By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- The two turbines in Potsdam’s second hydroelectric installation are a little closer to spinning up following recent work by a Massena engineering company.

LaFramboise Group in Massena, part of a company with its main offices in Cornwall, Ont., is helping Potsdam fit some critical parts in place.

LaFramboise employees recently ground and milled rings on runner housings to accept other parts that will sit on them. That is some help in advancing the project, nudging it closer to completion in the wake of setbacks the village has had in acquiring parts it paid for from a reluctant contractor.

Meanwhile Barrie Welding of Barrie, Ont. is balancing some cones that are a vital part of the assembly. Potsdam Village Administrator David Fenton says that could set the stage for the final assembly phase to be finished, perhaps by Feb. 1.

Much more work will remain after that, particularly electrical work to engage controls and distribute the power.

“We’re making decent progress on all fronts,” Fenton said. “We’ve got the people we need now.”

This project, at the west dam on the Raquette River at Potsdam, is the second hydroelectric development for the village.

The west dam project has been beset with years of delays, owing largely to the alleged failure of Richard Kuiper, owner of Canadian Turbines, Inc., to deliver parts that the village paid for in advance.

More recently, another delay was caused by the manufacture of defective turbine blades from another maker. The blades had to be recast.

The project is expected to supply electric power for village operations and bring in revenue from the sale of surplus power.