Prior to taking office as the new mayor of Jamestown, Eddie Sundquist was one of several individuals who addressed the Jamestown 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.

FALCONER – Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist recently joined officials from Falconer in meeting with County Executive PJ Wendel and State Senator George Borrello to discuss the potential annexation of the Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation property in Falconer.

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, Falconer Central School District superintendent Stephen Penhollow commented on the meeting during Tuesday night’s Falconer School Board meeting. Pennhollow said the group met on Monday to have a general conversation about the annexation – which would involve the substation property being annexed into the city of Jamestown. If that were to happen, the village of Falconer, Falconer School District and Town of Ellicott would all lose tax revenue from the property.

“We started conversations, which is something that we asked for when we attended the November city council meeting to look at areas of conversations versus litigation,” the paper quotes Penhollow as saying. “I feel confident that conversation will be had. We will make every effort possible to listen to what the city and the BPU have to say.”

Sundquist did not mention the meeting when during the public portion of Monday night’s Jamestown City Council work session, although he and the council did go into executive session to discuss several matters, including litigation. Executive sessions are not open to the public and as a result the specific details of what was discussed is not made public.

The annexation effort already stalled out once when the Jamestown City Council voted in favor of annexation in the summer of 2017, only to have it challenged by Ellicott and Falconer in the state supreme court appellate division. The court eventually ruled against Jamestown on a technicality, claiming the city failed to file paperwork for the case in a timely fashion.

On Nov. 25, 2019, the city council again voted to pursue annexation and a public hearing on the matter took place on Dec. 30. However, the city council has to yet to formally vote again on whether or not to annex the property and its not known if or when that will occur.

Former Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi was in favor of the annexation, saying it was in the best public interest of the entire BPU service area. Falconer and Ellicott officials disagree and have said it is nothing more than an attempt by the city to shift revenue away from the affected municipalities.

Sundquist, who was sworn into office just a week ago, has said in the past that he has reservations about proceeding with the annexation without first sitting down and meeting with the other parties involved to see if a more amicable solution can be found.

The substation is owned by the BPU and sits on a four-acre piece of property inFalconer / Town of Ellicott, but would fall within the border of the city of Jamestown should the annexation take place.

More than 200 people were on and for a joint public hearing on the proposed annexation of the BPU’s Dow Street Substation Property. The hearing was held at Falconer Central School Monday night, June 12, 2017.

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The hearing was hosted by the Jamestown City Council, the Falconer Village Board, and the Ellicott Town Board and included a presentation from the BPU as to why the annexation was being pursued, featured arguments from legal council for both sides as to why the annexation should or should not take place, and also saw 29 members of the public offer their thoughts on the issue with none speaking in favor of the annexation.

BPU General Manager David Leathers during Monday night’s annexation public hearing.

During his presentation, BPU General Manager David Leathers told the audience that the annexation would help provide increased financial stability for the BPU because it would save an estimated $160,000 annually in tax payments.

“The BPU has faced substantial financial challenges over the past several years that have eroded net income, strained cash on hand, and caused concerns about the ability to adequately invest in critical capitol improvements,” Leathers said as part of his presentation. “The challenging New York State electrical market, coupled with the relatively stagnant economy of this area, means that the BPU must continuously find creative solutions to reduce its costs to minimize or avoid rate increases for all its customers, who again live not just in the city but also in Ellicott, Falconer and Celoron.”

Following Leathers, Attorney Kathy Bennet from Bond, Schoeneck, & King, who is serving as legal council for the city and BPU in the annexation effort, outlined the evidence in favor of the annexation, saying it meets all the legal requirements under state law and is in the overall public interest of the the affected communities.

“Stabilizing utility rates and services will encourage business development. Electric service received by customers will not change. The annexation will reduce the BPU’s tax liability, thereby reducing its operating costs and directly improving profitability and cash on hand. Since the BPU will have more resources available, it will be able to reinvest the needed capitol and infrastructure requirements and ensure continued reliable service,” Bennet said.

