In March, the village of Dansville’s financial consultant with many years of experience in New York state government recommended that the village seek out the assistance of the Livingston County Water and Sewer Authority to review its water and sewer systems. The LCWSA is a public benefit corporation formed in 1995 that provides water and sewer services to several communities in Livingston County.
During the committee meeting on May 2, the board unanimously agreed to request that the LCWSA conduct a study of the village’s water and sewer systems and submit a proposal to the village regarding their management of these facilities. The board also unanimously agreed to allocate $5,000 for the study.
At the regular board meeting on May 8, the executive director of the LCWSA spoke of the components of a lease agreement, shared services, grants, transfer of the affected village employees to become county employees leased to the LCWSA and her organization’s expertise in managing water and sewer utilities. The study took over three months to complete and was presented to the public at a meeting on Aug. 20. The LCWSA came to the next committee meeting on Sept. 5 to field questions I had posed in an email as well as other questions from unidentified source.
The board was now at a starting point to thoroughly examine the issue and present all the information to the public so the community could make an informed decision together ... until six days later.
The regular board meeting on Sept. 11 was well-attended by a special interest group wanting everything to remain status quo. Reading from a prepared statement, the mayor spoke of his desire to retain “control” of the village’s water and sewer facilities. Immediately following the mayor’s comment came a motion from the deputy mayor to reject the LCWSA proposal and not allow any further discussion on this matter for another 2 years. Trustee Whitenack promptly seconded the motion.
The motion was on the floor and continued with the discussion phase which included the mayor’s request that the DPW superintendent speak on the matter. Also reading from a prepared statement, he echoed the sentiments of the mayor, deputy mayor and trustee. I continuously voiced my concerns that the board had not even discussed the issue and was in no position to act on the LCWSA proposal. My concerns were not taken into consideration which forced me to abstain from the vote.
In March, the village of Dansville’s financial consultant with many years of experience in New York state government recommended that the village seek out the assistance of the Livingston County Water and Sewer Authority to review its water and sewer systems. The LCWSA is a public benefit corporation formed in 1995 that provides water and sewer services to several communities in Livingston County.
During the committee meeting on May 2, the board unanimously agreed to request that the LCWSA conduct a study of the village’s water and sewer systems and submit a proposal to the village regarding their management of these facilities. The board also unanimously agreed to allocate $5,000 for the study.
At the regular board meeting on May 8, the executive director of the LCWSA spoke of the components of a lease agreement, shared services, grants, transfer of the affected village employees to become county employees leased to the LCWSA and her organization’s expertise in managing water and sewer utilities. The study took over three months to complete and was presented to the public at a meeting on Aug. 20. The LCWSA came to the next committee meeting on Sept. 5 to field questions I had posed in an email as well as other questions from unidentified source.
The board was now at a starting point to thoroughly examine the issue and present all the information to the public so the community could make an informed decision together ... until six days later.
The regular board meeting on Sept. 11 was well-attended by a special interest group wanting everything to remain status quo. Reading from a prepared statement, the mayor spoke of his desire to retain “control” of the village’s water and sewer facilities. Immediately following the mayor’s comment came a motion from the deputy mayor to reject the LCWSA proposal and not allow any further discussion on this matter for another 2 years. Trustee Whitenack promptly seconded the motion.
The motion was on the floor and continued with the discussion phase which included the mayor’s request that the DPW superintendent speak on the matter. Also reading from a prepared statement, he echoed the sentiments of the mayor, deputy mayor and trustee. I continuously voiced my concerns that the board had not even discussed the issue and was in no position to act on the LCWSA proposal. My concerns were not taken into consideration which forced me to abstain from the vote.
Public opinion is that the vote for this proposal should not rest in the hands of five people. When Trustee Griffith asked if the proposal would be put up for public referendum, he was answered with a resounding “NO!” Consequently, only three people determined the outcome for the entire community and the LCWSA proposal was rejected.
Trustee Griffith and I were blindsided by the events of the evening. The partisan crowd, the prepared statements, the swift motions, the absence of any board or community discussions of the proposal, and the sudden demise of the LCWSA proposal made it apparent that everything was prearranged by three members of the board and the special interest group.
Had I been part of the secret pact, I would have pointed out the hypocrisy of their motion which ties the hands of a future board, especially when this board repeatedly questioned the legality of this very issue when they felt bound by the actions of a previous board.
Nobody has all the facts and I have so many more prepared questions that remain unanswered. For example, I had intended to find out how the LCWSA could include three capital improvement projects totaling over two million dollars and still not raise the currently proposed village rates. We needed to be mindful that this endeavor was by no means about disrupting the daily operations of these plants, but rather about addressing the need to effectively and efficiently manage our water and sewer facilities.
Pat Kreiley is an elected trustee for the village of Dansville.
