Save Keeseville's Historic Bridges

Major Progress! Let’s get to 750 Signatures!

By matt | July 28, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

JUL 28, 2020 —

Thank You for you support! We can’t do this without it!

I’ve been working very hard the last few days on multiple fronts.

Keeseville Community Development Corporation

I had a great conversation with Amy Brelia from the Keeseville Community Development Corporation. She mentioned that the Save the Bridges campaign timing couldn’t be more perfect. At this time Albany is pushing grant money to local communities for bike and pedestrian routes for increased tourism. This could be a great resource to repair and maintain our bridges.

The KCDC and many other local groups are now offering their full support. More coming every day!

THANK YOU TO:

Keeseville Community Development Corporation
Anderson Falls Heritage Society
Adirondack Architectural Heritage
Champlain Valley Search and Rescue
Northeast Adventures
Town of Ausable
Town of Chesterfield

Second Town of Chesterfield Supervisor Meeting

I had another meeting this morning with Clayton Barber. After speaking with Essex county officials he learned that Essex County is willing to accept the petition and listen to what we have to say. There are lots of obstacles in the way, but there is still hope. A study was done to see how much it would cost to remove the bridge and build a new one. That would cost about $6 Million. It was decided to remove the bridge because “we have two other ones”. What isn’t being address is the traffic congestion on the down town area. It was also discussed to fix the arch bridge to allow big rigs to cross it, and make a four way stop at the intersection to help with traffic. Both of these options don’t make sense, and won’t fix the real issue. We are focusing on four different reasons why the upper bridge needs to be renovated. History, Tourism, Local Economy, and Traffic Safety. I also got a message from Clinton County. The person that I need to talk with is on vacation this week, and they are going to get back to me.

Essex County Board of Supervisors Meeting This Monday!

This Monday August 3rd at 10:00am is the Board of Supervisors Meeting in Elizabethtown. I’m going to submit the petition, and ask for a few minutes to speak. If given the opportunity, we have a plan to put politics aside and get to work. We want to change the focus from “We can’t do this” to “Let’s Make this happen”.

Town of Chesterfield Board Meeting

On Tuesday August 4th at 7:00pm I’ll present the petition to the town of Chesterfield, and explain the thoughts on why it is important to restore these bridges.

Town of Ausable Board Meeting

On Wednesday August 12th at 6:30pm I’ll present the petition to the town of Chesterfield, and explain the thoughts on why it is important to restore these bridges.

Clinton County Meeting TBD

The Highway superintendent for Clinton County is on Vacation this week, but I will be speaking with him and ask for a time slot at the next meeting. It’s our goal to have a fresh approach with this with both towns and both counties.

Petition is WORKING!

Essex County has said that it will be a difficult fight to save the bridge but they are willing to accept the petition and listen to what we have to say.

We will also submit the petition to Clinton County.

We are Currently at 542 Signatures on the petition.

We have impressed the towns with this number. Imagine what 750-1000 signatures could do at the county level. Please continue to share and remember, we are not taking donations at this time. Please do not donate to change(dot)org. A future fund raising effort may be coming but we want to get hard numbers first!

Please share the petition link any way you can to get those numbers to go up. We want signatures from Keeseville and the surrounding area, those who lived in Keeseville, along with Clinton and Essex Counties. Keep it going!

Our Link to the petition:

http://chng.it/mCt4BsH429

Thank you for the amazing turn out for support thus far. If you have any input on how you can help, or if your business or community group just wants to voice their support please email:

keesevillehistoricbridges@gmail.com

GREAT NEWS!!

By matt | July 26, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

JUL 26, 2020 —

GREAT NEWS! Your voices are being heard! Keep passing the information along about our petition! I spoke with a councilman for the Town of Ausable tonight.

They are amazed at the turnout from the petition. With new leadership in certain positions within each county, the time is better than ever to get things done! They are amazed that we have 360+ signatures already. Let’s keep spreading the word. I’d love to get between 500-1000 signatures.

Priority would be the upper bridge opening on River/Liberty Street. Raising it to a 10 ton limit to allow an ambulance to cross the river. Essex County had acquired grant funding available to do most of the renovations and asked Clinton County to help by paying only $160,000. It sounds as if both towns are interested in getting this done now that the petition is going! Town of Ausable Virtual meeting is the second Wednesday of August at 6:30.

Now is the time! Please send and share the petition! It’s working. Share it! Re-Share it! Share again! Email, text, talk about it. Get the word out! Sign the petition here:
http://chng.it/fhfSYvXkN6

Keep it Going! We are almost at 300 Signatures

By matt | July 25, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

JUL 25, 2020 —

Keep it going! We are at almost 300 signatures for our petition to save the bridges in Keeseville. Please share, email, text, shout, or tell everyone who doesn’t use social media!

Here is an updated proposal idea to save our bridges. It’s not meant as a perfect solution, but to start the conversation.

THE UPPER BRIDGE (River St/ AuSable St)

A Multi Year Process

1) Immediately stop the removal of the upper bridge and use that funding to stabilize the bridge as much as we can to move forward.

2) Find out what happened to the grant funding that was acquired and use it or apply for new grant funding to open the bridge as a pedestrian / bike bridge.

3) Over the next few years acquire state funding, and any other grants to renovate the bridge enough to reopen for cars.

THE WALKING BRIDGE

A community Go Fund Me Campaign to get the walking bridge sanded and repainted. New Entrances to each side of the bridge that look the same, and modern railings. Fix the “Foot prints in the sidewalk”. Trim the trees back so the bridge can be seen, and add a community flower garden to make it look nice.

THE CHASM BRIDGE

A Community wide Business Go Fund Me Campaign starting with large companies like NYSEG, Pepsi, Etc. With the new Multi-million dollar dam in place, it would be great to first renovate and open it as a walking bridge, and then get more funding to open it for cars.

What happens next? At the end of a community, town, and county effort, the bridges will now be expected to be regularly maintained again by each county. If we all work together this can be successful.

Town of Chesterfield Meeting is August 4th at 7:00pm. I’ll be working on a Town of Ausable meeting date soon.