For what it’s worth, here is my advice to area leaders should the Erie County Water Authority come calling with an offer to supply water to the North County Water District: Run and never look back. Making a deal with the Erie County Water Authority would be like making a deal with organized crime to protect your life; it would end up costing you everything you own and you would likely end up dead anyway.

Silver Creek is currently under contract to buy its water from the Erie County Water Authority and is at the mercy of that agency. Rates in the village have been impacted by needed updates to the system and problems associated with those updates but we have also seen hefty rate increases levied on us over the years by the patronage-laden Erie County Water Authority.

As John D’Agostino pointed out in his recent article in the OBSERVER (July 8), the Erie County Water Authority is what has been described as a patronage pit for has been politicians of both parties enabling them to spend their declining years feeding at the public trough. I suspect that the only requirement for a position with the authority is that these party loyalists know that water is wet. As for Mark Poloncarz calling for reforms at the agency, all I can say is that the Erie County executive has a history of saying the right thing followed by a failure to do the right thing.

A clear picture of how the Erie County Water Authority operates or fails to operate can be gleaned by remembering what came to light in the course of the “October Surprise” snowstorm of 2006. During the storm power outages were widespread and the massive Sturgeon Point pumping station was affected.

As water in storage was drawn down, the south towns along with the Seneca Nation, the Town of Hanover and the Village of Silver Creek were faced with dry taps. At that point the agency was faced with attempting to fall back on its smaller pumping station in Tonawanda to keep the water flowing. Not only would the water have reached unacceptable turbidity levels but there was also fear that having to reverse the flow of water in the system might have damaged it leaving all of Erie County along with the Town of Hanover, Silver Creek and the Seneca Nation without water. Fortunately, just before starting that process the power was restored at Sturgeon Point.

Following this event that could have led to a major public health disaster for Erie County and portions of Chautauqua County the question was asked why the Erie County Water Authority had not installed backup generators at its pumping stations. Prior to the October surprise funds held in reserve would have been more that sufficient to cover the costs of the generators. Unfortunately, the political appointees who ran the agency claimed they didn’t want to draw down on financial reserves. They were probably afraid they would lose access to agency supplied perks.

Finally, the village of Fredonia seems to have come to its senses and now wants to join the North County Water District. With ConAgra’s escape to greener pastures, Fredonia now produces more water than it uses. It has also lost the cash flow that ConAgra provided causing water rates for village residents to skyrocket

Now Fredonia suggests it could supply water to the district. Mayor Athanasia Landis stated that “The water that Fredonia has is clean, it’s cheap and it has the possibility to expand.” Landis went on to say that by joining the North County district the village could apply for federal grants to repair its reservoir making Fredonia a more viable backup supplier.

As County Executive George Borrello has pointed out, having a non-Lake Erie backup water source such as Fredonia is a good idea. Also, Fredonia’s participation in the North County Water District would be good for both the village and the entire district. But we should never forget the village’s penchant for going its own way.

If Fredonia can be a viable backup water supplier to the district, that is a far better prospect than having anything at all to do with that home for has been politicians called the Erie County Water Authority.

So, the next time the Erie County Water Authority comes calling or some misguided engineer mentions its name as a backup source of water get your children off the street, lock the doors, pull down the shades and hide in the most secure place you can find.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com