To counter Bennet’s claims, the legal council for the village of Falconer and Town of Ellicott, Attorney Pietra Zaffram with Harris Beach PLLC, provided a presentation that countered much of what Bennet had presented. They also brought in a former employee with the state Public Service Commission, Frank Radigan, who said that reducing the BPU bottom line by $160,000 would actually have little to no impact on future electric rates.

“After looking through their financial records and [2010 and 2015] rate cases, I conclude that they wouldn’t save a lot of money if property taxes were eliminated, and I don’t see any reason that the rates would dramatically increase because they’ve stayed stable or decreased a little over time on a historic basis,” Radigan said.

Falconer Central School Superintendent Stephen Pennhollow.

Following the presentation, the public was provided an opportunity to address the issue, with Falconer Superintendent Stephen Penhollow telling the city of Jamestown he understands their financial challenges, but doesn’t think they should try and solve them by shifting  those challenges to their neighbors.

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“I have no problem with the city seeking to find other ways to increase revenue. No problem whatsoever. I applaud you in those efforts,” Penhollow said, adding, “But when you’re sources of revenue are coming from our revenue sources, that is not what neighbors do and that is not how neighbors treat other neighbors and I find a bit of concern with that.”

If the annexation were to take place, the Falconer School District, Ellicott, Falconer and the County. would miss out on a total of $320,000 in annual tax payments from the BPU. In addition, the city of Jamestown and the Jamestown Public School District would each get nearly $80,000 from the BPU in the form of a payment in lieu of taxes. As a result, the net savings for the BPU would be $160,000 each year.

Another member of the audience, Jamestown Resident Chris Gardner, called the annexation effort a low-point in the city’s history.

“What we’re basically looking at here is more desperation from our city government to scrape together revenue… Obviously the legality of this, according to [Zaffram’s] presentation, clearly shows  that that within any judicial setting the Town of Ellicott and Village of Falconer would easily win. We’re talking about the ‘Dow Street’ substation, not the ‘Tiffany Avenue’ Substation,” Garnder said, alluding to the actual border between the city and the village. “It’s absurd and it’s just a low point.”

Tyler Stimson, a member of the Falconer Volunteer Fire Department, spoke out against an analysis by the city’s legal council that stated the substation would be better served by falling within the jurisdiction of the profession Jamestown Fire Department, rather than the Falconer Volunteer Fire Department.

Tempers flared at several points during the three-hour meeting, most notably when Bennet stated the annexation was in the public’s interest, partly because the property would fall under the jurisdiction of the professional Jamestown Fire Department, rather than the volunteer firefighters in Falconer. Many in the audience took exception to the volunteers being made out to be less qualified or even incapable of responding to a fire at the property.

Falconer Mayor Jim Rensel said he was pleased with the turnout, and is hoping members of the Jamestown City Council will seriously consider the long-term impact of an annexation.

“A lot of people are upset and in our opinion it’s a tax shift that will have a very significant effect on our budget,” Rensel told WRFA following the meeting. “We feel we have a pretty good case but I wish it would just stop right here with the city council. I firmly believe when I say this that I believe there are people on the city council who are against this, but I don’t think they are encouraged to speak freely, let’s put it that way.”

The hearing was required in order for the three involved government bodies to act on the annexation, which will take place within the next 90 days. Should any of the bodies vote against the annexation, the matter will then have to be settled in state appellate court.

A map produced by WRFA depicting the BPU substation property (in red) that sits adjacent to the border between Jamestown and Village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott.

FALCONER – Officials with the Town of Ellicott, Village of Falconer, and Falconer School District released a joint-statement on Friday, May 19, regarding the city of Jamestown’s proposed annexation of a piece of property in Falconer/Town of Ellicott, owned by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

A public hearing on the proposed annexation is scheduled for June 12 at 7 p.m. in Falconer Central School.

