In the spring of 2016, I sent a letter to the Ellery supervisor Arden Johnson stating my position that the town lawsuit against the county in regards to the landfill extension was not in the best interest of either the town or county residents; would most likely not be successful; and would result in significant costs to the town (and county) taxpayers. Mr. Johnson kindly invited me to have a discussion with him concerning this subject and at that meeting we were joined by Mark Schlemmer from the Town Council.

My position as stated in my letter was, “we are all citizens of Chautauqua County and as such should support as much as we can decisions and policies that are for the betterment of all county residents. It is also my understanding that the county owns the land, has fulfilled all environmental regulations that will allow such use and has in fact received approval from the state for that use.” We also discussed my problem with the town’s initial hosting fee request of $4 per ton on imported waste from outside the county which amounted to approximately $370,000. I assume that if agreed to by the county, it would have ended their lawsuit which leads one to question if the town’s concern was environmental or financial. The County Executive met with Mr. Johnson and in an attempt to come to an agreement offered a hosting fee of 50 cents per ton or approximately $46,000 per year. While in my initial discussion with Mr. Johnson he stated that he had reduced the amount of his original hosting fee request, the town did not accept the subsequent county’s offer.

While I have always respected Arden Johnson and his service to Ellery, the result of my meeting with Arden and Mr. Schlemmer can best be summed up, “we agreed to disagree.”

On Oct. 20, 2016, Supreme Court Justice, The Hon. Frank Sedita, III, rendered his decision. It is an interesting, insightful look at our judicial system and I will not repeat all of his opinions here. For those interested the decision it can be found at: http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2016/2016-ny-slip-op-26353.html. In essence Judge Sedita found no basis in any of the town’s arguments and his conclusion stated, “the court declares the rights and other legal obligations of the parties, with respect to the matters in controversy, to be as follows: (1) The DEC has satisfied the requirements of the ECL and SEQRA, both procedurally and substantively; (2) all determinations and findings of the DEC were rationally made, (3) the issuance of permits by the DEC was lawful in all respects; (4) Local Law No. 3 is preempted by state law and is therefore null and void; (5) the county and the CCLF are otherwise immune from Local Law No. 3 and, (6) the CCLF Phase IV expansion, as it stands and without further municipal approval, is legally permissible. The relief request by the county is granted, the relief requested by the town is denied and the town’s amended petition and complaint are dismissed.”

What is the cost to the taxpayer brought about by the town’s lawsuit? My FOIL request to the town for all associated expenses of the lawsuit indicates that the town spent at the time of my request $292,777.32. It is my understanding that the county in defending the lawsuit spent approximately $150,000. It is interesting to note that Town of Ellery taxpayers paid not only for their lawsuit but also paid their share of the county’s legal cost in defense of said lawsuit! In all, approximately $443.000 of taxpayer’s hard earned money was spent in what turned out to be a frivolous endeavor! Just think of where that amount could have been better spent.

As of the date I write this letter, the town is seriously considering an appeal which I feel will go nowhere. I urge all residents of Ellery to pay attention as to how the Town Board is spending their tax dollars and let the board know of your opinion one way or the other.

Gregory Jones is a Bemus Point resident.