DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Erie Canal Neighbors Association
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Perinton/Fairport Canal Community Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 1776--------------------------------------------------
Perinton Town Supervisor has a plan
DIR By: Doug K
Date: September 23, 2021, 12:12 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
A long time coming, and a welcome change to what other Towns &
Village leaders in eastern Monroe County have been saying about
safety work along the Canal system
Supervisor Hanna has made an impressive statement to encourage
the Perinton Community to accept and welcome the new Canal
Corporation Embankment Integrity Program. The ECNA has had a few
discussions with Mr. Hanna in the past, and welcome his move to
work with the Canal Corporation, and the ECNA, to create an
environment that supports acceptance of the need to "Inspect &
Repair" the many Canal Embankments in Perinton and beyond.
HTML https://perinton.org/news/eeip-key-takeaways/
Go read the statement on the Perinton Town web page, but the key
takeaway is in bullet item number 2...
>>> "It is clear that maintenance along the earthen embankments
of the Erie Canal has been lacking, which has resulted in areas
of high hazard and poor condition. This, combined with the
State’s diminished ability to perform inspections due to
overgrowth, has created a public safety issue."
In addition Mr. Hanna has also touched on this key truth about
Federal guidelines to insure Earthen Embankment Integrity, and
public safety:
>>> "While FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers guidance states
that zero trees should exist on earthen embankments, the Canal
Corporation is trying to strike a balance between public safety
and our desire to preserve the aesthetic value of the Canal. I
believe it is in this compromise that we can all move forward."
This new EEIP statement aligns with the earlier one released by
Supervisor Hanna in August.
HTML https://perinton.org/news/supervisor-comments-eeip/
Hopefully Mr. Hanna has put in his request, or better stated,
his offer... to have the Oxbox Lake Dam in Perinton become the
first earthen embankment revitalized by the new EEIP effort.
There are already 370 signatures collected, on two different
online petitions, asking for this particular earthen embankment
to be cleared.
HTML https://www.change.org/p/jacquie-shillinger-support-vegetation-removal-from-erie-canal-for-safety-inspections?
HTML https://www.change.org/p/erie-canal-neighbors-friends-help-save-the-oxbow-lake-dam-ask-the-perinton-town-government-to-help-protect-perinton-fairport-from-a-flood
Please show your support, sign a petition today... thank you in
advance.
#Post#: 1836--------------------------------------------------
Perinton Town Supervisor has a plan
DIR By: Michael Caswell
Date: November 2, 2021, 8:23 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Mr Hanna stated on the Perinton Town web page -
HTML https://perinton.org/news/perinton-supervisor-announces-use-of-comprehensive-plan-update-to-safeguard-erie-canal/
“The Erie Canal is one of our most significant cultural,
natural, and historic landmarks, and we must safeguard it for
the generations to come,” said Hanna. “The Town has been
evaluating how to best protect the Erie Canal through our
Comprehensive Plan Update given the State’s imminent plan to
remove trees and vegetation along earthen embankments. By doing
this, we can help ensure the Town and our residents have more
input and communication with the State before any clearing
occurs. I want residents to know that Perinton is prepared to
protect the Canal and the safety of our community to the
greatest extent we can.”
There seems to me to be a very thin line Mr Hanna has drawn
here, between pandering to a radical Facebook group called the
Stop The Clear-Cut, who have no regard for the safety of many of
the residents of Perinton, and those who actually live under the
threat of drowning from a breach in these dams, (living west of
the Erie Canal like Crystal Springs and Bushnells Basin Marsh
Road.)
It will be very interesting to see how he and his staff manage
to juggle the "safety" problems to keep everyone happy.
It's probably an impossible task, because it has just emerged
that ROYALTON has experienced a sinkhole, and the CC has
disclosed that since they cleared 25 miles of dams of vegetation
they have found over 200 leaks, where previously there were only
22 they were monitoring. I hate to imagine the leak count on the
Perinton dams.
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/notices-from-the-canal-authority/notice-to-trail-users-detour-on-empire-erie-canal-trail-due-to-royalton-ny-sinkh/?message=1835
When the USACE, FEMA, ASDSO and NYDEC are all saying NO TREES
ON EARTHEN DAMS and nowhere else in the world are governments
are allowing this, why does The Town of Perinton think they are
special?
Is it denial? Does no one remember the 40' lengths of steel
sheet piles they drove into the embankments at the Oxbow a
couple of years ago?
And RIZZO engineering stating they were unable to inspect the
dam because of the trees and brush?
Has no one looked at the steep slopes of the embankment between
the Oxbow and 31f?
The 100+ year old dams are so out of whack with current
engineering codes its frightening.
I look forward to Mr Hanna's solution, but remind folks that
there are no dam engineers on his staff, so would ask how he
thinks he is going to overcome the overwhelming knowledge of the
qualified people who are all of one voice saying NO TREES ON A
DAM!
And Mr Hanna appears to not have seen the NEW website launched
by the New York State Canal Corporation yesterday, dedicated to
advancing the conversation about Canal Integrity and how unsafe,
overgrown earthen embankments are a major issue with Canal
safety.
