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Trustee takes issue with Pomfret rate hike editorial

Trustee James Lynden

A village of Fredonia trustee slammed the OBSERVER for an editorial regarding the town of Pomfret and its water and sewer districts, though he opted not to back up his claims with facts.

On July 31, the OBSERVER’s View focused on the Pomfret Town Board increasing its water and sewer fees. In the article, “Fredonia spurs town increase,” the OBSERVER pointed out Pomfret had little choice in its decision.

“What choice did the town of Pomfret really have when it came to water and sewer fees?” the newspaper questioned. “… Pomfret is at the mercy of Fredonia, which provides water to portions of the town. Trustees in the village already levied a hike on their users of 31.5 percent for water and 19.5 percent for sewer. There was no way the town was going to get off easy.”

During a recent village board meeting, Trustee James Lynden chided the OBSERVER for its commentary by saying “they need to get their facts straight.”

“They don’t know as far as the rates go; they’re insulting to the community,” he remarked. “There’s contracts involved, and I’m not going to get into the specifics of that right now. Certainly, the OBSERVER is taking shots again at the village and that needs to be corrected.”

Lynden did not elaborate on what exactly needs to be corrected and what facts the OBSERVER needs to get straight.

In a subsequent phone interview with the OBSERVER, Pomfret Town Supervisor Donald Steger confirmed the town is more or less contractually obligated to increase water and sewer rates when the village does the same — provided it does not want to operate in the red.

“We are (at the mercy of Fredonia); we don’t have a choice,” he stated. “I’m getting charged the increased rate, therefore I have to increase the rate to my water users. It has a ripple effect; there’s no alternative, from our perspective.”

Steger added there are contractual matters that he does not agree with, but cannot change.

“They’re going to charge us 1.7 times the village rate, and my issue has always been when they add infrastructure improvements to the cost of water, because the Pomfret residents are paying for the infrastructure improvements in the village of Fredonia,” he explained. “It’s not like we’re improving the transmission lines to get us more water or better pressure, but we’re improving when they do a project in the village.”

The Van Buren Bay Water District is the only district in the town not supplied by Fredonia.

The OBSERVER’s View appears daily on the Opinion page. It reflects the newspaper’s stance on a community issue and is decided upon by the editorial board, which is made up of the publisher and the newsroom editors.

Email: gfox@observertoday.com. Twitter: @gfoxnews

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