At the most recent meeting of the Fredonia Village board, the mayor and trustees conducted a variety of business and discussed several issues.
Keefe reported some good news before the meeting started. "I'm happy it's raining. The rain is coming down and the reservoir levels are going up," Keefe said.
The village is looking to fill the Fredonia-Pomfret Recreation Director opening, and Trustee Joseph Cerrie was asked to provide details about the job. The position is year round, but part-time. The salary is $12,500 per year. The job duties include setting up youth recreation day camp activities and playground supervision over the summer, concerts in the park, managing some holiday decorations, Halloween activities and basketball camp, among other activities and events. "It's probably less demanding outside the summer season, but there is still work to do," over the winter and spring, according to Cerrie.
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OBSERVER Photo by Shirley Pulawski
Village of Fredonia Trustee Joseph Cerrie said some road work after installing new water lines has been postponed due to time requirements by the contractor for settling after the removal of the top layer.
During the workshop portion of the meeting, Mayor Stephen Keefe told the board new SUNY Fredonia President Virginia Horvath is looking for projects for students to do in the community. Keefe said he thought a street sweep would benefit the village, and suggested it may also be educational for the students to see the amount of litter collected and how certain kinds of it can be particularly harmful.
"Maybe they would see that chewing gum is really a problem," Keefe commented.
Discussion among the board followed about cigarette butts and the problems they pose to the storm sewer systems and potential toxins to pets.
Building Inspector John Monaco discussed an issue which had arisen with a village landlord. "He wants me to contact the tenants directly to set up the inspections, and we're talking about a lot of tenants," Monaco told the board. Several trustees asked Monaco how the code is written. Monaco replied the code is written in a way that holds the landlord responsible for access to the buildings for inspection. He said setting up separate appointments with different tenants in the same building could also pose logistical problems in addition to an issue of spending extra time to perform inspections. "If a place has to be inspected more than twice, there is a $45 fee," he said. The board agreed Monaco should inform the landlord that he must be responsible for setting inspection times, not the tenants.
Cerrie reported the road work on Holmes Place was being postponed. After discussion with a contractor set to recycle the old road material, a new time line has been established for the work. About 80 percent of the product now covering the road will be removed and recycled, but before new black top is laid, at least 30 days of settling must occur to ensure stable underlying road conditions. "It will create pot holes later if it doesn't settle first," Cerrie explained, and went on to say the work was more involved than initially expected. "Once they take down top layer of road down, they have to lower all of the drainage receivers and manholes in middle, so that takes time. Then they go back in with the roller and even it all out," he said, and noted a letter will eventually go out to affected residents.
During the regular meeting, several resolutions were passed: Abstract 432 was approved regarding the village staff payroll; the purchase of an ad in the Chautauqua County Visitor's Bureau travel guide was authorized for $309; a request by Fredonia High School Principal Todd Crandall for a homecoming parade was granted; and the mayor was authorized to sign the Quick Start Arbor Day Grant and Tree Inventory and Management Plan grant through the Department of Environ-mental Conservation.
At the close of the regular meeting, Keefe praised the hard work of the streets, police and fire departments for a successful farm festival. "The weather was great and everyone did a terrific job," Keefe said.
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