With Micron heading to the town of Clay, local leaders are preparing for a massive transformation. Supervisor Damian Ulatowski said the new development could put the town of more than 60,000 residents in “a whole different class,” and even turn it into a city.

“We had so many opportunities go by,” he said of the decision. “It was hard to believe it was reality.”

Ulatowski has been town supervisor in Clay for 14 years. He said the town played a mostly supporting role in bringing Micron to the area.

“We were just following the lead of the county on this, trying to be as supportive as we possibly could,” he said.

But now that the decision has been made, he said they plan to do everything they can to support the new growth, from looking at expanding roadways around the plant and leading to Route 81, to bringing the town together to figure out how to best handle new housing and business development.

“We’re talking about putting together a stakeholder group of developers, retail, commercial residents, restauranteurs, to help us think about what we can do and where we should place those housing opportunities,” he said.

He said that means welcoming new development.

“We want to, of course, embrace as many of those employees in our own community,” he said. “We want the supply chains in our own community.”

That said, he acknowledged that growth is not embraced by all residents, particularly those who are still fighting the development on Burnett Road.

He said the town board will handle certain plans like local roads, while they will work with the state and county on other development.

When asked if he was concerned that residents would end up paying for the development through higher taxes, he said he felt the effect would be “quite the opposite” due to a resulting larger tax base and the town's track record of resisting tax hikes.

“When the county started looking at the site seriously, it was reaching out to those residents and the majority of them were on board with the decision,” he said. “Were there some that held out? Absolutely, and I can understand and respect that as well.”

Now, he is urging all residents to look to the future, and said he expects that in the end, the plant will benefit everyone.

“It’s actually going to put a new foot print in what can be done in New York to replace the old rust belt that faded away over the last 20 years. This might be the new economic boom of the still-young new century,” he said.