pCANTON — About 30 residents attended Tuesday’s public information meeting about the St. Lawrence Whitewater Park Project, where Project Engineer Scott Shipley answered questions and explained some of the components of the study he prepared./ppMr. Shipley, a project engineer from S2o Design and Engineering, focused on economic impact during his presentation. Mr. Shipley talked about how the whitewater project, which would install parks in Canton and Potsdam and would further develop Colton’s Stone Valley, would bring in tourism dollars from kayakers and those who traveled to view the participants./pp“We want to create something that’s an attraction this far from the major population centers in America and across the border in Canada,” Mr. Shipley said. “We’re trying to build a tourist segment around active outdoor adventure.”/ppMr. Shipley said one of the main draws for the site would be the diversity, explaining how the “world-class” experience of Stone Valley would be complemented well by more beginner-level parks Canton and Potsdam would provide./pp“What we came up with was the idea of coming up with separate experiences at each site,” he said. “People are looking for multiple experiences in one place.” /ppAmong the most discussed questions about the project came from Canton resident John Casserly./pp“How will this get paid for?” he asked./ppPotsdam Director of Planning and Community Development Fred Hanss tackled the question first, explaining how the New York State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program would be helpful to the project. The local revitalization program is a grant program that will match contributions made to projects such as the St. Lawrence Whitewater Park Project./pp“With projects that are this expensive, I think you could expect to see one or two state grants,” Mr. Hanss explained. “I think you’ll have to put together a layered approach.”/pp“The one thing I think would make a project, when applying in these communities, very powerful would be to do what we’ve already done, which is a collaborative effort,” added Canton Director of Community Development Linda M. McQuinn. She said New York state is favorable to projects that show a regional tourism effort, and the plan for the three sites fits./ppMr. Shipley said the cost of the project for both Canton and Potsdam was projected at about $800,000 to $900,000, while Colton’s improvements would cost significantly less./ppMr. Shipley said although the north country population is small, the population within a three-hour drive is about 7.5 million people, which could bring in tens of thousands of kayakers. He said based on conservative numbers found during his study, the area could see an annual economic impact of between $1.1 million and $4.5 million, which means the project would essentially pay for itself. /pp“The payback on this is very significant,” Mr. Shipley said./ppEnvironmental concerns were also brought up during Tuesday’s meeting. Mr. Shipley assured the crowd that precautions are taken to ensure the habitat of the area would not be negatively impacted./pp“We did a preliminary assessment. At this time, it appears to be feasible,” he said. “We expect our sites will be permitted, but there will be an extensive review.”/ppA 30-day comment period has begun, during which the public is asked to submit comments and questions to either Mr. Hanss in Potsdam, Ms. McQuinn in Canton and Ruth McWilliams in Colton. Copies of the final study are available in Potsdam and Canton libraries, Canton’s town and village offices, Colton Town Hall and online at cantonnewyork.us./p
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