An artist’s rendering of the new Brooks-TLC facility.

Flow testing for the new Brooks Memorial Hospital in Fredonia has apparently led to some water quality complaints.

Scott Marsh, Fredonia Department of Public Works Director, told the village Board of Trustees this week that complaints have come from the area of East Main Street where the hospital is set to be erected.

“We stirred up the system a little bit, we got some phone calls,” he said. “We apologize for that — unfortunately we’re going to continue to do some flow testing, this week. It’s a temporary thing.”

Mayor Michael Ferguson confirmed that site work for the hospital has begun on the property, a former Cornell Cooperative Extension grape farm.

“It’s kind of an unofficial launch but it’s up and running, moving forward,” he said.

The mayor said a barn and a fuel cell on the property will be removed shortly, and workers have already taken out the grape vines. He also noted that construction is underway on drainage at the west end of the property.

Brooks-TLC is scheduled to present its latest site plan for the hospital to the Fredonia Planning Board in April. The presentation was originally scheduled for the board’s March meeting but Brooks-TLC requested a one-month delay.

Groundbreaking will probably not take place for a while, said Charles LaBarbera, Fredonia’s chief code enforcement officer, at the Planning Board’s March meeting.

“They’ll probably be here next month with just a sketch plan,” he said of Brooks-TLC officials. “It’s going to be a little while, we have to go through the (full) site plan and the SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) again.”

“They’re going to show us what they want to do, then kind of go back to the drawing board,” LaBarbera said.

Construction on the hospital building might not start until fall, he speculated.