BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — Amid concerns from Former Massena Mayor Jim Hidy, village officials maintain that the Quality Inn hotel will not be used to house migrants currently based in New York City.

During the village board’s Aug. 15 meeting, Hidy raised concerns during the public comment period, telling Paquin and board members that city officials would surely use the property as a means to house 180 migrants.

The hotel, which has a 40% occupancy rate according to owner Gary Melius, previously owed St. Lawrence County over $386,000 in back taxes. Payment for the back taxes was received last week, however according to St. Lawrence County Attorney Steve Button the back taxes were paid by the lien holder and not Melius himself.

Button said the move by the lien holder to pay the back taxes on Melius’ behalf was likely done to protect the asset and could be the first step towards foreclosing on the property.

Hidy said that the move to house migrants would financially burden the village further, which is something that cannot happen.

“You sat here and listened to code enforcement about what’s going on in certain areas of the village and you want to put 100 and some illegal people in the middle of downtown. One of the reasons we didn’t sell the Slavins building to a guy that was it is because he was going to put 72 apartments in there,” Hidy said.

Hidy said board members “talk about the pristine downtown, all the good stuff” but rarely take action to preserve it.

Hidy also spoke to numerous businesses licensed by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe that are operating in the village which are selling illegal cannabis.

“We didn’t think the natives were gonna come in but that situation hasn’t been resolved yet. But here we are, we got five stores selling cannabis. And, you know, what was the plan for that,” Hidy asked.

Paquin noted that the Office of Cannabis Management is aware of the shops and despite lobbying from village officials, has yet to address the situation.

Village officials previously said they lacked the authority to step in to shut the operations down, as the state failed to offer guidance and support. Passed through the state budget earlier this year, the Office of Cannabis Management now has the authority to shut such operations down under multiple provisions, including under tax codes set forth by the state. Such authority, however, is not given to local municipalities to act on behalf of the state, according to the bill.

Hidy continued to insist village officials take immediate action to stop state and city officials from sending migrants to Massena, saying the state is not properly vetting them and it would pose a safety threat to the village and it’s residents.

“We don’t know who these people are. And what caught my eye, Greg, is that you made the comment ‘take a deep breath’ and ‘this is not going to happen’. I don’t know where you get your sources from because you got 30 municipalities downstate that developed and passed resolutions not to have it done in their communities. St. Lawrence County, for whatever reason, didn’t,” Hidy continued.

Village Administrator Monique Chatland corrected Hidy, pointing out that St. Lawrence County passed a state of emergency in May, in conjunction with a state order, and has extended it continually throughout the summer. The latest extension carries the order into September.

Hidy continued, saying he hopes that Paquin was not so naive to think that state officials would not utilize the Quality Inn to house migrants.

“What I’m saying is to think that they’re not going to bring them this far north is ridiculous. We’re out of sight, out of mind. They’re gonna come, there’s no question about it. It’s just a matter of time. I hope you have a plan B,” Hidy said.

Despite concerns about an influx of migrants, Paquin informed Hidy that migrants already live in the town and village, saying they cross the northern boarder all the time.

“To say they are not already here is just not true. They already live here, this village already has migrants,” Paquin said.

Following the public comment period, Hidy left the meeting but Paquin took an opportunity to clear the air regarding his previous comments.

“I realize everyone’s worried about what I referred to as the migrant crisis. Had Mr. Hidy stuck around, he probably would have heard what I had to say,” Paquin said.

“I think if you ask everyone if we had the resources, my god, yeah, we’d do it with open arms. We don’t and I think what a lot of people forget is we do have migrants in this community. They come across the northern border. If you don’t think we do, you’re turning a blind eye. They’re already here. This county has over 200 people that are homeless, and we struggle even to help them. I’m very confident that the state government’s aware of that,” Paquin said.

Paquin also pointed to the village code, saying that if the state did attempt to house migrants at the hotel, it would be in direct violation of village code.

Boarding houses are not allowed under village code, Paquin said.

“If they house them here, that would make the hotel a boarding house. That is not allowable under our code, so unless the state wants to override our code, it’s just not going to happen,” Paquin said.

To date, no word has been received from state or city officials regarding the plan, one that Paquin has said would set up both the village and migrants alike for failure.