By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Urban Drive and East Hatfield residents are angry that the village is moving forward with a plan to store sand and salt on Robinson Road. They made their feelings known during a heated public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting that included members of the public shouting at board members.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Hassan Fayad told the room of a village plan to clear a space about 250 feet by 450 feet behind the current DPW offices at 85 Robinson Bay Road.

There would be two access roads, one on the Route 37 side and another on the East Hatfield side, the latter of which would only be used when the Bushnell baseball fields are in use.

About a half dozen area residents spoke up and told the village they don’t want the storage area in their backyard.

One woman, Connie Coto, doesn’t live in that area but said her mother does. She polled the board members individually to ask if they would tolerate the lot on their backyard.

Mayor Tim Currier, Deputy Mayor Matt Lebire and Trustee Tim Ahlfeld answered by saying no.

Trustee Francis Carvel said he has two bulk storage areas in his neighborhood but conceded he doesn’t like them being there.

“I’ve been there 25 years,” Carvel said. “Do I like it? No, but that’s the way it is”.

Trustee Albert “Herb” Deshaies took up a defiant tone.

“At my age I don’t care … we’re all taxpayers. If we have a chance to get rid of this and have a ton of money come in,” he said, referring to a pending sale of the current DPW bulk storage lot to a soybean manufacturer. “We’ve got to think about all the people in the village, all the taxpayers.”

Tom Seguin, who earlier in public comment gave a long speech voicing his grievances, interjected Deshaies.

“That’s not the question,” Seguin said.

“You sit down, you’ve had your talk,” Deshaies said to Seguin.

“You tried to sneak this thing in on us,” a voice from the crowd then interjected.

Seguin’s speech included claims that the sand being stored at the current DPW lot gets blown around with the winds and makes a mess in local yards. He also said he feels the village is turning their backs on the neighborhood.

“There is only one very important factor that was not thought about … how it would affect the residents who live in this peaceful area … It seems our voices continue to be ignored … and tonight is no different,” Seguin said. “Sand covers everything that is stored outside.

“You have over 75 residents affected by this.”

Later in the meeting, Seguin launched into a brief tirade against the board, which he gave with no interruptions from elected officials.

“Everything is me, me, me, me, that’s the whole problem in this country, with the government and everything,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Matt Lebire fended off accusations from several speakers that the village has had this one plan in mind from the start and hasn't explored other avenues.

“I haven’t found the solution, and it hasn’t been offered to me yet, where there’s 100 percent satisfaction," he said. “To characterize it that it’s a vision from the beginning just isn’t accurate."

Christine Layo, who lives on Urban Drive, asked if the village could put a barrier around what will likely be the new DPW lot, and Lebire said they would.

“I realize what’s going to happen is going to happen. Is there anyway possible you could out a fence up? A solid fence?” she asked, which could prevent sand from blowning into yards.

“Absoutely,” Lebire replied.

Part of the village’s proposal would take some of the land near the site, which is designated as Greenbelt land by the state to be used for recreation purposes, and getting Albany’s approval to undesignate that and newly designate a larger neighboring chunk of land as Greenbelt. That would become part of the buffer between the DPW and the nearby homes.

Pam Ryan, who lives on Urban Drive, is skeptical of the idea.

“What happens if they (the state) say ‘make that recreation land into something?’” Ryan said. “You don’t belong there, it’s a residential area.”

Resident Leonard Laneuville said he’s concerned that salt leaching from the storage area could corrode nearby waterlines, but Fayad says that won’t be a concern.

“It won’t eat those waterlines, Hass?” Laneuville asked Fayad.

“No more than salt being put on the road now,” the DPW superintendent replied.

“I’d like to say thank you to the board and Hass, I’m glad you answered that question the way you do. No doubt what’s in your mind is what’s best for the village,” Laneuville said. “If there’s any way we could put it on Water Street guys, that would be a great idea.”

He was referring to an earlier comment from Shawn Gray, a village resident and former St. Lawrence County legislator.

“Have you given any consideration to Water Street? Most of those businesses are gone from there. The residences that flood every year, the landlords I’m sure would like to divest themselves of the property,” he said, opining that the old lumber yard could make a decent bulk storage area.

Currier said they’ve ruled out Water Street.

“It’s currently Greenbelt. There are two grants for that property to turn it into a park with bandshell, kayak dock,” he said.

So now, the proposal to swap Greenbelt land on Robinson Bay Road goes to Albany. It must be approved by the Assembly, the Senate and then be signed by the governor. If that doesn’t work, they will have to go back to the drawing board.