BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- The Town Council is looking at a lengthy process to upgrade the water lines going into the eastern portion town, an engineer told the board on Wednesday.

"It's a 3-5 year process to get one of these projects started, identify it, package it correctly"," John Condino from Barton and LoGuiduce told town lawmakers. "It's a long lengthy process, but in the end there is a lot of money out there and it's possible for the town to capture their share of it."

The board voted at that meeting to spend $2,000 to have Condino's firm to "guide the town on a list of infrastructure needs in East Massena and prioritize those needs and work with stakeholders," their resolution said. Councilor Sam Carbone abstained from voting, citing his employment with the New York Power Authority.

Condino said they are hoping to connect town water to entities like NYPA, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the RACER Trust and Customs and Border Protections. RACER is overseeing redevelopment at the former General Motors site.

Town Supervisor Steve O'Shaughnessy said they have also spoken about possibly involving the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

"We're talking to St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. There's still that water intake at Alcoa East. We want to look at everything," the supervisor said.