The four state legislators representing St. Lawrence County expressed pride at the North Country Regional Economic Development Council’s proposals being among the four regional plans chosen to receive $40 million each in extra state funding.

With the $40 million, the total of development aid for the North Country will total $103 million.

The projects and programs to receive funding that will benefit St. Lawrence County range from nearly $10 million to refurbish a rail line serving mines and mills in Clifton to $60,000 for a lodge at Higley Flow State Park.

“I believe that this is extraordinarily good news,” said Assemblywoman Addie Russell, a Democrat from Theresa representing the 118th “River” district in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.

“I want to congratulate the members of the North Country Regional Council for their hard work and dedication, as well as to Tony Collins and Gary Douglas for their superb leadership. I look forward to getting to work to do what I can do to help put this plan into motion.”

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R-Black River) praised the council for its vision of economic rebirth throughout the seven-county region.

“This is outstanding news for the North Country,” said Blankenbush, who represents the 122nd “Foothills” district with parts of the counties of St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego and all of Lewis. “Any investment in the North Country will have a tremendous impact on this region, but this kind of capital will truly transform our economy, keeping it economically prosperous and competitive.” Blankenbush said he was grateful to the council “for all its hard work and the leadership that helped identify a cohesive and unique vision for our region’s best assets.”

“The North Country and Central New York put our best face forward, highlighting our strengths and opportunities for growth in the future,” said Senator Patty Ritchie, Republican from Heuvelton, whose 48th Senate District covers western St. Lawrence County, including Canton, Ogdensburg and Gouverneur.

“Gov. Cuomo is to be commended for devising this competition, and I was pleased to support the creation of these councils earlier this year,” Ritchie said. Gov. Cuomo announced he will be proposing another round of awards next year.

Sen. Joseph Griffo, Republican of Rome, said that the state funding award for the North Country Regional Economic Development Council represents an important step forward in the region’s efforts to revive its economy and its communities.

Griffo commended the council’s co-chairs, Clarkson University President Tony Collins and North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas, for leading the efforts that secured one of the four “Best Plan” awards statewide.

“The development of this plan represented some outstanding efforts from the private and public sector members of the regional team, and I think it is important to recognize their hard work to start from scratch and develop an outstanding regional blueprint that includes all parts of the region and also set regional priorities,” Griffo said.

“In addition to its focus on targeted economic development assistance for key job-creating projects, the plan made a very clear case that the region’s communities are in dire need of infrastructure investments to address brownfields, highway and sewer system issues that must be addressed in order to assure the long-term viability of the region.”

Griffo’s 47th District covers eastern St. Lawrence County including Massena and Potsdam.

The council’s projects in St. Lawrence County include:

• Almost $10 million to rehabilitate 46 miles of rail line in Jefferson. Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, which will serve Newton Falls Fine Paper, Benson Mines, and Slack Chemical

• $1.6 million to rehabilitate the main line and yard tracks at the Massena Terminal Railroad to bring it up to the task of handling trains from the Alcoa West plant

• $450,000 for improvements to increase capacity on the rail line between Ogdensburg and Norwood

• $760,000 for a new hangar at Massena International Airport

• $900,000 for a joint Gouverneur Village/Town water distribution system improvements which, among other things, will help Kinney Drugs headquarters and inventory storage to maintain their presence in Gouverneur. Sen. Ritchie particularly mentioned this program in her statement.

• $347,000 for waterfront and trail improvement projects in Potsdam and Canton.

Several million dollars are devoted to housing rehabilitation projects throughout the county.

The Potsdam Arts Microenterprise Grant Program will receive $100,000 to help establish businesses and create jobs.

The town of Fine and Clifton are receiving $135,000 for an assortment of projects such as streetscape plans for Cranberry Lake and Star Lake, and boat launch development.

There is also $1.8 million for a Syracuse-area firm associated with Clarkson University, C Speed of Liverpool, to expand existing manufacturing facilities or build new ones to accommodate new product lines. C Speed’s engineering and manufacturing processes are benefiting from an alliance with Clarkson’s advanced materials programs.

And Friends of Higley Flow State Park will receive $60,000 toward the Higley Trails Lodge, a joint project with local schools.

The complete list of North Country projects and programs is click here.