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#Post#: 2355--------------------------------------------------
Senate Bill S1232 has been assigned a "Same As" bill
DIR By: Michael Caswell
Date: February 2, 2023, 6:22 am
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Understanding the Senate Bill by Doug Kucmerowski
Senate Bill S1232
Requires canal corporation to provide written notice to the
municipality in which the canal is located and properties
adjacent to such canal prior to commencing work along such canal
There are Bills with identical numbers, from different
legislative years. But a search on Canal found these.
And read the BOLD text because these bills will only provide a
limited use, based on how tree removal happens
Remember that one NYS agency has already stated that every tree,
growing on an earthen dam, is a danger to the safety &
sustainability of that water impounding structure.
The question in the future will be simple, is this issue on a
canal embankment an "emergency"?
If yes, are the trees or invasive vegetation the cause?
If unsure, all vegetation needs removal to INSPECT per NYS
standards... and that's already law.
Remember that NYPA is required to follow NYS and Federal Dam
guidelines and they all state that clear dams are safer dams. If
you can't eliminate the dam, then at a minimum it will need
inspection and required maintenance to follow FEMA standards.
If trees or vegetation is causing the safety issue, then the
Senate bill says fix it, no need to talk to the public, no need
to advance warn..etc.
If its not an emergency or safety related, and the Canal
Corporation wants to clear land, say along a shoreline, then the
Senate Bill applies, but it's just communication, not a
discussion about anything else.
There will be NO voting on whether work should be done.
The EEIP Guidebook exists to end those public discussions.
But the issue will be that "community threshold" statement in
the SEQR statement, and how that's calculated... ie: Fairport
community is 5400, Perinton is around 47,000. So how much of the
community is affected, and how many of those affected are
voicing concern, either on FB or in live meetings?
Ms Agte and her social media group may not represent enough of
the community to matter anymore,
Combine that with the fact that her Stop Canal Work group has
literally NO support from any reputable expert in Hydrology, NO
politicians stepping up to stand in their corner, and they are
STILL holding to their "denialist approach" that nothing is
wrong with the Erie Canal, leave it alone.
And finally, Remember that the NYS Canal Corporation has already
stated plainly that they ONLY intend to remove trees that are a
danger to the public using their Canal System.
Waterway public.. Trail public... and the public living below
their earth dams.
Here's the links to the two different bills:
HTML https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S6748
(This
became A2994)
HTML https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/s1232
And here's the two main statements being made in both Lawmaker
Proposals:
1) Communication -
Whenever the Canal Corporation looks to adjust property along
the canal, it should be expected that they engage with
stakeholders in the community who will be affected
With this legislation, the Canal Corporation would be
obligated to promptly notify local government, with limited
exceptions, when 'they plan on doing work along the canal as
well as provide an opportunity for community members to have
their voice heard through a public hearing held locally.
2) Limits on Work -
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 42 of the canal law to require the
canal corporation to give written notice to municipalities of
any work to remove vegetation, encroachments and trees no less
than ninety days before work begins and no more than one hundred
and twenty days before work begins.
If the work has not started between ninety and one hundred and
twenty days, the canal corporation can issue a notice of
extension to the municipality no further than thirty days from
the original anticipated start date.
The corporation shall hold a public hearing between thirty to
forty-five days prior to start of work to inform the community
of such work.
In addition, the corporation will be excused from public hearing
requirements if an emergency comes up that could result in a
direct failure of the canal dams or endanger lives.
Removal of hazardous trees will be included in the emergency,
this includes trees that pose a threat to the canals.
#Post#: 2356--------------------------------------------------
Re: Senate Bill S1232 is a valuable lesson on "Groundhog
Day"
DIR By: Doug K
Date: February 2, 2023, 11:24 am
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Groundhog Day... yea, February 2nd already, and the oversized
gopher saw his shadow, someone did math in Pennsylvania and it's
6 more weeks until March 21st, the FIRST official day of Spring,
and the end of Winter
But that's not the Groundhog Day I'm referring to.. I'm
referring to Groundhog Day the movie, with Bill Murray. And Bill
plays a character in that movie that relives the same day, over
and over and over again. He wakes up each day at 6am to the same
tune, and despite all he can do, it's GROUNDHOG DAY forever.
