In the end, it wasn't much of a contest as Depew residents overwhelmingly rejected a resolution that would have brought an end to the village. The final vote saw 3,006 showing their support of the village; only 1,165 wanted Depew to dissolve.
The resolution was brought to a vote over concerns of a rising village debt and the increasing costs associated with having 170 village workers.
"Our employees, they do a heck of a job providing the services and that's what we are: a service provider," said Mayor Jesse Nikonowicz.
"They (residents) are happy with those services an they're willing to pay for those services provided we keep things in check."
Dissolution would not have been a simple process. Many services would have been forced to merge with those in Cheektowaga or Lancaster. Those mergers provided fodder for those who went door-to-door throughout the village. They maintained that service quality would have been diminished and police response times would have been slower if Depew were to be dissolved.
An aging storm sewer system has also been plaguing village finances. Concerns over the region's water quality forced leaders to pay for upgrades.
"The costs of those mandates are the five or six million dollars that we have spent repairing our sewers."
