There has been a lot of bad blood over the seven years since the city and its Board of Public Utilities proposed annexing the BPU’s Dow Street Substation in Falconer.

Annexing the substation made financial sense for the BPU and the city. Opposing the annexation made financial sense for the town of Ellicott, village of Falconer and Falconer Central School District. But now, as the BPU looks to embark on a new and possibly expanded district heating system, it was time for the annexation process to end. Members of the BPU board last week approved a negotiated settlement that will result in a 20% reduction in BPU PILOT payments for the next 10 years. In exchange, Jamestown will drop the annexation. The agreement will now go to Ellicott, Falconer and Falconer Central School board members for approval.

It’s a fair deal.

There wasn’t much political will in Jamestown to continue the fight since former Mayor Eddie Sundquist took office in 2020, and pushing the proceeding now would have reignited a debate that it seems no one on the City Council or in the mayor’s office really wanted to have.

More importantly, the BPU is about to ask Ellicott and Falconer for support for a possible expansion of district heating. If district heat users agree, the expansion is a major project for downtown Jamestown and could be beneficial to buildings along the new loop in Falconer and Ellicott. Keeping the annexation case open would have been a fly in the ointment for a major project that could have significant benefits for all the major players in the annexation case.

It’s time to build relationships, not fences. And that’s why the annexation case had to end.