Eddie Sundquist, Jamestown mayor, has asked the Jamestown City Council to wait on making a decision on the possible annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

The new mayor of Jamestown is encouraging the Jamestown City Council to wait on making a decision about the possible annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation.

Eddie Sundquist told The Post-Journal that the lines of communication between the city and the other entities involved — village of Falconer, town of Ellicott and Falconer Central Schools — have opened since he became mayor earlier this month. He said that he wants to continue discussing the best course of action for all involved with the heads of the other entities before any decision is made.

“My role right now is mediation, to see if there are other options to annexation,” Sundquist said.

Following the public hearing that was held Dec. 30, 2019, the next step in the annexation process is to approve the city of Jamestown as the lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process. The council is slated to vote on this during its regular voting session meeting today at 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of the city Municipal Building, located at 200 E. Third St., Jamestown.

Sundquist said this is just part of the annexation process no matter what decision is eventually made. He has communicated to the heads of the other municipalities involved that the vote could take place today. He added that the other municipalities involved are also planning a similar vote on the lead agency for the SEQR process.

“It’s just a formality,” he said.

Once the lead agency is approved by all municipalities involved, the next step in the process, if it gets that fair, is for each municipality to determine if the annexation is in the best interest of the public.

In 2017 during the first annexation attempt, the city voted that the annexation was in the best interest while the town of Ellicott and village of Falconer voted that it wasn’t. The disagreement on annexation led to the Fourth Department Appellate Division Court ruling on the case. In August 2019, the Appellate Division Court dismissed the city’s annexation petition on a technicality, stating that the city’s original proceeding was untimely.

Sundquist, who has publicly stated he is in favor of an annexation outcome where all municipalities agree on the best course of action and is against the process if the three municipalities still disagree, said if the council does approve the annexation, he has the power to veto that decision. However, he added that the council could override his veto with a two-thirds vote of the nine-member group.

“But, we’re not looking at that right now,” Sundquist said about the potential for a disagreement between the mayor and the council regarding the annexation.

The annexation was originally started in January 2017. The BPU is looking to save money in property tax payments it makes to four entities for the Dow Street substation. The BPU’s property tax payment to each of the four entities includes $153,262 to the Falconer Central School District; $73,305 to Chautauqua County; $72,641 to the village of Falconer and $34,681 to the town of Ellicott, a total of $333,889.

If the annexation is approved, the city of Jamestown and Jamestown Public School District each would start to receive an additional tax equivalency payment of around $78,600 a year from the BPU, which totals $157,200. The BPU would save around $177,000 a year in property taxes if the annexation was approved.

The annexation process was restarted in November of last year, when the BPU board voted to repursue the annexation of the Dow Street substation that lies on the boarder between the city and the village of Falconer, which is located in the town of Ellicott.