The Madrid Wire

Late last year, the Town of Madrid won a grant “designed to help municipalities identify and prioritize community development needs and goals and create strategies to achieve them.” Simply: we won a little money to develop a plan on how we should develop our town.

With the money, we’ve hired an engineering firm that will (after lots of public participation and feedback), produce a document—a strategic plan that will guide future town development needs. More importantly, the document will be used to petition county, state, and federal organizations for funds (often free monies) that we’ll use to build and invest in our community.

It’s a great and proactive idea, one for which the Town and Planning Board members should be commended. But for this to succeed, it’s not enough to develop a plan. It’s got to be OUR plan; the collective vision of all those who call Madrid home. And with that, the town is asking for your ideas, opinions, and involvement.

Here’s how:

First, a simple survey has been developed in hopes you’ll weigh in on various matters. One will be arriving at your home in the next couple days, but don’t wait—take it online today. More, encourage other family members and residents to take it! This is your town, and your opinion counts.

Second, there’ll be a series of public meetings:

Roundtable Discussions
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Public Workshop
September 22nd, 2011
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Soon after September, when all the ideas and data have been collected, a planning document will begin to emerge. This will go through several iterations, with the goal that by the end of the year, the Town will have a solid Community Development Strategic Plan to guide future initiatives.

Very good stuff!

(For more information, download the Community Development Strategic Plan flyer, contact the Committee Chair Dan McGrath at (315) 322-4164, or ask in the comments and we’ll do our best to find an answer or share what we know.)

Okay this is hot off the presses. Now first, consider what I’m about to write to be rumor not fact; this post is based mostly on opinion and hearsay. Nevertheless, here’s what I “know”!

Awhile ago this Madrid home was for sale for about $56,000. It didn’t sell, and went to public auction (if you’re local, you probably saw the signs around town.) That auction closed for something like 70-80k (to the best I can remember). That seemed pricey to me considering that it needs a bit of work, but whatever. …well turns out something fell through with the previous auction, and it’s back for sale at a different auction house TODAY. (Note: it is now “cash only.”)

Here’s what I understand about the home:

• It’s interior is quite beautiful: great hardwood floors, lots of original trim work.
• It apparently needs a new roof and new siding.
• The front porch needs work or replacement (I have two-left thumbs, but walked on it last evening—it’s troubled!)
• There’s an addition on the back of the home, and if you’re me, I’d demolish it and restore the home to it’s original splendor.
• There’s a defunct above-ground pool that will need to be removed.
• The backside of the property opens right up to the park (nice if you have kids).
• Depending on what you plan to do with the home, I’d assume the kitchen may need to updating, and the windows will have to be replaced.

That’s a lot of work, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to see someone restore it to her original glory? …I think so anyway!

As of this posting, there’s a little over four days left; Follow the online auction here.

[Again remember, the above is opinion and hearsay. I’m neither a real estate investor or at all handy or have any valuable knowledge on home remodeling and repairs—just ask my wife! Do you own due diligence! We’re posting this merely to alert the community of a (likely) historic home for sale, and dreaming out loud of what it would be like to see it restored!]

Each year, in the Town of Madrid, residents hold an annual garage sale day so that by joining together, they capitalize on the increased traffic. We’re not sure the history of this event or how the date gets sets (if you are, let us know in the comments!), but over on our facebook page, someone let us know that this year’s event is July 23rd.

What a great opportunity to clean out the basement and make a little cash in the process!

We’ll do our best to let you know about stories of particular community interest (especially via our twitter account), but here’s a way to stay on top of things in realtime using a keyword search of local news channels:

• The Watertown Daily Times
• North Country Now
• The Journal
• The Daily Courier-Observer

We’d encourage you to read through each paper to stay on top of general St. Lawrence County news, but if time is short, and keeping it ulta-local is your interest, the quick links above should help!

We obviously think if you’re going to live in the North Country, Madrid’s the best place to live. It’s not perfect, but it’s close! And as with anywhere, there are lots of ways to buy a home. Contacting a realtor is often times helpful, but a good way to start is exploring on your own. You can take a drive through the streets of Madrid and look for the obvious “for sale” signs, or, you can stroll the online listings where most houses (except those being sold by private sale—and even then there are ways to get listed on the local MLS.)

Once you’re ready to make a purchase offer, or if you’re looking to make an offer on a property not yet listed, all property taxes are public record and can be accessed by searching the online property tax database.