×

(3:50 PM) Appellate Court Rules Against City In Annexation Case

The Fourth Department Appellate Division in Rochester has ruled against the city of Jamestown in regards to the proposed annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation.

The court released the decision Thursday stating that the petitioner’s –the city — original proceeding was untimely. According to the court’s ruling, the proceeding must be brought within 30 days after the filing in the office of the county clerk.

The court states the respondents — town of Ellicott, village of Falconer and the Falconer Central Schools — filed with the clerk’s office that the annexation was not in the overall public interest on Sept. 13, 2017. However, the city didn’t file that the annexation is in the overall public interest until Nov. 8.

The court states that general municipal law does not require that the governing boards of all of the affected local governments must have filed their respective orders in the office of the county clerk in order to trigger the 30-day period.

Instead, by its terms, the limitations period commences upon the filing of “the order by which such determination, that annexation is not in the overall public interest, was made.”

Contrary to petition’s contention, the law doesn’t not require either respondent to notify petitioner that such an order had been filed with the county clerk in order to begin the 30-day period.

“We therefore dismiss the petition in the original proceeding as untimely,” the decision states. “Because we dismiss the petition in the original proceeding, i.e., the proceeding by which review can be had of respondents’ determinations that annexation is not in the public interest.

It has been two years since the city of Jamestown passed a resolution to annex the substation in August 2017. In September 2017, both the town and village Falconer boards voted against the annexation, which lead to the case being decided by the Appellate Court.

See Friday’s edition of The Post-Journal for complete coverage.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today