BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Clerk’s office is set to receive a major remodel that will enable staff to better assist customers in a more efficient manner.

County Clerk Sandy Santamoor spoke to the St. Lawrence County operations committee during their March 13 meeting. Legislators subsequently approved a budget modification that will cover the purchase of new furniture to be used in the remodel.

According to Santamoor, the upgrades have been long overdue and will enable staff to assist five to six customers at a time.

“We’re going to be remodeling the office to better serve the public. The office has not been updated in some time,” she told legislators.

Officials say a competitive process was undertaken with at least two vendors having the option to review the space and provide quotes for the materials and work to reconfigure the space.

Santamoor said the floor plan has been assessed and a new design is ready to go.

One major change will be the removal of the front counter that can create a bottleneck of customers.

Changes will also enable those who come in with a wheelchair, walker, cane or oxygen tank to more easily and safely navigate the space.

The changes will also enable staff to more efficiently assist with pistol permit amendments and applications, as well as passport photos and real property searches.

Demolition has been bid out already, with the $78,864 budget modification to be used for the purchase of furniture.

Legislator David Forsythe commented that the project scope is large but a necessary improvement. Forsythe did voice concerns about a pole that houses most of the electrical wires for the office, however Santamoor said that was taken into consideration with the new design of the office.

In other action, legislators also approved the purchase of equipment related to the turnkey management solutions system that was purchased in October of 2022.

Officials say the Clerk’s Office is required to reproduce documents for all real property, civil, criminal records and pistol records on a regular basis.

According to the resolution, the Clerk’s Office is currently using the Info Quick Solutions Inc. (IQS) Turnkey Management Solution System, that allows all such records to be digitized.

Though the software was purchased in Oct. 2022, the equipment needed to operate the system was not completed in the 2022 budget year, forcing legislators to approve a $15,000 budget modification to purchase the required equipment.

Both resolutions will now go before the full board for final approval in April.