City officials have negotiated a $13.7 million deal to sell the Hemlock and Canadice Lakes watershed lands to the state. All that's left is for City Council to approve the authorizing legislation.

Mayor Bob Duffy announced the agreement earlier this week, but released some details late yesterday afternoon. The state DEC will buy 6,832 acres of land in the towns of Livonia, Conesus, Springwater, Richmond, and Canadice. The city will retain the use of the lakes, which serve as much of its drinking-water supply. It will also continue to maintain the lands.

This deal has got to come as a relief to local environmentalists, as well as the folks who live near the watersheds. They've long been concerned that the watershed lands could be sold to developers, even though city officials emphatically said that wouldn't happen. Hemlock and Canadice are the last two undeveloped Finger Lakes.

The DEC will also take over the payment in lieu of taxes agreements the city negotiated with the towns. That's good news for those communities, since it means they'll keep getting revenue from the properties, at least until the agreements expire.

Using the money from the sale, the city will invest $6.8 million in the Port of Rochester, including a planned marina project. It'll put the rest into the water fund for water system improvements and to mitigate future rate increases.