This week the New York State Court of Appeals denied a motion by the city to appeal a lower court’s ruling involving a 2018 arbitration ruling, in which an arbitration panel ruled the city must give the Jamestown Kendell Club police union police union a 2% salary increase as part of its 2016-2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The city filed the motion in the state’s highest court in late June after the State 4th Appellate Division in Rochester released a unanimous ruling on June 12 that upheld a 2019 State Supreme Court Decision allowing the arbitration ruling to stand.

The arbitration ruling originally came in 2018, after the city and police union reached an impasse in contract negotiations for the years covering 2016 and 2017.

• READ COMPLETE 44-PAGE ARBITRATION RULING

Upon its release, city officials – led at the time by then-mayor Sam Teresi – felt the arbitration ruling failed to take into full consideration the financial challenges facing Jamestown. State law indicated that the Arbitration Panel was to place a 70% weighting factor on the city’s financial position and ability to pay for any increase in salary. The city contends the arbitrators didn’t place enough focus on that aspect of state law when ruling in favor of a pay raise for the union members.

With the court ruling not to hear the motion, the original arbitration ruling will stand. As a result, the city will have to pay an estimated $800,000 in back wages to the members of the union during the time period that is covered. In addition, a similar back payment would also likely have to be made to the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association, which also never settled a contract for 2016 and 2017, but opted to wait until the police arbitration case plays out before possibly pursuing their own arbitration case.

The Albany-based law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King represented the city in the legal dispute, while the Jamestown law firm of Fessenden, Laumer & DeAngelo represented the police union. The cost of the court proceedings for the city – including taking it to the State Court of Appeals – has totaled $50,000.

WRFA reached out to Mayor Eddie Sundquist on Thursday morning to find out how much the city will have to pay the police union, as well as what the timeline is for the retroactive payment.

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.

Eddie Sundquist

JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown will move forward and take its ongoing arbitration battle with its police union to the state’s highest court.

During a recent interview with WRFA, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist confirmed that the city has decided to move its appeal of a 2018 split decision Compulsory Interest Arbitration Ruling to the New York State Court of Appeals.

This after the State 4th Appellate Division in Rochester released on a unanimous ruling on June 12 that upheld a 2019 State Supreme Court Decision allowing the arbitration ruling to stand.

The 2018 arbitration ruling involved the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Jamestown Kendell Club police union. Among other things, the ruling called for officers in the union to receive a retroactive 2% salary increase for both 2016 and 2017.

• READ COMPLETE 44-PAGE ARBITRATION RULING

Upon its release, city officials – led at the time by former mayor Sam Teresi – felt the arbitration ruling failed to take into full consideration the financial challenges facing Jamestown. State law indicated that the Arbitration Panel was to place a 70% weighting factor on the city’s financial position and ability to pay for any increase in salary. The city contends the arbitrators didn’t place enough focus on that aspect of state law when ruling in favor of a pay raise for the union members.

Sundquist said the city notified the police union this week that it would seek a judgement from the state’s highest court. He added that such action would require approval to do so from the court.

“If it wasn’t a unanimous decision, we would be able to appeal by right, which means the Court of Appeals would take that case and hear it,” explained Sundquist. “Since that is not the case. Since we had a concurring decision from the Appellate Division, we will have to ask permission from the Court of Appeals to hear that case, as it’s a portion of the law that may not have been yet interpreted. There is always the risk that the Court of Appeals may not want to take the case, so we are kind of going with that process to see if they will accept it.”

Sundquist also said that last year the city council approved a resolution to challenge the local Supreme Court ruling on the matter, and that resolution included taking the case to the Court of Appeals if it was not overturned in the Appellate Division. As a result, no additional legislative action is required by the city council because no new costs are being added.

The mayor also said that in the meantime, the city is continuing to negotiate with the union.

“We are still working actively with the police union to try to negotiate a deal and try to come to an understanding, as we have many years left with that contract that are still un-negotiated. So even though we are actively moving forward with that court case, we are are still actively trying to resolve this issue at the same time,” Sundquist said.

If the arbitration decision stands, the city will have to pay an estimated $800,000 in back wages to the members of the union during the time period that is covered. In addition, a similar back payment would also likely have to be made to the fire fighters union, which also never settled a contract for 2016 and 2017, but opted to wait until the police arbitration case plays out before possibly pursuing their own arbitration case.

The Albany-based law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King is representing the city in the legal dispute, while the Jamestown law firm of Fessenden, Laumer & DeAngelo is representing the police union. The cost of the court proceedings for the city – including taking it to the State Court of Appeals – has totaled $50,000.

The complete interview with mayor Sundquist – which covers a variety of topics and issues – will be broadcast on WRFA this Thursday at 5 p.m. on our Community Matters program.

Artist’s rendering of the Gateway Lofts project upon completion.

