Fredonia Trustee Jon Espersen continued to advocate exploring the sale of village-owned property this month.

“I finally found an appraiser that appraises land,” Espersen told a Board of Trustees workshop. “She could do three properties for $3,000 and that would be (state Department of Environmental Conservation) compliant, in case there are any DEC concerns.”

Espersen is eyeing the sale of three parcels — one of them controversial. There has been pushback from some in the community about talk of selling the plot near Cassadaga Lake off Glasgow Road, aka Glasgow Park.

“I guess we have to see how serious we are about selling those parcels,” Espersen said. “If we’re serious about at least finding their value — I don’t want to spend $3,400 and we find out the value is half a million dollars and we say, ‘Nah, we’re not going to sell it.’ We have to be committed to selling it, as long as the value isn’t some crazy low figure.”

He added, “This may be a discussion we have again after we’ve all given this some serious consideration. As budget talks roll around, I think it’s going to be painfully obvious that revenues haven’t increased along with costs. If we can net $400,000, $500,000 by selling these three parcels, I think it would go a long way toward easing our financial burden.

“Obviously it’s not going to happen before this next budget has passed, but you have to start somewhere. I think it’s time to start. I think it’s time to finally take a hard look at it and make a decision.”

Espersen backed a suggestion by Trustee Ben Brauchler to include the appraisal fee in the village’s upcoming 2026-27 budget. “If we wait until the new budget year it’s not going to make much difference. Even if we appraise it now, we’re not going to sell it before the budget year anyway,” Espersen said.

Trustee Leeann Lazarony has also reported recently on some research she has done related to a possible sale of village-owned property.