Back in March 2015, Dunkirk officials came to a special Fredonia Village Board meeting to discuss an upgraded water interconnect. Discussions centered on a 20-inch water main that would run from the existing tank on Willowbrook Avenue in the city and connect with an existing 24-inch line on Water Street via Central Avenue.

During the gathering, the proposal at the time was an effort to help both entities. “Right now, there’s (a 6-inch) interconnect between Dunkirk and Fredonia through the Main Street pump station, but it’s not sized to handle all the needs of Fredonia, and likewise, if Dunkirk ever needed an emergency supply from Fredonia, it wouldn’t be suitable for that,” Engineer August Maas explained at that event. “It’s limited in its capacity and I think we’ve seen the incidents over the years where that’s created a problem”

Since that time, Dunkirk’s water plant upgrades have outpaced those improvements at Fredonia. What happened in late February, however, remains inexcusable. No county entity has more crises with drinking water than Fredonia.

All those incidents – five boil-water orders since 2009 – create chaos for numerous local restaurants, businesses and one of the largest employers in the region, the State University of New York at Fredonia. Those elected in recent years have remained stubborn about the issue despite the hardship it creates.

Recently, it has been documented – in Fredonia’s own budget – the water system is running in the red, even with the high rates residents are currently paying. If the board is stubborn in not shutting the system down, at least have better back-up plans to serve residents and major users.

These 2015 plans need to be revisited to better serve the communities. If there’s another village emergency – and judging by the history there will be – it is better to have some options than to just keep saying sorry.