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Fredonia Mayor Douglas Essek made another passionate plea at Monday's village board meeting to make the village's troubled water system an overwhelming priority.
"Every time we have a boil water order, it's because we don't have proper storage currently. Our storage tank (on Webster Road) right now is out of service. it's been out of service on and off… since about 2012. This isn't something new, " he said. "Health and safety is what your government body is supposed to provide the community and I don't see us providing that right now."
The evening after fire ravaged a Cushing Street home, Essek used the incident to highlight the water system's shaky nature in case of an emergency.
"Every time we have a structure fire in the village, and we had one this morning, my stomach gets all upset. I'm worried about, first of all, the safety of the residents, the safety of our firefighters, and not being able to provide proper fire service to the village."
The only water storage the village currently has is a 300,000-gallon clear well, the mayor said. "If this fire was a large fire and we needed a large amount of water, right now, we would not have that."
Essek, a volunteer firefighter, said the first thing he did when hearing of Monday's Cushing Street fire was call the water plant to warn workers of an impending usage spike. Processing too much water too quickly could lead to turbulence in the system and another boil water order, he noted.
"The only alternative we have… is to call in for tankers," Essek continued. "Although that's possible, we really shouldn't be going that avenue all the time. We really should be providing the proper water supply for our residents and the businesses that are in the village too."
He said the Board of Trustees should bond for work on the water system if Fredonia can't get grants for it. "I really don't feel we should always be waiting on grants. I think the public safety is more important here. I think if we had to raise water rates a few cents a thousand (gallons of usage) or whatever, and we could show the citizens of our village that we our providing something for that, I think it would be worthwhile."
Also Monday, representatives from LaBella and Associates, the firm doing a study of the village's water system, touched base with Fredonia officials.
LaBella's officials went over a list of questions posed by trustees and Essek. They also revealed they haven't even formally started the study yet, though they plan to do so this week. The Board of Trustees approved the study May 1.
The delay happened because LaBella took a couple weeks to thoroughly investigate whether the village can use American Rescue Plan Act funding for the study, as Essek has proposed. LaBella also wants a kickoff meeting with all the players in village government. The firm plans an internal kickoff meeting for the study Thursday.
Trustee Jon Espersen expressed frustration about the delay.
"The community is very concerned, and it again looks like we can't make a decision, or a decision we made is not being acted on quickly enough. They understand the importance of this study," he said. "The community sees us as not getting anything done and these instances give credence to their concerns. I appreciate the fact that the reason that it hasn't started yet is not because we are waiting for questions that had already been answered, but because of the concern about the ARPA funds."