Tonight was the meeting with the Clinton Country Transportation Committee.  The atmosphere couldn’t have been more professional and friendly.  I thank the Committee for taking the time to accept my petition and to listen to me speak.  They were very polite, and asked very reasonable questions.

At the start of the meeting it was brought up that another bridge in Clinton County will need to be replaced, and that state funding was available for it.

Highway Superintendent Karl Weiss was nice enough to print photos to all of the committee so there could be a clear understanding of what bridges we were talking about.

Prior to the meeting I emailed all the members the 1342 signature petition.  I tried to express the Heritage behind our bridges, the traffic concerns, the local tourism and supporting local businesses.

I briefly discussed the past history of the bridges, but did not want to dwell on the past.  I explained that the community support for this, is the largest I’ve ever seen in Keeseville.  

We discussed past issues on why Clinton County or maybe State DOT did not want to pay for the bridges.  

I brought up that most of the community would prefer the historical restoration and not the modernizing of the bridge with the historical bridges as architectural look.

I mentioned the companies that restore the bridges and save cost by doing it in a warehouse offsite.

I also explained that the community has started taking care of the entrances to the bridges, but we need the help from the counties to make any more progress.

Also brought up was the community not wanting changes to the Arch bridge to be updated to a no weight limit bridge, and would much prefer the other bridges being opened first. 

All in all the meeting went well, and I hope that they took the information in a positive way, and I hope we can make progress.  Time will tell!  I did thank them for their time, and submitted the petition to them, with the same letter that I wrote Essex County.