BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — The village is opting to locate its new farmers' market pavilion in its originally planned location off Hamilton Street next to Ives Park at the end of the Main Street parking lot.

Concerns several weeks ago arose over the spot when it was thought that the structure might be built over existing fiber optic lines. However, Village Administrator Greg Thompson said at a village board meeting Oct. 3 that thanks to an updated site map supplied by Clarkson University it was determined the fiber optic line goes around the original pavilion site instead of through it as was initially thought.

“We’ve dug our test holes at the pavilion site and I’m pleased to say there is no infrastructure in the way, and the test digs went very well. There obviously is some very bony fill in there from old foundations, however it seemed kind of spotty,” said Village Administrator Greg Thompson.

“The guys are pretty confident that it shouldn’t have any impact on our ability to get the foundation for the pavilion in the ground,” Thompson said.

In the spring, the project received a $32,010 T-Mobile Hometown Grant. Potsdam was one of only 50 communities who received the grant. Site work was originally expected to begin this past summer, but the project has been delayed, most recently by a survey of the spot which had indicated the presence of the fiber optic cable running through it.

Now that the site has been cleared by the newer map, work is expected to get underway.

At the Oct. 3 meeting, Thompson said the village is working to secure local contractors to pour the concrete required for the structure’s foundations.

“I will continue to try to reach out to them to see if they are able to do it at all. If not, we’ll make arrangements. We will get this done,” Thompson said.

“When we set out, this was a feel-good project as Alex (Jacobs Wilke, village trustee) said and I don’t want to see anybody get discouraged on it,” the village administrator said. “Sometimes the best things are the hardest things to come by and we will get this.”

Village officials have been promoting the pavilion construction as a community benefit and useful addition to public facilities options for residents. Once finished, the new building will provide a shelter for the market and other community events, such as the Summer Festival, Snowman Festival and Ives Park Concert Series.

Not everyone has been happy about the location however. At last month’s trustees’ meeting village resident Bruce Brownlee who lives on Hamilton next to the site proposed for the structure voiced concerns over noise during events potentially held in the pavilion and predicted vandalism there after-hours.