CC Highway Dept Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Keeseville's Historic Bridges

Swing Bridge Trees

By matt | May 29, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

Here is a couple more current images of the trees over the swing bridge. I’m not an arborist, but it does look like the bank is eroding, and it won’t be long before that tree falls. Essex County did a nice job on the opposite side of the river last summer.

I spoke with an arborist today who mentioned that this tree is a valid concern. Another said that while the canopy looks healthy, trees like this are only going to keep getting bigger. I looked into regulations on cutting trees in NY. There are rules into what can be cut and what can not. Without pasting everything word for word…If a tree is or will pose a danger in the future it can be cut. It can also be cut down to open up and keep scenic vistas clear. I think both are in play here.

Here is a link to the regulations:

https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/environmental-analysis/landscape/trees/hazards

A side view of the Old State Road Bridge

Thank You Joshua Kretser (Clinton County)

By matt | May 27, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

Thank you to Devin Bates and Local 22 & Local 44 for doing a story today on saving our Bridges! It should air at 6:00pm tonight!

ALSO, an important phone call today from Joshua Kretser. He is the head of the Clinton County Transportation Committee. We had a really nice chat today about the bridges in Keeseville. Joshua assured me that everyone on the transportation committee and everyone in the County Legislature is in support of saving the bridges. It is a matter of finding the right grants to fund the bridges. We talked about some potential options in how we could accomplish that task. One potential option would be that the County donates the bridge to the town, and the town donates the bridge to a non-profit to raise funding. After the bridge was restored, we would then donate the bridge back to the county. This would have to be done by contract, and was just one suggestion. I looked into this last summer, and there was a lot of issues with towns that have done this in the past, but I didn’t have time to explain a lot of that on the phone as I had a meeting to go to.

To clarify an error of mine, I learned that Clinton County does not have a grant writing “Team” as I have previously stated, and that everyone involved with writing grants also does many other things at the county.

I do know Essex County uses an office to write grants, and there could have been some confusion on that point. In Clinton county it is a few people and Prioritizing resources needs to happen a lot. I explained the issues from 2008, and how we are trying to stay positive, and avoid the negative.
I did have to leave the phone call a bit early, but I also mentioned the trees near the swing bridge, and then later sent a photo of it to him. Hopefully that will be addressed soon.
One of the great things about this phone call today was hearing that the transportation committee is in support with us.

A simple phone call creates a working relationship to find solutions. I asked for an update on the Old State Road Bridge Historical Structure report grant, and Joshua was going to look into it to see if it was awarded.
I also learned today that Clinton County can not take fund raised money from a non-profit organization. We had hoped to be able to help offset the remaining 20% the counties needed to pay by fundraising. We are checking to see if the local towns can accept fundraising, and then donate the money to the counties. It might be a possibility.

I think the best thing we can do right now is get both Essex and Clinton County working together to apply for federal grants to save our bridges. With all of the infrastructure money that was passed, there must be a solution somewhere. I’m here to provide the county any help and information they need to make that happen. THANK YOU Joshua, and thank you Clinton County. We can get creative and make this happen. It’s just going to take some out of the box thinking.

Bridge Funding Proposal

By matt | May 25, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

The following is a letter I sent to Clinton County and Essex County Yesterday.

Here is a proposal on how we can work together to save the bridges in Keeseville. Clinton and Essex county can work together with their grant writing teams to submit grants for Preserve NY, RAISE, and/or Northern Border Regional Commission State Economic & Infrastructure Development Investment Program FY2022. You will have a stronger grant application if both counties work together.

The USDOT recommends bundling of Bridges when applying for grants to reduce overall project costs. The RAISE grant has a $25 Million grant ceiling and a total of $1 Billion in funding. We don’t need nearly that much to accomplish what we are asking. We could focus on ONE bridge, or bundle the bridges together as USDOT requests. The ONE bridge we would focus on is the Upper Bridge first.

THEN, We have a non profit lined up ready to start fundraising in the community to offset as much of the remaining 20% of each project as we can. A lot of people have expressed interest in donating to help, but we can’t until the counties both see preservation as a good thing, and work with us. We can fundraise enough to make an impact, and lessen the burden on each county. The Town of Chesterfield and town of Ausable MAY also be able to help in some small way as well. We can do this together.

The Grant deadline for RISE is July 12th. Other deadlines are approaching here as well. As much as a pain as I am being, I am really here to help you in any way possible and do something great for my community. We have a chance here, and it is my goal to make you all the heroes in this project.

The only way we can make this happen is if the Counties VOTE for preservation and then restoration. Let’s get the county grant writing teams on board as well.

Peter Melewski (Former NYS Thruway Authority Head) is the lead author for the bridge section of the 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers NYS Infrastructure Report Card. He is confirming that Historical Bridges are to be focused on.

We have a chance to do something really special here. Art Suckewer of Wrought Iron Bridge works, and other companies such as VS Engineering or Bach Steel can be valuable resources IF you reach out to them. If Art’s company is selected during the bidding process, he could use the Upper Bridge as a demonstration of his companies ability to do the other two.

Let’s Preserve History, right a wrong from over a decade ago, and Make History by voting for preservation and restoration of these bridges. I’m also reminding you of my invite to walk together and tour the bridges. Timing is critical, and we need to act together.

Thank you for your time,
Matt