CASSADAGA — Earlier this year, a village council meeting devolved into an airing of frustration between residents and the board over an ongoing dispute. At a recent meeting, the board acknowledged mistakes were made that led to the conflict.
“At the end of the day, all of this could have been avoided with discussion and due process,” village trustee Kathy Kluver said.
Earlier this year, Valley Outdoors owner Adam Dyaté, along with resident Judith Garncalek, addressed the commission for more than 10 times the amount of time it took for public input to take place. Dyaté requested a solution to the cement blocks that were installed on his property to protect a fire hydrant from traffic.
Prior to Valley Outdoors’ opening in October 2022, the village issued a business permit without the fire hydrant being properly protected. Rather than make Diate pay for the solution, the village recognized the danger after the fact and installed cement blocks around the hydrant.
“They sent people out there, inspected it, issued permits, did all that stuff, and then came back after it was done and said they didn’t like it, so they put up the blocks,” Kluber said.
Due to personnel changes on the Cassadaga Village Board in recent years, Kluver and Board Member Dana Dubois have been on the board since Valley Outdoors opened in the fall of 2022. The remaining board members, Mayor Bill Dorman, Vice Mayor Bill Astley and Board Member Cindy Flaherty, were on the board in the lead up to Valley Outdoors’ opening.
“There was wrongdoing on both sides, so I think there should be a compromise,” Flaherty said.
Flaherty did not want to incur the expense of protecting the hydrant with an alternative solution because he had already purchased the blocks to protect the hydrant.
“Spending taxpayer money on something that’s already been paid for, doing it again, that’s something I’m against,” Flaherty said.
Flaherty also expressed concern about setting a precedent when dealing with issues related to the village’s right-of-way. She also disputed that Diatte moved the block without a permit, but Dorman noted that Diatte also failed to meet regulatory requirements for the issuance of a permit, including a required drainage plan. However, the village did not revoke Diatte’s permit.
But to Kluber and Dubois, it was all for naught. Kluber said, “They should not have bought the cement blocks without going through the proper process. … It wasn’t approved. It wasn’t the proper process.”
After cement blocks were placed on the property to protect a fire hydrant, a dispute ensued between the village and Diatte, culminating in a meeting earlier this year in which Diatte attended: “I want those ugly bricks out of the way in front of my store, and I want a decent (solution) to be worked out.”
The solution proposed by an engineer at the last meeting was to install bollards around the fire hydrants. Diate was not willing to accept any financial responsibility to address the hazard. At a recent Village Council meeting, Kluber pointed out that it was past time for the village to make such a requirement.
“During the permitting process, we had the right to tell business owners that in order to get a permit they needed to include fire hydrant protection, and we didn’t,” Kluber said.
Instead, the cement blocks were purchased by Highway Superintendent Sam Alaimo without proper Village Council approval. The village allows Alaimo to make purchases of up to $1,500 a pop without Village Council approval, but the blocks cost about $2,600.
“However it happened, it’s your problem. It’s a systemic problem that you have,” Garncalek said. “There are bigger problems that you’re suffering from, and that’s sad.”
The village didn’t know about the cost of the blocks until Diatte and Garncalek pressed for answers. Garncalek filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the village after a meeting he attended with Diatte earlier this year.
“It wasn’t voted on. The commission did not approve using taxpayer money to put those things up,” Dubois said.
“We screwed up at the permitting stage and then screwed up even more by putting money into something that could have been another $2,600 to fix the permitting failure,” Kluber said. “… We have to learn from our failures, and that was our failure.”
To resolve the issue, the commission voted 3-1 to approve paying Fox Fence $4,326.92 to install bollards around the fire hydrant. The village received two quotes for the work, but S. St. George Enterprises’ bid was the highest at $5,600.
Dorman was “on the fence” before agreeing to vote in favor of the payment. Kluber and Dubois both voted in favor, while Flaherty voted against. Astley was absent from the meeting.
“I agree with Kathy, we just want this to end,” Dubois said, “…If it’s all about protecting the hydrants, then the bollards should have been installed in the first place.”
Later in the meeting, Kluber urged the board to ask Alaimo for more transparency regarding the road department purchase. “I don’t think it would hurt to have that discussed,” Kluber said.
Dubois added, “Every other department has to submit a motion to spend. … I don’t think it’s right to come here and look at the purchase of something (cement blocks, etc.) and not even have a discussion about it.”
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