Common Council - Regular Meeting

Testing one, two.

Take my little dig at the end of that. Yeah, I like it. I like it just fine. Wonder what Frank's going to do when he hears it. Why would Richard Mercer will be calling me at 529?

Cuz you know this council meeting I'm on the back end of it. The back end of it. Last week it was bad. I'd like to call this common council meeting of the city of Dunkerk to order on this 3rd day of February 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Clerk, please call the role.

Council member Leco here. Council member Terrain here. Council member Frederickson here. Council member Calto here. Council member at largeiser here. Thank you clerk. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Igian to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all for joining us this evening. Before we continue with the agenda, sorry, before we continue with the agenda, I'd like to take a moment for two brief acknowledgements. First, I'd like to acknowledge the retirement of James Stern. Jim's officially hung up his turnout gear after 36 years of service as a firefighter for the city of Dunkerk. his dedication, professionalism, and commitment to this community over more than three decades are deeply appreciated. So, on behalf of the Common Council and residents of Dunkerk, we thank Jim for his service and wish him a well-earned and fulfilling retirement. I'd also like to take a moment to honor the passing of John Wallis. John served the city of Dunkirk as a professional firefighter for 35 years prior to his retirement. He was instrumental in the creation of the fire lieutenant position within the Dunkerk Fire Department, leaving a lasting impact on the department and the city he served. So, at this time, I ask that we all please observe a moment of silence in John's memory.

Thank you. Next, we have the certification of prior meetings. This is to certify that an official copy of the minutes of the special common council meeting, actually just regular common council meeting of Tuesday, January 13, 2026 was presented to the mayor on Thursday, January 29th, 2026. Pursuant to section 3.03 of the Dunkerk City Charter, all items presented to the mayor are now in full force in effect. and witness whereof, I have here to set my hand and seal of the city of Dunkerk, New York, this 3rd day of February, 2026. Okay. Is there a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approved them as presented?

Moved by council member Frederickson, seconded by council member Terrain. A clerk, please call the role. Council member Lyscoak. I. Council member Terrain. I. Council member Frederickson. I. Council member CileTo. I. Council member at largeer. I. 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 5 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 germanine. The time limit specified shall be adhered to except 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.

A 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. Going once, twice. privilege that the floor is now closed. Next, we move to communications from the mayor, including disapproval messages. Mayor Dovas.

Thank you, Councilman. Uh, good evening. And as everyone knows, uh, the city treasurer was arrested following a [snorts] state and county investigation. This is a serious matter which de demands attention and honesty. Since taking office, my administration has worked around the clock to uncover the true condition of our finances. What we found was problematic and problems that were ignored for far too long. Funds that were mishandled for decades. Every time we review a process or open a file, we find something else that was just not done correctly. For clarification, this issue was not brought to us by the city of Dunkerk School District. We had already identified troubling patterns and suspected wrongdoing. The school district added another layer of confirmation regarding the discrepancies we had been seeing on our end. They validated what we thought and confirmed it with us. This was all uncovered in January of 2024 that there was some type of mishandling of city funds. When we found the irregularities, we acted immediately, restricting access to accounts, increasing controls, and notifying the proper authorities. This arrest is not political. It is accountability. It is a result of facts, evidence, and a commitment to protecting taxpayers. This administration will not tolerate misconduct or secrecy. We are rebuilding a system that has been broken for far too long. And we will continue to strengthen controls, modernize outdated policies and practices, and bring every issue, no matter how old, into the light. This is the turning point for the city of Dunkerk.

Accountability is happening. Oversight is happening. Reform is also happening. And we are moving forward together. I understand that our state and county leaders are renewing their call for a fiscal control board. However, if they are serious and truly care about our community and want to actually take action instead of just continually talking about things they know nothing about, they should be calling for a regional control board. [snorts] One that would not place an additional financial burden on our already taxstrapped residents of the city of Dunkerk. A regional control board would support the county's proposal of merging essential services and departments. Changes that should have happened decades ago, [snorts] but now need to happen sooner rather than later to reduce duplications and lower long-term cost, which will stabilize the surrounding communities across northern Chicago county. The city needs those lawmakers to actually step up and understand our issues. stop spreading lies about what they perceive as our problems because honestly they have not even attempted to contact myself or any members of my staff to verify any of their statements. At this time the city of Dunkirk is calling on our state and county legislators and state senator and assemblymen to actually step up, show up in the city and be [snorts] here for its residents, the people that they represent. That's all council.

Thank you, mayor. [clears throat] Next, we'll address communications from the public and petitions. Request from the Dunkerk PBA 5K committee to use the lakefront 5K route in the city of Dunkerk for the annual Hazelton 5K run walk on June 6, 2026 beginning at 8 a.m. Also requesting barricades along the race route and police officers to assist with traffic control. Any questions or comments from the council? Chief Wakowski, I'm assuming that staffing would not be an issue for that having officers available to cover it. No, not an issue. I don't think so. Thank you, Councilman.

