By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Town Council on Wednesday approved spending $1,400 and $800 per show, respectively, for two professional anglers to market the town at national sporting conventions.

The board approved paying Don Meissner $1,400 per show and Chris Flint $800 per show.

Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said the disparity is because the flat fee is based on what they submitted last year for mileage reimbursement, meals and lodging. Some of the shows they attended were in Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Mass.

“Meissner went to Columbus, Ohio … has typically traveled further distances … so his travel distances have been greater … and he did more shows than Flint did as well,” Gray said, adding that they will recalculate the fee next year.

“How will this look in an audit?” Councilman Samuel Carbone asked.

“That’s why we’re doing the flat fee … we think the agreements will cover it for that,” Gray said.

Last year, the board signed a sponsorship deal with Flint. He has Town of Massena logos on his boat and truck, and represents the town at shows.

“When we signed with Chris, I thought this was part of that agreement, not just ‘Massena’ on his boat and truck … I thought shows were part of that,” Councilman Thomas Miller asked.

“We still have to reimburse him for expenses … he’s not getting any additional compensation, technically it’s reimbursement for his expenses,” Gray said.

Part of the Massena display at sportsman shows is videos of Meissner, who used to host Rod and Reel Streamside, catching various species of fish on the St. Lawrence.

“Tom Miller loaned them a 40 inch flatscreen TV … show videos of someone catching fish in Massena waters,” Gray said. “If they say ‘I like to catch walleye,’ they go on the computer and bring up a video of Don catching a walleye.”

Gray said they will reach out to businesses that Flint and Meissner can suggest to people who might be interested in fishing in the area.

“We need to have a public meeting, outreach, to local businesses. There are a number of things people asked for at the local shows and we weren’t able to say ‘yes, business A does this’,” he said.

There is also a Massena fishing website under development.

“We continue to work on the fishing website, fishmassenanewyork.com, it is not complete but it is indeed functioning,” he said.