After a March 30 Fredonia Village Board Meeting two members of Save Our Reservoir and I had a cordial and pleasant conversation with Trustee Ben Brauchler on the steps of Village Hall.

During that conversation I asked Brauchler what he thought of the water cost projections made by former village administrator, the late Jim Sedota, which predicted that buying water from the North County Water District would be $52 million more expensive over the next thirty years than simply upgrading the village’s water treatment plant, dam and reservoir. Brauchler admitted he never read the study that I handed to him personally. Our trustee wasn’t sure he still had a copy of the document.

On March 31, I sent Brauchler a friendly email that contained another copy of Sedota’s projections and the suggestion that Brauchler might want to meet with members of SOR to discuss Sedota’s document and other questions and concerns regarding the village’s plans to decommission the reservoir and buy water from the NCWD. Brauchler never replied to my email.

On June 9, I emailed Trustee Paul Wandel to request a meeting with him to discuss Fredonia’s water situation and other issues. Wandel never replied to my email either. On June 27, I emailed Wandel with questions about the format and details of his upcoming water presentation. After stating at a recent village board meeting that “We look forward to meeting village residents and business owners to inform, update and answer any questions about the project.” Wandel now indicates that questions from residents will not be taken at this meeting. Wandel also would not answer my questions about who would be presiding over the water meeting and why the meeting was being held in the newly located Pomfret Town Hall outside the village of Fredonia and not in the Opera House.

At the June 22, village board meeting Trustees Brauchler and Wandel voted with Mayor Ferguson to eliminate public comment at village board meetings for dubious claims of “safety reasons”. Two days later, Brauchler penned a letter to the OBSERVER “Time working against water system.” In last weekend’s edition of the OBSERVER Wandel penned a commentary, “Reconnecting the dots on Fredonia’s water.”

Wandel’s lengthy but hollow piece appeared to be in response to a column that I wrote in the Observer on May 13. It is quite convenient for Brauchler and Wandel to submit their opinion pieces after making sure that there is no longer any chance for the public to comment on and question their writing on camera at village board meetings. This must be the real safety that Brauchler, Ferguson and Wandel want. The safety to make unfounded comments and statements that can’t be fact checked in real time.

Here are replies to statements made in Brauchler’s and Wandel’s comments.

Brauchler states the project to join the NCWD will cost around $13 million. Ferguson and Wandel have stated on at least three occasions that the project will actually cost somewhere between $17 to $22 million. These folks can’t even agree as to how much this project might even end up costing, But hey, what’s an extra $4 to $9 million? Fredonia’s got the money. Right?

Brauchler also stated the Village has received more than $7 million in state grants for this project and will be bonding the rest over the next 30 years. Wandel wrote that the state has offered a 30-year $12.5 million interest free loan to help pay for the NCWD project. Have the grants mentioned actually been procured or are they pending? And here’s a news flash.

Even a 30-year $12.5 million interest free loan has to be repaid. And guess who will repay it? Fredonia taxpayers. There have been no reports at village board meetings showing the details of the trustees’ claims. What I have witnessed are dumbfounded village officials stating they have no idea how the village is going to pay for this project. Watch the May 4 village board workshop on YouTube. You will see the same.

Brauchler is correct when he states the cost of water will increase no matter what direction the village takes. But why take the more expensive route? Both LaBella Engineering reports, that were paid for with taxpayer funds, indicated that the less expensive option is to upgrade. LaBella engineer Matt Higgins stated, as recorded on camera during the spring 2024 LaBella report, that although it was less expensive to upgrade, LaBella was recommending joining the NCWD for “non-financial reasons”.

In his opinion piece Wandel says the only additional cost to the water project will be the cost of inflation. Brauchler mentioned the cost of electricity increasing yearly. Yet neither mentioned the added expense of pumping water five miles uphill with electric pumps to a reservoir that already has an ample supply of water only to use gravity to bring the water back down to the village. Does this make any sense at all? SOR members have found that the village recently spent around $26,000 in electrical costs to deliver water to customers. Dunkirk spent $240,000 on electricity while pumping water in 2024. Why pump lake water five miles uphill so that gravity can bring it back to the village when there are already millions of gallons of water at the top of that hill which gravity can move to the village for free?

Brauchler mentioned what he calls the “unsustainable nature” of Fredonia’s current water system. Wandel concurs. I sat through two LaBella reports. If the Village’s water system is unsustainable, why didn’t LaBella clearly state that instead of showing that it is less expensive to upgrade?

Brauchler and Wandel once again resort to fear mongering by stating that in an emergency Fredonia might be left with no water at all unless the village joins the NCWD. But what if the NCWD has a water emergency? Brauchler, Wandel and other NCWD supporters have stated Fredonia can no longer purchase water from Cassadaga’s plentiful water supply in emergency circumstances because of changes in state watershed boundaries and regulations. A well informed former Cassadaga village official has indicated that this is not true.

More fear mongering claims were made in their articles when they wrote about erosion taking the water treatment plant over the cliff and into the reservoir ravine. But just a few weeks ago, as a cost saving measure, LaBella and the County Health Department suggested that the WTP did not need to be demolished were it to be decommissioned. It could simply be fenced in and left to rot. If the WTP is in danger of falling into Canadaway Creek, shouldn’t it be dismantled in a timely fashion? And why wasn’t this mentioned in the Labella reports that cost taxpayers more than $200K? If the WTP is a liability to the village now, it will remain so in the future. Either LaBella and the County do not have Fredonia’s best interests in mind or the erosion scare tactic is overblown. Both statements are likely true.

