Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
The Seaway Valley Modelaires brought two model planes to the Wednesday Town Council meeting. NorthCountryNow photo by Andy Gardner. By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- The Seaway Valley Modelaires model …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Seaway Valley Modelaires brought two model planes to the Wednesday Town Council meeting. NorthCountryNow photo by Andy Gardner.
By ANDY GARDNER
MASSENA -- The Seaway Valley Modelaires model airplane club will soon have a new home through a deal the club struck with the Town Council on Wednesday.
Contingent on there being no conflict with the New York Power Authority and the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the model pilots will lease an area at the end of Robinson Bay Road for $1 per year. That’s the same price they now pay to Alcoa for their flying field on Alcoa Road.
“It’s absolutely perfect out there. There’s no obstructions, no houses and not a lot of traffic,” club representative Dale Beaulieu told the board.
The modelaires are losing the Alcoa field where they have flown for 45 years because the aluminum manufacturer will use it as a staging area for their project to clean the Grasse River, which they polluted.
“Alcoa field has been fantastic to us. We thank Alcoa immensely,” Beaulieu said.
Councilman Albert Nicola said he thinks it’s a good idea lease the field because the club does well maintaining their facilities.
“It’s like a golf course out there,” Beaulieu said of their current field.
Beaulieu said the club will invest up to $3,000 in their new facility. They will mow a 400-foot-by-1,200 foot area, along with installing a fence, shed and pavilion that can be removed in case the town needs to use the land or sells it.
Councilman Samuel Carbone said he was concerned their radios could interfere with nearby Snell Lock and could run afoul of federal authorities by flying close to the Cedar Rapids power lines, which run from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam heading south.
Beaulieu said the radios are FCC-approved and work on a frequency that only affects the airplane.
“Those power lines are a half-mile away,” Beaulieu said.
He said they will work with Alcoa to get signage up.
“We want the public to come see us fly,” he said.
The modelaires will host a fun fly Sept. 13 at the Alcoa field, where anyone can come and try out a plane. He also said modelaires from around the North Country and Canada will come and fly for the day.
