LYONS FALLS — Lewis County economic development officials are eying the shuttered paper mill here as a potential business park.

However, many issues will have to be addressed before redevelopment of the old Lyons Falls Pulp & Paper plant off Center and Franklin streets could take place.

"We've got a number of hurdles," said Warren S. Rosenthal, the county's economic development director.

Those include gaining control of the 18-acre property, determining the types and degree of contamination, finding funding for the project and enticing companies to locate at the site.

While Mr. Rosenthal said he feels the project is feasible, he said it likely will take at least a year and a half to complete, given the number of "unknowns."

However, the plan is to move as quickly as possible.

"Our intent is to move at the speed of business, not the speed of government," Mr. Rosenthal said.

The former mill, which was shut in January 2001, displacing 186 workers, is owned by Johnson Industries Inc. and assessed at $20,200, according to county land records.

Mr. Rosenthal said he has had preliminary discussions with primary owner Michael R. Johnson, but nothing formal.

The Johnsons, who own several businesses in the Carthage area, including Johnson Lumber Co. on Route 26 in the town of Denmark, in mid-2004 bought three mill-owned parcels for $220,000 through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utica.

Along with the manufacturing plant, the purchase included two other parcels across the Black River in the town of Lyonsdale, a 65.5-acre parcel off Lyons Falls Road and a 2.6-acre parcel off River Road. Neither of those properties, which contained the old mill's lagoons and landfill, would be of interest to the county, Mr. Rosenthal said.

The Johnsons have salvaged scrap metal and other materials from the old mill site, and one of the buildings is being used as a warehouse by Lodging Kit Co. of Boonville, he said.

However, one of the many aging buildings at the site has collapsed, and most would have to be demolished to make way for more modern facilities, Mr. Rosenthal said.

The economic development director, hired by the county in late February, said "shovel-ready" sites are needed to entice companies to an area. However, the number of potential sites for such a park in Lewis County are somewhat limited, he said.

"This is, by far, the largest industrial site we have that's in the Empire Zone," Mr. Rosenthal said.

The site also would provide access to municipal water and sewer, natural gas and a fiber-optic line, he said.

Through the business park project, some land also could be provided to Northbrook Lyons Falls for an expansion of its hydroelectric facility, next to the former mill at the confluence of the Moose and Black rivers, Mr. Rosenthal said.

The company in late 2006 proposed installation of a nine-megawatt dam on the west side of the river, across from its aging six-megawatt facility. However, many community members asked that any development occur on the east side out of concern that the west-bank proposal could divert water flow away from the falls after which the village is named.

A business park here would stimulate southern Lewis County's economy, Mr. Rosenthal said.

County legislators and community members here appear to support such a project, he said.

"Your highest priority should always be to redevelop what you already have," Mr. Rosenthal said.