Trustee Craig Miller, left, and Mayor Art Miller, right, listen to concerns at this month’s Brocton meeting.

BROCTON — Several community members of the community came together earlier this month at the Village Board meeting to discuss a problem people are collectively having with one resident in particular.

The concerns originally stemmed from a resident on Fay Street, burning trash in the village, which has apparently been ongoing for the past several years. The burning was previously less frequent, but with larger fires and has since moved to being an almost daily occurrence, but with smaller fires.

“The stench is so bad, I can smell it on my enclosed porch,” said one Brocton resident. “I’m afraid I can’t go in my back yard, it’s so bad. I don’t know what I’m smelling.”

Residents of the town have called the Sheriff’s Department, Mayville, and the DEC to try and solve the issue the village is facing. On top of everything else, the residents of this location also allegedly have a dog run wild, as well as other problems with animals such as rats and guinea pigs, and the fires coincide with suspected drug activity.

“I hate to say it but you probably don’t want to be breathing in that smoke,” said Lt. David Mistretta of the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department, who was in attendance at the meeting to hear the residents’ concerns.

One of these fires allegedly caused a large, loud explosion that caused a couple residents to call 9-1-1 out of a sense of urgency. A general consensus in the village is that this behavior has been going on long enough. Mistretta gave the residents one piece of advice: Call, and keep calling.

“We have to hit from all different sides,” Mistretta said. “The only way we’re going to make any progress is if we keep reporting things everytime something is wrong.”

Ideas about installing additional cameras in the park were brought up, and Trustee Craig Miller brought up to Mistretta about possibly organizing a neighborhood watch. Miller also stressed that residents of the village don’t take matters into their own hands, and echoed Mistretta’s sentiments to call the appropriate people every time something is wrong.

“We appreciate your concern and we are concerned for you,” Miller said. “Please don’t take matters into your own hands. Don’t aggravate the situation, we know it’s poor, just use the phone and handle it that way.”

With Brocton Mayor Art Miller just a few months into his tenure, he said at the end of the day, he wants Brocton to be as good as it once was.

“We’re going to have to try and do something with the police department and sheriff’s department,” he said. “One of my goals is to make Brocton better, cleaning it up, putting some paint on houses, and getting things done right. I want to take small steps, but this is a big thing. There are more places like this in town too.”

Mistretta said that any information can be reported at 716-661-7232, or if the situation is urgent, he urges residents to dial 9-1-1.