A petition effort, led by Ellicott Judge Marilyn Gerace, garnered 325 signatures to force a permissive referendum after the Ellicott Town Board voted unanimously on March 13 to eliminate a Town Justice position.

According to New York State Law Article 7, sections 90-94, the petition signature total needed to be at least 5% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, which took place in November 2022.

Gerace said she estimated that around 3,500 voted in Ellicott in that election which meant she needed between 100 and 175 signatures. According to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections posted results for 2022, 3,385 residents in Ellicott had voted in November. Either way, the 325 signatures exceeded the threshold required.

Gerace submitted the petitions to the Ellicott Town Clerk on April 5, which started the clock on when the special election would be held. If the town board takes no action, the special election must, by law, be held 60 to 75 days after the petitions were submitted. This places that election between June 5 and June 20.

Gerace did request at Monday’s town board meeting that the board not wait until their May 8 monthly meeting and instead hold a special meeting this month to decide whether to rescind the resolution.

The Ellicott Town Board sent a letter to the media Wednesday responding to comments made at the meeting and stories in recent days.

In it, the board apologized to Judge Marilyn Gerace and Judge Sally Jaroszynski for not giving notice about the resolution prior to it being voted on. The letter said, “The Board holds no animus towards either Judge Gerace or Judge Jaroszynski. The Board recognizes their dedication to the Court and the residents of the Town of Ellicott.”

The letter goes onto say the Town Board has been reviewing all town operations in an “effort to determine and ensure the services provided are being delivered in an efficient and cost-effective manner.” It also said communication between the town board and court has not always been open or effective.

The salary for the Town Justice position that was eliminated is $14,200. The 2023 budget for the town of Ellicott is $2.76 million.

The board did take issue with the accusation that they were in violation of open meetings law, citing that they voted on the resolution to eliminate the Justice position under new business and that it was done in open session.

The Town Board indicated they agree that another meeting needs to be held to discuss the issue of the elimination of a Town Justice position. The letter said while a meeting would be posted in the newspaper and on the town’s website, they also encouraged people who are unable to attend or not comfortable speaking out at a public meeting to forward correspondence to the Town Clerk.

The town’s website can be found at townofellicott.com

Former Deer Management Group member Tom Nelson addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)

A former member of the Jamestown Deer Management Group is questioning what the City of Jamestown is doing in regards to the city’s deer population.

Former Council member and current County Legislator Tom Nelson questioned council members about what’s been done, what’s going to get done, and if a committee has been formed regarding deer in the city, “I know many times you get people coming to council meetings complaining they don’t have a solution. I think many of you know I put forward a solution in September of 2021 which was rejected by many members of this council. So, my question to you is, you didn’t like that plan, what is your plan?”

Council had voted down a proposal 2 to 7 at the September 2021 voting session that would have allowed 8 bow hunters to receive licenses with the two sites for hunting limited to Jones Memorial Park and the wooded area behind the Allen Park Ice Rink. This was the proposal suggested by Council member at large Jeff Russell to replace an initial proposal to allow 15 licensed hunters to take down up to 4 antler-less deer between November 1st and December 31st in five designated areas of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he still supports efforts to reduce the deer population in the city, “Typically, some kind of hunt.. that is the recommendation from the DEC (State Department of Environmental Conservation). Can’t do sterilization because it has to be tied to a university and program, and other methods are just way too expensive or not going to be allowed by the state. So, whatever you guys want to do, let me know. I remain steadfast in supporting reducing the deer population as a resident of Ward 6 who sees a lot of it, and now we’re hearing from Ward 5 and others.”

Councilmembers Randy Daversa, Andrew Faulkner, Russell, and Brent Sheldon had mentioned at the October 3, 2022 City Council work session that they had met with each other to discuss the issue, but no follow-up meetings were ever announced.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund said on Monday that whatever that work group moved forward with should be a multi-pronged approach, “When Andy Liuzzo was on council, he was adamant about a deer program and actually worked with the town of Ellicott to issue more permits. I never heard the result of that. We never got a ‘Did it work? Did it not work?’ But, living on the edge of the town, there are more deer. There’s a lot of reasons why there is more deer and you can ask many hunters. There’s less people hunting. There’s more posted property for people to not be able to hunt on.”

At the October 2022 meeting, Council member Marie Carrubba said the deer group should include not just city council members but an attorney, people in favor of a hunt, as well as people with other options for handling the deer population.

State Police in Jamestown report that a car driven by 30-year old Mathew Berry of Randolph was traveling the wrong way in the westbound lane of I-86 without headlights when he was truck by a Ram truck head on. The collision caused the truck to go into the right lane where it was struck by a Freightliner.

