WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist the day after giving his State of the City Address and also the day after the City Council’s voting session. We’ll hear more about those two events as well as an update on the Board of Public Utilities‘ annexation case.

Eddie Sundquist

A map highlights the BPU Substation property proposed for annexation, with the red line illustrating Tiffany Avenue, the border between the city and the town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer.

The Fourth State Appellate Court has ruled in favor of the City of Jamestown in regards to appeals filed by the Town of Ellicott in the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ annexation case.

Attorneys for the town of Ellicott argued in Appellate Court on January 4 that the city property assessor’s certificate for the Dow Street substation property did not satisfy state law for annexation. They argued that the property isn’t adjacent to the city line because a road separates the property from adjoining to the city boundary. Under state law, municipalities can only annex properties that are adjacent to their own boundaries.

This was an appeal of the ruling in Chautauqua County Supreme Court by Judge Lynn Keane in November 2020 that the property did meet state law requirements.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the Fourth Appellate Court dismissed all the appeals on the matter and is now sending the case back to State Supreme Court, “And we are hopeful that once that happens a referee panel will be picked and the case will continue in its normal manner.”

Sundquist said the referee panel will hear the entire case for annexation.

City officials have argued that by annexing the property into the city limits, the Board of Public Utilities would save an estimated $160,000 each year in property taxes, thus saving money for all utility customers in the service area. They also claim such a move is in the overall public interest due to the city having a professional public safety department that could better respond to any safety emergencies that occur on the property.

Ellicott, Falconer, and the Falconer School District are all opposed to the annexation.

Attorneys for the town of Ellicott and City of Jamestown both discussed the issue of whether the property was eligible for annexation.

Previously, the town of Ellicott and village of Falconer had argued in State Supreme Court that the city property assessor’s certificate for the property did not satisfy state law.

However, Judge Lynn Keane had ruled in November 2020 that it did despite Ellicott attorneys arguing that the property isn’t adjacent to the city line because a road separates the property from adjoining to the city boundary. Under state law, municipalities can only annex properties that are adjacent to their own boundaries.

City officials have argued that by annexing the property into the city limits, the Board of Public Utilities would save an estimated $160,000 each year in property taxes, thus saving money for all utility customers in the service area. They also claim such a move is in the overall public interest due to the city having a professional public safety department that could better respond to any safety emergencies that occur on the property.

Ellicott, Falconer, and the Falconer School District are all opposed to the annexation, saying it is nothing more than a money grab by the city.

A map highlights the BPU Substation property proposed for annexation, with the red line illustrating Tiffany Avenue, the border between the city and the town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer.

The lawsuit involving the annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation property in the Town of Ellicott is set to start up again in State Appellate Court.

The Fourth Appellate Court will hold hearings on Tuesday, January 4th.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the lawsuit is between the City of Jamestown and Board of Public Utilities’ with the town of Ellicott, Village of Falconer, and the Falconer School District. He said there are still procedural issues being worked out, “One of the procedure issues ruled in favor of the city by the Supreme Court Judge here in Chautauqua County ultimately was appealed by the town of Ellicott and we’re not just hearing, the court is now just hearing it a year later. So it’s been on the docket for about a year for the Appellate Court and they’re finally getting to it.”

State Supreme Court Judge Lynn Keane‘s ruling in November 2020 did not involve whether or not the annexation is in the “overall public interest.” That argument can still be made by Ellicott and Falconer and it would have to be made in State Appellate Court

Sundquist said the city is waiting to hear if the court will impanel people for the referee panel to hear the annexation case.

City officials have argued that by annexing the property into the city limits, the Board of Public Utilities would save an estimated $160,000 each year in property taxes, thus saving money for all utility customers in the service area. They also claim such a move is in the overall public interest due to the city having a professional public safety department that could better respond to any safety emergencies that occur on the property.

Ellicott, Falconer, and the Falconer School District are all opposed to the annexation, saying it is nothing more than a money grab by the city.

A map highlights the BPU Substation property proposed for annexation, with the red line illustrating Tiffany Avenue, the border between the city and the town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer.

MAYVILLE – A State Supreme Court Judge has made a procedural ruling regarding the case involving the annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation property in the Town of Ellicott.

On Friday, Supreme Court Judge Lynn Keane issued a ruling favoring the BPU as part of an Article 78 proceeding, with the Town of Ellicott and Village of Falconer challenging the certification process for moving forward with the annexation, along with whether or not the property even qualified for annexation.

