Mayor Stephen Keefe said the board is much closer to finalizing the water contract with the Town of Pomfret during a Village of Fredonia Board of Trustees workshop session Monday night.
"We did meet with the town today," Keefe said, "We had I think a very productive discussion. Some of the concerns that I know board members here had were resolved, the zoning issues were resolved, taken off the table. The Department of Health wants some changes to the wording in the contract. I think the attorneys came up with some terms that are going to be palatable to both."
Keefe said, "I think we had a productive discussion. I hope by Monday we can have the final contract for everyone to review."
Village Attorney Sam Drayo said it may take a while to prepare the final, legal contract and attach all of the maps and other related materials. "There's a lot of mechanics to it. ... Monday might be a little optimistic, but a special meeting can be called when it's all prepared," Drayo said, but said he was confident it could be prepared within the following week.
Also discussed at length during the meeting was correspondence from Conestoga-Rovers and Associates (CRA), a Buffalo engineering firm, regarding a grant opportunity for the village to upgrade its waste water treatment system.
Several board members questioned whether or not CRA would become the firm to carry out the terms of the grant, and if CRA secured the grant, would they expect to be the sole grantee of the contract.
"They didn't say anything about a commitment. The said no cost, no commitment," Village Clerk Rick St. George told the board.
"One way we could keep them honest is to put it out for a bid," Trustee Joseph Cerrie said, if the grant were secured.
The grant, if approved, would fund up to $30,000 with a 20 percent match from the village. St. George confirmed that the 20 percent portion could be in-kind services, such as labor by existing village employees. The grant is offered by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp (EFC) in conjunction with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and is designed to help municipalities pay for the initial planning of eligible Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWRSF) water quality projects.
The village is required by the DEC to upgrade portions of the system after operating for one year at 95 percent capacity.
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