Lots of Progress and Pressure!
AUG 13, 2020 —
TOWN OF AUSABLE
Tonight the town of Ausable voted unanimously yes to the “Save Keeseville’s Historic Bridges” campaign. Thank you Supervisor Sandy Senecal and the rest of the Town board for their support.
TOWN OF CHESTERFIELD
This morning Supervisor Barber in the Town of Chesterfield made some phone calls to stop the removal of the Upper Bridge. He also forwarded our calls for progress to be made including looking in to the possibility of opening the Upper Bridge and Old State Road Bridge to pedestrians first, before we fix the bridges for vehicle traffic.
FOIL REQUESTS
Over the weekend I requested any and all documents in regards to ALL of Keeseville’s Historic Bridges from both Clinton County and Essex County. This is to include any studies done on the bridges by engineers, and any information in regards to what happened to the 2.1 Million Dollar grant awarded to Essex County.
Both Counties have responded appropriately and will be in touch with me in regards to how to get that information to me.
PUSH BACK AND MAJOR OBSTACLES
NO WEIGHT LIMIT ON NEW COUNTY BRIDGES
There is a major push right now for counties to build bridges with no weight limits. We certainly understand the need for this. However, there is an exception to every rule, and our historic bridges, especially the story behind all of them together as a group should make an exception to that rule.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME
Another common misconception is “Now is not the time” considering the pandemic and Covid-19. Our response is, we didn’t have a choice as our bridge was scheduled to be removed. Also, we are not expecting trucks to show up tomorrow and fix them. What we are calling for is for both counties to come up with a PLAN to fix and maintain these bridges. THEN when grants become available again, we won’t have to start the process, the agreements will be made and the proper paperwork filled out.
RAISING TAXES
Don’t fall for this. With grants the county is only responsible for the remaining 20% of the repairs. In certain cases DOT will pay 15% and the County 5%. Now, since both Counties are responsible for maintenance on our bridges it could be done like this:
Essex County 5%
Essex County DOT Region 1 – 5%
Clinton County 5%
Clinton County DOT Region 7- 5%
FUND RAISING EFFORTS
Many people have asked if we are fund raising. The answer is not yet. We are waiting for exact numbers on how much things will cost to repair. We may do a fund raising campaign in the future once we know for sure what we can and can not do.
CLINTON COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Two members of the Clinton County Transportation Committee will touring the bridges this up and coming week. I’ve also invited Highway superintendent Karl Weiss and Jim Dougan to take a tour with us. I’ve actually invited every county official I can think of to come visit the bridges and take a walk with me.
HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENTS
Both Highway superintendents have been great resources as to what obstacles we face and are both open to suggestions. My whole approach is to build support with our county officials and work together to make things happen.
WHAT IS PROGRESS?
Progress comes in many ways. What we really want to hear as far as progress is:
1) The Upper Bridge will not be removed (In Writing)
2) Counties will give estimates on how much opening to pedestrians would cost
3) Counties in support of coming up with a plan now to be ahead of the game for when grants become available.
4) Bridges shored up/repaired to allow for pedestrian use.
PEDESTRIAN USE OF BRIDGES
One obstacle for allowing pedestrians to use the bridges is if a large number of pedestrians use the bridge at one time it weighs more than a car and could cause damage or collapse of the bridge.
This is certainly reasonable to understand. What can we do to allow for pedestrian traffic. This is where a fund raiser may come in handy in the future. We just need the counties to work with us and think creatively.
Thank you for your support and all you do.
