An agreement between the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and the town of Ellicott on a possible new water and sewer agreement deal was not discussed in open session during the city-owned utility’s monthly meeting Monday.

Greg Rabb, BPU board chairman, said after the meeting the water and sewer agreement with the town of Ellicott was removed from the agenda because the contract needed to be “fine-tuned” before a board vote. At the beginning of the meeting, the board did hold an executive session, in which they discussed the water and sewer agreement with the town of Ellicott, Rabb said.

Rabb said if the BPU board approves the contract agreement, then the contract will be submitted to the Jamestown City Council for approval. If both the BPU and the council agree to the new contact, it would then go to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi for final approval.

The last BPU and town of Ellicott water and sewer agreement contracted, which was for 10 years, expired in 2008. Teresi said last year that since the expiration of the old agreement expired town and city officials have been coming to terms year-to-year on a water/sewer agreement. City officials notified town of Ellicott officials in November 2016 that they would prefer to have a new water and sewer contract agreement. The first agreement signed between the two municipalities was done in 1987.

A copy of the contract that was not voted on by the board was included in the meeting agenda posted online by BPU officials. The contract stated a new water and sewer deal would be for 20 years, with customers in the town of Ellicott paying two times the rate of city customers. The contract also stated the city would get 18 percent of the overall water sales. It is unknown if this contract language will change prior to the BPU board vote.

In other business, the BPU approved a quit-claim deal with L-S Aero Marine owner David Lawson to clarify the ownership of the property. William Wright Jr., BPU attorney, said the BPU has nothing located on the land and doesn’t use the land for any purpose. He said in 1971, the city deeded the property to the BPU, which doesn’t make sense because the city owns the BPU so there is no need for a land transfer to occur. He added that the property was then deeded to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency, which subsequently, deeded it to L-S Aero Marine.

Wright said in order to clarify the ownership of the property, Lawson’s attorney, Neil Robinson, had suggested the quit-claim agreement. In exchange for the agreement, Wright said the BPU reached an easement deal for a BPU pump station and utility pole located on L-S Aero Marine property.