For Home Lots On Leishman Point
Dalton Defends Proposal
BY KRESTIA DEGEORGE
Last week the town of Waddington mailed information about the upcoming vote on Leishman
Point to all the registered voters in the township.
When those voters go to the polls Oct. 14 for a referendum on the future of Leishman
Point, they will face a simple choice: "yes" or "no" to the resolution
passed by the town board. Talk to anyone involved in the process of deciding what to do
with Leishman point and it becomes far more complicated than that. For the past few years,
ever since the town began to believe that the New York Power Authority would return some
of its riverfront holdings, speculation has flared on what might become of Leishman Point.
After looking at several feasibility studies and concept plans, the residents of the
town remain split over the best use for the land. Town Supervisor Bill Dalton is at the
center of this controversy. Under his leadership, the town board drafted and passed the
resolution that is currently going before voters. This legislation calls for the 22 acres
the town has received from the power authority to be subdivided into 16 lots, each ranging
from an acre to an acre and a half that will be put up for sale as housing lots.
The town has looked at concept plans provided by the St. Lawrence County Planning Office
and hired the engineering firm Bernier, Carr and Associates, to begin the initial survey
and design phases of the project. According to Dalton, they have also set aside money from
the power authority settlement (about $140,000, although the amount will vary
slightly from year to year) to pay for the infrastructure required.
Among these are a sewer district and roads, which Bernier, Carr and Associates estimated
at a few hundred thousand dollars, according to Dalton. At this rate, if the board were to
sell even a few lots (which are appraised from $80,000 to $100,000 each) they would soon
recoup their expenses. Dalton said the board favors using Leishman Point for residential
development since it is a an area that is already resiential.
Dalton explained that the board is planning to develop Leishman Point first partially to
raise money to develop the Whitehouse Bay / Iroquois Dam area, which at 450 acres,
repesents the main parcel the town is receiving back from the power authority. It is this
parcel, he says, which is most suited to a mixed-use commercial and recreational
development area.
According to Dalton, Les Cruikshank, a Canadian developer with experience on many large
scale projects, including the highway linking Ogdensburg to Ottawa, had expressed interest
in that property in the past. Although Cruikshank is no longer able to develop the area,
he left some plans his firm had drawn up which include such possibilities as a golf
course, a hotel resort and a marina. Dalton added that the area is large enough to easily
sustain far greater and more varied development than the 22-acre Leishman Point.
Dalton has been criticized by opponents for rushing the process (see related story), to which he responds that he is
indeed anxious to see the land go back on the tax rolls as soon as possible. Still he
acknowledges the importance of letting citizens have their say.
"As long as we get people out to vote, whatever the voters want, that's what we'll
do," he said. Dalton said that the board has not made any firm plans for action
should the referendum be struck down. "I guess we'll just regroup and go from
there."
Originally published 10/06/2003
Ogdensburg Journal
Used with permission