Finance Committee

FINANCE Tuesday, February 3, 2026 – 6:05 p.m. Council Chambers – Olean Municipal Building Present: Members: Chairman McCall, Alderman Bennion, Alderman Keary, Alderman Forney, Alderman Robinson, and Alderman Anastasia. Others: Mayor Amy Sherburne; Michael Morgan, City Attorney; Lens Martial, City Auditor; James Sprague, Director of Public Works, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman McCall called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. and asked that the record show that all committee members were present except Alderman Crawford, who was absent. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Tuesday, January 20, 2026) A motion to approve the minutes of the January 20, 2026 committee meeting was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Robinson. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. Unfinished Business a. Capital Funds Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #250, Vacant Property Legislation, was funded by vacant property registration fees. Alderman McCall explained she would like to get an update from Code Enforcement on vacant properties, how many have been registered, and what has been billed out. Alderman Bennion explained he would like to know the number of notices that have been sent versus how many owners responded and registered the properties. He asked what the funding is for, and Ms. Taylor explained it is funding collected from the owner of the vacant property. She explained if there are then issues with that property that require the City to hire out a contractor, such as for snow removal, grass cutting, or boarding up the property, we have that funding in the Capital Fund and it does not have to come out of the property maintenance line item. Alderman McCall asked if the funds go back into this account when the money is recouped after the work is done, and Mr. Martial explained it does. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #251, Water Reservoir Cleaning and Inspection, started with a balance of $76,714 and now has $21,756.40 remaining. He explained he spoke with Mr. Camp and the project is done, so the fund can now be closed. Alderman Robinson asked how we still have funding left, and Alderman McCall explained we put extra funds into the capital fund as we did not know how much silt would be in the tanks. Alderman Bennion explained we thought the cost was around $70,000, but then we went out for RFP when Director Sprague sfirst started. He explained if the cost was less that is great, the Council just though the numbers were different. He asked if there were other things done besides cleaning the tanks, and Director Sprague explained new mixers were also added. He explained the City’s electrical staff did the wiring to provide power for these. Alderman McCall asked if this cost is for both tanks, and Director Sprague explained it is. Mr. Martial explained he checked with Mr. Camp and there will be no more invoices coming in, but he can double check if the Council would like. Alderman McCall asked if we need to leave this fund open for another project related to the tanks, and Director Sprague explained there are definitively several other items at the reservoir that are going to need capital dollars, one related to chlorine booster injection. He explained his suggestion is to leave the fund open until we put together the capital plan for next year, and then the funds can be reallocated. Alderman Robinson explained the Resolution to authorize the contract for the cleaning was $49,000. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #252, Bed Tax, does not have a balance. He explained he thought it was going to be used for bed tax revenue to fund capital projects but we have not done that yet. He explained we do have bed tax money coming in. Alderman McCall explained this fund was created to ensure bed tax revenue could be used for marketing and different things. She explained the prior mayor wanted to use the funds for Community Development salaries, but the Council emphasized the need to utilize the funds to attract new businesses to the City. She explained she would like to know why none of the funding is going into this capital fund, and where the money is. Mr. Martial explained the funds are in a revenue line item from the General Fund. Alderman McCall asked how much we have received year to date and Mr. Martial explained we have received approximately $214,000. Alderman Forney explained she does not feel these funds should be going into the General Fund to supplement the fund that is already low. She explained these funds should be available to do other things such as for highway directional signs or for marketing for business owners who are collecting the bed tax. Alderman Robinson explained this should be on the agenda for another conversation and Alderman McCall agreed. Mayor Sherburne explained she will do some more research into this, and Ms. Taylor explained Ms. Kerper can provide more information for her. Mr. Martial explained the funds will stay in the revenue line item until May 31st. Mr. Martial explained capital Fund #253, Oak Street Drainage, has a balance of $1,600 and has not been used. He explained he does not know where the project stands. Alderman Anastasia explained he thought his was taken care of and Director Sprague explained the project is all done. He explained it must have been charged to the general fund with the annual concrete contract, and they should have a record of each address so he can get the exact cost for this address. Alderman Bennion asked when the contract expires, and Director Sprague explained we will be going out to bid for the next fiscal year. Alderman Bennion noted he believes the current contractor went out of business, and Director Sprague explained they have not given us any indication about that, but he will look into this further. Mr. Martial explained Capital Fund #255, Code Enforcement Clean Up Fund, has a balance of $80,643 and explained we received two payments for cleanup reimbursement from the County. He explained Capital Fund #256 is for the Elevator in the Municipal Building. Director Sprague explained the contractor awarded the contract awarded parts and is awaiting delivery prior to doing the work. He explained we were aware there was a long lead time on receiving the parts, and noted the project is still on schedule. 4. New Referrals for Consideration None 5. Committee Reports None 6. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Bennion. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:30 p.m.