Everyone in Fredonia’s government seems to agree the village must get a study of its water system needs. There is less agreement on what the study should contain, or on how Fredonia’s water system should move forward in the future.

Mayor Douglas Essek pressed the Board of Trustees Monday to approve a study by the board’s first meeting in May. Trustee Jon Espersen then announced that LaBella and Associates, the village’s engineer, released a 50-page quote earlier that day. Espersen was going to offer a resolution to approve a study, but pulled it once the quote came in so everyone could have time to study it,

Later in the meeting, Trustee James Lynden offered a spirited defense of Fredonia’s water system, in response to a Saturday OBSERVER article where the city of Dunkirk offered a plan to supply the village.

Essek said, “We have $210,000 roughly in our (American Rescue Plan Act) funding left. I would love to get a quote from LaBella for a cost benefit analysis report… for the second large interconnect, the current interconnections (at Vineyard Drive and on Route 20), a 2 million gallon water storage tank, dredging of the reservoir, upgrades to the dam… water main transmission lines, and all current water meters to see if they are out of date.”

He said many of those items have old studies related to them and “LaBella could piggyback on these items.” Essek concluded the trustees must approve a study quickly because village residents, SUNY Fredonia and surrounding communities “really need us to move forward.”

Espersen then announced the receipt of LaBella’s quote. “The total cost of the study was $144,000. There may be grant money available,” he said, adding that he would personally work the phones to seek such funding.

He said LaBella’s quote would likely meet Essek’s requirements for a wide-ranging study.

Lynden said it would prudent to spend ARPA funding on needs that are specific to the village of Fredonia. “I wouldn’t necessarily feel that we should go after that abundant list that you just presented in a study,” he said to Essek.

“I think they have a best guess list, but they haven’t done the actual studies to say for sure ‘this is what we need to do first, this is what you should be doing second, this is what you should be doing third,'” Trustee Nicole Siracuse said of LaBella.

“With a comprehensive study like this, if a grant becomes available, we’ll be able to jump on whatever portion of that study or grant we can jump into,” Trustee Dave Bird said. Lynden replied that LaBella said they were supposed to look for grants themselves.

Essek said the board should not wait for any grant money on the study — it ought to move ahead quickly using ARPA funding.

Later in the meeting, Essek referred to Dunkirk’s plan for a second interconnection. He said it was nothing new as he had already discussed it in the past with city officials, though it was originally envisioned on Central Avenue. The city’s latest plan has the connection with Dunkirk entering the village near Ring Road on the SUNY Fredonia campus.

Lynden read a statement about Fredonia’s water situation.

“This village board of Fredonia has not asked the North County Water District or the city of Dunkirk to provide proposals for the takeover of any of the village water customers. Their documented plan as a water provider has been to take over most or all of Fredonia’s water sales,” he said. “After having professional research conducted, the village voted not to be part of that plan. The village of Fredonia currently has contracts in place for alternative source water as needed through the (existing) three connections described in their recent news article.”

Lynden continued, “To put it in simple terms, the village-owned reservoir and water treatment plant are assets to the village, and the water they provide is a valuable commodity. Without owning and processing this water, the village has nothing to sell within or outside the village borders. It is through the sale of such that the village maintains its water infrastructure.

“First and foremost, without two water sources the possibility of a new hospital may be eliminated. There are no communities that have water infrastructure that are immune to a boil water order, and they all have the need to invest in maintenance and upgrades.”

Lynden went on to say that the yearly cost of water for Fredonia under Dunkirk’s plan would be more than the village’s entire water appropriations in its last budget.

“Under their plan, the village would still be responsible for all costs applicable to distribution and debt. Then there would be the new debt and cost for additional infrastructure for distribution, such as pump stations and main lines… (and) for decommissioning of the dam and reservoir.”

Concluding, Lynden said “It would most benefit the residents of the village and surrounding communities to continue to maintain and invest in the village of Fredonia’s complete water system.”