During his term as village mayor of Fredonia for four years, Michael Sullivan would note the worst type of consolidation is shared services. That has definitely become the case in Silver Creek, where the village and school district are in a disagreement over a salt barn and its costs.
On Tuesday, the topic came up - again - at the Village Board meeting in which resident Nancy Clees made a number of points. Village Mayor Kurt Lindstrom countered, but at the end of the day, the salt barn issue - all $7,500 of it - has yet to be settled.
So while buildings deteriorate and empty, a village Department of Public Works site purchase was flawed and overall taxes in this entity are the highest in the county, this situation is somewhat beneficial to village officials that there is a distraction of sorts taking place.
This offers those village officials a chance to pepper the school district over a minor issue that, through former Mayor Sullivan's eyes, was bound to happen.
The losers in this salt barn issue? The taxpayers, of course.
