It is official: the Fredonia Village Board also plays the role of Scrooge during the holidays.

No matter what the cause – a regional water district, a local waterfront redevelopment plan, a contract with the town of Pomfret, the village is not cooperative. It happened again last Friday afternoon.

With the town giving its OK to a one-year fire district protection contract on Wednesday night, the village quickly called a meeting on Friday to reject it in an effort to show up the town.

Now residents of the town face the dilemma of being without fire protection on Jan. 1. A new contract must be in place before the new year.

Town board members must be thoroughly ticked after attempting to work with the obstructive villagers.

“We had a good meeting,” town board member David Penharlow said before the rejection. “We met for a couple hours and came up with an alternative to what they originally proposed. It was something the mayor (Stephen Keefe) and Trustee (Joseph) Cerrie were comfortable with, I think. This (altered contract) is not something we’ve created in a vacuum ourselves as ‘the town’s proposal.’ This is a product of a joint meeting with the village and town.”

Fredonia has failed to be neighborly again. It is no longer a surprise, but it continues to be disappointing.