JAMESTOWN – The effort to convert a former factory and current community center into a 110-unit housing project has cleared a major hurdle.

During Monday’s Jamestown City Council meeting, councilman Tom Nelson announced that the city Planning Commission had approved the site plan for the $31 million Gateway Lofts project, which is being sponsored by Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL), the YWCA of Jamestown and Community Helping Hands.

Nelson  who serves as council liaison to the commission – said the unanimous approval was given one week ago, on June 23, during a special meeting of the commission, which was conducted online via zoom due to COVID-19.

No public notice regarding the special meeting was going to be held was sent to local media or the general public, which is why the approval of the housing project wasn’t reported on, until now.

The latest action by the planning commission comes after it had denied approving the project site plan on two past occasions – once in October 2018 and again in February of this year. Both times the planning commission had called for a complete Environmental Impact Statement to be completed, in order to address environmental concerns with the project, including that it would go against the city’s 2010 Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, which calls for a stabilization in housing within the city, due to a declining population that has led to a glut in the housing stock.

Following the February meeting, the law firm representing the project – Bond, Schoeneck & King – requested the commission rescind its positive declaration for a full environmental impact statement, saying it would require too much time to complete and jeopardize the project from moving forward. In response, the planning commission rescinded the positive declaration and also created a task force to work through all concerns.

“Chairman [Greg] Rabb asked for volunteers from the Planning Commission to participate in a small task force charged with developing a mutually agreeable mitigation plan that would address the concerns that the Planning Commission had regarding the introduction of additional housing units into an over-saturated housing market,” explained City Development Director Crystal Surdyk.

Surdyk said an agreement was soon made that STEL and other organizations would acquire, abate and demolish 96 bedrooms in units elsewhere in the city to help offset the addition of the new units provided by the Gateway Lofts.

“An important distinction between the new and existing housing is that there is an overwhelming number of substandard and/or deplorable condition that is uninhabitable, that would be offset by the new housing options created by the Gateway Lofts project,” Surdyk explained to WRFA via email. “The mitigation plan lays out a strategy for the city to coordinate with the Gateway, STEL and Chautauqua County Land Bank to undertake a program to acquire, abate and demolish 96 bedrooms in vacant and uninhabitable housing units elsewhere in the city that also supports STEL’s prioritization of a future project to include a scattered site infill development in Jamestown, with the assistance of the land bank and similar to STEL’s Dunkirk Renovation and Ownership program.”

Surdyk also said the Planning Commission approval is contingent on two area variances that will be reviewed by the city zoning board on Wednesday, July 1. One variance is regarding the number of proposed parking spaces and the other is regarding proposed automotive use setbacks.  The zoning board meeting will take place at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will be streamed live at the city website.

Anyone will be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the granting of the variances by submitting their comments in writing via U.S. mail to the City Clerk’s Office, 200 East Third Street, Jamestown, NY 14701 or via email at clerk @ cityofjamestownny.com.

The Gateway Lofts project calls for creating 110 total units, although 56 of them would be intended for homeless individuals who currently don’t have any other long-term housing options available. That means a total of 54 new units would be intended for renters, most of which would be on low or fixed income. Project sponsors say the project will be beneficial to residents because of the various human service agencies that also operate in the building. However, some concerns have been raised regarding the concentration of so many residents in a relatively small area, as well as the lack of fresh, healthy food sources being available – with the nearest supermarket nearly a mile away at the Foote Ave. plaza.

The $31 million price tag to renovate the former Chautauqua Hardware factory would be covered through a combination of state and federal tax credits that can be sold to investors, along with community investment funds and grants.

According to the calendar page of the State Supreme Court Appellate Division: 4th Judicial Department, attorneys Terence O’Neil from Bond, Schoeneck & King and Charles DeAngelo from Fessenden, Laumer & DeAngelo are scheduled to appear before the appellate division justices on Monday, March 30 to argue on behalf of their respective clients – the City of Jamestown and the Jamestown Kendall Club PBA.

The long-awaited showdown is the result of the Jamestown City Council voting in May 2019 to appeal a State Supreme Court Decision that upheld an October 2018 arbitration ruling on the 2016-17 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the city and the Kendall Club. Among other things, that ruling provided a retroactive 2 percent increase in salaries for each of those two years for police officers.

The council’s decision to appeal came after Chautauqua County Supreme Court judge James Dillon ruled in April 2019 that that arbitration panel ruling on the matter would stand.

• READ JUDGE DILLON’S DECISION

The city has long argued that it can’t afford giving officers the salary increase because it will have an impact not only on any reserve funding that has been built up, but also on all future expenses for the city. In addition they say the increase to the police union will also likely be applied to the 2016-17 Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association CBA, which is also still unsettled and has been awaiting the outcome of the police contract issue before being resolved. While still in office, former Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi had said the bottom-line impact would approach an excess of over $800,000 if the arbitration ruling where allowed to stand.

