and many other administrative functions to housing, building, and zoning. I also ask the council to consider that one of our code enforcement officer positions is funded through the Community Development Block Grant, CDBG program, to perform code enforcement activities. If housing, building, and zoning permanently assumes these additional administrative responsibilities, I ask that the council consider how this may affect those responsibilities and whether additional staffing and resources will be provided. I urge the council to consult the electrical board and plumbing board regarding these proposed changes. As the body's responsible for overseeing the licensing process, I believe they should have the opportunity to provide input before these responsibilities are permanently resigned. Finally, I believe it is important for Council to know that there are pending contractual grievances regarding the reassignment of these duties. Given the pending contractual grievances regarding these duties, I respectfully ask the Council to postpone consideration of Local Law No. 5-2026 until those issues have been addressed and the operational impacts have been fully evaluated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Ms. Sawatsky.

Good evening members of the common council. My name is Tatiana Gonzalez. I am a resident and homeowner in the city of Dunkirk. And I'm here today as an employee of the housing building and zoning department to formally express my opposition to propose local law number five dash 2026, which would transfer statutory duties from the city clerk's office to my department. First and foremost, I would like to make it abundantly clear to council that this is not a workload issue in the clerk's office. Please consider the facts. Right now, the clerk's office is closed to the public for 15 out of the 35 hours it is scheduled to serve our community a week, a closure they justified by workload concerns. The city clerk made the decision to absorb the treasurer's duties with the clerk's duties currently as they are. yet even with a reduced schedule and sizable salary increase for the city clerk, licenses are still being pushed onto my department. Understandably so, the city clerk's office is currently experiencing a high turnover rate, but that turnover is due to an inability to delegate tasks fairly among existing staff. Rather than addressing the root cause, this proposal seeks to export those duties to housing, building, and zoning as a workaround. This is not a sustainable solution. Exporting duties will not resolve the underlying dysfunction. What it will do is create a new set of problems in a different department while leaving the original management failures unaddressed. At present, despite actively undergoing the grievance process, management is already requiring me to perform these out of title duties. This work is designated by local law to the appointed and salaried position of city clerk. It is work that their office has been granted time and compensation to complete requiring me to observe these responsibilities is not only a violation of my job classification, but it is also, but it also places me in a position where I am being asked to do more with less support. The consequences of this approach are well-documented research shows that burnout affects 55% of us workers. with 72% saying it diminishes their efficiency and 71% reporting it hurts their overall job performance. Furthermore, burnt out employees are nearly three times more likely to plan to leave their employer, which is made evident by the ongoing staffing struggles in the clerk's office. I love my job. I love knowing that what I do makes a real difference in our community. And I love that I get to call the city my home. This law would not only accelerate turnover in my department, compounding the very problem it purports to solve, but I find it in an egregious disservice to the city of Dunkirk. I strongly and respectfully urge you to table this matter and instead direct the city clerk to resolve internal staffing and management deficiencies. Shifting duties to housing, building, and zoning does not solve the problem. It relocates it while undermining our positions and the services we provide for the community. Thank you for allowing me this time to speak.

Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez.

Hello. My name is Jasmine Perez. I live at 159 Lakeshore Drive East. I've been a resident of Dunkirk, New York for nearly my whole life. I'm here tonight because many residents in our neighborhood are dealing with ongoing nuisance behavior from certain properties that have had a real impact on our quality of life. These problems include excessive noise and disorderly conduct, reckless drunk driving on the street as well as sidewalks, harassment, assault, and threats on people's lives and various other disturbances that affect many of us. Most of us don't want to complain. We want to be good neighbors. Unfortunately, when the same problems continue month after month, they become more than just disagreements between neighbors. They become community issues. This issue has affected my own family personally. My husband was assaulted and after he chose to pursue criminal charges, repeated threats were made against his life. Experiences like this leave families feeling unsafe in their own neighborhood and afraid of what may happen if they report criminal behavior. These situations affect our ability to enjoy our homes, discourage good neighbors from remaining in the area, and erode the sense of safety and community that every family deserves. No one should feel afraid in their own neighborhood. Many of us are frustrated, scared, and exhausted by these ongoing disturbances. We know that our local law enforcement officers are aware of these issues and must work within the limits of the law. We appreciate the work that they do. However, being told that all we can do is continue calling the police has left many residents feeling discouraged and unsupported when the same problems persist. I'm asking the city to continue supporting code enforcement and to ensure that nuisance complaints are handled consistently, thoroughly, and in a timely manner. Residents need confidence that repeated complaints will be investigated and addressed fairly under existing laws. I also encourage the city to improve communication with residents about how nuisance complaints are handled and what additional resources or options are available when problems continue over time. I appreciate the work of our elected officials, city staff, and local law enforcement. and I hope we can work together to protect the quality of life in every neighborhood in Dunkirk. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'm sorry, I didn't get your address.