This duplicated bill is just another indicator of Erie Canal
Embankment Maintenance being at a stand-still, in it's own
continuous Groundhog Day Hell!
It's redundant work, from a recently elected assemblyman,
Republican Josh Jensen, who basically took the work of Robert
Ortt and tried to pass it along in another body of legislation.
Opps, how much did that cost taxpayers?
[attachimg=1]
First - Note that while some watchdogs of NYS Government are
saying that because those two bills are identical, and in both
the House & Assembly chambers, that it's ripe for bipartisan
approval, the FACTS are strongly against that:
1) These redundant bills, are both sponsored by Republicans, one
in Monroe County, another in Orleans. There's no bi-partisanship
yet.
2) Both representatives listened to those folks in opposition to
the erie canal embankment work in their districts, and decided
that supporting these social media denialist might just result
in more votes at the ballot box. After all siding with
"environmentalist" seems like a good idea to most. But NOT if
they are wrong about what's actually going on with erie canal
safety, and ignoring the TRUTH that NYS Canal System officials
are sharing.
3) In the case of Josh Jensen, he talked with Agte directly (to
my knowledge) and decided to waste the time of the NYS
legislative body by sponsoring a Bill that was already in
process from another member.
Or did Josh just look for a way to be a "friend to the
environment" and ignore the hundreds of his constituents in
Greece NY in danger of a potential canal breach issue?
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
That's EXACTLY what the NYS Canal Corporation spelled out in
their SEQR Document work showing TWO scenarios of flooding in
Josh's own district. These flooded neighborhoods are occuring
MILES away from the actual breach on the canal, because it's a
well known fact to many, that water runs DOWNHILL.
HTML https://www.canals.ny.gov/Earthen_Embankment/FGEIS/NYSCC_EEIP_Final_GEIS_Appx-B.pdf
Folks, we have looked at the NYS Legislative Database, and a
simple keyword check for Erie Canal in the legislative database
would have been in order. This continued IGNORANCE and sloppy
work by Mr. Jensen is just highlighting the continued sloppy
work in Albany.
Still to this day, Groundhog Day 2023, BOTH of these legislative
representatives, have IGNORED the statements from a NYS Agency,
that the SAFETY of some NY residents & communities is at risk
from uninspected, ill-managed, and unmaintained earthen canal
embankments.
And BOTH of these NYS Lawmakers have decided to make it HARDER
for the NYS Canal Corporation to fix the problem with their
overgrown & unsafe earthen embankment dams, by throwing another
hurdle to jump over...public outreach to "OK" what most other
states say is ROUTINE maintenance of earthen dams.
Groundhog Day for sure...Social Media is STILL crippling
America...
And State Lawmakers are unable to stop wasting taxpayer money...
Meanwhile it's Groundhog Day 2023 and NYS Canal Corporation
Embankment Safety is still being held hostage, because many
people in NY Politics and a small group on Facebook still want
to deny a simple truth...
No Trees on EARTHEN Dams.
#Post#: 2357--------------------------------------------------
Re: Groundhog Day for Facebook Denialist
DIR By: Doug K
Date: February 2, 2023, 11:48 am
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And so EVERYONE gains some much needed perspective... here's a
little sampling of recent and older post from that SAME Facebook
Group that has influenced Senator Ortt, and Assemblyman Jensen.
Yes, these lawmakers and this social media group are sticking to
denial, conspiracy and opinion as their guide, and expect to win
a fight against NYS Canal Corporation who has Hydrology Experts,
Dam Safety Science, and the simple truth to back up their new
Embankment Guidebook and State Environmental Study.
[attachimg=1]
It's always the same, someone making money, someone hiding
something, everyone against the group is incompetent... it goes
on and on.
And also read one of our oldest post about this Facebook Group,
from way back in December 2018 from Ms. Agte
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/the-stop-the-clearcut-argument/stcc-closes-it's-door!/
And February 2019, again it's all about how wrong EVERYONE else
is... couldn't be that the group is mistaken or it's leaders?
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/the-stop-the-clearcut-argument/oxygen-losses-cause-brain-problems!/
Yep, maybe it's time to tell Mr Ortt and Mr. Jensen what kind of
job they are doing, ignoring the safety of people in TWO
COUNTIES.
Wait... better idea, tell them with votes the very next time
they come up for election...
Wrong is wrong.
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