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Two Fredonia trustees had some pushback for Chautauqua County Health Department members after its presentation about the village's water system problems this week.
While Trustee David Bird was worried mostly about the cost of fixing the problems, Trustee James Lynden had a longer list of concerns -- and repeated his long-running accusation that the county-backed North County Water District is determined to take over Fredonia's water system.
Bird spoke first, stating village officials were told that recent engineering studies were necessary for grants, but Health Department officials just said it was time to stop doing studies and focus on actual fixes.
"To make this stuff better, the only way it's going to happen is money. Without these engineering studies, how does that happen?" Bird asked.
"My understanding is, you do not need engineering studies to get money from the state. You need engineering plans," replied Natalie Whiteman of the Health Department. "You need concrete action for next steps in order to be able to apply for money."
Bird then complained that although the water problems have been issues for years, the state has not offered any monetary assistance for them.
"As far as them coming down to help, you got to have plans in place," Whiteman said. "And when I talk plans, I mean a drawing that shows how you're going to fix something and how you're going connect to something new, not just a report that says, 'oh, we've identified the storage tank is an issue and we need to address it.' "
Bird wondered if the Health Department could assist the village with finding state grants if the plans are in place, which he said would occur with engineering firm LaBella's current study of Fredonia water infrastructure.
"Essentially, if we were to go to the state and say 'Hey, this is the situation,' really what they're going to return back to us is, 'Well, they're in no different position than every village, town, municipality has ever been,'" replied Lacey Wilson, deputy director of the health department. "The onus is on part of the village to have put in place that asset planning, looking at values, reimbursement rates and things like that over time, and having adjusted that.
"Now for your sake, you had no skin in that game," she continued. "The county executive (PJ Wendel) has been very vocal in saying that we will pull our leverage in terms of helping find grants and other funds that could be available for water infrastructure at the federal level as well."
Wendel was in the audience and rose to spoke soon after Wilson's statement.
"I'm going to put a big question out to you," he said to Fredonia officials. "Six million dollars is money? What's a $20 million, $30 million lawsuit from somebody sick or dying from contaminated water? To me, very little. ... To me, spending the money however the village has to come up with that, that's a hard task because everybody before you hadn't dealt with that. The five of you (trustees) and the mayor are the ones putting their foot down, stepping up and making a decision."
He also commented that Fredonia's water system was supposed to be a self-sustaining revenue setup but "somewhere, that hasn't happened. The money came in, but it never got invested back into the system. That's why you see the deficiencies we have here."
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A little later in the lengthy conversation, Lynden spoke up.
"The village has always had the safety and the health, and of course the economy, at the top of everything at heart," he said. "But I'm a little concerned with the fear factor here you're creating."
Lynden stated a January 2022 study found the village has adequate water supply and storage under existing conditions. He said he appreciated that the county was willing to help, "but I talked to our (water plant) supervisor (Luis Fred) and many of these violations have already been addressed."
Lynden told Whiteman her earlier statement that the village had done nothing to upgrade the system since 2008 was "completely false."
He said, "Millions of dollars were spent at that plant to make many, many, many upgrades. These were not small upgrades, they were very large upgrades and replacements."
Whiteman shot back that one of the new clarifiers is currently being operated with a garden hose.
"I want the public to understand this is definitely something we take serious," Lynden said not long after.
Wilson said to him, "I personally appreciate your diligence and all of the notes, and that shows you are really thoughtful about the situation, which we all appreciate. …We're here in the interest of promoting and preventing further issues. These are very evidence based, factual items, that have come up not just from our inspections, but also from the inspections from the state."
She asked Lynden what his "hesitation" was about.
Lynden complained the North County Water District was not holding up its end of a 2020 agreement because it did not hook up a water tank that Fredonia could use for storage.
"You can't put the onus back on the county and say the North County Water District did not hook up to our system," Wendel said. "And if so, the North County Water District has been meeting regularly since its inception. This is the first time I've heard of this."
Mayor Douglas Essek asked Lynden to make his point. "Why are we really, really here, is the point. I've looked at the county budget for the North County Water District. They need customers desperately," he said.
Wilson said, "We are not here with any position… the main goal that we are here for is addressing a comprehensive laundry list with the infrastructure of the water system that poses major threats to your public's health."
She added to Lynden, "Respectfully, all of the things you have pointed out are very specific and almost cherry-picked things that have happened. This is a comprehensive-level issue."
"I just want to make sure the public understand that when you talk about lawsuits and fear of what could possibly happen, our water is safe to drink today," Lynden said.
Wilson asked to speak with Lynden directly. "It's not hesitation working with the (county and state health departments), there's no hesitation whatsoever," Lynden said. "It's whether we're being forced into moving forward with the North County Water District."