By CRAIG FREILICH
North Country Now

POTSDAM – The village Code Enforcement Office collected more than a quarter million dollars in fees in the latter part of 2018, and has received praise as “an outstanding code department.”

In a report to the village Board of Trustees, Code Enforcement Officer Lisa Newby said 40 building permits had been issued from September through December, collecting fees amounting to $266,084.

Most of that came from 14 commercial projects, such as Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s new procedural building at the hospital campus on Leroy Street. After some delays, “construction is now in full swing and they are progressing at a steady pace,” Newby said in a written report.

Other major projects underway include Clarkson University’s renovation of Cheel Arena and renovations at Mayfield Apartments.

The work at Cheel is a large project in four phases. It includes updated equipment, locker rooms, training facilities, and, in the last phase, work on the ice arena, Newby said.

At Mayfield Apartments senior citizen housing, extensive renovations are planned for all 147 existing units plus construction of a new 12-unit building, a new maintenance shop and a new community room. This is a six-phase project with completion expected in the fall, Newby said.

A total of 26 permits were issued for residential work, mainly of small home improvement projects.

There are two residential house projects in the village. One, a two-story house at 2 Broad St. on a lot that has been vacant since 2016 after a fire, is nearing completion.

The second is at 190 Elm Street, which has been posted as condemned but which was recently purchased and the owners are cleaning up the property hoping to make it available for lease or rent son, Newby said.

She said she hopes three other properties posted as “condemned” can similarly be purchased and improved.

Village Administrator Greg Thompson said the Code Enforcement Office has been praised by contractors such as the builders of the new Mountain Mart on Maple Street, which has officially opened.

Thompson said Newby and her associate Kenneth Albert are “spoken highly of by staff here and by contractors.” The contractors are “very complimentary. Sometimes they are unhappy” in the course of addressing compliance requirements, “but they know they are fair.”