BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

CANTON - The bulk of discussion at Wednesday night’s Canton Town Board meeting focused on damages caused by Hurricane Debby.

The meeting began with a slide show depicting storm damages throughout the town, including Taylor Park, Bend in the River Park and several washed out roads.

“It’s been a long couple of days for a lot of people,” stated Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley. “I couldn’t be more proud of the town highway department and recreation department.”Ashley said the town has 30 days to create a list of damages with estimated costs to submit to the county in hopes of receiving FEMA funding.

“We have to document everything. We will be scrambling to get the paperwork done and submitted to the county,” she said.

Town Highway Superintendent Steven Smith relayed his storm stories to town board members.

He and six crew members worked 4 ½ hours the night of Aug. 9 and returned Saturday morning (Aug. 10) to get at least one lane of traffic open on several town roads.

“I received 64 calls that night. I am pretty proud of my crew. It helps me a lot when I don’t have to worry about what needs to be done. Everyone was kind of beat up at the end of Saturday night,” Smith stated. 

In all, he said each crew member accrued 30 to 35 hours of overtime pay.

Smith said the roads that took the worst beating included the Potter Road, Hale Road, lower Janes Road, Eddy-Pyrites Road, Irish Settlement Road, and the Meade Road that is still impassable and needs major work.

Smith said he received assistance from other municipalities, including the Town of Oswegatchie, and was contacted by former town highway employees and area business to lend a hand.

And Miner Street did flood.

“I was upset to see that,” Smith stated.

But despite the flooding and repeated concerns about the current road project, one Miner Street resident expressed praise for Smith and his highway workers.

“Their response Friday and Saturday is a real shout out to Steve and his crew. You guys are life savers,” said Brenda Preston during public comment. “The barriers did work and your fast response was amazing. Thank you guys. You all need a huge pat on the back.”

Taylor Park is now closed for the season due to flood damages caused by Hurricane Debby.

Canton Recreation Director Meghan Richardson, in her report to the town board, said the park was inaccessible Saturday morning. A swift water rescue team had to rescue a family from one of the camps located past the beach area. Roughly 2.5 feet of water enter the bathhouse leaving river silt on all surfaces. The floating dock was spun 90 degrees downstream from its original position.