It wasn’t always this way. At one time, the infighting and petty politics could be seen regularly on the Pomfret Town Board.

Not anymore. Pomfret’s board looks as though it is all business. Its neighbors, less than one block away in the village of Fredonia, have become a middle-school clique.

It is definitely a board that does not fully work together. Votes in the last two years have proven that. One trustee votes “no” on just about everything while the other board members almost unconsciously vote “yes.” “No,” we must note, is not always a bad thing when overseeing a $9 million entity.

Board members also are not receptive to residents’ concerns while it puts up meaningless legislation that has no bearing on bettering the community.

It continued with the useless roof law in the spring designed to make the village safer since so many villagers were walking around their homes’ peaks. Despite business owners coming and overwhelmingly speaking against the plan, it passed.

So much for representation.

Then last month, another business owner came to voice his concerns about consistent increases in water and sewer rates. In typical Western New York government fashion, the issues raised by the business were secondary to what the village needed.

Remember, in Fredonia, the village priorities come first. Residential and business issues are secondary.

Don’t forget, that business owner was told, Carriage House’s impending closing is why the rates have to go up.

Only a resident standing on a roof for weeks wouldn’t have known about the factory’s plight. But it brings an interesting side note of how local government operates.

In anticipation of less water usage by the facility’s closing, rates are going up to cover the high costs of running the village. That’s not how it should be.

Less water being used should mean reduced rates for customers.

But again, it’s not about the customers. It is about maintaining a village.