By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- The two damaged gearboxes from the village’s East Dam plant that have been in Delaware will be coming back to the village as the work to revive electricity production approaches.

In 2015, the plant was shut down after mechanical problems were detected in the turbines’ gearboxes.

A first attempt at repair failed, and the gearboxes were taken to Philadelphia Gear in Delaware, which was asked to inspect the damaged units

Since then they have been sitting at the Philadelphia Gear shop as the company waited for instructions. Last year they asked either for a contract to do the repairs or for the village to take them back, as they didn’t feel they could afford to store them.

The village said last September they would arrange for their return since they did not think they could settle on financing, bids and contracts by the company’s deadline for initiating storage charges.

Now that financing appears to be set, the New York Power Authority, which is helping with financing and will manage the project, will decide whether to repair them or get new ones.

“That doesn’t mean NYPA won’t send them back down to be fixed, but in the meantime they can’t afford to store them. It will be easier to just bring them back for now,” Thompson said at the time.

Meanwhile the village worked on a plan and financing to get the plant back making electricity again.

Recently there was some miscommunication between hydropower repair specialists Maine Industrial of Augusta, Maine, and Philadelphia Gear, where the gearboxes sat. The Maine company had told Philadelphia Gear that the equipment should not be sent back to Potsdam, but that was wrong. No decision had been made on the work and where it would be done.

“Luckily Philadelphia Gear was good enough to call me first,” Thompson said Wednesday.

He said LaValle Transport would be bringing the gearboxes back to the village soon.

Thompson said the difference between getting them refurbished and buying new units might be about $20,000, and in the course of spending $1.8 million in total estimated cost, it might very well be worth it to get new ones when the “warrantee versus no-warrantee” factor is considered.