Screenshot

New Fredonia Trustee LeeAnn Lazarony wants the village to sell parcels as a way to raise revenue.

“When I was going through bills and payroll, I looked and found parcels of property that the village owns outside the village that we’re paying taxes on,” Lazarony began at a recent Board of Trustees workshop. “I did look up the law about that, and it seems like if it’s not being used for public use, they can tax us — unless we have an agreement outside of that.

“Well, apparently we don’t, because we’ve been paying taxes, and I don’t know when we acquired this property. I know there’s three parcels outside the village that I saw the tax forms for.

“If it’s not public property that we’re using, I don’t know why we’re holding on to it. I think it’s a waste of village taxpayer money to pay taxes on a piece of property that has no use to the village, and I’m not sure why it was purchased to begin with.”

Lazarony promised she would do more research on the matter. “I’m told a couple of those parcels are blank, vacant sites,” she said.

Department of Public Works Director David Bird noted when he was a trustee, the village acquired a piece of property near Canadaway Creek on Porter Avenue. The village purchased the property to demolish a house so Chautauqua County could install a culvert on the site.

That property “can’t be more than a quarter of an acre,” Trustee Jon Espersen said.

“OK, so, we are in a debt crisis,” Lazarony stated.

“I don’t wanna talk about that,” Espersen replied.

Lazarony declared, “I just wanna say, I feel like it’s my job as a trustee to look through every nook and cranny for money that we’re spending that we don’t need to spend, so we can provide the ambulance with supplies and the fire department with water pumps or whatever they need without an issue.”

She added that the tax on the Porter Avenue property is “a pittance of money, but it’s the village taxpayers’ money of 200-some dollars that we are paying for no reason. Those are the things I’m looking for through the bills and payroll.”

Espersen noted that “last year, I got a lot of pushback when I recommended we take a look at selling that (acreage) by Cassadaga Lake” on Glasgow Road. He said that land has an estimated market value of $140,000.

Espersen went on to mention that a grant is available for land sales work. He also mentioned that a non-for-profit organization is interested in the Glasgow Road property.

“I think there’s some real specific ways that we have to sell property,” Lazarony said. “We can’t just say, ‘We pick you, so we’re going to sell it to you.'”

“Absolutely. We would have to list it,” Espersen replied.

“We’re holding onto properties we don’t need,” Lazarony re-emphasized. “I think we really need to start making headway on that. I know there’s going to be a lot of pushback from people who say, ‘Oh, you can’t get rid of it. It’s conservation, it’s this and that.’ Yes. But we are in a fiscal crisis and we need to raise some revenue for this village.”

Espersen said, “No one agrees with you more.”

Mayor Michael Ferguson said he has talked to people who would like to put in bids on the properties. “There’s also a couple developers that are looking at properties that are owned by the village that are currently being used for other purposes, that might be better off being repurposed,” he added.

“I just think we really need to keep moving forward with this,” Lazarony said. “Let’s just put it out there: We raise enough money selling this property, we put it in a reserve fund, our bond rating (improves). We have a better bond rating. Those are things we need as a municipality.”

Espersen suggested it would provide financial leeway to buy safety items. “I think it would be really nice to have some money and even in our budget…and not raise taxes again,” Lazarony said. “If we move forward without thinking about that all the time, I’m afraid we’re going to be in a fiscal crisis at the end of this year again.”

Lazarony’s position stands in marked contrast to the stance of the trustee who sat in her seat until January, Michelle Twichell. Twichell was staunchly opposed to the sale of the Glasgow Road property.