AUG 7, 2020 — 

Check the Press Republican on Saturday! Our article should be released then! Stay tuned for other press releases!

TOWN OF AUSABLE

Today I spoke to Town of Ausable Supervisor Sandy Senecal. She had no knowledge that the upper bridge was scheduled to be removed. (This was confirmed by Essex County about two weeks ago). Sandy has expressed her full support in saving our historic bridges. She also mentioned to me that the property directly across from the town of Ausable near the walking bridge does not belong to the town, but will be owned by the town in the near future. Once they retain ownership, there won’t be liability or insurance issues and the entrance to the bridge will have trees and bushes removed so that it can be seen again. I also mentioned the very large tree on the Ausable side that has grown up and above the bridge. If that tree trunk were to fall, it would take out the bridge. Hopefully that tree will be taken down before more issues arise. More progress! I will be speaking at the Town of Ausable this Wednesday at 6:45p.m.

CLINTON COUNTY HIGHWAY SUPERVISOR

I also spoke to Clinton County Highway Supervisor Karl Weiss. He was a wealth of information on past project issues, and current projects in the works. The Swing Bridge is not inspected by DOT because it is considered a walkway not a bridge. It’s usually inspected every other year, but it’s last report was done in 2014, with some minor yellow flags sent to be addressed before they become bigger issues. Karl became superintendent in 2019 and is looking into what to do. There are various avenues he can take to get issues addressed. He also gave me information on some people that I can talk with to gain support. The Clinton County Transportation meeting was cancelled for August, so I intend to be at the meeting in September. In the mean time, I’m going to invite some Clinton County officials to come walk the bridges and discuss. It turns out Essex County has helped Clinton county with cost of repairs in the past for certain bridges, and it is a good talking point to get Clinton County to help Essex County. Not only are we dealing with Two Townships, and Two Counties, but we are also dealing with two different DOT regions making things even more complicated. Essex County is Region 1 and Clinton County is Region 7.

Stay tuned for an important update in regards to the Swing Bridge.

WHAT’S NEXT?

My plan is to contact Region 1 and Region 7 DOT and find out who I should speak with, and send them the information on the bridges and why they are important.  I’m also Trying to gain support from highway superintendents and other important county officials by inviting them to take a walk through with me and others that are involved with the project. 

It’s not enough to just come look at a bridge and say it isn’t needed without actually hearing from locals and town officials on why it is important.  Clinton County officials were asked by the town of Ausable to do a walk through years ago with Sandy Senecal.  The officials came to do a walk through but never stopped in the Town of Ausable office.  They later made a decision with no input from locals.

OLD STATE ROAD BRIDGE AT AUSABLE CHASM

I heard the story today in regards to the bridge on the old state road.  It was set to be repaired years and years ago.  There was a lead engineer who wanted it to be done a certain way, and others didn’t agree to it.  It led to everyone digging their feet in the ground and nothing getting done.  More politics that need to be put aside.  This is the dialog that we hope to change to get our bridges open again!

ASSEMBLYMEMBER DAN STEC

Thursday, New York Assemblymember Dan Stec visited our Historic Bridges! We walked the suspension bridge, and took a look at the Upper Bridge and Arch bridge. We then drove to the old state road bridge and what he described as “One of the best views in New York” at AuSable Chasm.

Thank you Mr. Stec for taking the time to visit our community and our cause. Thank you supervisor Clayton Barber and Councilman Gload, as well as Steve and Nolan from AARCH for also being there. Oh and we hit 1000 signatures as we walked yesterday!

Thank you again for supporting our Historic Bridges.