On Thursday, July 9, members of Save Our Reservoir and other interested and concerned citizens attended the Water Forum sponsored by the Village of Fredonia, The Chautauqua County Health Department and LaBella Engineering. The event was held at the yet to be renovated new location of Pomfret Town Hall. Observations, thoughts and lingering questions from this group of citizens and from me regarding this meeting and Fredonia’s water project are listed below.

Driving to the future location of Pomfret Town Hall it was noticeable that there are no sidewalks which would allow for individuals to safely walk to the former Latter Day Saints Church.

There was plenty of parking in the church parking lot.

Entering a building that was uncomfortably hot and in obvious violation of numerous building codes made one wonder why this meeting was held at this location in the first place?

The format of the meeting made it impossible for Access TV and news reporters to cover every question asked or the conversations held at each station. Was this by design?

Moving about the forum and recalling that the Town of Pomfret paid $360K for the former LDS Church and that the building will need $2 million in renovations begs the question. Weren’t there less expensive building alternatives for a new Pomfret Town Hall?

SOR members spread out and moved about the meeting room but several individuals joined me as we engaged with representatives from the County Health Department. To their credit, Jessica Wuerstle and Natalie Whiteman agreed to be recorded as they calmly and politely answered questions.

While I was speaking with Wuerstle, Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson reached into the group to give me a nudge and a smile. I took this to mean that Ferguson wanted to chat with me but I was unable to do so during the meeting to ask him some important questions. I did call him at 9:30 a.m. on July10 o ask my questions. Ferguson did not take my call. I left a message after listening to his pleasant recorded voice saying that calls were important to him and he would call right back. If Ferguson didn’t want to chat, why would he push me and smile? I also have to wonder how the mayor would respond to me if I did the same to him?

When asked about the loan that the county has given the NCWD, Pomfret Town Supervisor and NCWD Chairman Dan Pacos refused to answer questions on camera. To his credit, Pacos did respond to several follow up emails. He admitted in these emails to not knowing the details of the loan the county gave to the NCWD. Pacos promised to email the requested information as soon as he researched it. The Chairman of the NCWD was not able to provide me with the details of the county’s loan to the NCWD in time for the submission deadline of this article.

Village Trustee Paul Wandel also refused to answer questions on camera about the county’s loan to the NCWD. Wandel did write about this loan in a recent OBSERVER commentary. When pressed on the issue, Wandel ran to Allison Vento and told me to ask her. As Vento politely asked not to be recorded but agreed to answer questions, Wandel made monkey shines for the camera. That’s how serious Trustee Wandel takes important financial questions from the public.

While speaking with Vento she stated that she wasn’t sure how much the county’s loan to the NCWD was for, somewhere between $4 million and $5 million. She also stated that none of the loan has been repaid and will not be repaid until the NCWD projects are completed. This contradicts Wandel’s OBSERVER commentary in which he stated that ” the NCWD is actively paying back the county over time. A number of factors have delayed payments including COVID.” When I looked for Wandel to respond to this contradiction, he was nowhere to be found.

Shouldn’t the Chairman of the NCWD Pacos and the Administrative Director of North Chautauqua Water and Sewer Districts Vento know the details of the loan that the county has given to the NCWD?

While speaking with Wuerstle, she was asked if the sediment at the bottom of the reservoir had been tested for toxic levels of arsenic. She responded on camera the sediment has not been tested. Yet Trustee Ben Brauchler wrote in his commentary that the sediment at the bottom of the reservoir is so toxic that if removed it would have to be taken to a toxic waste site. How does Brauchler know this if the sediment has never been tested?

The CHD stated that the village water treatment plant produces 1.3 million gallons per day. The number of gallons produced each day at the treatment plant has been reported by treatment plant operators to be 850,000 gallons per day.

It was stated at two different stations that adding Fredonia to the NCWD would bring down the cost of water for NCWD users. But will Fredonians pay more for water when forced to join the NCWD?

