Tom Carpenter, left, and Andy Ludwig both criticized Fredonia officials for their plans to get water from Lake Erie and abandon the village reservoir.

Fredonia’s “Save Our Reservoir” group defended itself Monday against recent criticism from Mayor Michael Ferguson and others.

Three supporters of the group slammed Ferguson at a Board of Trustees meeting for criticizing lawsuits by Save Our Reservoir supporters against village plans to shut the reservoir and acquire water elsewhere. The trio also defended against various other criticisms, as the saga that has split Fredonia continues.

Andrew Ludwig was the first to speak. “Recent claims that the December boil water order and the recent water main breaks are somehow the fault of Save Our Reservoir, and the pending environmental lawsuit… have been made in social media and elsewhere,” he pointed out. Waving a copy of the previous weekend’s OBSERVER, he said some of the hubbub stemmed from Ferguson’s comments in a front-page article.

Ludwig said, “I just want to point out that as reported, the most recent boil water order was reportedly the result of a piece of failed equipment, and the failure of plant management to have spare parts on hand to address predictable equipment failure. This occurred after Trustee (Paul) Wandel promised months ago to investigate the standard operating procedures of the plant in order to prevent future boil water orders. Is it standard operating procedure to not have spare parts available and in stock for predictable maintenance and equipment failure?”

Wandel later said during his report time that the recent boil order happened because one of the chlorinator pumps was not in service, and the other failed because a hose ruptured. Normally there is replacement hose on hand — but it was used to replace a ruptured line a few days prior, Wandel said.

Ludwig continued that according to “information from knowledgeable individuals, if Fredonia discontinues producing its own water, the village will lose a valuable revenue source often used to replace aging pipes and infrastructure.”

Ferguson said that claims that water prices would skyrocket if the village purchases from the North County Water District are “lies.” Ludwig said, “This is after two LaBella reports have shown that buying water from the NCWD is the most expensive option.” He claimed the late James Sedota’s research, which came to a similar conclusion, was ignored. The wife and daughter of Sedota are two of the three village residents suing the village over its September decision to buy water from the district. (The other, James Lynden, attended Monday’s meeting but decided not to speak.)

Ludwig went on, “Misguided individuals blaming Save Our Reservoir and the lawsuit for Fredonia’s water woes should actually be thanking them — because the members of Save Our Reservoir are spending their own time and money and a whole lot of effort, and getting a whole lot of disrespect from this board and members of the community, trying to do what’s best for the village and save the village millions of dollars in the long run.”

Ludwig still wasn’t finished, calling Ferguson’s comments about the cost of a previous Save Our Reservoir lawsuit “out of line.” The lawsuit successfully overturned a Board of Trustees resolution to purchase water from the city of Dunkirk and shut the reservoir.

Ludwig chided that the first lawsuit would not have happened if Fredonia officials had followed the law, “and (the cost of fighting) it pales in comparison to the tax increase you’ve put on village residents, it pales in comparison to the Portland-Pomfret-Dunkirk wastewater treatment agreement you’ve (approved).”

Tom Carpenter mentioned Sunday’s latest water main break and thanked St. George contracting for fixing it. However, one can count in his neighborhood the many spots where previous ruptures have occurred, and “it’s just ridiculous. And that’s negligence on the part of this village government for not doing more to strengthen and repair the infrastructure of our water system.”

As Ludwig did, Carpenter thanked Trustee Michelle Twichell for her service. Twichell, whose last meeting was Monday, was Save Our Reservoir’s only firm supporter on the Board of Trustees.

Carpenter was far less complimentary of the rest of Fredonia’s elected officials.

“I’ve always wondered why New York state didn’t have a recall for elected officials, because we need one. …I guarantee if we had a recall in this state, five of you wouldn’t be here right now,” he said.

Carpenter went on to state that residents of other municipalities benefit from Fredonia trustees’ decisions, not the village’s own residents. He also declared that Pomfret Town Supervisor and North County Water District board chairman Daniel Pacos should resign one of his positions, as holding both is a conflict of interest.

Sam Drayo complained about several unrelated topics Monday, but made time to defend the five people who filed the first lawsuit.

“The citizens were exercising their legal rights,” he said. “The village failed to complete a (State Environmental Quality Review), which judge (Grace) Hanlon correctly found violated SEQR laws. Making a drastic change on where the village is to obtain water is probably the most important decision the village board can make, and definitely required an environmental review.”

The approximately $32,000 in legal fees incurred by Fredonia fighting that lawsuit was the fault of the village “being stubborn,” not the citizens who filed the suit, Drayo said.