By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Village Board of Trustees voted 4-1 to approve a new water and sewer hookup fee schedule that charges village residents 50 percent of the total cost of labor, equipment and materials.

But the vote didn’t come before objections from members of the public and the dissenting trustee, Francis Carvel.

“We didn’t do the best we could for the people of Massena,” Carvel said prior to the vote.

The board changed the law because of a state supreme court ruling from Judge David Demarest that said the old way was illegal. It charged a flat rate, depending on how far the main was from the curb.

Massena residents Joel Grigg, R. Shawn Gray and Joe Macaulay each said they feel the new law double-charges residents for the service.

“Why are we going to charge the homeowner for the labor if they’re (Department of Public Works employees) already on the books?” Grigg said, who later added that he thought the change was a good idea, except for that issue.

Gray, who is also running on the Republican ticket for village trustee, said since the water and sewer system is rate-driven, not tax-driven, it shortchanges those who are already paying into the system.

“If you’re a rate-payer, you’re paying into the system,” Gray said. He said he feels that since the law charges 100 percent to people outside the village, it isn’t fair to ratepayers outside the village, just as it isn’t fair to rate-payers in the village whose payments subsidize non-rate-payers inside the boundary.

He said the 100-percent charge to those hooking into village water and sewer outside the village limits could stifle development.

Carvel was angered because he felt the board could have found a legal backdoor around changing the law as they did, but made no effort.

“Any other law we can change it, mold it to fit our needs,” Carvel said. “Government at all levels is no longer working for the people, it’s working against the people.”

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld asked village attorney Matthew McArdle if there was any type of grandfather clause, but he told him there wasn’t.

He also takes issue with the law because it could have a harder impact on older areas of town, where the water and sewer lines are older and further down. Those areas of town are also some of the poorest.

“This is going to hurt the people who can afford it least,” he said. “People don’t realize in some parts of town, the sewers are 20 feet deep.”