159 Lakeshore Drive East.

Okay.

Thank you, Ms. Perez.

Can I do something? I just wanted to ask if Captain Switzer can speak with Jasmine afterwards? Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Do you want to speak? Okay.

I don't know if I can speak with you.

Hi, my name is Lynn Alessi and I live at 104 South Gazelle Street. I'm also here in support of my neighbors, Jasmine who just spoke. I too am affected by what is happening in the neighborhood. The residence that we're talking about is right behind my house on Gazelle street, but they are living on Lake shore drive. Um, over the past few years, um, I have recorded many videos of different things that have happened. Um, mostly noise being coming from there and all hours of the night. Um, just most recently two 30 in the morning. Um, my children don't even want to come here anymore to visit me with my grandchildren because they're afraid of what goes on in the neighborhood. They can't sleep because they're being woken up at two 30 in the morning, three o'clock in the morning. And it's just very sad. And it's almost to the point where I am ready to sell my house and to move because it's just gotten to be such a situation. And again, a dangerous situation because of the threats that are being made and, and things that are happening. Um, you know, with some of the neighbors, um, there's not only myself, there's some of the other neighbors that weren't able to come in here tonight. but are willing to sign any affidavit or anything, you know, witnessing to what was happening.

Thank you, Ms. Alessi. And I pretty much have the same complaints. Your name, sir? Luis Perez. Jasmine's father is my grandson. We're trying to keep him safe, and that's why we're here, to voice our concerns, and hopefully, you know, something can get done. That's really all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Press.

Nancy Nichols, 212 Lincoln Avenue, Dunkirk. I'd like to thank our city assessor, Erica Munson, for the wonderful job she's been doing on her own time with her own supplies, painting the beautiful mural on the Stearns building window. Thank you, Erica. There's been a lot of comments in the community, and they really thank you for writing their date. Our mural on the Colburn Building is superb, but I think more people would have been there for the ribbon cutting and the ceremonial effect if there was a better communication when it was gonna happen. I didn't know about it until 45 minutes before it happened, but it depicts the city wonderfully. On another note, we need to have that. The Robin Street tunnel needs to be addressed. When we had senior sweep in the city, which our seniors from Dunkirk High School took part in, they did a great job cleaning it out. It is now filled again with mattresses and everything else. We need to, and I don't know if it would be our attorney or what to contact the railroad to see about moving and seeing if they have some idea of how to close it up for permanently or what, but it does have to be monitored a little bit better. I know there were cameras placed inside there at a cost of $35,000, but vandalism destroyed them. I mean, we're trying the best as a city as we can, and it's still not working. We need to address the jet skiers down at the foot of Main Street. They're coming in way too close to shore with, and I know at one point it was not designated as a beach. And I think from what a prior mayor said, if I can recall, it could be classified as a beach if there was a lifeguard on duty. I don't know how many lifeguards we have and where they're positioned of just at Wright Park, but maybe one could be placed there. On the other hand, I think we need to have our sheriff's boat on Lake Erie. It is one of the Great Lakes, and we do have a lot of boat traffic. If somebody could just check to see. When I contacted the sheriff prior, we only had two sheriffs that could patrol or man the boat. If we could possibly get someone else out there with training in that, But our jet skiers also need to be aware that they cannot come that close to shore, creating the wakes that we have with all the small children. It is utilized a great deal. I don't know if anybody went by this weekend or last week when it was so hot. It is really, really put to good use. With that note, I'd like to thank our city workers for cleaning it up. They're doing a superb job. they were out there getting all the debris off that was left after the 4th of July. Our guys are doing a superb, superb job. And I just want to touch on what Tatiana said. Three, four years ago, a resolution was...

Sorry, time is up.

Thank you, Amy.

Thank you, Ms. Nichols.

