What good is a village if it doesn’t look after the safety and well-being of its citizens?

We’re sure 10 Celoron residents on Butler Avenue and Seventh Street are asking themselves that question after waiting three years for the village to figure out the best way to help the residents get water service.

Celoron Mayor Scott Schrecengost has brought the issue up at Village Board meetings several times since the residents’ brought it to the Village Board’s attention in August 2014, though we note the water line discussions don’t appear in Village Board minutes at all in the last year since July 11, 2016, when Schrecengost updated board members on his discussions with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities. The matter was a regular topic of discussion through 2014 and 2015.

Having discussions is good. Having a solution is better, and no better option has come up for the village to fix this water problem than extending BPU water service. The project will cost between $75,000 and $90,000. We know state Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and state Sen. Catharine Young, R-Olean, are working on ways to help, and that help will surely be appreciated. But the Village Board could have taken care of this problem itself over the past two years. In 2015, the village issued $128,000 in serial bonds to purchase a dump truck with a snow and ice package. In 2016, the village issued serial bonds to buy another similar truck for $96,000. Both bond issues would have paid for the water line extension and provided water to taxpaying residents.

The time for discussions is over. Village officials didn’t bat an eye spending more than $200,000 to buy new trucks. They should do what is necessary, as soon as possible, to extend water service to residents of Butler Avenue and Seventh Street. We have no doubt the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and Jamestown City Council will be good neighbors if they are asked. They’re just waiting for the request.