Mr Hanna and his friends on Facebook may want to discuss
"scenery & shade", but those who are actually QUALIFIED to
manage the NYS Canal Property are saying SAFETY is the biggest
concern, for Erie Canal Neighbors, as well as the overall
integrity of the NYS Canal System
HTML https://www.nyscanalintegrity.org/
And FOR THE REAL FACTS ABOUT THE CANAL SEE-
www.eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com
#Post#: 1838--------------------------------------------------
Re: Perinton Town Supervisor has a plan, and it SUPPORTS the
Canal Corporation Integrity Work
DIR By: Doug K
Date: November 3, 2021, 6:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Once again, words matter. Please read this Supervisor Hanna
statement again, with some understanding of what matters the
most.
"The Erie Canal is one of our most significant cultural,
natural, and historic landmarks, and we must safeguard it for
the generations to come,” said Hanna. “The Town has been
evaluating how to best protect the Erie Canal through our
Comprehensive Plan Update given the State’s imminent plan to
remove trees and vegetation along earthen embankments. By doing
this, we can help ensure the Town and our residents have more
input and communication with the State before any clearing
occurs. I want residents to know that Perinton is prepared to
protect the Canal and the safety of our community to the
greatest extent we can.”
Mr Hanna hasn't said he supports the view of the Stop the Canal
Clear-Cut group on Facebook. and he hasn't denied the safety
issues at work here with unsafe dams, like this Facebook group
continues to do.
In fact, Mr. Hanna just said that he will do what's needed, to
protect the Canal in Perinton and the safety of our community to
the greatest extent we can.”
What do you think matters more to Mr. Hanna?
Keeping trees where they don't belong or Removing trees to
insure his Town and it's residents don't die in a flood?
Mr Hanna has also said that he does NOT support the idea of
"clear-cutting" the Embankments along the Canal. And he chose
his words carefully, because he DID say he supports a
"pragmatic, selective, and intentional approach" to embankment
maintenance. That is EXACTLY the words used by the NYS Canal
Corporation, to describe their new Earthen Embankment Integrity
Program. The STCC Facebook group doesn't support any changes,
even those needed for public safety.
"While I understand the State wants to modify its canal
embankment maintenance practice to permit easier inspection and
identification of potential hazards, a clear-cut is not the
answer. Instead, a pragmatic, selective and intentional approach
should be taken. It is our intent to require the State to
actively engage all stakeholders – from the public to property
owners to the Town, and provide all with an opportunity to have
more input, communication, and engagement on the State’s plan
moving forward,” continued Hanna.
So maybe the truth lies somewhere closer to this:
Perinton made a smart move… by adopting a comprehensive plan,
any local zoning will show up in the EEIP Program “desktop
audit” of project in design.
That triggers the “community threshold” Chapter of the EEIP SEQR
Documents for additional review and community engagement... so
his statements are true.
Hanna is no dummy – he knows what is at stake. By going the
route of the comprehensive plan, he can appear proactive to his
constituents WHILE supporting an objective approach to
embankment management. He also understands that when a project
is identified in his area, he can show that he held the NYS
Canal Corporation accountable – he solicted input from his
community to add value. In doing that he has also given the EEIP
program a solid path forward for work to progress.
And he stands for the SAFETY of his community...FIRST, after
that he will be trying to insure the aesthetic views along the
Canal remain, if they don't interfere with the SAFETY of his
community.
You see the ECNA has spoken in the past with Mr. Hanna, and he
does understand the seriousness of having 10 miles of unsafe
canal embankments in his Township. He also understands that if
trees are not removed, there is a chance that "unsafe earthen
dams" may change the current Flood Zone Ratings in Perinton, and
he does not want the residents that he serves, to be unduly
burdened by mandatory Flood Insurance costs.
What the Canal Corporation is doing on canal embankments, is NOT
a "clear-cut" by word definition.
Clear-cut is something that some group on Facebook made up to
start a social media group. In fact that Facebook group started
using the term because they actually believed that dead
cottonwoods were being harvested for their cash value, and now
they are trapped by it.
The Canal Corporation has been clear, as well as what Mr. Hanna
has stated in his Comprehensive Plan... they do NOT support a
Clear-Cut approach to Earthen Dam Maintenance... but they both
DO support a pragmatic, selective, and intentional approach" to
embankment maintenance.
That Facebook Group, well they want nothing removed, they want
the canal corporation to go away, and they simply say the dams
won't fail...
But what if they are WRONG?
Again, it won't really matter because most of this Facebook
group simply walk along the Empire Trail at the top of the dam,
they don't live below the waterline like many Canal Neighbors
do. When you aren't putting your own life at risk, it seems to
be very easy to treat other's lives very "casually", as evident
by all these FB members that say that "safety warnings" from the
Canal Corporation are just "fear-mongering".
But what is "really scary" here... a Facebook Group formed to
fight AGAINST a NYS Canal Public Safety program, and the Town of
Perinton, along with the Village of Fairport LET THEM DO IT!!
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1