Hi, Brian Moyer, 49 Greco Lane. I just like to thank the Duncan police department, the third shift and the parks department for showing up approximately three weeks ago when the needles were scattered all over the parking lot in Washington Avenue, they showed up, cleaned it up. Very professional. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Meyer. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak? Going once, twice. The privilege of the floor is now closed. Next, we move to communications from the mayor, including disapproval messages. Mayor Dobias.

Thank you, Councilman. I just wanted to piggyback off of Ms. Nichols' statement, thank police, fire, DPW, all of our city workers for the efforts that went into the celebrations this weekend. Um, I know driving around lakefront Boulevard, I did see all of the garbage. I was thankful that our residents did put it next to our garbage cans. So that was a pleasant, a pleasant tree to see. Um, our crews were out there the very next day, working very hard to get everything cleaned up and everything looks great right now. I wanted to touch a little bit on the nuclear form that was held last week. Uh, It was sponsored or held by invitation from Senator Borrello. And it was an informational session similar to the one that we put on last July regarding the safety of nuclear power and new future use for it. I want the public to know that that was not any type of planning session. It was merely an invitation. informational session, we were all given a lot of very good information. At that meeting, I had the opportunity to meet the project manager from Genover who just purchased the NRG plant and had a pleasant conversation with them about their hopes for what they would like to do with the plant in the future. Uh, the mural, I know Ms. Nichols touched on that. That was a community, uh, event through the county. It was done by paint CHQ. I think most people know that, um, the information was given to myself along with everybody else. So it was, it was great to meet the artist. The art is absolutely amazing. I encourage everybody to go down and take a look at it. take the pictures, post them online, tag the artist. He's been loving that. The next open department head meeting that I will be hosted will be on the 16th at 2 p.m. in the Stearns building in the conference room. We will be discussing various topics that each department is having with Staffing I know staffing levels are down for police fire clerk's office building and zoning as we all just were made aware of and as Councilman at large said Kathy Kern has retired from the HR department personnel department. So that is also a loss that we are encountering But we wish her all the best in her retirements And I think that's all I have for you guys for right now Thank You mayor

Before we move to communications from the public and petitions, I'd like to call for an executive session to discuss matters of pending litigation. Is there a motion? Moved by Councilmember Fredrickson, seconded by Councilmember Terrain. Before we vote on this, I'd like the public to know we will return to the regular session immediately following the conclusion of the executive session. So you're welcome to stay if you'd like. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Lascogne. Aye. Council Member Terrain. Aye. Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto. Aye. Council Member at-large Weiser.

Aye. The motion carries, and we will now enter into executive session. For the record, the time is 5.53 p.m. I'd ask that the Mayor, Attorney Raimondo, and the Council please convene in the Stearns Building first floor conference room. Next, we'll address communications from the public and petition.

Request from Patrick Standing to do repairs and maintenance at the City's Gate Park through a community-funded volunteer effort on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 12 p.m. Any discussion, Council?

Yes.

I just wanted to say thank you for the community support for doing this. It's important to have cool and nice things for youth to do. Sensitive city property though captain do we need to be there in police capacity? Any further discussion council

Hearing none, do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approve subject to appropriate insurances and usual conditions? Moved by Councilman Civiletto. Is there a second? Seconded by Councilman Terrain. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Laskoia. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Fredrickson. Aye. Councilmember Civiletto.

Aye.

Councilmember Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried.

Request from the Hotelling family on behalf of the Laurel Run Planning Committee, the Resource Center, and the Filling the Gap. to host their annual Laurel run newspaper sale on Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. at locations approved by the city. Also requesting permission to hold their annual Laurel run on July 17th, 2026 with police presence on the pre-approved route.

Okay. Any discussion council? Hearing none, do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approve subject to appropriate insurances and usual conditions. Moved by Councilman Fredrickson, seconded by Councilman Civiletto. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Laskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Fredrickson.

Aye.

Councilmember Civiletto. Aye. Councilmember at large, Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried.

Notice of claim from Mary Jane Russo of 29 West Green Street for damages done to her basement allegedly due to a backed-up city sewer.

Any discussion, counsel? Okay, I need a motion to refer this to the Law Department and Department of Public Works. Moved by Councilman Fredrickson, seconded by Councilman Civiletto. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Leskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Fredrickson. Aye. Councilmember Civiletto.

