QUINCY, Mass. (AP) – The city and Quincy College have settled a long-simmering dispute over back rent owed by the college.

The tentative agreement, reached earlier this week, means the college won’t be evicted from its primary classroom building, Saville Hall, and the city will receive $466,000 in back rent. The city started eviction proceedings against the college last month.

In return for becoming the owner or a 99-year tenant of Saville Hall, the college has agreed to almost $2 million in payments, including back taxes, to the city. The college will also pay the city $200,000 this year for services it provides to the college.

In all, the deal gives the city more than $3 million, paid out over the next several years. The city council will meet Monday to consider the agreement.

Mayor William Phelan and college officials also agreed to lobby for special legislation that would allow the college to buy and sell real estate on its own, and allow the mayor to name two people to the board that appoints college governors.

The special legislation would also define what services the college should pay for and would aim to clarify the “financial relationship” between the college and city.

The Patriot Ledger of Quincy reported the foundation for the agreement was laid during a meeting last week between Phelan and City Councilor Daniel Raymondi, a member of the college’s board of governors. The two men, who have often been at odds politically, agreed that the city and the college should resolve the matter.

A lengthy closed-door summit meeting between the mayor’s office and college leaders took place last Friday.

The college board of governors signed off on the agreement Monday, and the school committee approved its end of the deal during a closed session Wednesday night.

Quincy College is technically a city department but is run by an independent board of governors. It is the only municipally-owned community college in Massachusetts.

AP-ES-03-27-04 1936EST