By JIMMY LAWTON

The signatories of the New York Power Authority’s relicensing agreement are being urged by negotiators to sign off on the offer, despite the fact members of the group say they don’t like it.

In question is the fate of the St. Lawrence-FDR power project agreement, which would end a lengthy review of the 2003 contract that allows NYPA to generate hydroelectric power in the St. Lawrence River.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that all of the parties involved in the (Local Government Task Force) would like a different deal. What has come forward is something, and something is better than nothing,” Massena Town Supervisor Joseph Gray, who chairs the task force, said.

St. Lawrence County Legislature Chairman Joseph Lightfoot agreed.

“Are we happy with the deal? Absolutely not,” he said. “But what’s the alternative?”

Gray said the task force lacks leverage to bargain a better deal. He said a lack of support from elected state officials and even less support by the local media have left the task force operating with one “hand behind its back.” He said a recent editorial in the Watertown Daily Times actually characterized the task force as greedy in its negotiations.

Gray said the state has been spending money in Western New York for the past decade while the North Country has been hung out to dry.

“The state has dumped billions into Buffalo and Western New York and allowed a few crumbs to drop from the table to the North Country,” he said. “It’s kind of sad and disappointing.”

Gray credited Western New York’s success in obtaining financial gains to strong support from the media and state officials.

“Simply put, we don’t have that here,” he said.

NYPA spokesman Steven Gossett said that the deal was successfully negotiated and approved after a year of negotiations and both sides agreed to it.

“The deal was negotiated in good faith. Talks were at times difficult, but ultimately they signed off on it,” Gossett said. “If they didn’t like the deal, they would have voted no,” he said.

Lightfoot said the situation is a bit more complicated than that. He said the reason the task force supports the deal, despite their displeasure, is because of a lack of perceived leverage.

“The feeling is that it’s a review, it isn’t the reopener and the Power Authority is under no obligation to essentially give us anything,” he said.

Lightfoot said an attorney who spoke at the task force meeting said it was unlikely that a different offer would be discussed, negotiated or reconsidered, if the deal is voted down.

“(The attorney) recommended we pass this. In his opinion the likelihood of them coming back to the table is nil,” he said.

Gosset said he is unsure how NYPA will proceed if the agreement isn’t passed.

“The plan is to have the current settlement agreement passed,” he said. “If they don’t, there will be a discussion of the next step of what to do.”

Although Gosset could not say what would happen next, he said the negotiations are over because the task force has approved the deal and NYPA is proceeding under the assumption the agreement will be supported by the respective communities.

Gray said the task force is similarly without a plan should the signatories shoot down the agreement.

“I don’t expect it to fail,” he said.

As to whether or not NYPA is under any obligation to provide any benefits to the communities under the review process, Gosset said there is nothing concrete.

Gosset said that the review is an opportunity to bring to light things that may have been left out of the original relicensing agreement and that NYPA has an obligation to listen to the communities.

He said the deal being offered provides many benefits for the county that were not in the original agreement. He said “intelligent advocates” of the affected communities negotiated the contract and that NYPA has a vested interested in bolstering the economy in the area where it operates.

“In the end we are hopeful other municipalities will follow in the footsteps of the Town of Waddington and pass this agreement,” he said.

One of the sticking points raised by members of the task force and the community is that the deal is not on par with a similar agreement NYPA made in western New York to generate electricity in the Niagara River.

Gosset said that in terms of power generated and the size of the population the deals are comparable. He said the Niagara project is capable of generating three times as much power as St. Lawrence-FDR project.

But some town officials say that in terms of land claimed by NYPA to generate power, St. Lawrence County was hit much harder.

Gosset said a total of 33,605 acres in St. Lawrence were claimed by NYPA for the power project, but added that NYPA equates the number to 21,635 acres, because 12,000 acres are above the high-water level.

The Niagara project uses only 3,512 acres, but Gosset the land used “doesn’t ultimately factor into the equation” in terms of the equitability of the two deals.

Lightfoot says he doesn’t believe the deals are comparable, but added that the time to negotiate the license has passed.

“They tell us the deal is equitable to the Niagara deal. It’s not. Unfortunately the boat was missed in 2003,” he said.

Over the next few weeks task force members will be reporting to their respective towns and school districts to encourage support for the plan.

Lightfoot said the county is taking a back seat to the host communities, since it is those communities who are at the forefront of the discussion.

“The majority of benefits would be going to towns and schools and villages. That’s why the county should not be out front. We should be supporting what towns villages and school boards,” he said. “Right now we are waiting to see how they vote.”