Aye.

Councilmember at large, Weiser. loud speaker permit requests from Holy Trinity RC church to use amplifiers for church family festival on Sunday, August 2nd, 2026 from 2 PM to 6 PM.

Any discussion council? Okay. Do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approve moved by council members? So, uh, second by council member terrain, please call the roll.

Council member. I council member terrain. I council members. Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member at Large, Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried.

Loudspeaker permit request from the Iglesia Pentecostal Church to use speakers for live music for religious service on Saturday, August 8th, 2026 from 6 p.m. in the church parking lot.

Any discussion, Council? Hearing none, do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approved? Moved by Council Member Terrain. Seconded by council member Lyskowiak. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council member Lyskowiak. Aye. Council member Terrain.

Aye.

Council member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council member at large, Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried.

Loud speaker permit request from Catherine Childs for live music beginning Friday, August 21st, 2026 through Saturday or through Sunday, August 23rd from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds.

Any discussion, council? Okay. Do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approve? Moved by council member Fredrickson. Is there a second? Seconded by council member Civilletto. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council member Laskoja. Aye. Council member Terrain.

Aye.

Council member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council member Civilletto.

Aye.

Council member at large, Weiser. Aye.

Motion carried. We'll now move to reports of standing committees, boards, and commissions. Council Member LaScovia.

Yes. I just would like to say I love the mural. It will definitely be something to visit for along with our water, banners, etc. I would like to thank all of the city workers involved for their preparation and cleanup of July 4th. It provided a wonderful time for so many speaking of cleanup, the workers cleaned up the beach the morning, I believe after July 4th, they did a great job. In fact, however, yesterday I received several calls regarding the use of a gorilla at the beach. Um, chief barter, is there not a sign there that this is not allowed? There used to be anyways, and I hope that they didn't leave the coals in the sand. Did you hear about it? Which beach was it? Wright Park on Main.

Yeah, there was one on Main Street too.

So the best thing would be to call you in the future if we see that?

Yeah, I'll look into it and see what kind of signage is down there, and we'll talk with the police department to figure it out.

Pardon?

We'll talk with the police department to figure it out.

Okay. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, Alan, and the Property and Maintenance Department for their work with the US Wildlife Services in curbing and just about eliminating the unhealthy and unsightly seagull issue we had in our city's business district. And that just means the seagulls in our business district, not anywhere else. And how has the project been this third year so far?

Excuse me?

How has the project been this third year so far?

Very successful. Compared to beginning years, there wasn't as many nests, partly because this program was working and the demolition of the former Dollar General building of Worth was taken down about the same time that the egg collection program started.

And we had a surplus the first two years, and this should be no cost to the taxpayer, as it was in the first two years. And I know people have now... Thank you councilmember terrain first of all like to thank Captain Schweitzer and his in the police department for the great job. They did fourth July celebration to Chief barter and the work that you're doing

Your guys did. I know I saw them out on a lot of calls, but great job. And to Randy Woodbury in the streets department for all the work that they put in for doing that. I really appreciate the job that you guys are doing. As far as the personnel, I know, Randy, we hired somebody at Wastewater. Did we get a hire there?

We've got At the wastewater plant?

Yes.

We've got one great hire doing full speed to get as licensed as quick as possible, doing very well. We interviewed another one on Friday that looks very promising, so thank you for that. We're under the gun with the Department of Environmental Conservation and also Environmental Protection Agency to get that straightened out as quickly as possible. Once we do get it straightened out, it should actually save us some money because it's ridiculous amount of overtime down there. Um, so thank you personnel committee. Thank you mayor. Thank everybody that's working together to get this done.

Thanks. Well, appreciate the job that you got, that you guys are doing, actually getting somebody and finding somebody and, and the work that you're doing with Jen to make that happen. Um, what, what are the, the person that's out? Uh, what's their status? The person, the person that's, that's out the one that, uh, yeah.

What's your question?

The person that's out, the one that had the accident and is out, what's his status?

We can talk about that later.