Um, I also see on here that it says that they request for activities along the race route to be postponed until 12:00 that day as in the past softball tournaments have been um a safety concern. So, um, do we have any have has anyone checked to see if there's anything's on the schedule? Yes, the race coordinators. Okay. Anything further, council? Okay. In that case, do I have a motion to refer to the appropriate departments as well as approve subject to appropriate insuranceances and usual conditions? Moved by Councilman Frederickson. Seconded by Council Member Lusco. Clerk, please call the role. Council member Liscoak, I.

Council member Terrain, hi. Council member Frederickson, I. Council member Cileto, hi. Council member at large wiser. I. Motion carried. Notice of claim from Shawn Wilz of Swan Street for damages done to his concrete driveway alleged allegedly due to city of Dunkerk snowplow. Any discussion, councel? Okay. Hearing none, I need a motion to refer this to the law department and department of public works. Moved by council member terrain, seconded by council civil. Clerk, please call the role. Council member Lgoiaak. I. Council member Terrain. I. Council member Frederickson. I. Council member CivilTo. I. Council member at large Wiser. I. Motion carried.

Notice of claim from Judy Black of Willowbrook Avenue for bodily injuries allegedly due to falling on icy steps at Dunkerk City Hall. Any discussion, council? Okay. Hearing none, I need a motion to refer this to the law department and department of public works. Moved by council member Frederickson. Second by council member Civotto. Clerk, please call the role. Council member Lascoiaak. I. Council member Terrain. I. Council member Frederickson. I. Council member Cileto. Hi. Council member at largeiser. I. Motion carried. We'll now move to reports of standing committees, boards, and commissions. Council member Luscoat.

Yes. Thank you. I wanted to let everyone know that the 2026 curbside collection schedule should have reached your mailbox. If not, please know you can find one at the clerk's office in city hall or the department of public works department in the Sterns building. If you can't leave the house and have not received one, please call me at 7166804664. This number is on the website. Uh the city of Dunkirk Hero Banner Program is beginning its fourth year. Just go to www.c cityofdunk herobannerprogram.com to complete the form. Submit with a picture. I will work with the city to have that link on the website. We had some people from the first year wanting their banners personally and this opens up space for new patrons as we have a limit of 250 due to the extremely busy season of our parks department. Again, just call me um at 716-6804664 or email at dunkerobannersfastmail.com. The next DPW meeting is Thursday, February 19th at 1 p.m. in the conference room of the DPW, which is on the third floor of the Sterns building right next to city hall here. Uh we are working on finding a place in the North County area where we could cost effectively deposit our brush and shrubbery as a first step of having Lucas Avenue open for our residents and perhaps small landscaping businesses only. Thank you for your patience in these needed changes. The mayor, myself, DPW, and other council members are working towards this effort. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Terrain. Thank you. I've done a done my tour of talking with each department. I think I've been in each department uh and talked to each department ahead and uh I have been uh very pleased with the conversations we've had and I believe that uh we got some great things coming and that some good things are going to come out of this. The the first department uh the first uh personnel meeting I would like to call it for February 17th at 10 o'clock in the mayor's conference room. Great. Anything further? Thank you, Council Member Frederickson.

Um, public safety committee is up and running now as of yesterday. Um, chiefs, thank you for your time yesterday, for the information you gave me, for the exchange of ideas. I think it was a really valuable time. Um, public safety committee is going to meet quarterly on the first Monday of each month. So, the next meeting would be on May 3rd. Um, everybody's welcome to stop in, express ideas, suggestions, anything you have. Um, I think that's all I have.

Thank you, Council Member Caveto. Um, yeah. Did you say May 3rd? Yeah, that's a Sunday. That's a Sunday. May 4th. May 4th. Monday. At what time? At 1:00. Okay. Okay.

Um the economic development meet um committee met on the 27th. Um we are going to be meeting on the last Tuesday of every month. So that's uh when our schedule will be. Um there was a write up in the newspaper about the um the meeting and um the minutes will be on the website. So if you have any questions um refer to those uh two spots. There's a lot of stuff that's happening um in the economic department, development department. So um I don't want to um sit here and ramble on for 15 minutes about the stuff that uh that the department is doing. So I'm very proud of them and what what's happening. So um you can refer to those two places. Um, and I just wanted to acknowledge um I went uh last week to um Dunkerk High and spoke to a leadership group called the Puerto Rican HYI. Um I met with them in preparation for a trip that they're going to take to Albany um representing Dunkerk and uh the high school and our community. And I just wanted to wish them good luck and hope that they return with a bunch of knowledge and and a a fervor for uh being leaders in the community. And that's it.

Thank you. As chair of the finance committee, I do want to briefly acknowledge recent news regarding the former city treasurer. Of course, this is an ongoing legal matter and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics beyond what has already been made public. What I can say is this. The Common Council takes its responsibility for fiscal oversight, transparency, and accountability extremely seriously. Last year, the council placed a referendum before the voters to abolish the elected treasurer position, a reform that the public supported precisely because stronger internal controls and modern financial oversight are essential for the long-term health of our city. And that work continues through the Dunkerk Fiscal Recovery Act, through policy changes, and through continued committee oversight. We remain committed to safeguarding taxpayer dollars and restoring public trust in city government. Finally, I want to note that the next meeting of the finance committee will take place this coming Friday, February 6th, at 9:00 a.m. in the Sterns building first floor conference room. Meeting will be open to the public, and I encourage anyone with an interest in the city's financial recovery to attend. Moving on, it appears there is no unfinished business, so we will now address the pre-filed resolutions. Clerk, please introduce resolution number 15 of 2026.