Specifically, Ellicott and Falconer argued through their attorneys from Harris Beach PLLC that the annexation petition from the city does not comply in form and content with the requirements of the New York State Municipal Annexation Law and as a result, it ought to be vacated and annulled. The town and village argued that the city property assessor’s certificate for the property did not satisfy state law.  But Keane ruled that it in fact did.  She also ruled the property was eligible for annexation, despite Ellicott attorneys arguing that the property isn’t adjacent to the city line because a road separates the property from adjoining to the city boundary. Under state law, municipalities can only annex properties that are adjacent to their own boundaries.

The ruling does not involve whether or not the annexation is in the “overall public interest.” That argument can still be made by Ellicott and Falconer and it would have to be made in State Appellate Court, as explained in Section 712 of New York General Municipal Law:

“In the event that one or more but not all of the governing boards of the affected local governments shall determine that it is not in the over-all public interest to approve the proposed annexation, the governing board of any other affected local government may apply to the appellate division of the supreme court for adjudication and determination, on the law and facts, of the issue of whether the proposed annexation is in the over-all public interest.”

However, before making that argument in the State Appellate Division, the Town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer also has the legal option of challenging the recent Article 78 ruling through an appeal. If that happens, the matter will have to be argued in State Appellate Court before the main argument against the annexation – which is that it is not in “the overall public interest” – can proceed.

The annexation saga has been ongoing for the past several years.  City officials have argued that by annexing the property into the city limits, the Board of Public Utilities would save an estimated $160,000 each year in property taxes, thus saving money for all utility customers in the service area. They also claim such a move is in the overall public interest due to the city having a professional public safety department that could better respond to any safety emergencies that occur on the property.

Ellicott, Falconer, and the Falconer School District are all opposed to the annexation, saying it is nothing more than a money grab by the city.

As a result, the issue has to be taken up by the State Appellate Division in Rochester. The matter was already taken up by the appellate division once before, but in August 2019 it threw the case out on a technicality regarding the timeliness of the petition filing and as a result, it never ruled on if it was in the overall public interest.

The legal fees for the previous annexation approached a combined $750,000. The law firm Bond, Schoeneck and King is handling  the case for the BPU, but Mayor Eddie Sundquist has said this time they wont charge more than $75,000 from start to finish in this current annexation effort.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist talks with WRFA’s Jason Sample about several issues involving the city, including the recent annexation effort, an update on collective bargaining arbitration with the police union, his thoughts on some downtown development projects, and much more.

Eddie Sundquist

Reynolds is filling the seat that was left open write-in candidate Phil Raubado notified the village that he would not be taking the position following the November election.

Reynolds will serve as a trustee effective immediately but will have to run for the trustee position in the November election to fill out the remainder of the four-year term.

The village board also discussed the effort by the city of Jamestown to annex a piece of city-owned property located in the village, with mayor Jaroszynski saying officials walked away from negotiations designed to avoid a legal battle over the issue, saying the city never put forward any alternative options other than annexation.

The village will likely act later this month on opposing the annexation by the city.

And the village board approved the 2021 budget of $1.4 million, which includes a $0.16 per thousand tax rate increase.

A public hearing on the budget will be held on April 13.

The Jamestown City Council during its Feb. 24, 2020 voting session.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council voted 7 to 2 Monday night in favor of annexing the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ Dow St. Substation property in the Town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer, setting the stage for another legal showdown in State Appellate Court.

Monday’s vote came following statements from both Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Council President Tony Dolce. Sundquist said that the city was willing to negotiate an outcome to help avoid legal action, but officials from Ellicott, Falconer and the Falconer Central School (FCS) district walked away from the table the night before a second negotiating session was scheduled to take place.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist

“I truly believe that there is a middle ground where all the parties could benefit. As part of that we’ve attempted negotiations. We’ve offered to invest in projects that make sense as a larger region and to support some of the work as we develop this area,” Sundquist said prior to the vote. “On the eve of the second round of negotiations, we were informed by Ellicott, Falconer and Falconer Schools that they no longer wish to negotiate with us in order to come to a resolution with this annexation.”

Dolce added that while there is the possibility for returning to the table to negotiate a deal and avoid litigation, he and other council members felt it was time to move the process forward.

“I was ready and willing to try and work to put off that vote again, but since they have decided to end the discussion there’s no need to wait on the vote,” Dolce said. “We still can sit down and talk and hopefully they would like to come back to the table but at this time I think we’ve extended the olive branch and its time for us to move on.”

Dolce joined six other council members in supporting the annexation, including councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, who had previously recused herself from voting on any resolution involving the annexation because of a conflict of interest due to her working for the Falconer School District. But as of earlier this month Graham-Reinhardt is no longer working for the district, meaning she no longer had to recuse herself from voting on the issue.  The two council members to vote against annexation were newly elected members Grant Olson and Jeffrey Russell.

A map highlights the BPU Substation property proposed for annexation, with the red line illustrating Tiffany Avenue, the border between the city and the town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer.

