Save Keeseville's Historic Bridges

Write Letters – Swing Bridge Update

By matt | May 22, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

MAY 22, 2021 —

Keep writing letters to both Clinton County and Essex County Officials….It’s THAT important!

When we started our campaign July 22nd 2020, one of the very first things we brought up was the trees growing over the swing bridge and the potential for damage. The Essex County side of the river was quickly cleaned up and it LOOKS fantastic!

A few weeks later we took a walk with two Clinton County officials and they also mentioned that these trees were hazardous to the bridge, and that there were drainage issues, and issues with leaves and other debris that were building up in places that shouldn’t be. They did fix one large sink hole on the approach to the bridge (thank you), but the trees have not been addressed yet. I learned a few months back that The town of Ausable has requested to Clinton County many times that these trees be removed to prevent any potential being done to the bridge.

It would take a few hours of work (maybe a day) to remove the large branch, and removing a few other trees would open up the view of this bridge making it once again a highlight for the town. Because the bridge is on the Clinton County Inventory, the only group allowed to do the work is those in the highway department for Clinton County.

Even a little TLC would be a great start to the summer here for our bridges. Let’s hope it gets done soon. I’d happy show pictures when it is finished and give credit to those who did the work!

New Grants- Keep Sending Letters

By matt | May 21, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

MAY 21, 2021 —

The Following Federal grant opportunities were provided by Jonathan Carmon from Elise Stefanik’s office. I immediately forwarded them to DPW and highway department as well as our town supervisors. Thank you Jonathan! (If we were to get just ONE of these grants we would be nearly funded, and could start fund raising!)

RAISE Grant FY2021 (formerly known as TIGER/BUILD): https://www.transportation.gov/…/FY%202021%20RAISE
Posted: April 13, 2021
Closing Date: July 12, 2021
Estimated Total Program Funding: $1,000,000,000
Award Ceiling: $25,000,000
Award Floor: $0

Eligible Applicants for RAISE grants are State, local, Tribal, and U.S. territories’ governments, including transit agencies, port authorities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other political subdivisions of State or local governments. Multiple States or jurisdictions may submit a joint application and should identify a lead applicant as the primary point of contact and also identify the primary recipient of the award. Joint applications should include a description of the roles and responsibilities of each applicant. DOT expects that the eligible applicant that submits the application will administer and deliver the project. If the applicant seeks a transfer of the award to another agency, a letter of support from the designated entity must be included in the application.

Northern Border Regional Commission State Economic & Infrastructure Development Investment Program FY2022: https://www.nbrc.gov/…/economic-infrastructure
Not yet opened (FY2021 closed on Friday, usually this opportunity opens in March and closes mid-May, awards are announced in August).
Approximately $4.6 MM for each State
Up to a $1,000,000 maximum award to eligible infrastructure projects, up to a $350,000 maximum award for all other types of eligible projects
All funds are in the form of reimbursement for eligible expenses incurred after a Notice to Proceed has been fully executed
Eligible Applicants for NBRC SEID funding are Public bodies, IRS recognized 501(c) organizations, Native American tribes, and the four NBRC State governments.

Essex DPW Meeting – Keep Sending Letters

By matt | May 19, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

MAY 19, 2021 —

Here is an Update for Essex County. Before I begin, I want to make sure everyone realizes that I’m posting information (good or bad news) in a way to encourage elected officials to work with us and not against us to achieve the goals of saving these historic bridges. Sometimes, I have to post the information as I see it, and I try often not to take the negatives personally, or to call out specific individuals. With that said, here is a brief update on the DPW Meeting from this past Monday.

-Chesterfield supervisor Clayton Barber personally invited all supervisors to view our bridges, and delivered the PDF file copies in person of truss bridge restorations in other areas.
-Mr. Barber also reminded the county that we Can Not Apply for grants, and that the county has expert grant writing teams.

Before Mr. Barber could speak however, the Essex County DPW presented a lengthy Bridge maintenance Plan of every bridge they intend to replace in the next ten years. (Of course, the Upper Bridge was not on here).

I’m waiting on the minutes to discuss exactly why this was brought up at the meeting, but currently we can only assume it was to say “These are more important projects than the Upper Bridge in Keeseville”.
After “very briefly” looking at the plan, most if not all were replacement plans and not restoration plans.

-None of the bridges in the plan seemed to be bridges that were on the National Historic Register of Places.
-None of the bridges in the plan seemed to be Civil Engineering Landmarks.
-None of the bridges in the plan seemed to have a petition of 2300 signatures to save them.

-Very few of the bridges had more traffic crossings than our Upper Bridge which has had a traffic study done on it. (Not to mention 61% increase in population in Keeseville since 2010)

This DPW plan (in my opinion) was shown to the County Supervisors to say something similar to “We have all of these other projects on our to do list, and we can’t do the Upper Bridge”. This is exactly the opposite of what we ask for. We want to work together to find solutions, not continuously find ways to say we can’t do it.

My Answer to that is in 2008 the PLAN was to restore the Upper Bridge. It was at the top of the list to restoring and reopening. Nothing was ever done. Why is it not still a priority now? I’m not sure how to send that message any stronger to the Supervisors.

Here is the Positive News. Some county supervisors are asking great questions. Some have mentioned they plan on viewing the bridges soon. Some are showing support for us.

Here is what we need- County Grant writing teams to find grants. DPW to be in FULL support of the project and not waste time or stall this project any further. County Supervisors to visit the bridges (With me) to hear about them and see for themselves how important this issue is. They are the elected officials for the county, and should be interested on the concerns of residents.

START writing letters, or sending emails. Let them hear your voice. 11 years of no action is long enough. Save our Historic Bridges. Let’s work together to find a solution. (In order to do that, we need support from the County).

It’s my full intention of showing that County officials, DPW, Highway department officials can be the hero here. Preserving History, Right a Wrong, and Make History.
Send your letters today. Look back a few posts and you will see the contact info for ALL county officials. THANK YOU.