Mayor Craig Randall said Monday, March 16 that a subcommittee of the Main Street task force, a volunteer group tasked with reviewing the village’s plans for the $8 million revitalization project, is deciding whether to cancel the meeting, host multiple meetings with a limit on the crowd size, or doing the presentation of the plans in some other way.

“We’re not going to be able to host a meeting with the public with those numbers,” Randall said.

Plans for a Main Street overhaul have been in the works for years as local officials worked to garner grant funding that would allow the village to upgrade its aging water, wastewater and sewer systems, while stemming the flow of road salt runoff into Mirror Lake. Scientists say salt has caused the lake to stop turning over each season, threatening its water quality and trout habitat. Replacing water pipes in some parts of Main Street would also let the system support increased use as a result of changing fire code requirements for sprinkler systems, Randall has said.

With plans in place to rip up the roadways to replace the underlying infrastructure, local officials decided to also rope sidewalk repair and other streetscape changes into the project. The last version of the proposed Main Street plans included the relocation of some crosswalks, as well as the installation of crosswalk bump-outs, custom fencing and some landscaping; the installation of a bioretention basin at Brewster Park designed to capture stormwater runoff from Saranac Avenue; and alterations to traffic flow at the intersection with Saranac Avenue and Mirror Lake Drive. Installing the bioretention basin will require some changes to the grading in that area and may cause the removal of some parking spaces.

Separate from the Main Street project, the village of Lake Placid and town of North Elba are preparing to replace portions of the sidewalk around Mirror Lake Drive. Both municipalities put out requests this month seeking bids from contractors. The sidewalk is expected to be replaced this summer.