Finance Committee

FINANCE Tuesday, January 6, 2026 – 6:10 p.m. Council Chambers – Olean Municipal Building Present: Members: Chairman McCall, Alderman Bennion, Alderman Forney, Alderman Robinson, and Alderman Anastasia. Others: Mayor Amy Sherburne; Lens Martial, City Clerk; James Sprague, Director of Public Works; Eric Maurouard, Fire Chief, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman McCall called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. and asked the record to show that all committee members were present except Alderman Keary and Crawford, who were excused. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Tuesday, December 16, 2025) A motion to approve the minutes of the December 16, 2025 committee meeting was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Bennion. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. Unfinished Business a. Capital Funds Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #244, Demolition of Unsafe Buildings, has a balance of $36,000. Alderman Bennion asked if these funds are used to tear down a house if it there is a fire and an emergency demolition is needed. Mr. Marital explained this is in conjunction with the demolition line item, and this money kicks in after the budget lines are used up. Chief Maurouard explained we will have some invoices to pay from this fund for the three demolitions we did, but we will be reimbursed by the Land Bank for the costs. Alderman Bennion asked if the funds will go back into the Capital Fund or into the General Fund when they are received, and Mr. Marital explained the funds will go back into the Capital Fund. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #245. Local Records Management Grant, has a balance of $16,517.23 and we have used $16,000 so far. Alderman McCall explained part of this grant application included a discussion about how we need to move things from paper into a digital format, and explained she would like an update on what we need to be able to do that moving forward. Mr. Martial explained digitizing records would be the second phase, and the first phase involved putting in shelving and getting the records rooms organized. He explained he is not sure when the second phase will be done, and noted the grant total is $75,000. Alderman Robinson explained IT would need to be involved to digitize records to ensure we have enough cloud storage space. Mr. Volz explained he has not heard anything about digitizing the records. Alderman McCall explained doing so would make life easier in the long term. Alderman Bennion asked what the timeline is on the disbursement of the remainder of the grant, and Mr. Martial explained there are some submittals to the State required prior to that occurring. Alderman Bennion asked what the balance due on the shelving is, and Mr. Martial explained he will have to find out from Mr. Caputo. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #246, War Vets Pool, has been funded by a BAN and will be reimbursed by grants. He explained we have used $15,360 so far. Alderman Bennion asked if the restoration of the pool has gone out to bid. Director Sprague explained it has not, but it is ready to go out pending a few tweaks on the bid documents from the design consultant. He explained we do have all approvals required for regulating agencies. Alderman Bennion asked what the Council needs to do to give the go ahead to go out to bid. Director Sprague explained he does not think the Council needs to take action for him to publish the bid, and explained he will bring the bids back to the Council for consideration when they are received in order to award the contract. Mr. Marital explained Capital Fund #247, Zoning Code Update, currently has no balance. He explained the project will be funded by a grant. Ms. Taylor explained a kick off meeting has been held, and Mayor Sherburne will be appointing members to the advisory committee. She explained we will be going to bid for a consultant for the project and the Council will be notified of the recommended consultant in order to approve the contract via resolution. Mr. Marital explained Capital Fund #248, RAISE Grant, does not have any funding. He explained we have received a grant but have not received any funding yet. Director Sprague explained we do not have the contract back from the Federal Highway Administration yet, and noted we have not been told they are pulling the grant. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #249, Sewer Study, has a $50,000 balance and $20,000 was approved by the Council for a grant match. Ms. Taylor noted the City received a grant for the I & I Study, and the granting agency requested $20,000 of funds be specifically allocated for the grant match in order to proceed. 4. New Referrals for Consideration a. Reporting of Ongoing Capital Projects Alderman McCall explained monthly capital project updates are required by the Code of Ordinances, and this has been something we have gotten feedback from the independent auditors regarding so it is important that we do this. She explained we need to determine a way to work with Director Sprague to make this the least burdensome. Director Sprague explained Schedule E forms are done for projects that involve grants, and these forms detail finances for projects. He explained the capital projects are going to stay in InCode for now, and explained we will be working with new budgeting software that will allow project expense reports for the Council for the financial piece of the projects. He explained everything else is typically handled during project meetings which occur every two weeks during a project. He explained he thinks this reporting is a great procedure and will be the impetus to apply the biweekly meetings for all projects. He explained when it comes time to report to the Council he will provide the latest set of project meeting minutes which will cover all of the information that the Council is looking for. He explained if the Council has questions or wants to discuss a project, he will be able to do so. Alderman McCall asked, in order to streamline, if the minutes can be sent the Friday prior to a meeting so questions can be prepared before the meeting Tuesday. Director Sprague explained he can do this. Alderman Robinson explained this sounds great, and explained if the Council gets the update similar to Fleet meetings when they get minutes after the meetings, it will allow Aldermen to put together questions before the meeting. Alderman Bennion suggested sending the minutes out each time there is a project meeting, and then once a month the financial report can be sent. Alderman McCall explained her plan is to have this on the agenda on the opposite weeks of capital fund discussions. 5. Committee Reports None 6. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Robinson. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.