By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA — A Massena man who is paying a monthly water fee on a lot that he can’t develop told the village board on Tuesday that he hopes local lawmakers will change the code so that he can install a waterline.

Leonard Laneuville told the trustees on Tuesday the he pays a $6.50 monthly bill on a non-conforming lot measuring 10 feet by 33 feet.

He said even though he pays the fee, the DPW told him he can’t install a waterline on it.

“You’re not paying for a water bill, you’re paying for capital recovery costs … throughout the village,” Mayor Tim Currier told Laneuville.

Currier and Laneuville went back and forth in an exchange that became gradually more heated.

“This would be a lot easier Mr. Laneuville if you got to your point,” Currier said.

“If it’s a non-conforming lot … I’d like to change that code,” Laneuville said. “I’d just like the board to get into that”

“I’ll ask Trustee (Tim) Ahlfeld and Trustee (Matt) Lebire to look into that,” Currier said.

Earlier in the discussion, DPW Superintendent Hassan Fayad pointed out that Laneuville did have the option to develop plans and prints and go through the zoning process. However, Currier pointed out the local law would require them to deny the plans.

During public comment at the end of the meeting, a village resident and former county legislator told the board that he believes the restriction that is stopping Laneuville from developing the lot makes people weary of trusting government.

“If there is a piece of property so small it can’t be developed, why should they have to pay water and sewer bills … on something they can’t develop?” R. Shawn Gray told the board. “They see decisions made, they’re not thought out, they end up having an adverse impact” “If somebody has a 10 foot or 20 foot strip of land, I can’t believe that have to pay on that. That’s why people think their government is out of touch.”