water project

WATER PROJECT

Water Project: Mayor Says "A Lot Of Misinformation"

This has to be admitted, the mayor is right. There has been a lot of misinformation spoken and spread about the water project. Only that the misinformation is coming from the village mayor, trustees, board meetings and official website of the Village of Earlville. And all of this is verifiable. Some is in the newspapers, some is in the official minutes, and some is in the one-sided handouts. And there are many that have been personal witnesses to the misinformation spoken, but conveniently not recorded in official minutes.

Misinformation from the beginning...

FACTS: The board promised to take this project to the voters AND the project would cost around $1.5 million.

Misinformation from the village governement: Options of a $2 million, a $2.5 million, and a $3 million project was presented at public hearing of the engineering study. A $3.5 million project was voted by the board. Residents signed a petition to force the Village to take it to the people. The mayor, on behalf of the Village government, took the petition to court to fight what she said was not a "personal agenda" and not a "deliberate attempt to keep this from the voters".

Misinformation from the village governement: An engineering study was done to find out the condition of the pipes. Instead of mapping out the problem areas of the Village, the study focused on water pressures.

Misinformation from the village governement: New information keeps popping up, like the letter from the Health Department that was first mentioned publicly in NY Supreme Court. And the information on the official website of the Village of Earlville saying that a "Yes" vote does not mean the project will go forward and a "No" note does not mean the project is defeated. Confusing.

Misinformation from the village governement: Still, at the time this is written, the board still does not know how the project will be charged to the Village residents. The mayor and board remain silent on a reported $500,000 grant while the clerk says "on the record" in the public hearing that the grant is a sure thing. BUT the official website of the Village of Earlville states the project will be "initially funded pending approval of a loan and grant from USDA Rural Development..." Apparently it is not a sure thing. Misinformation.

Misinformation from the village governement: Well, the board finally voted to bring this referendum to the people, only after a rejected demand by the people and being ordered by the State to do so. And to prove what side of the issue she was on concerning the deliberate attempts to keep this from the voters, the mayor did not voice her vote. But she claims none of this was a deliberate attempt to keep this from the voters.

The people want the full story, all the information and facts, pros and cons, the bottom line in cost of taxes and water bills, not a one-sided, biased, personal agenda promotion.