MASSENA — Downtown Massena soon will begin the process of rebuilding following a fire that destroyed three downtown buildings — 13, 15 and 17 Main St. — in January.
LVI Environmental Services Inc., Massena, has been awarded the contract to remove asbestos, which has hindered cleanup efforts since the fire. LVI was the lowest bidder for the job with $78,400 for the three sites. The village Board of Trustees awarded the contract Tuesday.
The money will come from a federal grant. Immediately after the Jan. 31 fire, Mayor Randy G. DeLosh contacted the U.S. Department of Housing and Development to get approval for some of the village's Community Development Block Grant money to go to cleanup, he said.
"It's my job to help out in situations like this," Mayor DeLosh said. "It's our job to help out."
The company has agreed to complete the job within two weeks of beginning work. The earliest the work could begin is Aug. 19, because the state Department of Labor requires a 10-day notification before asbestos removal begins.
The grant money will pay only for the asbestos removal. The rest of the debris removal and all rebuilding will be paid for by the business owners themselves. Two of those have promised board member Joseph A. Macaulay to rebuild, he said, though he did not say which two.
Harry A. Hammill and Kelly M. Greene own 13 Main St., which housed Tony's Pizza and The Hair Saloon. The former La Bottega was in 15 Main St., and Kathleen J. Novosel owns 17 Main St, which houses her company, Novosel Associates.
The motion to award the grant money to LVI passed 4-1. The one dissenting voice belonged to Andrew S. Szarka, who raised concerns that the property owners would "take their insurance money and run" with it after the village used the grant to clean up the asbestos. Mr. Szarka also questioned why grant money was being used to benefit these three properties when others with similar problems don't benefit.
"I don't understand why we're cleaning up a private business. We've never done it before," Mr. Szarka said.
"We're just throwing this money around," he said. "We're being held hostage by three business owners."
The rest of the board disagreed, echoing Mr. DeLosh's sentiments that they were doing their jobs.
"I do not want another hole in our community," board member Patricia K. Wilson said. "I support this move, and I would support it in the future."
Also at the meeting, the board set a date for a public hearing about changes to the recreational vehicle parking code. Previously, RVs could not be parked for longer than 15 days at a time on residential property. That part of the code has been repealed entirely.
The code's wording also has been changed to prohibit parking abandoned or unused RVs in residential yards. RVs that are in use may not be parked in front yards or within 10 feet of property lines, according to the reworked code.
The public hearing will be 5:45 p.m. Aug. 19 in the Massena Town Hall.
