BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- A partnership between the state and the county has cleaned up 100 properties in St. Lawrence County in the past decade.

The county hit that milestone recently after years of effort. "It is a momentous time period for us as a county, specially with the treasurer's office, the county attorney's office and the real property office," County Attorney Steve Button, who has largely spearheaded the program, said at a recent meeting.

Button also offered special praise for the county Planning Office who have played "an instrumental role" in the success of the program.

Button called the blighted property cleanup program "ahead of its time"

According to Button, the program was largely focused on smaller projects prior to his involvement beginning in 2015 when he was hired as county attorney. 

But over the last 10 years, the county has been focused heavily on remediating properties to get them back on the tax rolls. 

Stemming from tax foreclosure issues on a number of properties, county officials took the program to the level it is operating at currently to recoup expenses and back taxes. 

Button said in one instance one property was in arrears nearly $1 million in back taxes after sitting vacant for decades. 

Millions of dollars in back taxes were lost as properties sat dilapidated or delinquent, with seepage and leakage in the form of oils and fuels finding its way into the soil and groundwater. 

Button said the county would be forced to carry the taxes on the property after making the municipality whole wherever the property was located. That model was not sustainable in any way, forcing the count to take action, Button said. 

But fear of entering into the chain of title was a major concern for county officials previously, with Button noting that the county would then be liable for any spills and remediation costs by doing so. 

“When foreclosing on a property, the county becomes potentially liable for the contamination,” he said. 

That all changed with the involvement of attorney Gary Bowitch, who played a large role in assisting the county in tackling the cleanup efforts. 

Bowitch was the former lead prosecutor for the Department of Environmental Conservation oil spill team. 

Button said Bowitch is the sort of person who “reminded me of someone who had been at Woodstock but put on a shirt and tie after” to enter into his true calling. 

“He never left his true calling. His objective has always been to beautify and clean up these projects,” Button said. 

Button complimented Bowitch, saying he has helped the county “immensely with such projects.” 

With his help the county has now hit 100 projects that have completed remediation, many of which were targeted due to their proximity to the most populated areas in the county. 

“Many properties sat for decades and continued to pile up taxes. But, at the same time, the municipalities also had an eye sore in the community, despite being made whole on taxes,” Button said. 

Button said larger concerns about the types of contamination were also a motivating factor to clean up a number of the properties, with many contaminated with asbestos and lead in condemned structures that needed to be removed. 

A court decision in 2020 that forced counties to make municipalities whole on taxes was a major motivator for the county to ramp up cleanup efforts, he said. 

It was at that time in 2020 that the board of legislators established a fund to address blighted properties, which the county has used to great success, Button said. 

He took a moment to compliment the many individuals involved with the process, calling them “true public servants” who are buried in the materials “day-in and day-out” to complete the cleanup process on numerous projects each year. 

While the county has stepped up on 100 properties already, Button said a handful of municipalities are also undertaking their own cleanup efforts. 

By doing so, however, the delinquent taxes, clean up costs and other expenses are remitted to the county so the municipality can be made whole. Clean up expenses are typically tacked onto the back taxes, just as overdue water, sewer and trash removal bills are in many cases.

But Button said with the county’s demonstrated expertise in the process, it was his hope that the entities involved could form a  partnership to more efficiently and cost effectively clean up troubled properties. 

“The county can do it without great harm to other communities and municipalities. We can do it more efficiently and in a more cost effective manner in comparison,” Button said. 

Button previously spoke with NCTW regarding the program, commenting that a large chunk of funding comes from the states, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to assist. 

Button said he is confident the program will continue on in the future as well.

"The county legislature will continue to support the program, as well the state, allowing us to clean up more properties in the future. We're very confident this program will continue to be a success," he previously said.