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I planned to read the following during the public portion of the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 7. It is three minutes long per the rule that limits a person "speaking for themselves" to that time limit.
Mayor Michael Ferguson "asks the speakers to refrain from remarks that are in poor taste, slanderous, or not germane to any action taken or contemplated by the board." My words that follow fulfill those requests.
Ferguson started the meeting with an admonition to potential speakers to refrain from public comment. So I was forced to stay silent instead of standing at the microphone to share what follows. I am grateful to the OBSERVER for providing this opportunity to have my voice heard in what has now become a "Letter to the Editor".
The most important revelation during the presentation of the LaBella water report at the Opera House was the audience response to former trustee David Bird's invitation to raise their hands to show which of the three options they supported. The vast majority showed their support for Option 1 to repair our existing system. Very few were in favor of Options 2 and 3.
For me, this informal show of hands was a straw poll and mini-referendum on how the community feels. I was excited because I too support Option 1.
On Dec. 26 the board totally ignored the will of their constituents and voted for Option 3. Like so many in our community, I am upset and disappointed that three of five trustees voted against the least expensive option to improve our existing system.
Our water supply relies on gravity to get from the water treatment plant to our homes and businesses. I find it incredulous that these three trustees embrace pumping water from Lake Erie in Dunkirk up a hill to where we already have a fresh water supply. The system they are looking to shutdown is working right now. Yes, our water treatment plant and reservoir need updating.
Consider the Erie Canal which opened in 1825. This man-made waterway that links the Great Lakes to the world has numerous locks, guard locks, dams and spillways that were built from 1905-1918. They are older than our water treatment facility, dam and spillway and are restored and repaired as needed. Our existing system is not too old to repair.
A photo that ran in the OBSERVER on Dec. 30 gave new meaning to the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words." The two outgoing and two incoming mayors from Fredonia and Dunkirk posed with the Brooks Hospital CEO in front of Dunkirk's Willowbrook Avenue Water Storage Tank to "memorialize the commitment of the two communities to a water partnership".
The first thought I had was that the two incoming mayors were not even sworn in yet. What's the rush? Why the photo op? The vote on Dec. 26 to decommission, drawdown and buy water from Dunkirk was in direct opposition to what the residents who held up their hands at the LaBella presentation favored. That vote moved too fast and without the due diligence a decision like this requires.
The next thoughts this photo evoked were of the quality of the water that comes into the Dunkirk Water Treatment Plant before being stored in this tank. Lake Erie water is polluted with industrial waste, sewage, micro and nano plastics, pharmaceuticals and phosphorous from agricultural runoff that feeds toxic algae blooms.
Contaminated sediment and legacy pollutants from the past that sit on the shallow lake bottom get disturbed during storms and will be disrupted in the future as footers and supports for wind turbines are constructed. The water in our spring fed reservoir contains none of these contaminants and will obviously need a lot less treatment than the Lake Erie water.
Rescind the Dec. 26 resolution. Have a referendum that allows us to have a vote. During the first Village Board meeting of the year, Mayor Ferguson stated that he and the trustees "are here at the will of the people."
The will of the people is Option 1.
John D. Hanlon is a Fredonia resident.