We can talk about it later? Okay. Anyway, appreciate that. And then, Erica, appreciate the work that you guys did on the assessments. And, you know, that seems to have gone very smoothly without a problem. So, You know, great job on that. And our next personnel meeting, I know we have shortages. As Ben said, Alan, I know you guys got shortages. We got shortages in the city clerk treasurer's office, and there's shortages in the police department, shortages in the fire department. I know we have those shortages. We're working to get those things done, working to find people. And I know we've been putting the information out that those vacancies are there, and that we can do some hires, especially in the city clerk treasurer's office. So we understand, me as part of the chairman of the personnel committee, I understand that, and we're trying to work with you to make that happen. And I know you're waiting on some people in school, so we're trying to make that happen. Our next personnel committee meeting is August 12th, 2026 at 11 o'clock.

Thank you. Council Member Fredrickson.

I just want to take a minute to thank all the city employees involved in the preparation and cleanup from the 4th of July festivities. Seemed like everybody had a great time. Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in it. It was just a really good, really good whole weekend. I thought it went super good. And the mural, I think, is fantastic. I got to look at it. It looks really super. It's a great job. So that's it. Great.

Council Member Ciboletto.

Going forth, I always basically repeating what everybody else says. So great job to all the departments for 4th of July. The mural looks great. I went there for the for the with with the mayor and we were both there for the dedication. And it was the artist was real proud of what he did as we were proud of him. It's a beautiful Beautiful part of the city now that'll draw some tourists to come and see it. And that's about it. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. I'd echo the accolades of my colleagues. It was a great weekend. Appreciate everyone's efforts. The next Finance Committee meeting will be held Monday, July 13th at 9 a.m. in the Stearns Building first floor conference room. Seeing no unfinished business, we will now proceed with the pre-filed resolutions. Clerk, please introduce resolution number 53 of 2026.

Resolution 53-2026, resolution authorizing budget line modifications for fiscal year 2025.

Is there any discussion, counsel? Okay, seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Leskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Fredrickson. Aye. Councilmember Civiletto.

Aye.

Councilmember at large Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 54-2026. Submission of fiscal year 2026 CDBG annual action plan for the city of Dunkirk's community development block grant program.

Any discussion council? Hearing none. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Laskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member at Large, Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 55-2026. Resolution authorizing stipend for youth and recreation coordinator related to summer festivals work.

Any discussion, Council? Seeing none, Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Laskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member at Large-Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 56-2026. Resolution authorizing stipend for Deputy Director of Planning and Development related to summer festivals work.

Any discussion, Council? Seeing none, Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Laskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Ciboletto.

Aye.

Council Member at Large-Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 57-2026. Resolution to approve rental agreement with callback construction for Washington Avenue parking lot area. Is there any discussion, Council?

I just was wondering if we've spoken to the flea market organizer Brian Meyer.

It would be amiable for us to do so We have been in contact and he doesn't have an issue It's my understanding from director to joy that this wouldn't start until the fall anyway, so there shouldn't be any Impediments here.

Sorry Did you have something to say mr. Meyer I

For 10 years, I've had to have insurance on my lot down there because it's city property. Is this gentleman going to have to have a separate policy?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Okay, which end of the parking lot does he take, from the north end or the south end?

The south end, closest to where the construction will be.

Closest to the construction. That's on Lake Shore Drive, isn't it?

No, it is on Washington.

On Washington.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Okay, is there anything further, council? Okay, seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 58 dash 2026 resolution to engage Mackenzie Hughes LLC to represent the city of Dunkirk to provide host community agreement and road use agreement and road use agreement with fees paid by developer Is there any discussion council if?

you can explain the I Can explain the fee arrangement yeah fee arrangements yes, thank you so specifically in the host community agreement and as part of the DC process and It is a specialized area of laws. Battery storage facilities are new. The developer offered to pay for any legal work with relations to permitting processes, working with the state, working with the city. With that being said, to avoid any official impropriety as far as the city is concerned, the developer will be transferring through an escrow account the money to the city to be paid out by the city department of development as well as the city attorney's office. once the work is completed by that attorney and law firm.

Is there anything further, counsel? Okay, seeing no further discussion, clerk, please call the roll. Oh, pardon me.

I did request for that to be reworded, by the way.

We can change it to The words of the corporation counselor, the city, the attorney, the city uses the main seat. Correct. All right. Okay.