The joint-statement reads as follows:

To Whom it May Concern:

• The Town of Ellicott, Village of Falconer and Falconer Central School adamantly oppose a plan by the City of Jamestown to annex the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street Substation parcels, and have engaged a mutual law firm to oppose this annexation attempt by the City of Jamestown. We believe this is nothing more than a “land grab,” which merely shifts the tax revenues from our three local municipalities to the City. 
• Based on 2016/17 tax levies for each of the municipalities, the Village of Falconer and Town of Ellicott would respectively lose $68,789 and $33,955 annually, and assuming the annexation would cede these parcels to the Jamestown Public School District, Falconer Schools would lose $153,828 annually. This would create a significant loss to the tax base, with a resulting assessment greater than the New York State imposed Tax Levy Limit.  Each municipality is limited to the tax cap based on the start date of their respective budgets.  The allowable tax increase for the District in the 2017-18 school year is 1.126% ($71,000), leaving the District with a shortfall of almost $83,000; requiring the District to receive 60% majority passage to approve an even larger tax increase to make up the shortfall.  The Village of Falconer, Town of Ellicott and Falconer Central School District continue to propose fiscally responsible budgets.  However, the loss of this revenue stream would require tax increases in excess of our Tax Caps, or significant expenditure cuts, resulting in the likely loss or reduction of funding to support community services, such as the Falconer Fire Department, Town of Ellicott Police Department and educational staffing and programming. The impact on our communities will be far greater than the benefits the City might gain.
• In addition to the tax burden shift from the City of Jamestown to the Town of Ellicott, the Towns of Gerry, Poland, Ellington, and Carroll would also feel an adverse effect.
• To better serve our communities, each of our municipalities share services and provide support to the others. The Town of Ellicott Police Department and Falconer Fire Department and EMS squads routinely provide support to the City of Jamestown.
• Assemblyman Goodell, Senator Young, and County Executive Horrigan do not support the attempted annexation, for which the sole purpose is to shift the tax burden from the City of Jamestown to the taxpayers of the Village of Falconer, Falconer Schools and the Town of Ellicott.
• We find it disheartening that the City would seek to garner revenues by pulling resources from their local neighbors. It’s obvious from Mayor Teresi’s statement, “we’re leaving no stone unturned,” suggests that the City is running out of options regarding their constant budgetary woes.  We strongly believe that this is not in the best interest of the surrounding Townships, and focused solely on the City of Jamestown’s inability to stabilize their budget!

– James Rensel, Village of Falconer Mayor; Patrick McLaughlin, Town of Ellicott Supervisor; Stephen Penhollow, Superintendent of Falconer Central Schools

The intersection of E. Main St. and East Avenue, where a new traffic light will soon be installed in order to increase safety for students and pedestrians at Falconer Central School. (Image from Google Maps)

FALCONER – Senator Catharine Young (R,C,I- 57th District) announced Monday that the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has agreed to her request to install a traffic signal to address safety concerns at the intersection of East Avenue and E. Main St. (Route 394) in Falconer.

According to Senator Young, the intersection has a history of dangerous accidents. Most recently, two students suffered injuries that required hospitalization when they were struck by a car while walking near Falconer High School this past April.

After the accident, Village of Falconer Mayor James Rensel and Falconer Central School District Superintendent Stephen Penhollow wrote to Senator Young to express their concerns. At Senator Young’s urging, DOT performed a new study regarding the potential for a traffic signal to be installed where the crosswalk currently exists. This time DOT determined that “a warrant has been met for the installation of a three-color signal at this intersection.”

Local officials applauded the study’s findings and the outcome.

“We were very happy to receive this news. I’d like to thank Senator Catharine Young for her efforts,” said Mayor Rensel. “I would also like to thank Senator Young’s local representative Lisa Vanstrom, Falconer Central School Superintendent Steve Penhollow, Falconer DPW Superintendent Sam Ognibene, and Town of Ellicott Police Chief Bill Ohnmeiss. It was a great team to work with to achieve this result.”

In the coming weeks, Senator Young will be coordinating a meeting with DOT and school officials to determine what next steps and course of action will best serve the needs of all involved.