The fear mongering continued as Brauchler and Wandel wrote about the capacity of the reservoir, the sediments at the bottom of the reservoir, the need to dredge and the toxicity of the dredging. How about some proof from Brauchler, Wandel and company that the reservoir lacks the capacity to meet demand and that the reservoir actually needs to be dredged?

When the Town of Pomfret pulls out of their contract to buy water from Fredonia to go with the NCWD, demand for water will decrease. As for the total capacity of the reservoir, the only volume of water that is accessible for use at the WTP is the water above the intake pipes. What is the depth of the water above and below the WTP intake pipes? Unless the sediment fill is rapidly approaching the level of the intake pipes, the loss of capacity below is inconsequential. The water below the intake pipes is inaccessible to the water treatment plant anyway. Does the reservoir really need to be dredged to maintain sustainable capacity? And if the sediment is approaching the level of the intake pipes would it really be necessary to dredge the entire reservoir or could just the area under and around the the intake pipes be dredged? Water does flow to the lowest point in a vessel.

At a recent village board meeting I asked Wandel on camera how deep the reservoir actually is? His response was, “It varies”. Not a very scientific answer Mr. Wandel.

Brauchler claimed that there are high enough levels of arsenic in the sediment at the bottom of the reservoir to require it being taken to a toxic waste site if removed from the reservoir. But Brauchler and company don’t even know if the reservoir needs to be dredged. And no one has seen reports on testing done to the sediment that would indicate high levels of arsenic at the reservoir bottom.

Brauchler said that he has seen estimates that the cost of dredging the reservoir would be $20 million. Is that for dredging the entire reservoir? Have those estimates been shared with the public or are we once again asked to take Trustee Brauchler and company’s word on this? Questions about the depth of the reservoir and the need for dredging have been asked in public and have either been shut down or ignored.

Brauchler stated that the WTP doesn’t handle high turbidity well. But at a recent board meeting Trustee Wandel stated that under his oversight the turbidity issue has been resolved. Wandel also reported that the new chlorination system paid for with half a million dollars of our taxpayer money is working extremely well. What is to be done with this brand new $500k chlorination system once Fredonia is buying water from the NCWD? Can it be sold or repurposed?

Wandel’s piece of writing was especially interesting when he attributed to me comments made by former DPW chief David Bird about fixing the village’s infrastructure in order to reduce boil water orders. Wandel is a supporter of reinstating Bird and yet he pens in his op ed that fixing the infrastructure will not reduce boil orders. Is Mr. Bird incorrect, Trustee Wandel? It was also quite interesting that Bird attended the June 22nd village board meeting with the intention to speak about his dismissal as DPW chief. But Wandel, Ferguson and Brauchler voted to remove the public comment session from board meetings before Bird could speak. Irony anyone?

Brauchler finished his fear mongering by stating that the dam at the reservoir is unsafe. Why wasn’t this mentioned in the LaBella reports? And if the dam is actually unsafe, it will have to be tended to regardless of whether the WTP is decommissioned and the level of the reservoir is drawn down. If the dam, water treatment plant and reservoir will have to be maintained by the village, even if water is bought from the NCWD, why not just upgrade and keep the whole system operational?

Concerned citizens are not conspiracy theorists or dangerous out of control disrupters of village board meetings. We simply want proof from our village government that they have considered and addressed all of our questions and concerns regarding the village’s plan to spend money we don’t have on a water project they have yet to prove that we need.

Brauchler, Wandel and Ferguson removed public comment from village board meetings for “safety reasons’. What they didn’t tell you is the safety they were seeking was the safety from having to answer these questions and more on camera at village board meetings as recorded and posted on YouTube.

In the end the whole issue comes down to trust. Who do you trust to handle village water resources, Fredonians? Do you trust village government that used your hard earned tax dollars to pay for two studies that show it’s less expensive to upgrade Fredonia’s current water system but chose the more expensive plan to join the NCWD ? Can you trust village officials who contradict themselves and each other during recorded village board meetings? Do you trust a government who tells you to call them but won’t return phone calls? Can you trust trustees who do not respond to emails? Do you trust the people who gave you a more than 50% tax increase last year with more to come this year and beyond? Do you trust a mayor and trustees who signed a wastewater contract that undercharges the towns of Pomfret, Portland and Dunkirk ? Can you trust village government that has removed public comments from village board meetings so that villagers won’t hear about such things? Do you trust the village government that refuses to state who is presiding over their informational water meeting and why this important meeting about Fredonia’s water plans is being held at the newly located Pomfret Town Hall outside the village and not in the Opera House? Can you trust a trustee who states at a village board meeting that residents will have their questions answered at this water meeting but quietly states later off camera that questions from the public will not be taken?

Watch recorded village board meetings. Come to Wandel’s water meeting. Try to ask questions. Observe how Wandel, Brauchler and Ferguson appear, act and speak at all these meetings. Decide for yourselves who you can trust with one of Fredonia’s most important decisions in half a century.

Andrew Ludwig is a retired math teacher and a retired public school and Catholic school administrator. He currently works as a substitute teacher in Chautauqua County.