Ellicott, Falconer and FCS are against annexation because it will result in a loss totaling $330,000 in annual tax revenue between the three.

The City and Jamestown BPU argues that by annexing the property, it will serve the public interest of the entire BPU service area, including customers living in the village, town and school district. The BPU would also avoid paying the $330,000 in taxes, and would instead make an estimated $80,000 payment in lieu of taxes to both the City of Jamestown and Jamestown Public Schools.

Following Monday’s council meeting, Sundquist explained that during the negotiations, the city was pressing for an annexation while also trying to help soften the financial impact it would have on the three affected municipalities.

“It all revolved around annexation but we had flexibility on what was being annexed and what values would be associated to the annexation. But at the end of the day it was this council’s message as well as the BPU board that they wanted some form of annexation. But we were willing to be flexible on that and offset certain costs.”

The annexation can be legally challenged if either Falconer or Ellicott (or both) vote in opposition of the annexation. That is what is expected to take place, most likely during the next respective village and town board meetings.

Once a vote of opposition is made, a legal complaint is filed and the city will then have a limited amount of time to respond. Failure to do so before the deadline will result in the case being thrown out. This is what happened during the previous annexation attempt, which went to court in October 2017. But the issue of whether or not the annexation could proceed was never answered. Instead, the state 4th Appellate Division in Rochester ruled that Jamestown’s legal team – Bond, Schoeneck and King – had failed to file its response paperwork on time. The court case then ended on the filing technicality, with a ruling not being delivered until August 2019.

The legal fees for the previous annexation approached a combined $750,000. Bond, Schoeneck and King will again handle the case for the BPU, but Mayor Sundquist said this time they wont charge more than $75,000 from start to finish in this annexation effort.

“For this second round of annexation there is a cap of $75,000, going up all the way to the State Court of Appeals, which means that is the most we will pay,” Sundquist said.

A map highlights the BPU Substation property proposed for annexation, with the red line illustrating Tiffany Avenue, the border between the city and the town of Ellicott/Village of Falconer.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will be acting on a resolution to proceed with the annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation property when it meets Monday in city hall.

There are actually two resolutions on the agenda focusing on the issue of annexation. One resolution involves proceeding with annexing the property from the Town of Ellicott and Village of Falconer into the city boundaries, while the other resolution involves approving a state environmental review of the site.

The annexation resolution states that city officials, including mayor Eddie Sundquist, recently held discussion with officials from Ellicott, Falconer and the Falconer School District to determine whether they could address the concerns that have been raised so that the annexation can proceed with the consent of all municipalities. However, the resolution further states that that the town, village and school district have all refused to continue those discussions.

As a result, the city council will proceed with a vote, which comes following a Dec. 30 joint public hearing on the matter. Under state law, the city council has up to 90 days to formally vote for or against the annexation from the date that the public hearing took place.

Ellicott, Falconer and the Falconer School District have each stated that they don’t support an annexation because it means they would be missing out on over $330,000 in annual tax payments paid by the BPU for the property.

The city says it wants to annex the property into its own jurisdiction, arguing it is in the public interest of the entire BPU service area because it would ultimately help to save the BPU’s electric division over $160,000 every year. That savings would come from the BPU not having to pay taxes on the property, although $160,000 would then be paid to the city and the Jamestown Public Schools as part of a payment in lieu of tax agreement the BPU has with the city and school district.

If the story feels like Deja Vu, that’s because the Jamestown city council took similar action on annexing the same piece of property in April 2017, launching a two-year long legal battle after both Ellicott and Falconer officials voted to block the initial annexation attempt. In August 2019 the New York 4th Appellate Division ultimately ruled against the annexation on a technicality, saying the required paperwork from the city’s legal team of Bond, Schoeneck & King to have the court review and rule on the case was not filed in a timely fashion.

That decision came only after the BPU spent $405,000 from its electric division budget to proceed with the annexation. Meanwhile, Falconer, Ellicott, and the Falconer School District spent over $300,000 to fight it.

Even if the paperwork for the initial annexation effort was filed on time, Ellicott and Falconer officials say the court would have ruled against the city, basing their assumption on a unanimous recommendation that was submitted to the court by a three-member referee panel at the end of 2018.

The BPU has hired the same law firm to handle the annexation case this time around but this time it is locked in to only being paid $75,000 to deal with the entire process.

If the city council tonight approves the resolution to move the annexation forward, the town of Ellicott and village of Falconer will then be given the option to vote against the annexation, which would then mean the matter would again have to be settled in state appellate court.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

Originally airing Thursday Feb. 6, 2020.

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist about various issues affecting city government, including Ambulance Service, the city’s Smart City Capital Investment Plan and the Central Garage proposal, the 2020 State of the City address, and more.

Eddie Sundquist