Would it be appropriate in your opinion, attorney Raimondo to eliminate city attorney and simply refer to it as attorney Elliot Raimondo in the document? Yes. Okay, that looks like there are two points in this resolution at which the language of city attorney is used. And it sounds as though we want a motion to amend resolution 58 of 2026 to replace city attorney Elliot Raimondo and city attorney. in the final whereas clause and the final resolved clause, respectively, to read Attorney Elliott Raimondo. Is there a motion toward that end? Moved by Council Member Terrain, seconded by Council Member Fredrickson. Clerk, please call the roll on the vote to amend Resolution 58-2026.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Councilmember Fredrickson.

Aye.

Councilmember Civilletto.

Aye.

Councilmember at large, Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried. Resolution 58 of 2026 is amended. Is there any discussion on the resolution as amended? Okay. In that case, clerk, please call the roll for the vote on the amended resolution 58-2026.

Councilmember Leskowiak. Aye. Councilmember Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto. Aye. Council Member at-large Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 59-2026. Resolution appointing and ratifying water system representatives.

Is there any discussion, Council?

Well, since we amended the last one, we may as well amend this one too. Okay. Okay. So it says instead of city attorney Elliot Raimondo, it says attorney Elliot Raimondo.

Okay. In that case, do I have a motion to amend resolution number 59 of 2026 to strike the word city from the second, to strike the word city before attorney in the second whereas clause? Yes. Moved by Council Member Laskovia, seconded by Council Member Terrain. Clerk, please call the roll on the amendment.

Council Member Laskovia. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto. Aye. Council Member at-large Weiser.

Aye. Motion carried, and Resolution 59-2026 is amended. Any discussion on the resolution as amended?

Council Member? Yes. Could I just speak quickly in favor of this? UPW secured a grant... to study our source water protection. We have excellent water quality in Lake Erie. Of course it's excellent water quality coming out of the plant. Um, but you still have to be vigilant. So I appreciate the council's support on this. We put together a team that's listed for our part. There will be other members of that team as we go for 18 months and study to make sure that we stay as a high quality as we are. So that's all I wanted to say. And if one would apologize for cosmic terrain for not hearing, I've got a little bit of a summer cold going on. I think I heard your question, but I think it should be better directed toward our HR director when she's back tomorrow. There's some confidentiality involved in that that I didn't want to get into. So I didn't mean to put you off, but we're all good. Water's good at both ends of the city, and everything's going well. Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you. Okay, is there any further discussion on Resolution 59 as amended? Okay, seeing none, clerk, please call the roll for the vote.

Council Member Laskojak. Aye. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civilletto. Aye. Council Member at Large-Weiser.

Aye. The amended resolution is hereby adopted.

Resolution 60-2026. Resolution for Courtyard Ownership Clarification and Rescission of Resolutions 49-2021 and 45-2023. Is there any discussion, Council?

As an employee or former employee of the people who are taking over the courtyard, I'm accusing myself, just letting everyone know from the vote.

Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Council Member Laskovia?

Chair of the Department of Public Works, I'm going to be voting no in alignment with the Director and Deputy Director.

Assessor Munson.

As the assessor, I just question the valuation on the parcel. I was not included in those conversations. As a taxpayer and resident, I ask everyone who took the same oath that I have taken to act in the best interest of taxpayers and residents. I have a lot of personal questions about this, that this is not the time or place for, but I ask you to make sure you can answer all of your own questions before you vote on this.

Thank you.

Mayor, Attorney Raimondo, would either of you like to clarify any aspects of this resolution?

So I'll just say this is, and this is just me saying this as an elected official, this is cleaning up two resolutions that were passed that have not had any action taken on them. The property was never transferred from the lesser trust to the city. Uh, there was an easement that was filed on the property in 2019. As far as this, this is privately held property. Um, we still retain the easement. Once this land is transferred, the city has no control. We're just cleaning up language saying that we are not turning, like we're not going to act on it. We haven't acted in over two years. Our time to act is done.

Any Raimondo, anything you'd like to offer? I would offer that if the city were to ever acquire this property, we would also acquire the liability that comes with this property.

I just wanted to say that I think Morris Rose should follow through with the previous resolution and respect resolutions. That's why I think it should go according to.

In all fairness, Councilwoman, this was not only Attorney Morris Rose, it was also Attorney Michael Bobstein that passed a second resolution and then didn't take any action.

Any further discussion?

