BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- A move to urge Step by Step, the city of Ogdensburg and New York State to consider utilizing the former Ogdensburg Correctional Facility for a planned housing project has failed. 

Legislator Jim Reagen asked his fellow legislators to support a resolution that called on state and city lawmakers to push Step by Step to the former prison instead of a planned downtown property, however the measure failed in an 8-6 vote during the legislature's Full Board meeting on May 4. 

Voting for the resolution were Legislators Jim Reagen, David Forsythe, Rita Curran, Bill Sheridan, Harry Smithers and Ben Hull. 

Voting against the resolution were Legislators Anthony Levato, Margaret Haggard, Glenn Webster, John Burke, John Gennett, Joseph Lightfoot, Larry Denesha and Rick Perkins.

Reagen had brought the resolution from the floor during the Finance Committee meeting the week prior, where it received broad support from the legislature to advance to the Full Board. 

Reagen proposed an amendment to alter the title of the resolution to "urge" lawmakers to consider the proposal, rather than to "halt" the project entirely. 

Despite the title change, Legislator John Burke said he felt it did not change the intention of the resolution. 

Burke, along with other legislators, said he felt those in need deserved "quality housing," something he felt would not be available at the former prison. 

Many legislators also pushed back on the idea of sending the shovel ready project to the prison, with some saying the move could cost the city dearly and slow development. 

Reagen said he wanted to "provoke" a conversation with state officials over the abandoned prison, which is no longer being maintained and no longer has heat. 

He said he feared rapid deterioration, just as other properties owned by the state since being shuttered. 

Reagen commented that existing waterfront property controlled by the state, in particular at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center, are a huge burden on the city, which he said has one of the highest percentages of tax exempt property anywhere in the state. 

With so much property off the tax rolls, coupled with the loss of more than 300 jobs at the prison, Reagen said he felt it was important to see the facility reused. 

As part of his pitch, Reagen said it was his hope the project could be a model for redevelopment of similar shuttered facilities throughout the state. 

Legislator Rita Curran said the existing infrastructure at the $30 million prison should be put to good use on a project that would provide more housing for the underserved. 

While some legislators supported the resolution, others said it was an overreach of power by the legislature. 

Legislators Margaret Haggard, John Burke, Anthony Levato and Glenn Webster all voted against the resolution, saying they felt both the city council and Step by Step were more than capable of handling the matter themselves, with city council recently voting down a moratorium that would have impacted the project with a 5-2 vote. 

Each stated at various times they felt the resolution was "an overreach of authority" by the legislature, with Haggard and Webster alike saying  the idea of inserting the board into the city's matters was a hypocritical move as county lawmakers often derided the state for doing the same to county lawmakers at times. 

Haggard said that vote showed the city was ready to progress with the downtown project, which Step by Step has already secured $13 million from New York State for. 

Curran clarified the vote against the moratorium was not intended to directly impact Step by Step alone, though Haggard reiterated the moratorium would have in fact impacted the project. 

She also pointed to language in the city's Downtown Revitalization Initiative application, which stated the city was focused on affordable housing in the downtown sector to further promote commerce in the DRI zone. 

She said the Step by Step project dovetails with the DRI planning, with the project bringing millions of dollars in additional investment in the downtown area. 

Though Reagen cited the future home of Step by Step as a prime location for commercial development which "would come off the tax rolls," the property is currently owned by United Helpers, which itself is a non-profit and therefore tax exempt. 

Despite the vote against the resolution, many legislators on both sides of the vote did voice support for continuing discussions about how best to approach the state in hopes of creating a dialogue regarding the repurposing of the facility. 

It remains to be seen what action, if any, the board will take in the future on the matter. 

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