“I do have some information I’d like to pass on to the trustees about Glasgow Park,” Twichell began. The trustee offered a timeline of the site’s history, which she researched at the Barker Library and Museum.

Twichell said it opened as “Fredonia Park” in 1939 after work done by a federal Depression-era youth employment program. In 1965, it received upgrades including electricity, toilets, picnic tables, and grills. Twichell continued that it hosted outdoor activities for the Resource Center in 1983 and was listed in the village handbook in 1989.

“The point is that Glasgow Park should be directly recognized in the effort by the board to sell it. Listing it simply as village property for sale risks fraud,” Twichell asserted. “Potential buyers need to know the history of the property and the restrictions imposed by New York State on its sale.”

Twichell continued that she opposed the sale “because of its value to village taxpayers. The property could be enrolled in a carbon sequestration program which would provide income to the village for decades.”

The marker on this map, created with Chautauqua County’s online parcel viewer, shows the location of Fredonia-owned property on Glasgow Road near Cassadaga Lake.

She also repeated her previous point that Fredonia drew water from Cassadaga Lake years ago, .though a change in regulations allegedly now makes that illegal. “Yet we have received no citation of the law nor mechanisms of appeal in extenuating circumstances. And who is to say that current regulations will not change?”

Twichell continued, “The attempt to sell Glasgow Park is another example of this board’s short sighted view of village resources, like the 60% discounted sewer contract with the county which will cost the village taxpayers $4 million over the next 30 years.” She also complained about “the mistitled water improvement project proposal, which will likewise force village taxpayers to bear tens in millions of dollars of debt, while making us all pay for the water lost at privately owned properties and for water used for municipal functions which we currently enjoy at marginal costs.”

Mayor Michael Ferguson replied, “This is not a criticism, it is a statement of fact: the (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) has said that we can never draw water from that area again because they draw from the Mississippi (River watershed) where we do not, and there is cross contamination that has been discovered by the state of New York which will never allow us to do that again. It has been stated, and this village has received communication to that effect.”

Twichell asked to see the communication and Ferguson agreed.

Trustee Jon Espersen, who has pushed for the sale of the land as a way to pump revenue into cash-strapped Fredonia’s coffers, spoke up. “Last time we used it, we got a one time use permit from DEC with the understanding that the village would provide them guidelines (on) what the village would do next time there is a drought. We got the water — the village never provided a plan for the next drought. And that’s what DEC demanded that we do, and it never happened.”

Twichell resumed her complaints that connections with the North County Water District and the city of Dunkirk on Route 20 and Vineyard Drive do not work property. She said if they had, they could have helped the village during a drought this past summer.

Espersen said he was “just talking about Cassadaga (Lake),” Ferguson changed the subject, and the workshop moved on.

The Board of Trustees voted, 4-1, in November to list the Glasgow Road property for sale. Trustees Ben Brauchler and Paul Wandel changed their votes to “yes” after voting against a previous Espersen attempt to list the property for sale, causing that to fail by a 3-2 vote.

Brauchler and Wandel changed their votes in part because the latest resolution explicitly states that the village is not moving to sell the property at this time, but is just listing it to see what it might get in a sale.