By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The town may take over a water treatment plant at the former Alcoa East site.

Town Supervisor Joe Gray said they could use it to provide service to the plant if a tenant were to move in, the border crossing and the RACER site, formerly General Motors.

“Alcoa is looking at a transfer that would be very favorable to the town, in terms of finances,” Gray said. “It would give us some potential to provide water to, if there’s ever a tenant at the old Alcoa East plant … If there’s ever a redevelopment at the RACER site, you’d have a customer there.”

“I don’t know how we can turn this down. I mean this is a no brainer,” Councilman Albert Nicola said.

Councilman Sam Carbone said he is supposed to tour the facility but hasn’t yet done so.

“We have to see what’s ahead in terms of maintenance … see what they have for contracts,” he said.

Highway Superintendent Frank Diagostino didn’t advise against the transaction, but suggested approaching it with caution.

“You’ve just got to keep in mind if you take over a facility like that, you’ve got to have maintenance, operation,” he said. “It should run forever, but you’ve got to have someone to do that and understand it.”

Gray said Alcoa contracts for the maintenance, which is usually “about 2 days a week of work there.”

He said the water pumps are the same ones installed in 1958.

“They’re functioning, but they’re pretty old,” Gray said.