Recent mishaps at one of the Barker Common fountains have led to a call to make them easier to spot for people who can’t see well.

Fredonia’s top code enforcer, Charles LaBarbera, told the Board of Trustees recently about a complaint that “a disabled person fell in the fountain and wanted some type of reflector on the fountain.”

“Are we required by ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act) to do something of the sort or is that something you could check into?” asked Mayor Douglas Essek.

“The disabled person was blind and I don’t know what reflectors would actually do to help the situation,” LaBarbera said.

“Yes, it doesn’t make any sense. It would be like putting flashing lights around it,” Essek replied. Later in the meeting, the mayor revisited that comment, apologizing and stating he meant no disrespect to the person who fell in the fountain.

LaBarbera said he thought that ADA codes would not apply in this situation.

Later in the trustees’ meeting, an email from Jessica Harper was read out. “I am a community care specialist that works for Erie 2 BOCES and am working with a person who is legally blind,” she wrote. “I was informed by this person that on two separate occasions now, they have fallen into the fountain in Fredonia. … We have discussed ways for my client to prevent this from happening again on their part, but I am taking it upon myself to address this with the village. I am assuming there are other legally blind people in the village.”

Harper then called for reflectors on the fountains.

“You’re putting a modern reflector on a 100-year-old fountain,” commented Trustee David Bird. “If we’re looking to solve this problem there’s probably a better way than a reflector. I would think if we could somehow figure out a way to make the concrete around it corrugated or ribbed or something like that,” it would be a better solution, he added.

Essek said soon after the village should seek advice on the matter from an association that advocates for sight-impaired people.