One set of numbers are in for the restoration of the Waverly Village Hall and we are still waiting for the final numbers for the renovation of the former Ithaca Street School or the construction of a new village hall complex.
    However, the one thing that we are certain of is that the final decision on this issue should be made by the residents of the Village of Waverly through a public vote.
    The residents of the Village of Waverly are going to be paying for this project, regardless of what form it takes.
    But in order for village taxpayers to make the most informed decision on these issues, all the information regarding all of these options must be presented.
    Which means that the rhetoric must end.
    What do we mean by this? Simply put, a village trustee was quoted in the pages of this newspaper as stating that the renovation of the former Ithaca Street school to accommodate the village hall offices would cost $3 million more than the cost of restoring the village hall, but offered no substantiation to that claim.
    We know what the restoration of the village hall will cost, and we know how that information was obtained. We know nothing about the costs associated with a renovation of the former Ithaca Street school — or for that fact, even the construction of a new village hall building — as the village hall options committee has not put forth their report to the village trustees.
    To throw out unsubstantiated numbers amounts to fear-mongering. It fits into the perception that the restoration of the village hall is what is best for the residents of Waverly.
    The voters of the Village of Waverly may feel otherwise, but they need all the information about all the options available before it can make that decision.
    We need to see all the options, the costs associated with those options and how those numbers were developed. We need more information.
    To pick a number out of the air without any information to back it up is a prime example of not doing what is in the best interests for the taxpayers that the village trustees are sworn to work for.
    The time for rhetoric is over. The options committee needs to present its report to the village trustees. Then this entire subject regarding the village hall needs to go to the residents of the Village of Waverly for a public vote, and the village trustees need to follow through with whatever choice the voters make.
    This issue has dragged on long enough. It is time for it to end once and for all. The residents need to vote on it.