Public Safety

PUBLIC SAFETY Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – 7:25 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; James Sprague, Director of Public Works, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:25 p.m. and asked that the record show that all committee members are present. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Tuesday, May 5, 2026) A motion to approve the minutes of the May 5, 2026 committee meeting was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Bennion. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. Unfinished Business a. Shared Use Path / Downtown Business District Plowing Alderman McCall explained that this is part of an ongoing larger discussion. She explained it was previously indicated that there might be some equipment needed to do the plowing downtown. And what we need is for the Mayor and Director Sprague to get together and let us know whether or not this is feasible. Alderman Bennion explained he would like to know what we can do with the equipment and employees we have, and what the cost will be for this. Director Sprague explained he will put together a plan for doing this in-house, including labor costs. Alderman Anastasia asked if it snows continually that we will do this once a day or multiple times a day. Director Sprague explained the idea is to do this once a day before businesses open in the morning. Alderman McCall explained in talking with downtown businesses that would be their only request and expectation. Alderman Bennion asked that it be included in the plan clearing the snow from the curb so that people can safely get from the parking stalls to the sidewalk. Alderman Robinson explained he feels if we take this on we should only do one pass in the morning and then have the businesses be responsible after that, and Alderman Bennion agreed. b. Civilian Review Board Mayor Sherburne explained the board meets as they need to meet, and there is one seat open for appointment. Alderman Robinson asked if someone is interested, if they should be referred to the Mayor’s office, and Mayor Sherburne asked that they be referred to her. Alderman McCall explained when the Council voted for the Civilian Review Board one of the concerns was that a board was appointed with no diversity and as we look forward to filling this and other positions we need to work to seek out a more diverse group. Alderman Robinson explained he believes the language in the legislation describes what the Council is looking for. Alderman Bennion explained he thought there was a standard for meetings, and Mayor Sherburne explained the legislation states that business meetings should be held monthly. She explained she will make sure to follow up on that to ensure it is being done. Alderman Bennion asked if there would be meeting minutes for these meetings, and Mayor Sherburne explained she would look into this. 4. New Referrals for Consideration a. PL #51-26: (Sherburne) To amend the City of Olean Code of Ordinances Section 13-376, Conditions for maintenance of license, to amend requirements for a contractor’s license in accordance with the New York State Correction Law Article 23-A. Ms. Taylor explained that our law currently states that the Fire Chief has to deny a contractor’s license if the applicant is a convicted felon, which is contrary to New York State law. She explained we would like to change the wording so that the Code states that a license may be denied if the applicant is a convicted felon and if the granting of the license will be a public safety issue, or if the conviction is related to the type of work that the license is for. Alderman Bennion explained we need to look at the requirements for the maintenance of a license as well, so when a contractor has repeated violations and lawsuits against them we can consider withdrawing their license to protect residents. He explained he also does not feel we should charge fees when we are doing nothing for the permit, but we should not rely on a contractor to advise when they are ready for an inspection and should follow up to ensure things are being done. He asked the Mayor if we can work on this and Mayor Sherburne explained we can/ She explained we could look at reworking this to add some language. A motion to approve PL #51-26 was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Forney. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Referred to City Attorney for Resolution. b. PL #54-26: (Robinson) To amend the City of Olean Code of Ordinances Section 24- 173, NO blocking of driveways, to include 1615 West State Street. Referred to Public Safety Committee by Council President. Alderman Robinson explained a constituent reached out to him about the driveway where the Pit Stop restaurant was. He explained there is a light to the left of the driveway, and people tend to block the driveway. He explained a prior Do Not Block Drive sign was removed when work was being done in the area and since this is not listed in the Code, a resolution is required to put the sign back up. A motion to approve PL #54-26 was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Bennion. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Referred to City Attorney for Resolution. c. PL #55-26: (Bennion) To amend the City of Olean Code of Ordinances Section 24- 134 to prohibit parking on both sides of Forest Hills Ave. for a distance of 200 feet from its intersection with Grandview Avenue. Referred to Public Safety Committee by Council President. A motion to amend PL #55-26 to reflect 150 feet instead of 200 feet was made by Alderman Bennion, seconded by Alderman Keary. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Alderman Bennion explained Forest Hills Avenue is a paper street off of Grandview Avenue. He explained you wouldn’t even know it was there because it looks like a driveway, and there is an issue with the residents on both sides who are parking in the paper street and causing blocking of access for each other. He explained the current residents did not concrete the paper street, a previous resident did. And it is in fact a paper street. He explained the resident was aware this is a paper street because they had to go to the Zoning Board for approval when putting an addition on their home. He explained the paper street does fall under the governance of the City and the Council, and he feels for the sake of deescalating the situation that we should have no parking on the first 150 feet. He explained he spoke with Director Sprague who has advised that this would allow us in the future on the paper street portion to apply for permits for improved parking past the 150 feet. He explained the top part of the paper street comes into the Forest Hills Development toward Genesee Street. He explained the sewer crew would plow the first 150 feet since there are legal driveway accesses there. He explained with enforceable no parking signs, the police will be able to handle the situation if there is an issue. A motion to approve PL #55-26 was made by Alderman Bennion, seconded by Alderman Anastasia. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Referred to City Attorney for Resolution. d. No Parking Change – East Pine Street Alderman Anastasia explained this is on the corner of Walnut Street and East Pine Street, and explained a couple of residents want to see if we can push the sign back a little further because when a car is parked too close to the corner, it can become difficult to see. He explained he evaluated the area and explained he wants to move the sign back 10 more feet. He explained he sent emails to the Police Chief, who has no issues changing the signage, and to Director Sprague, who would like to move the sign father back. He explained he would like to move the sign back the recommended 50’ as requested by DPW. Alderman Bennion explained he agrees with this distance, as if the sign is too close to the driveway someone will try to park between the sign and driveway and end up blocking ingress and egress from the driveway. Alderman Bennion explained he can get on board with moving the sign but he wants to ensure we are doing our due diligence and that we are not taking someone’s parking spots. He explained all of these houses were built with one car in mind, but households now have more cars than that. He explained we want to make sure this space is not be4ing used and we don’t end up receiving letters from people asking where they are supposed to park. 5. Committee Reports A motion to approve committee reports was made by Alderman Robinson, seconded by Alderman Keary. 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 7:55 p.m.