“To allow that decision to stand will have an $840,000 unbudgeted impact on the 2019 budget. And that impact is only for retroactive raises for 2016 and 2017. If that decision is allowed to stand, it could lay the groundwork for a similar retroactive payment with the fire union moving forward. And as well that $840,000 impact for the police union alone doesn’t take into account raises that might be received for 2018, 2019, and 2020 moving forward,” Teresi explained in March 2019.

The city is paying Bond, Schoeneck, and King $25,000 to handle the Appellate Division case.

Once arguments are made before the appellate division justices, they will then deliberate and deliver at some point later this year.

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.

Artist’s rendering of the Gateway Lofts project upon completion.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Planning Commission has once again put up a roadblock for the proposed $31 million Gateway Lofts project at the Gateway Center building in Jamestown.

On Tuesday afternoon the commission met with representatives from Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL) to discuss the updated project and also to consider a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) assessment as well as approving the final site plans.

After an hour-and-a-half of discussion (complete audio available at the WRFA soundcloud page), the commission ultimately gave unanimous approval for a positive declaration of the SEQR assessment, meaning STEL would have to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project before it could move forward.  It was the second time the commission made such a declaration on the project. In October 2018, it also gave a positive declaration on the original plans, which resulted in STEL updating its plan in an effort to address concerns put forward by the planning commission.

Much of Tuesday’s conversation involved the number of new housing units the project would be bringing online versus the number of units that would be removed in an effort to ensure the project complies with the city’s 2010 Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.  Among other things, the plan states that in order to ensure investment in neighborhood properties and prevent devaluation, an effort should be made to avoid adding any new housing development unless other housing is also removed.

The Gateway Lofts proposal calls for creating 110 total units, although 56 of them would be intended for homeless individuals who currently don’t have any other housing options available. That means a total of 54 units would be intended for renters, most of which would be on low or fixed income. In an effort to address the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, the project also provides an estimated $315,000 in funding to help remove 21 housing units in other areas of the city through an agreement with the County Land Bank.

But commission members, including John LaMancuso, raised concerns not enough units were being taken off line to justify adding 54 new ones in a concentrated area.

“We talked about this before and I apologize for belaboring the point, but that’s where my concern comes from,” LaMancuso said while participating in the meeting via conference call. “As the planning commission, I think we ought to be very concerned about our plans that we’ve adopted in the city and that’s one of them. That’s the plan that we adopted 10 years ago to make our city better. I think a lot of the problems that the experts identified in that plan are still evident today.”

Attorney Steven Ricca of Bond, Schoeneck & King and representing STEL shows updated site plans for the proposed Gateway Lofts project during an October 2018 public hearing in the Jamestown City Council Chambers.

Attorney Steven Ricca from Bond, Schoeneck and King is working with STEL to get the project completed. He argued that while there isn’t a true one-to-one ratio for units being added versus those being removed, the commission should also be considering other benefits that the project brings to the table, which includes $6.4 million for Riverwalk development, preservation and beautification; Brownfield clean up; green space development; a brand new parking lot around the entire building; and facade improvements.

“This is a unicorn. This is a project that is not going to make everybody happy on every conceivable issue. But to suggest that the project would only be a win for the city if there was a one-to-one ratio, I think doesn’t give nearly as much weight to the many positive benefits that it will give. A one-to-one requirement as sort of a standard I think would be pretty challenging. So I implore the commission not to agree with everything I’m saying but to agree with the proposition that on balance this is going to benefit an awful lot of people,” Ricca said.

Despite Ricca’s request for the negative declaration and approval of the plans, the commission’s vote was unanimous on the positive declaration, meaning the EIS would have to be completed before any final site plan approval could be considered.

Following the meeting, City Development Director and Principal Planner Crystal Surdyk explained why she felt an EIS is necessary.

“It’s a lengthier process but it’s a much more in depth process that forces them to really justify all of the questions that we have. I understand that it costs money and takes time, but I think this is too important of a project, too big of a project, and it has too many implications on our entire community to not complete it,” Surdyk said.

In response, Ricca said the EIS won’t resolve the main issue that was discussed during the commission’s meeting involving the number of new units being put online versus those being removed. As a result, he requested that the project be brought back to the commission for further discussion during its next meeting.

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.

UPDATE [DECEMBER 18, 2019 at 4:30 p.m.]

The Public Hearing that was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. regarding the Annexation of the BPU substation property located on Dow Street has been cancelled due to inclement weather. A new Hearing date will be rescheduled and announced soon.

– – –

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will be joining the Falconer village board and the Ellicott Town board later this week in hosting a joint public hearing on the annexation of the Dow Street Substation property in Falconer.

