The mayor of Williamsville would like to hold a public forum this month to address residents’ questions and concerns about talk of dissolving the village.

Media reports for weeks have indicated that civic activist Kevin Gaughan plans to target Williamsville this spring as the first of his local campaigns to put the dissolution of a village on the ballot.

Over the weekend, The Buffalo News reported that the mayor of East Aurora plans to shepherd the movement to dissolve his village, generating even more talk and speculation among Williamsville residents about the future of their village.

Williamsville Mayor Mary Lowther said Monday she thinks it’s important to hold a meeting in the next couple of weeks to give residents as much information as possible.

“I want to let people know how dissolution works,” she said. “I don’t expect to change people’s minds, but I don’t want them to go into this process with no information at all.”

While the five-member Village Board is unanimous in its desire to see the village continue, some disagree about the wisdom of holding a public meeting so soon on a possible dissolution vote.

During the board’s Monday work session and public meeting, Trustee Jeffrey L. Kingsley was the most outspoken against holding a public forum so soon, saying he thought village officials would not have answers to many of residents’ questions.

He criticized Lowther and other board members for what he predicts will be an effort to persuade residents to fight to keep the village. “I think residents have the right to decide the size and type of their government,” he said. “I don’t think it’s right for the Village of Williamsville to be out there promoting its own existence.”

He cited a report presented at the work session indicating that the village’s water system has a deficit. Wayne Drescher, the village’s financial consultant, told the board the water system was $38,000 in the red as of May; by now, he estimated, the figure is probably closer to $50,000. “You need to do something pretty quickly, or you’re going to be in a larger deficit,” he said.

He urged the board to identify and prevent unbilled water losses and to consider a water rate increase. He also suggested the board talk to the Erie County Water Authority about a possible takeover or a lease-management agreement.

“Hopefully this is a wake-up call to us in regard to the water department,” said Kingsley, who added that the village’s water rate is already 40 percent higher than that of the Erie County Water Authority.