Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson’s recent Facebook post as published in the OBSERVER (Feb. 11) raises some important questions. The post promised that Fredonia is “in the midst of our last water study to determine our direction. One that after a lot of hard work cost our taxpayers nothing to produce (the study). The study will take three months and should save our residents millions while creating the long term solution we all seek.”

To be clear, the actual water study will not be saving village residents a penny and no matter where the money to pay for the study comes from, if it comes from a government agency, it is a cost to the tax paying public.

One must assume that Ferguson means the direction for village water, recommended at the completion of the study, will save village residents millions of dollars.

But how does Ferguson know this before the study has even been completed? Will this study compare the costs and benefits of partnering with the North County Water District against the costs and benefits of upgrading the village’s dam, reservoir and water treatment plant? Will Ferguson and the village board have a public forum that shows a cost comparison of partnering with the NCWD against other water options? Will the results of this study be ignored like the most recent six-figure LaBella study, if the resulting report does not support the direction that Ferguson and his board majority already want to take?

And what of the $140,000 LaBella study that clearly showed that upgrading the village’s current water system was more cost effective than purchasing water from the city of Dunkirk? Or the $100,000 plus water study completed a few years prior that came to the same conclusion? Is the quarter of a million dollars spent on those studies to just be chalked up as lessons learned? The most important question is this. How can the village afford to move forward with any plan of action for Fredonia water when only a couple of weeks ago the village had to approve a Revenue Anticipation Note just to get through the remainder of the fiscal year. As reported, that loan amount could go up to $825,000.

A few things are certain. If the mayor and the village board decide to shut down Fredonia’s dam, reservoir and water treatment plant, Fredonia will lose our water independence and also lose an important source of revenue. And no matter what direction that village government decides to take with regard to Fredonia water, water rates will increase and village taxes will increase. It was also reported in the OBSERVER that Ferguson posted on his Facebook page, “We are also looking at ways to save you money every day.” How does a loss of revenue, increased village taxes and increased water rates equate to a savings?

Andrew Ludwig is a Fredonia resident.