Public Safety

PUBLIC SAFETY Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 7:45 p.m. Council Chambers – Olean Municipal Building Present: Members: Chairman Robinson, Vice Chairman Anastasia, Alderman Bennion, Alderman Keary, Alderman Forney, Alderman McCall, and Alderman Crawford. Others: Mayor Amy Sherburne; Lens Martial, City Auditor; Keri Kerper, Community Development Program Coordinator; James Sprague, Director of Public Works; Eric Maurouard, Fire Chief; Ryan Reed, Code Enforcement Officer; Kris Shewairy, Youth and Recreation Division Supervisor, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m. and asked that the record show that all committee members were present. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Tuesday, February 17, 2026) A motion to approve the minutes of the February 17, 2026 meeting was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Anastasia. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. Unfinished Business a. North Union Street Lighting Alderman Robinson explained the Council was sent an email to look at the lighting by the mall roundabout. Director Sprague explained this is a sample of a new head for streetlights, which is phase 1. He explained Mr. Kahm went out with a meter and found this light is providing roughly twice the illumination on the driving lane than the existing head. He explained we are looking for feedback from anyone who looked at this at night, and explained we are trying to make a decision as to whether we should move forward with this change on the entire street. He explained the estimate we have is for 84 heads at around $1,000 each. He explained because of this we would need to go out to formal bid to purchase the heads and he anticipates that we will install them ourselves. He explained he knows some questions have developed and not everyone is on board with them, so he is looking for feedback from the Council. Alderman Bennion explained his biggest concern is the color and asked if the head can be powder coated to match the existing pole. Director Sprague explained we can do a different colored head and explained this particular one is just a demo. Alderman Bennion explained this head is projecting some lighting on to the sidewalk, which might help solve phase 2. Director Sprague explained in his observation these heads do add more light to the sidewalk than the existing heads. Alderman Keary asked if the bulb can be put in the existing fixtures and Director Sprague explained it probably cannot be due to the age of the existing fixtures. Alderman McCall explained whatever we decide to do, we need to make sure the light pole and heads match and coordinate. He explained if we determine we need pedestrian lighting that should match as well. Director Sprague explained the vendor of these poles has gone out of business, and we will probably end up with some custom manufacturer to build pedestrian arms onto the existing poles if we move forward with additional pedestrian lighting. Alderman McCall asked if we are going to try to reuse the heads that are taken down at Franchot Park and Director Sprague explained that is the plan. Alderman Robinson explained he feels this setup sufficiently illuminates the sidewalk, which would allow us to eliminate phase 2. Director Sprague explained he would like to investigate that further as it does light the sidewalk further but he does not know if it is sufficient. Alderman Robinson explained he feels the price tag for each head is ridiculous. He explained we also need to be mindful about putting lights facing the sidewalk that are LEDs as the lights are bright and in the past residents have complained about the lights shining in their home windows. He explained there are apartments above the businesses we need to be aware of. He explained he did go see the light, and thought it was sufficient. Alderman Crawford explained he thinks the light is too bright, and explained he has never received complaints about the North Union Street lighting. He explained he feels residents will feel the new lights are too bright. Alderman McCall explained she has heard from residents and businesses that it is dark, and if we could do one way to fix both the roadway and sidewalk lighting, that would be significant. Mayor Sherburne explained she did not see a major difference on the roadway, but she was blinded when pulling into CVS. She explained we have not done striping on North Union Street in some time and she feels that is part of the reason it feels so dark. She explained she feels we need lighting on the sidewalk more than the driving lane, and then to restripe the roadway. She explained she feels we should address these two things first and does not want to make a mistake that we will later have to fix. Alderman Bennion explained the lighting that is there is casting over the parking spots, and explained he does not mind the approach of reflective stripes. He explained some complaints were about not being able to see people who were crossing because the light is not casted into the road. He explained there are lights along parts of the street that have different arms that tilt the light to the road, and maybe we can figure out how to replace the arms on the other lights to cast the light differently. He explained then we can move onto phase 2. Director Sprague asked to follow up in four weeks.  b. School Zone / One Way (Reed Street) / Road Striping Alderman Robinson explained there is a meeting coming up with the City and school, and asked that this be postponed for one month. 4. New Referrals for Consideration a. PL #43-26: (Sherburne) To enact a Local Law establishing an Administrative Civil Penalty System and Daily Fee Schedule for Property Maintenance and Building Code Violations. Alderman Robinson explained this was presented to the Council last week. Mayor Sherburne explained this is an attempt to give our Code Enforcement more teeth without having to go through the court system. She explained she is proposing a public safety board that people will be appointed to, in order to have the ability to arbitrate any fees that are going to occur for not complying with Codes. Ms. Taylor explained previously, one person would hear and decide appeals of Code Enforcement decisions, and this would move that responsibility to a board rather than one person. Alderman McCall noted that changes would need to be made in the charter. Mr. Reed explained we do not have a housing court because we don’t have the population, and Long Island has started doing adjudication boards. He explained this is a way to get around the housing court because we do not have a population of over 300,000. Alderman Crawford asked if the fees listed are current or additions and Mr. Reed explained they are new fees. Alderman Crawford explained he is one hundred percent on board with this. A motion to approve PL #43-26 was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Crawford. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Referred to City Attorney for Resolution. b. 2025 Cattaraugus County Hazard Mitigation Plan Chief Maurouard explained Cattaraugus County updates their plan about every five years. He explained is reviewed by local police departments and fire departments, and when it is finalized each municipality has to adopt the plan. He explained it is over 2,000 pages on Cattaraugus County’s website, and Olean’s portion is 63 pages. He explained there will be a PL next week to adopt the plan. Alderman Keary asked if there is a financial obligation and Chief Maurouard advised there is not. 5. Approval of Committee Reports A motion to approve Committee Reports was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Crawford. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried.  6. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Anastasia. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:10 p.m.