CANTON — St. Lawrence County officials are praising a federal program that assisted the county in lead-paint abatement work for 23 housing units throughout the county to the tune of $1 million. 

Legislators and public health officials say the cooperative effort had a number of challenges throughout the course of the four-year program, the first of its kind in the county, however it eventually aligned with county expectations. 

Initially awarded $1 million in 2018, county officials were able to put the program into effect in 2019 after identifying the properties eligible for abatement work. 

Officials say the program delivery method and standard operating procedures were based upon many years of experience running Community Development Block Grant-funded housing rehabilitation programs. 

Partners in the program included the St. Lawrence County Planning Office (SLCPO), St. Lawrence County Public Health Department (SLCPHD) and the North Country Housing Council (NCHC). 

Primary target areas in the county included the village of Gouverneur and Massena and the City of Ogdensburg, which have population centers that were identified as target areas “due to concentrations of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) being monitored by SLCPHD on its State-mandated Lead Poisoning Prevention caseload.” 

In total, the homes that were part of the program included four pregnant women, 35 children under six, 25 children between the ages of six and 17-years-old and three visiting children under six-years-old. 

Two visiting children under six and 17 of the resident children under six had EBLL, officials say. 

Eight units were located in Ogdensburg, while two more were in Gouverneur and one in Massena. The remaining properties were distributed throughout the county, officials say. 

Of the properties included, 17 of 23 were built before 1920, while five were built between 1920 and 1945 and one was built between 1946 and 1979. 

A total of seven lead abatement contractor trainings were conducted, with 67 individuals in total in attendance. 

But that figure was not nearly enough, with officials saying that if such a program were undertaken in the future, additional contractors and laborers to ensure the projects can be completed in a timely fashion. 

Officials say each project is required to be completed within 10 days of entry, per HUD regulations, further complicating the program that was initially delayed by the COVID pandemic. 

County officials were successful in obtaining a one year extension to complete the program, pushing the end date to Oct. 2023, which also enabled the county to expend all funds on the projects. 

In some cases, those projects went well over the $20,000 budget originally allotted to them. 

Legislator Jim Reagen questioned whether HUD gave the county any leeway given the remote nature of the projects, which were spread across the county. 

Public Health officials say after lengthy conversations and constant communication, HUD allowed the county more leeway to ensure the work could be completed. 

Of the projects completed, 13 required special dispensations to utilize more funds to complete the work. 

Those requirements added time to the process but the “handlers were able to understand the processes and housing needs of St. Lawrence County,” public health officials said. 

Additional grant funding was also secured and used on four specific units to leverage beyond the initial $20,000 awarded, officials say. 

In many cases, older farmhouses were included on the list of homes to receive funds, a far cry from the multi-unit apartment complexes seen in the urban centers the program was originally intended for. 

“We’re trying to teach folks that Northern New York is different from the Bronx. There is life above the thruway,” Reagen said. 

Reagen said county officials need to do a better job of engaging with high ranking state and federal representatives, pointing to a local connection with Senator Chuck Schumer’s director of economic development who is from Ogdensburg. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time fighting the minions who have very little interest and compassion for the needs of northern New York. We need to (get them) to stop being stupid and listen to what these people are saying,” he said. 

Reagen offered his assistance to reach out to such reps, saying their engagement can be crucial in ensuring the long term success of such programs. 

“This is a political body but it often seems that we don’t make use of the way politics actually works,” he said.