Fredonia Trustee Jon Espersen offered details on the task force that is addressing health department violations in the village water system.

Espersen made a fairly positive update on efforts to fix the violations, at a Board of Trustees meeting. A plan must be in place by Sept. 30, and the village risks state and federal fines if it has not taken steps to fix the problems by mid-November.

According to Espersen, it’s probably not going to get to that point, because some of the violations are already fixed, and county health officials are satisfied with progress on the others.

“We had a meeting last week comprising the mayor (Douglas Essek), trustee (Michelle) Twichell, myself, Natalie Whiteman from the (Chautauqua County) Department of Health, three engineers from Labella, our grant writer” and other Fredonia officials including chief water treatment plant operator Luis Fred, Espersen said. He said Essek, who was not present at Monday’s trustees meeting, designated him the group’s spokesperson.

“We went over each item on the 30-day deficiency list. The majority of items have been corrected, as was noted by the Department of Health,” Espersen continued. “The remaining items have plans in place to be corrected, and the Department of Health acknowledged those plans.”

Espersen said Fred reported a new chlorinator is set to be installed this week. Fred is also “developing a plan to unblock or replace the valves in the sludge lines,” he added.

“The engineers are inspecting and reviewing a few of the items to help develop appropriate responses. There are short-term emergency financial assistance funds available for compliance items that fall under that category,” Espersen continued. “The Department of Health will be working with our engineers and grant writers to determine which of the issues qualify for that funding.”

The village also has long-term water system compliance issues and Espersen said “some” were resolved. “Some will be determined by what our long-term decision is regarding our water source,” he added.

In closing, Espersen said the Department of Health was satisfied with the village’s efforts so far. The engineers and health officials praised Fred’s efforts for bringing the village into compliance, he added.

The county/village panel will meet again Sept. 27 and Espersen said he would report on that too. “I want anyone in the village, if they have any questions about the report, to give me a call. I would be happy to discuss it with them individually or in a group,” he said.

Trustee James Lynden then added that LaBella engineers had just sent “an update on everything they’re doing, the engineering and the possible grants” that day. “They’re also working diligently,” he said of the LaBella firm.

Earlier in the trustees’ meeting Monday, they closed their doors to the public for an executive session that Twichell said was “in regards to the legal issues to the county with water.”