BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA — A Center Street culvert project has been delayed due to right-of-way documents but Department of Public Works Superintendent Marty Miller said he’s confident the project will be started by the end of the year. 

Miller provided an update to board members during the regular meeting held June 18, saying the documents are needed to move forward with the project but one party has yet to sign off on them. 

The delay in documentation comes after trustees previously approved compensation for the residents who will be affected by the project, what officials said at the time would be six parcels owned by three different property owners.

Compensation would be $500 each for parcels one, four, five and six, and $850 for parcels two and three, trustees previously said. 

“There's really not much changing in their property,” Miller previously said. 

He noted that the compensation, which will come from a $1 million state grant, would be for the inconvenience that would arise from the work being conducted.  

The project, which has been in the works for several months, will include a culvert replacement, along with the installation of two new utility poles and relocation of overhead lines. That work will be completed prior to the culvert work. 

Miller previously said that gas services for two buildings will also be relocated prior to culvert work. 

Engineers had previously proposed three options to the village, which included doing nothing, rehabbing the existing culvert or installing an entirely new one. 

In the end, Miller recommended full replacement to ensure no structures would be damaged if the culvert failed. He also previously said that rehabbing the culvert would also prove costly and would likely be a short-term fix. 

Officials do not have a specific timeline to begin the project but had hoped work would be under way by the end of June at the latest.