MASSENA -- The town will chip in $2,500 of the $10,000 goal for the Massena Chamber of Commerce to make a new “advertorial” map of Massena, the Town Council voted on Wednesday.

Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said the map will show “the community, what the layout looks like, our relationship to the St. Lawrence and other rivers.”

The chamber will sell ads that will be printed on the map, which will pay the other $7,500. Each ad will have a number on the map showing readers where the business is located in town, Gray said.

Councilman Tom Miller, who voted in favor of the expenditure, said he thinks the chamber should do more to promote local businesses, in line with the town board’s idea of marketing the town to tourists.

“It seems there’s a gap that’s not being brought together of the chamber and all the businesses in Massena,” Miller said. “Why isn’t our businesses and the chamber working together to have promotional stuff for these businesses?”

“The chamber will argue they do that. Not every business belongs to the chamber. They don’t want to spend the money. They don’t think they get bang for their buck. There’s a lot of reasons,” Gray said. “Membership in the past has been based on number of employees … they’ve changed their rates … They’re struggling like everybody else.

“They need to stop saying members only. We need to promote the whole community.”