To his credit a LaBella representative allowed himself to be recorded answering questions. But he appeared to be clueless when asked how the reduced water pressure in the proposed NCWD project would affect building fire sprinkler systems which are currently engineered for the high water pressure in Fredonia’s gravity fed system.

It was stated the three Fredonia inter-municipal water connects, one on Vineyard Drive and connected to the city of Dunkirk, and two on Route 20 connected to the NCWD are operational for emergency use. The CHD does not consider boil water orders water emergencies. And these connects can not be used unless the Fredonia reservoir is completely dry.

It was also stated these interconnects could not be used to supply water to Fredonia while maintenance is done on the reservoir. Why were the interconnects constructed in the first place? Are the Route 20 interconnects actually operational?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to make the interconnects operational, use them while work is done to the village’s dam, WTP and reservoir than to pump lake water five miles uphill? And if it is not cheaper then village officials should show the public the costs involved.

It was stated at two stations that Fredonia’s water pressure is too high and damaging to household appliances. How many Fredonia residents have complained about damaged appliances or complained that the water pressure in the village is too high?

We were shown that studies going back 50 years recommended that the reservoir be dredged on a regular basis. These studies didn’t appear to mention toxic levels of arsenic in the sediment. And none of those studies recommended pumping lake water five miles up hill and decommissioning the reservoir. So let’s make it happen and start dredging.

Then we were told that the reservoir could not be dredged because a road would need to be constructed in order to bring in the equipment necessary to do so. If building this road is even necessary, without estimates of the cost of building the road and dredging, how can it be determined that dredging the reservoir is cost prohibitive?

We were told that the reservoir could not be dredged in parts over time because the sediment that took decades to accumulate would quickly refill the dredged areas.

The Health Department gave information on the capacity of the reservoir which contradicts capacity information that former Trustee Jon Espersen received from experts at SUNY Fredonia, who also claim to have measured the reservoir’s capacity. Which experts are we to believe?

The department states that the lower intake valve at the reservoir is in the sediment layer at the bottom of the reservoir. The village recently announced that both the upper and lower intake valves have been replaced. It seems unlikely that such work could have been done for the lower intake valve if it was buried in sediment.

Two different stations were critical of the LaBella Engineering studies. It was stated that the studies contained inaccurate information and left out important and expensive project details such as the need and cost to demolish the water treatment plant and the need and cost to dredge the reservoir. Why was LaBella paid more than $200,000 for inaccurate and incomplete studies? Why were they not asked to present updated and accurate studies? Why wasn’t another engineering firm asked for an estimate and a presentation on the proposed water projects? Why is LaBella being used as the lead agency of this project if they lack the experience and the attention to detail to do the project?

There are many, many more unanswered questions, scenarios and contradictions to consider. Honestly, it gets quite tiresome writing about Fredonia’s water woes. I am sure it gets tiresome reading about the village’s foibles. But that is what all these politicians and agencies are counting on. They are counting on a public that is mostly too preoccupied with their personal lives to care about Fredonia’s water. That is until there is a water main break or a boil water order or a ridiculous increase in taxes or water rates. They are counting on a public that is so frustrated with main breaks and boil orders that citizens will jump at a perceived quick fix without considering all the details, facts and exorbitant cost. The mayor and two trustees, the county, the NCWD, LaBella, the County Health Department and the Town of Pomfret are also hoping that the sizable number of citizens who stand in opposition to their water plan will grow tired, give up and go away. That ain’t happening.

Too many cooks in Fredonia’s water soup have created an expensive distasteful broth, the ingredients of which are impossible to determine. In a previous column I stated that this whole Fredonia water issue centers around trust. I have a hard time trusting elected officials and appointed public servants who refuse to answer simple and important questions on camera. I have a hard time believing public officials who contradict themselves and each other. I have a hard time trusting engineers and public officials who don’t know the answers to important questions that are vital to estimating the cost of their water project. I have a hard time trusting the village government that silences citizens because those taxpayers keep asking unanswered questions. I have a hard time trusting municipalities that harp on following rules and regulations but hold a public meeting in a building with numerous code violations. How about you?