The Dow Street Substation that is located along the border of the city in the town of Ellicott and in the village of Falconer. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Being told the annexation of the Dow Street substation was going to move forward despite ongoing negotiations stopped discussions that could have potentially ended the process that has been ongoing for more than three years.

Patrick McLaughlin, Ellicott town supervisor, told The Post-Journal Tuesday that at the end of the last meeting between city of Jamestown, town of Ellicott, village of Falconer and Falconer Central Schools in January, they were informed by Eddie Sundquist, Jamestown mayor, that the annexation process would be moving forward.

“At the end of the (last) meeting, Mayor Sundquist told us (city officials) were still moving forward with the annexation, and we (town, village and school officials) thought, ‘What are we doing here,'” McLaughlin said. “At that point, we had scheduled another meeting, but the three of us (town, village and school officials) met before to discuss why are we still meeting. If they (city officials) are moving forward, there is nothing left to discuss.”

On Monday, the Jamestown City Council approved a resolution stating the annexation of the substation was in the best interest of the public. Prior to the council vote, Sundquist and Anthony Dolce, council president, discussed how city, town, village and school officials had been meeting to possibly negotiate a mutual agreement. However, Sundquist and Dolce said the third meeting was canceled the night before by town, village and school officials.

Sundquist said he believes there is a “middle ground” for all municipalities. The new mayor said he is willing, ready and able to met with Ellicott, Falconer and school officials again if they select to restart negotiations. He added that he hopes that officials from the three entities opposing the annexation will rethink their position and restart negotiations with city officials.

Dolce said during the negotiation meetings several offers were made, which included a partial annexation or a phased in annexation. He said city officials could have voted on approving a resolution stating the annexation is in the best interest of the public before Monday’s meeting. However, he was willing to give negotiations with Ellicott, Falconer and FCS officials a chance first. But with the cancellation of the last negotiations meeting, he said it was time for the council to vote on the annexation resolution.

“Since they decided to end discussions, it’s no longer a time to wait,” Dolce said.

The vote by the council was 7-2, with two new members, Grant Olson, Ward 5 councilman, and Jeff Russell, At-Large councilman, voting against the annexation proposal. Prior to the vote, Olson stated that he feels the previous administration pushed through the annexation even before he became a member of the council Jan. 1.

McLaughlin said town, village and school officials were willing to continue meeting with city officials if it ended the annexation process. However, if the city was going to move forward with the annexation, McLaughlin said on the advice of Pietra Zaffram, Harris Beach attorney handling the annexation case for the town, village and school district, there was no reason to continue to meet.

“Back in December when we first met with Mayor-elect Sundquist at his office, we were in contact with legal counsel. Prior to the meeting we talked to our attorney and she said by all means move forward with meeting if it maybe leads to the (annexation) petition being withdrawn,” McLaughlin said. “After what was said at the final meeting at the mayor’s office, we were advised to not have anymore meetings.”

McLaughlin said town, village and school district officials first met with mayor-elect Sundquist in December at Lewis & Lewis, where Sundquist practiced law before being elected mayor.

“Mayor Sundquist expressed not being in favor of the annexation. Obviously we were somewhat excited about that and optimistic. He even talked about the power to veto (an annexation decision by the council),” McLaughlin said. “We left that meeting optimistic.”

McLaughlin then said a second meeting took place in early January after Sundquist had been sworn-in. He said Sundquist and Dolce met with town, village and school officials during the second meeting. He added that at the end of the meeting is when Sundquist informed town, village and school officials the annexation process would be moving forward.

“After the public hearing (Dec. 30, 2019), we again meet with Mayor Sundquist at his office at City Hall. He wanted to know what the city could do as far as projects for the other three (entities),” McLaughlin said. “I thought this was moving in the right direction.”

Following Monday’s decision by the council, this is the second time the city has moved forward with the attempted annexation of the Dow Street substation, which lies on the border between the city and village of Falconer in the town of Ellicott. 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.

In October 2018, a three-member panel of referees appointed by the Appellate Division met with city, school, town and village officials in Mayville for a three-day hearing on the annexation case prior to the Appellate Court judges hearing the case in April 2019. The three-member panel of referees unanimously declared the annexation wasn’t in the best interest of the public.

In a joint statement from the town of Ellicott, village of Falconer and Falconer Central Schools, officials stated they are very disappointed that the Jamestown City Council voted Monday to renew its second annexation attempt in light of the unanimous decision of the three-member panel of referees appointed by the Appellate Division.

“The unanimous decision in their assessment clearly stated that the annexation wasn’t in the public interest and should be denied. We firmly stand by our belief that this is a waste of public resources,” the statement read. “The town of Ellicott, village of Falconer, and Falconer Central School District have repeatedly made our intention clear that any negotiations and/or agreements among the parties would be predicated on the city ‘abandoning’ its renewed attempt to annex the Dow Street substation parcel(s). We adamantly oppose any plan by the city of Jamestown to annex any part of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation parcels. We believe this is nothing more than a ‘land grab,’ which merely shifts the tax revenues from our three local municipalities to the city.”

Town, village and school district officials stated that they remain willing to resume negotiations toward a potential resolution should the City “abandon” its renewed attempt to annex the Dow Street substation parcels.

The first attempt at the annexation was originally started in January 2017. BPU officials have publicly stated that they are looking to save money in property tax payments being made 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, which is 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 if the annexation was approved.