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‘Disappointing’ reaction: Business owner addresses migrant housing concerns

Dennis Rak, a local businessman, recently expressed interest in purchasing the former WCA nursing home located on Temple Street in Fredonia. His intent was to improve living conditions for workers he employs at his business, Double A Vineyards, Inc. in Fredonia.

Since Rak's interest in the former WCA nursing home became apparent to various members of the community, some comments have been made that do not sit well with Rak. "It's been rather disappointing," Rak said of the public response as a whole, including recent comments made by a Fredonia Village Trustee.

Michelle Twichell, a Fredonia trustee who lives near the former WCA building, recently addressed Rak's interest in the property. Twichell highlighted that because the building is located in a residential district, the site would require a variance to be used for Rak's intended purpose.

Rak responded, "The WCA was grandfathered in. But no matter who goes in there, there's going to have to be some variance -- unless somebody buys it as a single family home. Who is going to buy a 40,000-square-foot, 63-room building as a single family home," Rak said. "It's unfair to the WCA, who ran this for years to serve the community. Now they are at a place where they need to sell it, and they are saying it needs to be a single family home?"

In an OBSERVER article that ran on Aug. 19, Twichell stated, "He would have to say it creates a hardship for him … but he's creating a hardship by buying this. He already owns four or five houses in Dunkirk where he houses these people."

The "people" Twichell referred to are foreign workers permitted to legally enter the U.S. for agricultural work on a temporary visa. Rak utilizes the H-2A temporary agricultural program to staff Double A Vineyards.

"Quite frankly, we had not been able to secure adequate or quality labor for a number of years. That's when we explored the H2A program. It's very expensive to be a part of, but at least I know I have a reliable workforce who wants to come to work for me," said Rak, who has a commentary that is included in this weekend's Post-Journal.

Housing is required to be provided for the workers contracted as part of the program. "We've been able to secure some housing to hold people, but we've had to renovate them a fair amount to make them suitable. They are good, adequate living conditions, but they are not perfect," Rak acknowledged.

When the WCA put the former nursing home property on Temple Street in Fredonia up for sale in April, an acquaintance urged Rak to look into purchasing the property. Initially, Rak was unsure of the idea, but a tour of the facility changed his mind.

"When I went through it, I was just amazed at how well it was maintained it had been and how nice it was. It really is perfectly laid out for what we would like to provide our employees for living arrangements," Rak said. "It's a whole lot better arrangements than what we've got now."

Rak said he thought about what the increased quality of housing would do not only for his workers, but in turn, for his business. "We realize that to have the labor pool that we want and need in the future, we need to have good, quality housing for them," Rak said. "It's a long-term investment in the employees that we're going to have here. We know that we're going to need those employees moving forward. That's my motivation. … There's no revenue stream from employees or anybody else. This is what we pay to provide housing as part of the H2A program."

Twichell previously told the OBSERVER she and other neighbors "are outraged" at Rak's interest in the property. She cited decreased property value as one of her concerns.

Twichell also claimed that the WCA board invited Fredonia Mayor Doug Essek to a recent meeting, where they allegedly said they intend to sell the property to Rak. The purchase would also allegedly include a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement for the property through the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency.

Lori Poniatowski, president of the WCA Home, told the OBSERVER that the board is "committed to making decisions that are good for the community."

Rak claims that purchasing the property -- as well as the larger point of bringing migrant workers to the village at all -- is a benefit to the community.

"There will be 30-some people there who will be spending money in the community," Rak said. "We're looking at providing a meal service for them, and we will be using local caterers to provide those meals. It helps all my employees who live here year-round, because if we don't have that workforce, none of us will be in business."

Rak then addressed concerns people might have about foreign workers he has welcomed into the community. Rak claims he has had no issues with the workers he has employed through the H2A program.

"They are good people. They have families. They just want to make a better life for themselves, and they are doing it legally," Rak said. "Everybody complains about illegal immigration, and this is exactly the opposite. These are people who are doing exactly what the law calls for to allow them to come here and work in this country. If they can't do that, that's what I don't understand."