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Gouverneur, Potsdam, Brasher Falls, others in North Country to receive $60+ million for dozens of projects

Posted 12/11/14

Revised at 3:50 p.m. Dec. 11, 2014 The North Country Regional Economic Development Council is to receive more than $60 million in support of dozens of project proposals, according to an announcement …

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Gouverneur, Potsdam, Brasher Falls, others in North Country to receive $60+ million for dozens of projects

Posted

Revised at 3:50 p.m. Dec. 11, 2014

The North Country Regional Economic Development Council is to receive more than $60 million in support of dozens of project proposals, according to an announcement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo this afternoon.

Gouverneur, Potsdam, Brasher Falls, Wanakaena, Fine and Clfton are among the communities in St. Lawrence County to receive funds for a variety or projects.

Highlights of these projects include:

· $1.2 million to the Omni Development Corporation, for renovation of buildings in Potsdam creating a mixed-use center of creativity, including housing, office space, and Regional Arts and Interactive Learning (RAIL) non-profit partners. RAIL is the first mixed-use venue to provide arts, learning and living experiences and advanced opportunities to residents of the North Country. The benefits impact all areas of commerce, education and life. This “solution-driven” project, framed around two revitalized historic buildings in Potsdam, includes STEAM K-12 learning spaces, art gallery and studios, a “virtual learning hub,” artists’ business incubators, “quality living units” and graduate student housing.

· $5 million to the Development Authority of the North Country to establish the North Country redevelopment fund for loans to assist “transformational” redevelopment, rehabilitation, revitalization, blight cleanup, and infrastructure projects in the North Country.

· $2 million for a modernization project at an Agri-Mark manufacturing facility. The project will involve the demolition and construction of a new facility as well as replacing all of the major existing equipment necessary to make cheese. The new facility will handle approximately 1.5 million pounds of milk per day, which is about 20 percent more than current capacity.

Other projects and programs in St. Lawrence County slated to receive development funding under the program include:

• $600,000 to replace an aging undersized water main in the Village of Gouverneur, along with interconnections, new valves and hydrants throughout the village

• $501,000 for the Raquette River Blueway Corridor Waterfront Revitalization Initiative, in St. Lawrence, Franklin and Hamilton counties, including the Village of Potsdam's and other Raquette River communities' plan to advance the Raquette River Corridor Blueway Trail Plan and the Tupper Lake Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Strategy. Projects include construction of the Downtown Riverwalk in Potsdam and construction of a canoe launch at Piercefield Town Beach

• $160,000 for Tri-Town Packing in Brasher Falls, for equipment upgrades and building

improvements to the USDA meat processing facility

• $125,000 for reconstruction of the Wanakena Footbridge, virtually destroyed by ice last January

• $94,230 for CITEC, Inc., based in Potsdam, for training of 48 long-term unemployed workers from throughout the region as certified production technicians, including safety, manufacturing processes, quality systems, and maintenance awareness

• $75,000 to the towns of Fine and Clifton for their Waterfront Revitalization Strategy, including streetscape and access improvements in the hamlets of Fine, Cranberry Lake and Star Lake; construction of a Route 3 corridor boat wash station; and promotion of the regional wilderness tourism brand

• $30,000 for an engineering report on the Village of Gouverneur's planned addition of effluent disinfection at the wastewater treatment plant

• $30,000 for an engineering report to evaluate extending the Town of Waddington's sewage collection system

• $12,500 for a City of Ogdensburg Fort La Presentation Visitors Center feasibility study

• $1,185,000 to the Omni Development Corporation, for renovation of buildings in Potsdam creating a mixed-use center of creativity, including housing, office space, and Regional Arts and Interactive Learning (RAIL) non-profit partners

• $30,000 for wastewater engineering planning in Colton

• $30,000 for wastewater engineering planning in Potsdam.

This is the fourth annual round of development awards to competitive regional funding proposals.

After being declared a “top performer” in the presentation of its plan in the first three annual rounds of the economic development program, the North Country Regional Economic Development Council, whose member counties are St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Franklin, Clinton, Essex and Hamilton, did not achieve that honor this time.

The first three rounds of the regional council awards grahted more than $2 billion to more than 2,200 job creation and community development projects across the state, supporting the creation or retention of more than 130,000 jobs, according to a press release from Gov. Cuomo’s office.

During Round IV, members from the 10 regional councils traveled to Albany to make in-person presentations of their proposals to the Strategic Implementation Assessment Team. Over the course of two days, the SIAT, which is composed of State agency commissioners and policy experts, heard from representatives of each of the councils directly, reviewed the progress being made on projects that have previously received state funding, and assessed the regions’ strategic plan implementations and proposals for funding in 2014.

The news release from the governor's office says the North Country award amounts to $63.4 million for 69 projects.

Another document released today by the state puts the figures at $60.8 million for 81 projects.

A list of the awrds announced today, from that second document, can be found at https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/REDCAwardsBooklet2014.pdf