PORTLAND — Town Supervisor Rich Lewis again addressed concerns over Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Waterworks and its involvement with both Portland and the village of Brocton. Lewis said the new concerns stem from how the agency is attempting to structure its Investment Management Agreement, which Lewis said Chautauqua County officials wanted ironed out.

“Portland and Brocton have a lot of concerns with the new language they want in the (agreement) and the amount of responsibility they want to shift off themselves,” Lewis said. “That’s ongoing.”

Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Waterworks was created as a billing, collection, and maintenance group that serves Northern Chautauqua Water District, and is managed by the five elected leaders that are part of the Northern Chautauqua County Water District. The main office is located in Brocton.

Lewis also noted that agency has lost two employees, including their billing clerk and license holder, making the process of working out an agreement that much more difficult. “They’re struggling as well,” Lewis said.

The village and town have been frustrated with the agency for quite some time. In July of last year, Art Miller, then mayor of Brocton, voiced frustrations with the water situation, and in April, the village and town held a joint meeting to discuss what possible steps to take in regard to Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Waterworks not accounting for $1.4 million apparently to the North County Water District. Lewis said at last week’s meeting that another joint meeting may be necessary.

“We have another meeting coming up in July,” he said. “So, we’ll see where that one goes. At that point, we may want to call another joint meeting between the Town and the Village of Brocton to see what our options are and go from there.”

The next meeting of the Portland Town Board will be on Wednesday, July 13, at 6 p.m., while the date of a potential joint meeting between Brocton and Portland not yet scheduled.