Common Council may decide on a police chief and fire chief tonight.

The Dunkirk Common Council will revisit hiring police and fire chiefs, and consider an agreement on a consultant to fire up a state-backed small business fund, today.

The council has a busy agenda for its first meeting in nearly a month. Notably, there are new resolutions to hire Christopher Witkowski as police chief and Nicholas Barter as fire chief. Resolutions to hire them were tabled at the last meeting “for further clarification,” as the council put it.

One apparent clarification is the addition of the following clause to their new resolutions: “This appointment does not preclude the city of Dunkirk from pursuing department mergers or other structural changes to enhance efficiency and cost effectiveness.”

There is also a clause in their resolutions to deny Barter and Witkowski certain union benefits, such as longevity pay, training reimbursement and overtime accumulation. They are “entitled to all relevant benefits included in the (union) contract, with the exception of” several items.

Their proposed salaries haven’t changed since the tabled January resolutions. Witkowski would make $112,000 this year and Barter $92,000.

Witkowski was named acting chief of police when David Ortolano retired in November 2024. Previous Fire Chief Michael Edwards retired just weeks later, in December.

Barter was appointed to the Dunkirk Fire Department in 2008 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2014, according to the city’s website. Barter serves as the department’s Emergency Medical Liaison.

Witkowski’s LinkedIn page says he is a 22-year veteran of the Dunkirk Police Department, and a captain since 2021.

As for the small business fund, that is $473,000 awarded by New York State to Dunkirk as part of the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative for the city.

Today’s council resolution authorizes J F Grant Consultant Services to “assist in the project management and grant administration tasks” of the new fund. This will include things such as reviewing projects for eligibility, soliciting contractor bids, developing marketing materials, and working with business owners and architects.

J F Grant’s costs for this are not to exceed 10% of the DRI small business fund allocation.