Go ahead. As far as my understanding of this whole thing, that property does not belong to us. The value of my house could be hundreds of thousands, but if I want to sell it to my daughter for a dollar, that's my prerogative. Since Since I own it, I can pretty much sell it for what I want. And in this case, the lesser trust can sell it for what they want, especially since the city never actually took official ownership of it. And that's the whole point of this resolution because it clears that up because we never took ownership of it, so we aren't titled to it. And if they want whatever amount they want to sell it for, That's really up to them. It's not up to the city, no matter how much it valued it.

Can you confirm that the deed was never, in fact, titled to the city? The deed was never titled to the city. There was an easement that was put on with an option to buy it, but the deed was never transferred to the city.

Any further discussion, council? Are we prepared to take a vote on this tonight? Okay. Seeing no further discussion, clerk, please call the roll for the vote.

Council Member Leskowiak. No. Council Member Terrain.

Aye.

Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto. Abstain. Council Member Atlarge-Weiser.

Aye. The resolution is hereby adopted. Moving on to new business, clerk, please introduce... Local law number five of 2026.

Intro to local law number five dash 2026. A local law for electrical and plumbing licensing administration modernization act of 2026.

Before we proceed, I'd like to remind everyone that the introduction of a local law is just the beginning of the legislative process, not the end of it. The purpose of a public hearing is to give both council and the public an opportunity to fully evaluate the proposal before any final action. is taken. This proposal has raised a number of important operational questions, including how the rationale for the proposed transfer of responsibilities will be handled, staffing implications, how it fits within the city's recently adopted organizational structure, and whether there are any fiscal grant or administrative considerations that should be addressed. I anticipate those issues will be explored more fully during the public hearing process so that council has the information necessary to make a fully informed decision. Does council have any discussion on this? before we set a public hearing.

Yeah, I, it was not in our packets manually that we received or the email packets. So I don't think that we should vote on anything today or even set a hearing.

Is there any further discussion council? Okay, if you'd like to suggest another motion, Council Member Laskowiak, you're welcome to do that. Otherwise, the typical course of order would be to schedule a public hearing.

I said take course of order. I was in the executive session.

Come again?

I said take course of order. I was in the executive session. Come on.

Okay, in that case, is there a motion to schedule a public hearing on Local Law No. 5 of 2026? I believe we discussed... a date of Tuesday, August 4th at 5.30 p.m., immediately preceding the regular Common Council meeting on that date. Moved by Council Member Terrain. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Ciboletto. Thank you. Clerk, please call the roll on the motion to table Local Law No. 5 of 2026 and schedule a public hearing for August 4th, 2026 at 5.30 p.m. Council Member Leskowiak.

No. Council Member Terrain. Aye. Council Member Frederson. Aye. Council Member Civilletto. Aye. Council Member at Large-Weiser.

Aye. Motion carries. Local law number 5 of 2026 has been tabled in a public hearing scheduled for August 4, 2026 at 5.30 p.m. Council will consider the law following the conclusion of that hearing. Is there any further new business to be discussed this evening?

Councilman yes, I would just like to say I forgot to say during my public comments. I received outstanding praise from Lynn and Jim Wallace regarding their moonlight ride West Coal Ride by Patrolman Ruiz. They said he did an outstanding job and I just want to acknowledge when our employees do well and shine brightly for the city.

Thank you ma'am. Any further new business? Councilman Zivolo.

Since Chief is here. Regarding Ms. Nichols' question about the skidoos that are close to the beach, I know the fire department has a boat, right? But that's obviously not the police department's boat. So is there any way that the two departments could get together to patrol that and use the boat? Or is that something that's not?

Sheriff's Department at length, they do have a boat down here that is staffed, not as often as we'd like, but they are short-staffed also, so. We did have the Marine Control down here from the Sheriff's Department, but we do have many complaints on the jet skis, so we do try to address it if we do see them come to the beach and identify the rioters, but it's a difficult thing, though.

Yeah, would it help if people called in when they saw it, or is that... Oh, no, absolutely, we always encourage it.

Right they should be loading up at the pier not not on Main Street Okay, thank you Any further new business to be discussed this evening Okay hearing none I'll entertain a motion to adjourn

Moved by Council Member Fredrickson, seconded by Council Member Civiletto. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Leskowiak. Aye. Council Member Terrain. Aye. Council Member Fredrickson.

Aye.

Council Member Civiletto.

Aye.

Council Member Large-Weiser.

Aye. The meeting is now adjourned. Thank you, everyone.