By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – A zoning change would be required if Ogdensburg agrees to allow a Canadian company to bring family entertainment center into the former Newell building.

The property is currently zoned as industrial and would need to be zoned commercial before any deal could move forward.

City Councilor William Hosmer, who is on the negotiating team, said the Economic Committee met and sent a modified agreement to Vollundur ‘Wally’ Thorbjornsson and Richard Peskett, before.

“The Economic Committee met before Christmas and reviewed his offer. We sent back our conditions/changes and the paperwork to apply for a PPD. The property is not zoned correctly so his next step would be to apply for the PPD district,” he said.

Thorbjorosson, is a developer and Peskett, operates Silonki Inc., a family entertainment business in Smiths Falls Ontario. The two submitted a brief business plan to the city in November. The plan includes the purchase of the former Newell Building and St. Joseph’s nursing home.

Peskett said he would model this business after his Ontario center and hoped it would include paintball, mini golf, combat training, laser tag and a firing range.

Peskett said he could begin bringing professional paintball teams into the area as soon as February if the city accepts his proposal and from there he said the business will grow to provide a wide variety of entertainment for St. Lawrence County. He added that equipment could be shared between his two businesses, which would keep both facilities fresh.

He said the closest paintball arena to the Ottawa market is in Montreal, and that people will travel to Ogdensburg for training, practice and tournaments. He said Ogdensburg’s facility would actually be the biggest arena in the north east.

Peskett said the business would create jobs for locals and be a boon to businesses. He estimated a small professional paintball tournament could provide an economic impact of more than $500,000 to the area. Peskett also said that he is excited about tapping into the New York market. He said New York contains a population comparable to the size of his entire country, and that he is confident people will make the trip when he brings in celebrities and professionals.

Hosmer said he can’t release details regarding the negotiations, but expects the board will be talking with the developers soon.