Berry was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck, 57-year old Todd Town of Jamestown, was taken to UMPC Chautauqua where he died from his injuries. The passenger in the truck, 54-year old Sandra Town, is in serious condition at UPMC Hamot. The driver of the Freightliner had no injuries.

State Police said an investigation determined that Berry suffered from mental illness and had been reported missing earlier Saturday evening.

They added the investigation is ongoing.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Electrovaya has selected the town of Ellicott as the location for its first U.S. plant. The company will set up operations at the former Heidenhain facility in the Mason Industrial Park.

The publicly traded company will produce lithium-ion batteries for e-forklifts, e-trucks and e-buses. Electrovaya designs, develops and manufactures proprietary lithium-ion batteries, battery systems and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation and other specialized applications.

Empire State Development provided up to $4 million through the performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program and $2.5 million in Regional Council Capital Funding. In July, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Board of Trustees approved a more than 1.5-megawatt low-cost hydropower allocation to Jamestown under the Power Authority’s Industrial Economic Development program to meet the increased electric load resulting from Electrovaya’s town of Ellicott expansion.

The initial cost for the facility has been placed at approximately $75 million, and it is expected to open in the fall of 2023.

Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee meets (September 19, 2022)

A cybersecurity protection service program provided by New York State could save Chautauqua County over $88,000.

Chief Information Officer Jon DeAngelo, in a presentation to the Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee, said the state is offering endpoint protection for computers, “It’s virus protection, is basically what it is. They haven’t done this before. There’s additional services that they’re offering as well. It’s through a third party provider called CrowdStrike. So the state is offering it to all the counties at no cost for three years. We currently use a different product, so this would be a change for us. But this product would cover about, approximately 1,500 devices utilized by all county employees.”

DeAngelo said the IT Department is still evaluating whether it will go with the state’s program, but wanted to have the approval to move forward. He said the annual savings would be $29,460 if the County made the changeover. The Administrative Services approved the resolution unanimously.

The committee also voted to accept a grant from the State Board of Elections in the amount of $31,654 to offset expenses for return pre-paid postage.

County Board of Elections representative Donna Sanderson said the pre-paid postage is part of a new election law approved in April, “The grant will be in effect from July 1st, which then would cover our additional election that we had this year, which was the special and the primary in August. Going forward, the Board of Elections would have to provide a postage paid envelope to all voters who are requesting an application and an absentee ballot.”

Sanderson said the grant amount will cover all election costs for 2022 and expires at the end of this year. She said it also can be used to bring in two temporary employees to assist with mailing for the general election.

Administrative Services also approved a resolution selling a parcel of land in the town of Ellicott that had gone into foreclosure to Target Corporation. County Attorney Stephen Abdella said the small parcel of land is located at the entrance of the parking lot to the future store. He said the sale will put the property back on the tax rolls while eliminating any confusion over who is responsible for its maintenance. The committee approved the measure on the contingency that the financial information on the sale will be available for review at the Audit and Control Committee meeting on Thursday.

All approved resolutions will appear before the full County Legislature for consideration next week Wednesday, September 28.

The current total assessed value of 381 Fairmount Avenue is $9.26 million. Washington Prime Group attorneys argue that the assessed value should only be $827,500 with a full market value of $1 million.

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, this is now the fourth attempt by Washington Prime Group to reduce its taxable assessment in state Supreme Court, having previously filed in 2020, 2021, and updated a filing in March of this year.

Washington Prime Group had emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year following its CEO stepping down, completing the company’s financial restructuring and the implementation of its plan of reorganization.

Target Corporation is also petitioning in Supreme Court to get the assessment lowered on the former Kmart store it purchased on Fairmount Avenue.

The current assessed value is $3.4 million. Attorneys for Target are petitioning to reduce to assessment to $1.7 million, saying the assessed value of the property is higher than other similar properties.

Target purchased the property at 975 Fairmount Avenue for $3.15 million in October 2021. The former Kmart in that location closed in October 2019.

Pat McLaughlin’s Resignation Letter

Ellicott Town Supervisor Pat McLaughlin has resigned following charges of public lewdness

Ellicott Town Clerk Amy Bellardo confirmed that McLaughlin is resigning and that Town Councilwoman and Deputy Supervisor Janet Bowman will fill in as interim Town Supervisor. A special election will be held in November to fill the rest of McLaughlin’s term.

The 72-year old resident of Celoron was charged with public lewdness, first-degree public lewdness and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child before being released. He will appear in court at a later date.

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.