I attended Tuesday’s meeting and have just completed reading Thursday’s OBSERVER article on the LaBella Associates Fredonia water system presentation and felt that a clarification and some important points that were made at the meeting were overlooked.

(1) Yes, LaBella Associates are Fredonia’s engineers but this study was funded by Chautauqua County and not the Village of Fredonia unlike the November 2023 LaBella study. Why is that distinction important? I know that some in the community have continually stated that the county is trying to force Fredonia to join the North County Water District (NCWD) to assist them with covering costs. This study appears to justify their claim as LaBella has recommended joining the NCWD even though the annual cost/Equivalent Dwelling Unit is $430 higher over 30 years than the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) upgrade. In comparison, no recommendation was made by LaBella in the November 2023 study where three alternatives listed.

(2) Matt Higgins of LaBella stated the basis of this recommendation is in large part non-monetary. This needed to be said to justify their recommendation and yes it is true the list of concerns of the current water system that he listed would be a challenge and an ongoing cost. But do not kid ourselves, everything comes down to money and how will the village sell the idea of an Annual Cost/EDU of $1,837 for 30 years when the current Cost/EDU is $250 approximately? After a 64% village tax increase this year how many residents will be pleased with an increase of $1,587 in their water bill? Yes, any possible grant funding received will adjust the figures downward but by how much is anyone’s guess.

(3) At about 38 minutes into the meeting, Mayor Michael Ferguson dropped what I consider to be a bombshell. He stated that when this process was started a number of years ago, both Dunkirk and Fredonia had the ability to get involved in an inter-municipal grant but that opportunity no longer exists due to finances and the donation of land to the project is not acceptable. Thus, he stated for those reasons the opportunity to connect directly with Dunkirk was out of the question right now and that is why we are down to these two alternatives. I do not accept that decision as no form of grant funding was definitely obtained or finalized, be it inter-municipal or otherwise. The November 2023 study stated that the direct connection Annual Cost/EDU was $1,433 which is less than the $1,837 now stated for the NCWD option. Thus, I believe that the direct connection to the city of Dunkirk should not be discarded and should be considered.

(4) Probably the most interesting question posed to LaBella was asked by Natalie Whiteman of the Chautauqua County Department of Health. She asked whether the grant writers look into the “Managerial Capacity” or the ability of the village to actually operate and maintain the water system appropriately. LaBella replied that it is something grant writers look at and take into consideration. I have wondered if the question was posed because (a) she along with five other people climbed three flights of stairs to attend the meeting because the village was not aware the courtroom did not have a television available to show the slide presentation, or (b) as documented by an OBSERVER article that day the village was cited for not providing simple standard water samples from the water plant for monitoring, the only municipality to be fined.

(5) Finally, LaBella was posed the question whether the SEQR study/report required by the Save Our Reservoir group and upheld by the Court has been completed yet. LaBella’s answer seemed to imply it has not and possibly has not even been started. Rest assured, the Save Our Reservoir group will be following this item closely.

I have been following this saga since the beginning and I suggested that the formation of “Water Committee” should be considered. It should comprise a cross-section of the community – both pro-reservoir and against – along with those undecided to be able to sit down in open dialogue to provide their views and thoughts and come to a consensus. I believe we need to do this to have any chance of obtaining sizable grants from the state, federal, or any governmental agency by swamping their offices with a letter writing campaign by the whole Northern Chautauqua area once a final decision has been agreed upon. In this way, we may be able to lower the cost of any alternative undertaken and keep some hard-earned money in our pocket.

In conclusion, once the entire LaBella study has been redacted and available on the Village website to view (83 pages I have been told), I am sure I will have (as well as others) more items to discuss. In fact, I will pose one now in one word: Redundancy?

Robert Scott is a Fredonia resident.