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Mayor Doug Essek was not part of the trustee gathering on Monday.
Monday evening’s special meeting, which was televised only through the Fredonia Public Access Channel, said it all. When it came to the final approval of the 2021-22 village of Fredonia budget, Mayor Douglas Essek was on the outside looking in.
Seated in village hall were the five trustees while Essek joined the meeting by video. Residents, who wanted details, were nearly facing some of the same obstacles.
As of Tuesday morning, there was no agenda published on the village’s website for the previous evening’s meeting and no details regarding the budget.
Fredonia Village Hall is pictured.
So this is where local governments that are supposed to look out for the best interests of its constituents become heavy handed. Instead of looking at the significant issues such as the continuing water problems in the village of Fredonia, or the drying up of revenues from state aid to assist in the closing of the NRG power plant in Dunkirk it’s the mundane stuff that is grabbing all the attention.
Well why not? It is easier for local elected officials to sweat the small stuff than take on tough decisions.
Fredonia, for its part, is caught up in dictating fees to users specifically in the food trucks. Within the last four years, the fee was put in place to balance some of the competition between longtime eateries in the village and those making a road trip for a day or two to see some revenues.
John D’Agostino and Cameron Hurst
Chautauqua County, which does not update its COVID-19 numbers during the weekend, has surpassed 4,700 cases.
According to New York state and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, there are 4,708 positive COVID cases through Saturday. In addition, there have been three deaths linked to the virus by the state this weekend.
According to the state, 134 new cases of the coronavirus were reported on Friday and another 147 were reported on Saturday. In total, the county tested upwards of 1,000 individuals each day. The region, according to the state, has a 13.4% infection rate over a 7-day period.
Hospitalization numbers in Western New York continue to decline. Through Saturday, 507 were reported in hospitals, down from 548 on Monday. New York state reports 72% capacity for hospital beds and 64% capacity for the region’s intensive care unit.
editorial@observertoday.com
Chautauqua County, which does not update its COVID-19 numbers during the weekend, has surpassed 4,700 cases.
According to New York state and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, there are 4,708 positive COVID cases through Saturday. In addition, there have been three deaths linked to the virus by the state this weekend.
According to the state, 134 new cases of the coronavirus were reported on Friday and another 147 were reported on Saturday. In total, the county tested upwards of 1,000 individuals each day. The region, according to the state, has a 13.4% infection rate over a 7-day period.
Hospitalization numbers in Western New York continue to decline. Through Saturday, 507 were reported in hospitals, down from 548 on Monday. New York state reports 72% capacity for hospital beds and 64% capacity for the region’s intensive care unit.