Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson said Fredonia “will be a ghost town” unless a plan to connect with the North County Water District moves forward.

Ferguson’s comment came at the end of a Board of Trustees workshop conversation about an engineering agreement for the connection plan. Trustees approved the agreement with LaBella at their previous meeting.

Trustee Jon Espersen opened the conversation: “Everybody, hopefully, has a copy of the professional services agreement that (LaBella’s) Matt (Higgins) promised he would send over. I’m hoping, and I should have asked, did a copy of that get sent to Mark Guglielmi (of village attorneys Webster Szanyi) to look at? I don’t want to move on it until he’s reviewed that.”

Espersen was told Guglielmi would get a copy. Trustee LeeAnn Lazarony then wondered, “What happens if we give notice to proceed and then what if we lose the lawsuit … are we bound by that? Worst case scenario, we sign this proposal and can’t move forward?”

Lazarony was referring to a lawsuit filed by three village residents to halt the plan for connection with the North County Water District. The trio belong to a group of residents who think the village should shore up its own water system. The NCWD plan calls for shutting down the village reservoir and treatment plant.

State Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon reportedly heard arguments on the lawsuit in late March, and her decision is expected in the coming days.

Espersen replied to Lazarony, “They just stop working. I had a conversation with Matt, he said, ‘if you want us to stop, we’ll just stop.’ They’ll do whatever we tell them to do.”

“That is what he said,” agreed Trustee Paul Wandel.

Lazarony commented, “I have the mind of a ‘CYA’ all the time,” abbreviating a mildly vulgar term for covering one’s back.

Espersen said, “That would be a conversation, if we did happen to lose that lawsuit, a conversation we would have with LaBella and the attorneys, and devise a plan moving forward.”

“Let’s make it crystal clear. The project’s going forward,” Ferguson declared. “We have no other choice. If there is a problem with the lawsuit, the lawsuit is only to be a delay. But let me remind you of this. … We were supposed to get substantial investment by the federal government two years ago. Because of the first lawsuit, which cost taxpayers $37,000, we lost millions of dollars because they wouldn’t give that to us in the middle of that.”

The village lost a previous lawsuit filed against an earlier plan to connect water directly with the city of Dunkirk. The city is also the NCWD’s sole water supplier.

Ferguson said of the village’s current water system, “It is ridiculous to think, ‘Well, it’s not too bad.’ It would be hundreds of millions (of dollars) to repair that. We’re talking about $17, $20, $22 (million) at the most (to get water from the NCWD).

“So, it is too bad, because this community will be a ghost town unless this thing goes forward.”