Groundwater source exploration advocated by Fredonia’s “engineer of record” LaBella is on hold.

Fredonia’s Board of Trustees voted down a $28,000 budget transfer to fund a study by LaBella. With the funding unavailable, the trustees then unanimously tabled a resolution to approve the study.

Trustee Jon Espersen, Michelle Twichell and Paul Wandel voted against the budget transfer. Trustees Ben Brauchler and Nicole Siracuse voted for it.

Espersen said he wants to take up the matter during budget talks for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

“I would like to see us move forward with the groundwater exploration almost as much as I’d like to see us move forward with replacing the pipes in our ground,” Brauchler said.

“There’s going to be extra costs associated with looking for this groundwater, especially if it’s on private land,” Twichell said. “I really feel that this will be no end to what we’re going to have to spend on this. I feel that we can spend the money on replacing old pipes, buying new meters.”

Wandel called himself “neutral” on the topic of groundwater exploration, but like Espersen and Twichell, he feels the study ought to be taken up during budget time.

Siracuse did not speak on her vote when she made it, but earlier, she stated the costs associated with the study would be “phased” and the village could pull out whenever it wanted. She said the study satisfied one of the requirements from the Chautauqua County Health Department regarding the village water system.

LaBella touted exploration of groundwater sources for a backup supply option — and to save money if the village decides to purchase water from the city of Dunkirk — in its 2023 study of Fredonia’s water system.