All the information village of Fredonia trustees needed to hear earlier this week regarding a potential change to water rates came from one of its largest customers in AgriAmerica. Three representatives from the grape-processing plant on Water Street attended the hearing to express their worries.

“As one of the largest contributors to the village of Fredonia water and wastewater system, having us pay more — I do not think we have any greater assurance the water quality will be enhanced, or reduce the downtime during our production,” said Eric Huddy, AgriAmerica’s co-founder.

Fortunately, the plan proposed by misguided Trustee James Lynden was defeated, 3-2. Lynden, who runs a business in the village, remains oblivious to how increased rates on industry — and even the State University of New York at Fredonia — translate into a hostile environment for those looking to invest in a community.

Trustees Jon Espersen, David Bird and Nicole Siracuse were absolutely correct in their votes to reject the change that aimed to remove the water and sewer base user rate while going to a graduated rate system depending on volume. That plan, devised by Lynden, wanted to charge a slightly lower rate for users of 150,000 gallons per quarter or more, ultimately saving money for lower-volume users.

That proposal, however, was short sighted. The village must take care of its largest customers — or the smaller ones will end up paying even more.

Those were the simple, yet painful lessons from the still-devastating Carriage House exit of 2015.