By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A Massena Business Development Corporation representative says the Army Corps of Engineers temporarily stalled work on their rail spur project, but his organization is looking to overcome the obstacle and hopes to be up and running by the New Year.

"They felt the rail spur was on wetlands," Larry Roulston of the BDC told the Board of Trustees on Tuesday night. "There are some low-grade wetlands … they're not prime wetlands."

The project will connect Curran Renewable Energy to the existing CSX railroad and loop the track to other vacant industrial park properties, hopefully making them more attractive to businesses looking to set up shop in Massena.

He said despite the hurdle, the BDC expects to be able to run rail cars into the industrial park by Dec. 31 and, in the worst-case scenario, by late spring.

"Come hell or high water, there will be a rail spur in that park," Roulston said.

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld suspected that someone may have drawn the ACOE's attention to the work for nefarious reasons.

"Did they (ACOE) come up with this by themselves or did somebody give them a little push to look at it?" Ahlfeld asked.

"I can't address that," Roulston replied.

The project, with a total price tag of more than $500,000, is being partially funded by a federal grant and casino compact funds. In 2012, the feds announced they would give $123,500.

Last year, the town pledged $50,000 in casino compact money.