A decision on which municipality will lead the environmental impact assessment report is delaying action in the possible annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities substation.

On Monday, Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said the Jamestown City Council only has one voting session meeting left before the deadline to make a decision on the annexation.

He said each of the three municipalities — city of Jamestown, town of Ellicott and village of Falconer — have to make a determination on being for or against the proposed annexation within 90 days of the public hearing, which was held June 12 at Falconer Central High School.

Teresi said even though the 90-day deadline will be around Sept. 12, each municipality cannot make a determination on the annexation until the state Department of Environmental Conservation makes a determination on who will be the lead agency for the environmental impact assessment report, which is commonly referred to as the State Environmental Quality Review or SEQR.

Teresi said the city requested to be the lead agency, but both town and village officials objected. He said the decision will be determined by the DEC commissioner, who could make the decision any day now. He added that once the determination is made by the DEC commissioner on what municipality will lead the SEQR, each municipality can then make their determination on whether or not to approve of the annexation.

Teresi said once the lead agency is determined for the SEQR, the process shouldn’t take long because it is a “straight forward” review because nothing is being built and nothing is being demolished.

On Jan. 23, the BPU approved a resolution asking Jamestown City Council to initiate the proceedings necessary to annex the Dow Street substation into the city. Currently it lies in the village of Falconer in the town of Ellicott.

Jamestown City Council approved the annexation petition to officially begin the process in April. Falconer and Ellicott officials have publicly stated they are against the annexation proposal because it would cost them tax revenue.

Currently, the BPU pays a total of $325,158 in property tax payments to the village of Falconer ($68,789); town of Ellicott ($33,955); Falconer Central Schools ($153,827); and Chautauqua County($68,587). If the annexation is approved, the BPU would save $157,232 in property tax payments and the city and the Jamestown Public School District would start to receive tax equivalency payments of $78,616 from the BPU.

If all three municipalities don’t agree on the annexation proposal, the state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester will then make a ruling on the annexation.