MASSENA -- St. Lawrence County Supreme Court Justice David Demarest has dismissed a complaint against the Village of Massena alleging the municipality was not paying a company enough to use their waterlines, according to Massena Village Attorney Matthew McArdle.

The lawsuit was based upon a 1958 agreement the Village entered into with the Urban Highway Development Corp. to extend the village’s waterline to service Edward J. Kaneb’s business entities on Highland Road. Kaneb owns the development corporation. He also owns Kaneb Orchards and Highland Nursing Home.

The village designed and supervised the waterline extension, and Kaneb’s company paid for the installation, Mcardle said.

For more than 50 years, the village has billed, collected, and remitted to Kaneb’s company a $10 per foot of road frontage tap-on fee to the line in accordance with the agreement. After the village rejected an invoice from Kaneb requesting more than the $10 per foot fee, Kaneb filed a lawsuit, McArdle said.

By decision dated July 28, Demarest dismissed the complaint in its entirety. In its decision, the court agreed with the village’s argument that Kaneb’s lawsuit was untimely. The court also noted that in 1994, Kaneb was unsuccessful in a prior lawsuit against the village on similar issues, according to McArdle.

McArdle of Malone-based Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney and Hunter, LLP represented the defendants. McArdle says that the Supreme Court’s decision “validates the village’s actions in this case, and demonstrates that the village acted reasonably and appropriately in all respects.”