Waddington residents update town's to-do list

WADDINGTON — Residents have an updated plan of attack to improve their town for next year, and it's an ambitious one.

Replacing the water and sewer systems, finishing restorations of the Clark House, developing alternative energy and improving the look of Main Street are all things residents voted on as top priorities for the next year.

None of the ideas is exactly a quick fix, but people who live in the town and village want to try to help their municipality out.

"These are not new ideas; these are ideas from the (Waddington Community Development) plan," said John F. Tenbusch, St. Lawrence County planner and village resident. "We're going to get through the holidays and we're going to have another meeting in January. We'll issue a call for volunteers and if you want to come out and work on this, let's go."

The 70-page document was drafted by Camoin Associates last year and envisions an artsy community with improved sewer and water systems and better roads. Since it was officially adopted earlier this year, the village has used it mainly to strengthen grant applications. It also is revising its zoning laws, which is another piece of the plan.

Approximately 20 residents got together last week to select ideas from the plan to focus on. They decided they want to try to attract alternative energy companies to Waddington and get a wind ordinance developed, even though there has been no discussion of installing wind turbines in the town.

"Whether or not the surrounding area is suitable for a wind farm, I don't know," Mr. Tenbusch said. "They're evidently looking at what's been going on in Hammond. A couple of the comments I heard were, 'We don't want that kind of animosity in Waddington.'"

Volunteers can help with the other initiatives, like the Clark House, sewer and water projects by researching grant opportunities or compiling information from other communities, Mayor Janet M. Otto-Cassada said.

"Just because they're not elected officials does not mean their ideas won't be looked at or they don't have the time to find other information," Ms. Otto-Cassada said. "If they can find other sources of funding, bring it on."

The Clark House is an empty 19th century hotel on Main Street. Efforts to renovate it and turn it into a hotel with restaurants and apartments have been under way since 2002.

Though volunteers are necessary now to get the plan off the ground, eventually, Mr. Tenbusch envisions paid staff to work on economic development, which is a major component of the 70-page document.

"If Waddington is going to achieve the future it wants, we need more than volunteers," he said. "Volunteers are great, but at the end of the day, they go home."