Business View Civil & Municipal | July 2022

95 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 Whether it’s at the golf clubs, fishing, or playing football, soccer, softball, lacrosse, baseball or pickleball,” says Bellor. Willer adds, “Between the village and the town, we have our own arena. During the winter, we have hockey, figure skating, and all kinds of other events. This is definitely a sports town. When the ice goes out, then they set it up for other recreational games and sports. Hopefully we’ll start getting back with some of the vendor shows and exhibitions.” On the sustainability side, the town has a few electric vehicle chargers, although these vehicles haven’t yet gained popularity in the region. As Willer shares, “There’s a practicality standpoint for them. If you’re just buzzing around in town, that’s good, and there certainly will be people that will take advantage of the charging stations, but it will take a while before we get a lot of activity.” Decontamination and remediation have been an area of focus, with Alcoa recently completing a remediation project on the Grasse River. In terms of infrastructure, Massena Electric Department is owned by the Town of Massena, and is not on the national grid, making it possible to offer rates much lower than the national average. MED has made a commitment to be not only reliable, but environmentally responsible. “Massena Electric Department is a huge draw for people up here, because our power is much cheaper than buying totally off the grid, or from some of the other suppliers,” Willer asserts. Along with ongoing water replacement and water district improvements, the town is currently working on an Apron Rehabilitation at Massena International Airport. “There are always major projects going on,” offers Bellor. As far as her wish list for the future, Bellor shares, “I would like to see the transformation of the Village of Massena along with new businesses coming to the Town and Village of Massena. I’d also like to see our airport and highway work getting back to normal after the setbacks, resultant from the Pandemic.” Willer adds, “We will continue working on bringing businesses into the area. When you are a small town, you’re competing with a lot of other places that can offer many advantages to a business that we couldn’t necessarily offer. On the other side, we can offer things that some of the bigger areas can’t, like the power.” As a final thought, Bellor shares what she believes is the true spirit of the community, summarizing, “In Massena, people helping people is very important to all of us. We depend on each other.” TOWN OF MASSENA , NEW YORK