BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA — Village of Massena officials are hoping they will be able to secure funding through two grant applications that were recently submitted to the Water Infrastructure Improvement grants program.

Village Administrator Monique Chatland, who has overseen grant writing for the village, said the two applications were submitted to the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation two weeks ago.

Village officials have sought significant grant funding in recent months to address a number of concerns with the aging water system infrastructure throughout the village.

“One is for the Raquette River bridge crossing and the other one is the 24-inch water line from the intake,” she said.

Chatland said that project would see a water line cross the Raquette River to the southern portion of the village, replacing a water line that runs under the river near Springs Park.

On two separate occasions the village has been forced to repair the water lines under the river, leading to growing concern among residents and trustees alike.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Marty Miller said that after more than two years of work with the state Department of Transportation, the village was nearing the finish line to receive final approval to hang a new waterline on the bridge that spans the Raquette River on the south end of the village.

"We're almost there with them, we just have a few more things to take care of," he previously said.

The new waterline will replace the temperamental line under the river that was losing as much as 100,000 gallons per day when the ruptures occurred.

A temporary line was installed at the time to ensure water would continue to be supplied to the residents affected, he said.

The repairs, which took three days, cost just over $11,000, village officials said at the time.

Chatland also detailed a grant application that would be used to pay for the installation of a secondary 24-inch raw water supply line.

That line would run from the Massena Intake to the village water treatment plant and is viewed as a necessary step to ensure water flow to the village in the event of a failure.

Mayor Greg Paquin said officials want the water line installed to ensure Air Products will have sufficient water flow, while also ensuring village residents will be completely unaffected by the plant.

The new green hydrogen facility will be built on a plot of land over 80 acres in size on Pontoon Bridge Road and will employ roughly 90 workers once complete.  

The facility will produce 35 metric tons of green hydrogen every day, Air Product officials previously said.

Roughly 1 million gallons of water will be used each day, they said.

As part of an agreement with the village, Air Products will purchase $300,000 worth of water from the village every year. Paquin said the village has ample surplus but the existing 24-inch water line is from the 1960's, necessitating a redundant line as a precautionary measure.

Miller also said a 12-inch emergency line exists but noted that would not be enough to supply both the village and Air Products if a failure occurred with the main line.

In other action, Chatland said work is well underway with the former JJ NewBerry building, saying project activities are underway to address environmental and structural issues like asbestos abatement and roof replacement.

There is no timeline for the completion of that work, however Chatland did confirm grant funding was assisting with the cleanup efforts.