The hearing will take place at Jamestown Community College’s Robert Scharmann Theatre at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Under law, a hearing is required to take place before a vote on the annexation can occur.  The hearing groundwork was laid during the city council’s November voting session, when the council voted 7 to 1 in favor of initiating the annexation process.

• RELATED: Jamestown City Council Approves Annexation Resolutions

The city of Jamestown is arguing that it is the best public interest to bring the substation property into the city boundaries. The property is currently owned by the city through the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and the BPU currently pays an estimated $333,000 a year in taxes to Falconer, Ellicott, the Falconer School District and Chautauqua County.

If the property were in the city of Jamestown, the BPU would not have to pay any taxes on the property but would make a payment in lieu of taxes of about $80,000 to both the city of Jamestown general operating budget and to Jamestown Public Schools.

Because of the loss of tax payment, Falconer, Ellicott, and Falconer School officials have all voiced their opposition to annexation.

The matter has already been taken up once, with the council voting in 2017 in favor of the annexation. But both Ellicott and Falconer challenged the annexation, and as a result it became a matter for the courts to decide on. In August of this year the New York 4th Appellate Division Rochester ruled that the annexation could not go forward because of a technicality with the city failing to file legal paperwork on time. As a result, the process has to start all over again.

The city council will have up to 90 days to vote on the annexation once a public hearing is held, and the next city council voting session is scheduled for Monday, December 30. However, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi recently told WRFA that the city council wont likely take up the annexation resolution at the end of this month, and will instead wait until after the new year when the new city council and a new mayor is sworn in.

Teresi also told WRFA that no matter how the process plays out and regardless of the steps that may need to be taken before it comes to a conclusion, it won’t cost the BPU electric division more than the $75,000 that was already committed in November. That’s because the law firm representing the city – Bond, Schnoeneck and King – also represented the city in the previous annexation effort and much of the groundwork for the lawsuit has already taken place.

In the previous annexation effort the BPU eventually spent over $420,000 from its electric division to pay for the case as it unfolded. Meanwhile, Falconer, Ellicott, and Falconer School District paid a over $300,000.

•  ALSO AVAILABLE ON SOUNDCLOUD

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council voted 7 to 1 Monday night in favor of filing a petition for annexation of the Dow Street Substation property in Falconer.

According to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, last week’s vote by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and Monday night’s vote by the city council is only the start of a legal process that will include a joint public hearing with the Town of Ellicott and Village of Falconer and which would also still require a final vote by the council within 90 days of that hearing taking place.

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities General Manager David Leathers and Mayor Sam Teresi during the Nov. 25 Jamestown City Council voting session

“The outgoing mayor, council and BPU board are taking what are the first – not the last and final – steps in the process and will in effect be merely making a formal, on-the-record public recommendation to the incoming mayor, city council and BPU board members as to what they feel is right and is in the best interest of both the city taxpayers and BPU electric ratepayers in the city of Jamestown and throughout the greater Jamestown area,” Teresi said.

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 of this year 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 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.

• READ THE PANEL’S RECOMMENDATION 

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 $330,000 in taxes to Ellicott, Falconer, the Falconer School District and Chautauqua County, 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.

As part of the renewed annexation effort, the Jamestown BPU last week approved resolutions that would give Bon, Schoeneck & King an additional $35,000 in payment as part of the previous annexation effort, along with committing up to another $75,000 for the renewed effort.

Jamestown Mayor Elect Eddie Sundquist was one of several individuals who addressed the city council during its Nov. 25 voting session. Sundquist said he was simply making a request that the council table the annexation resolution until after the new year when he and a new council take office.

Monday’s council vote came after more than 30 minutes of public comment with 11 of those who spoke voicing opposition to the annexation or at least requesting the council wait until the new year when a new council and mayoral administration is sworn into office. Those individuals who spoke included  both the current mayor of Falconer and the mayor elect, the town of Ellicott Supervisor along with a Town of Ellicott Board member, the Falconer School Superintendent and the Falconer School Board president, and Jamestown Mayor-Elect Eddie Sundquist, who asked the city to table the motion.

Mayor Teresi also spent more than half-an-hour explaining why the annexation is being pursued in addition to outlining the various ways the city has and will continue to work with its neighbors, despite the legal dispute involving the annexation.

The only council member to vote against the annexation resolutions was outgoing Jamestown City Councilman Andrew Liuzzo. Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt was recused from voting because she cited a conflict of interest, being an employee of the Falconer School District.

The City Council actually voted on a total of three resolutions involving the annexation – with the final resolution involving the date for the Public Hearing – tentatively set for Wednesday, December 18 at 7 p.m. inside JCC’s Scharmann Theatre.

Following that Public Hearing, the council will have up to 90 days to formally vote for or against the annexation. That vote could come as early as the December 30 voting session. But councilman Tony Dolce said that more than likely it would take place following the new year when Sundquist is sworn into office and a new council is in place.