BY JIMMY LAWTON

North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg's defunct cheese plant will be coming down now that the city council has accepted a bid of $1.2 million from Bronze Contracting.

The bid drew some protest from councilors Dan Skamperle and Michael Powers who voted against hiring Bronze Contracting with hopes of instead hiring a firm that would employ local contractors to perform the hauling work.

Skamperle said that Dan’s Hauling & Demo uses M&M Excavating which is owned by an Ogdensburg contractor. Dan's Hauling & Demo submitted a bid of $1.38 million, which Skamperle said was about 13% higher.

Skamperle said the bid should be considered due to the fact it would help a local company while still being a responsible bid.

His plan was shot down by fellow council members though due to a variety of concerns including potentially delaying the project, increasing costs associated with the project and potentially losing funding from the grant provider.

Ogdensburg Mayor Jeffrey Skelly cautioned his fellow councilors to be frugal and pointed out that the project could end up costing more than it seems. He pointed to the engineering mistakes made in the REDI project which cost the city more than $1 million in local expenses not previously included in the estimate.

Bronze Contracting has performed work for the city in the past.

Also accepted Monday was a bid from Paradigm Environmental, LLC to perform third-party abatement monitoring at cost not to exceed $155,350.

In May, Ogdensburg received a $1.8 million Restore New York grant, which will be used to fund the demolition of the dilapidated former Tubroburg Cheese plant.

The cheese plant has languished empty for years following unsuccessful lawsuits and attempts to fund demolition and cleanup of the site that resides in Ogdensburg’s Marina District.

The building has attracted vandals and has been considered a safety concern for some time.