MALONE -- There may be a large-scale hotel looking at Malone.

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Town officials say there is speculation but no concrete proposal on file yet, but a Franklin County legislator said a big hotel and strip mall are expected to be built on the west side of town near the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

During the Thursday meeting of the County Legislature, Legislator Earl Lavoie (D-Malone) asked that a request from Town Supervisor Howard Maneely for $15,000 be approved.

Funding gap

It would be used, he said, to close a funding gap the town has for a pump station it needs on its west-side sewer district.

That district was created as part of the negotiations with Wal-Mart, which agreed to extend the sewer line to Meehan Road.

But the terrain there did not allow for easy flow of the sewage to the village's piping system and sewage-treatment plant, so a pump station was needed.

The town tried unsuccessfully to obtain grant funds to complete the work.

Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) provided $50,000, which finished the underground work, but another $55,000 was needed for above-ground work.

Little again pledged the money, but the town has since learned that the project cost is now up to $70,000.

Town funds can't be used toward the project because that money comes from all town taxpayers, not just system users.

That left the town to seek an outside revenue source, which is why Maneely asked Lavoie for county funds.

Strip Mall, hotel

"They're requesting $15,000. It's for the strip mall and hotel that are coming to that area, and they'd like to get this started," Lavoie said.