OBSERVER file photo Fredonia Police Chief says the village needs to “walk away from this and give (up) the opera house,” he declared.

Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson pressed trustees last week to get a handle on repairs needed for Village Hall. He stated during the discussion that talks are underway with developers about new sites for village departments.

“We’re going to have to really do an inventory of repairs that need to be done for the building, and quit talking about it,” Ferguson said during a trustees workshop. “We got a quarter of the judge’s chamber roof sitting on the judge’s desk. We’ve got significant damage to the Opera House and winter’s probably five short months away. Whatever we’re going to do we need to address it quickly.”

Ferguson wants the trustees to form a committee for the damage inventory and to seek grants for the work.

“Part of the problem is, many of the companies in the area don’t have equipment that go up as high as the roof,” the mayor said. “Between this building and the library we have some pretty serious things to take care of.”

The Barker Library roof is also in need of repairs. Trustees were set to consider a $2,500 expenditure for library roof repairs during a meeting Monday.

As for Village Hall and its attached Opera House, Trustee Jon Espersen commented the village should look at Buffalo or Erie-area companies that have the proper equipment, and seek cost estimates from them.

Ferguson said a local roofer “has been here three times and never returned,” never offering an estimate. He speculated that the roofer does not have the necessary equipment to work on Village Hall’s steep, pitched roof.

Police Chief David Price noted the town of Pomfret got a grant for its new municipal building. “You should explore a grant for a new municipal building and walk away from this and give (up) the opera house,” he declared.

“I’m sorry — we keep throwing money at this place,” Price continued. “My whole career, I’ve watched it. What we’ve thrown away the last 30 years, we would have paid off the municipal building by now.”

Espersen said he didn’t disagree “but either way, the roof needs to be repaired, because the judge can’t be working there with water and roofing material coming down on his desk.”

“We have talked to a local developer about a possible separate building,” Ferguson said, evidently referring to the police department. “We looked at the possibility of the Big Lots building but there is a big possibility they’re coming back into the area.”

Ferguson said the soon-to-be-empty Rite Aid building on Central Avenue is another possibility.

Both Big Lots and Rite Aid are just inside the city of Dunkirk — so it’s clear Ferguson is thinking in the context of his campaign for consolidation of area municipal services.

“I’m kind of excited about the developer discussion but I can’t talk about that until I have more information on it,” the mayor concluded.

Fredonia Village Hall and the Opera House were constructed in the 1890s and almost got torn down nearly a century later after falling into bad condition. Community members successfully campaigned for extensive renovations to save the building.