Strategic Planning

STRATEGIC PLANNING Tuesday, October 7, 2025 – 6:00 p.m. Council Chambers – Olean Municipal Building Present: Members: Chairman Crawford, Vice Chairman Forney, Alderman Bennion, Alderman McCall and Alderman Robinson. Others: Alderman Keary; Alderman Anastasia; Lens Martial, City Auditor; Brad Camp, Water and Sewer Superintendent, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman Crawford called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and asked the record show that all committee members were present. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Tuesday, September 2, 2025) A motion to approve the minutes of the September 2, 2025 committee meeting was made by Alderman Bennion, seconded by Alderman Forney. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. Unfinished Business None 4. New Referrals for Consideration a. Welcome to Olean Signs Alderman Crawford introduced Kirk Windus from the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation. Alderman Crawford explained although the City does not own these signs, we have collaborated through joint ventures in the past. He explained the signs were vandalized 4 or 5 years ago and temporary banners have been used since that time. He explained a GoFundMe was done to raise money and he donated funds himself, and there is collectively a little more than $4,000 for a long-term solution for these signs. He explained the Chamber of Commerce has gone through some changes and has had new directors, which has delayed a permanent solution to this issue. He explained Mr. Windus has been working on a permanent solution and he would like the Council to hear where we stand now. Mr. Windus explained he has been working with Heath Cousins at Cousins Designs to put together a markup design for new signs that have a look standard to those already existing throughout the City. He explained the only recommendation at this time is to remove the huge sign boards currently in place and to install tin signs in place. He explained the signs currently there are very large, although the tin signs will still be quite visible. He explained everything will be flat on the sign but Olean will be raised a little bit. He explained removing these sign boards will keep cost low as far as replacing them. He explained his request is, if possible, City workers do an in-kind contrib8ution to remove the current signs. He explained he has spoken with Mayor Aiello who did not see a problem with this and explained he wanted to bring this forth to the Council. He explained once the signs currently there are removed we should be able to move forward relatively quickly on this. He explained they are waiting on some final numbers from Cousins Designs, but they are pretty confident they will be able to get this done with the funding already in place. Alderman McCall explained she likes the design, but she would like to see something similar to what is in Ellicottville where events can be changed at the bottom of the sign. Alderman Crawford explained this feedback can be passed onto the Chamber as the owner of the signs. He explained he does not believe at this time there is enough funding for further development of the signs but it could be considered in the future if the Chamber wants to invest more into the City. Mr. Windus explained the Chamber is happy to move forward with the current plan, and noted there is one sign that is not on City property that may need to be moved. Alderman Crawford explained he is happy to see something being done about this after such a long time with temporary signs. 5. Committee Reports None 6. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman Crawford, seconded by Alderman McCall. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:10 p.m.