Resolution 15-2026, resolution authorizing amendment to extend border patrol augmentation program. Is there any discussion, council?

This is the one that we uh looked at. We want to want to table this one. Okay. and uh um and for further discussion. Okay. Um due to the fact that uh I have not seen the agreement at all. So if I may address uh this issue, this is just increasing the mileage rates that that we are reimbursed um according to the IRS guidelines. This that's all that this is doing. This is not the agreement's been enforced and remains enforced through 2027. Um, so this is just increasing the amount of reimbursement for mileage rates for fuel. Would I be able to see the actual the agreement? I have already reached out to uh county law and ask them to please send me the full agreement. Okay.

Okay. In that case, would we like to take action on this tonight then or do we still Okay. Um, any further discussion before we do that, council? Okay. Um, in that case, please call the role, clerk, for the vote on resolution 15. Council member Lascoak, I. Council member Terrain, I. Council member Frederickson, I. Council member CivilTo, I. Council member Atlarge Wiser, I. The resolution is hereby adopted. Resolution 16-2026. Resolution authorizing change of common council meeting dates for February and March 2026.

Any discussion, council? Okay. Hearing none. Clerk, please call the role for the vote. Council member Lascoia. I. Council member Terrain. I. Council member Frederickson. I. Council member Ciletto. Hi. Council member at largeiser. I. The resolution is hereby adopted. Resolution 17-2026. Resolution granting the state of New York authority to perform the adjustment of city-owned and citymaintained facilities and New York State Department of Transportation and right ofway via state and state paid contract. Any discussion council?

Yeah, I wanted to Randy um is this uh from one city line to the other on Route Five and will you let the public know what we will be gaining exactly and when it will begin? Sure. Uh, I'd like to thank Mayor Dovage for negotiating with our governor to get Route Five on the schedule to be repaved this year. Um, it's been pretty bad and this winter is doing a number on it. Maybe we can squeeze in Route 60 at the same time. would be nice. But this is indeed from city line west side to e east side and all all the intersections that require better ADA compliant ramps into the crosswalk areas will be reconstructed with new concrete all up the current code at no expense to the city.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further council? Okay, seeing nothing. Clerk, please call the role. Council member Lyscoak. I. Council member Terrain. Hi. Council member Frederickson. I. Council member CileTo. Hi. Council member at large Wiser. I. The resolution is hereby adopted. Resolution 18-2026. Resolution authorizing professional services contract for the July 4th firework display for Americans America's independence year 250. Any discussion, council? Okay, seeing none, clerk, please call the role. Council member Lascoiaak,

I. Council member Terrain, I. Council member Frederickson, I. Council member Ciletto, I. Council member at largeiser. I. The resolution is hereby adopted. Moving on to new business. Clerk, please introduce local law number two, 2026. Introduction to local law number two of 2026. A local law rescending and replacing local law number 12 of 1992 and establishing a fringe benefit package for full-time elected officials.

Okay. I'd point out that this law is being introduced tonight so that we can begin the public process and receive community input. Uh scheduling a public hearing wouldn't necessarily obligate the council to adopt the law as written. And uh based on conversations I've had, we do anticipate further discussion and possible revisions following that hearing. Uh with that said, the law does require a public hearing before council can take action. So we will need to schedule that hearing. Uh so I'd ask for a motion to table local law number two of 2026 to allow for a public hearing, which I propose we schedule for Tuesday, February 24th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. immediately preceding our next regular council meeting. Is there a motion? Moved by council member Frederickson, seconded by council member terrain. Please call the role on the motion to table.

Council member Lecoak. I. Council member Terrain. I. Council member Frederickson. Hi. Council member Ciletto. Hi. Council member at largeiser.

I. Local law number two of 2026 has been tabled. Public hearing is scheduled for February 24th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Council will consider the law following the conclusion of that hearing. I understand as we near the conclusion of tonight's meeting, there may be a need for an executive session to discuss matters of pending litigation. Uh before we proceed with that, um I just remind council that the motion to enter into executive session requires a two-thirds vote of the members present. With that, is there a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing matters of pending litigation? Moved by council member Lusco. Second by council member Terrain. Uh, and before we vote on this, just like the public to know that we will not be taking any public action after we conclude the executive session, so there's no need to stay unless you'd like to. Clerk, please call the role.

Council member Lasco, I. Council member Terrain, I. Council member Frederickson, I. Council member CileTo, I. Council member Large Wiser, sorry. I. Motion carries. And we will now enter into executive session. For the record, the time is 5:53 p.m. Kindly ask the public and any non-essential staff to excuse themselves. And uh city attorney Roando, Mayor Dovas, please remain. We can. Councilman, do you want to