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#Post#: 465--------------------------------------------------
The Erie Canal Neighbor's Association - Lessons Learned
DIR By: Doug K
Date: April 8, 2019, 9:43 am
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It's been nearly a year since the ECNA came into existence, June
15, 2018 to be exact. Just wanted to share some of our thoughts
as we close in on an anniversary of sorts... both for our first
year, and for that day when ECNA creators play less of a role as
contributors & more of the role as moderator of the ECNA Forum
or in Mike's case, dedicates himself to other Erie Canal
Neighborhood Association interests.
HTML https://ecna.us/
Mike Caswell (Village of Fairport) contacted me in early 2018
after a contentious Perinton Town meeting on the Erie Canal
Embankment Safety Program that was starting up in our area. He
thought we could make a difference on how the message of Dam
Safety was being understood & accepted by our neighbor's. After
a few discussions we landed on the thought that if this endeavor
was going to work we's have to build something that was missing
from the ground up... a one stop website for all things related
to Dam Safety.
We would be building something that would also have to outlive
the need to have either of us directly involved, as this Canal
Dam Program was destined to be out of our area by 2020 (based on
the NY canal corporation's plans & schedule for the dam clearing
work that was needed). What we settled on was combining several
different types of social media into one neat package that would
hold everything about the Erie Canal and it's need to survive.
The Embankment Restoration Project and subsequent NYCC
Embankment Integrity Program are part of that Erie Canal
survival thought.
Mike was already running a Blog site for the Oxbow Lake area, a
unique feature on the Erie that few know about but sits right in
Mike's backyard. Here's a link to his Oxbow Blog
HTML https://theoxbowblog.wordpress.com/
Mike also put an Erie Canal Vegetation Management Program
website up as well, dedicated to spreading the safety message
and also offering the arguments needed to insure people
understood that dam clearing is a SAFETY initiative, not being
done to "cash in" on selling the trees that were removed, as
some folks wanted their neighbor's to believe. Here's a link to
the The Erie Canal Vegetation & Remediation Project page and
also an ECNA Blog page:
HTML https://eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com/
HTML https://ecna.us/blog/
We talked about the need for a different tool to help spread the
information that many seemed to be missing about Dam Safety
along the Canal. One that was more interactive, where members &
guests could contribute ideas or thoughts, more a "two-way"
conversation about the Erie Canal work and also the experiences
the "neighbors" along the Embankments were starting to
experience as the dam clearing started in early 2018. That
conversation and idea led to the creation of the Erie Canal
Neighbor's Association (ECNA), and the forum you are on right
now.
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/index.php
The goal of the ECNA was simple it seemed;
Create a website that would link the rich history of the Erie
Canal, the present NY Canal Corp's Dam Safety Program, and the
FUTURE state that would unfold as Erie Canal "neighbors" now
would be living with "brand new safe dams" in their communities.
We knew those first two needs could be met with static websites
offering boring details about dam safety, and the laws regarding
dam safety in our country. That last one had to be dynamic
enough solution to change with the "mood" of the public as there
was already a growing resentment of the changes coming to the
Canal, supported by a grass-roots group that was sending the
wrong message, but one that people wanted to be true. It would
be great if we could someone squeeze everything about safety,
history, dam repair & neighbor's input into ONE place...
That is why the ECNA Forum became the "flagship" of the ECNA, an
interactive tool for everyone involved with the Erie Canal to
use. It was an OPEN neighborhood that guests could also share in
along with members.
You didn't need to be a Facebook user to use the ECNA tools
You didn't need to signup with a leader, or be "approved" to
join the Neighborhood
You didn't even need to swear "loyalty" to the cause of Erie
Canal safety just to see what the ECNA was all about or if you
wanted to belong.
Anyone could open the ECNA.US website and have access to all the
facts about dams, the truth about dam safety & laws trying to
enforce that safety, and you could even see the evolution of
Embankment Dam change right before your very eyes with pictures,
videos and stories. It was all here, come try it out and see if
it all makes sense to you, as a neighbor of the Erie Canal... or
look & leave, saying you can live without it.
It has been a long journey to finally get here our completed
ECNA Forum... and now it's time to pass this Neighborhood along
as the NY Canal Corporation's Embankment Integrity work
continues eastward across New York State.
Folks in Palmyra and other canal towns would benefit from having
what we thought was originally missing, as they start to deal
with this much needed change occurring to what has become New
York's "Crown Jewel" of the Erie Canal National Heritage
Corridor. Folks in Clyde or Little Falls may need some ideas on
how to deal with their own "misguided environmentalist" who want
to ignore safety and discuss trees.
Hopefully others will find the value of reading how the first
attempt in 100 years to make the Erie Canal safer for it's
neighbor's all worked out. After all the new "look" of the Erie
Canal isn't really new at all, it's dams are cleared just like
in 1818 & 1918.
The work of the ECNA's creators is approaching it's end, we will
move to the roles of moderator & advisers as needed further East
on the Canal. Hopefully it more technical advice then how do
deal with "resistance to safety"... that is still a mystery to
many. The future of the ECNA itself will depend on the
willingness of Erie Canal neighbor's to engage each other, as
they start living with the new reality of safe, clear, Erie
Canal Embankments in their own neighborhoods... and all that
brings to the communities around these dams.
[attachimg=1]
Thank you for your time and for your patience, as we figured out
how best to make this all work.
Doug Kucmerowski
ECNA Admin & Moderator
[attachimg=2]
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