Author Topic: Is a local Facebook Group Influencing the Safety of Erie Canal Communities & Neighbors? (Read 203 times)

Doug K · « **on:** December 07, 2020, 11:11:12 am »

It appears that while some people in the area are fighting against a safer Erie Canal, there are many people who approve and welcome these Canal embankment changes. All of the work being done, and changes in the embankment's appearance, are soundly based in advancing the cause of public safety for canal communities & canal neighbors.

And many canal neighbors have finally been able to talk with their "absentee owner" and get our voices heard on water issues experienced while living next to these earthen water impounding structures. Neighbors, more than anyone else, appreciate the efforts towards a safe "dam in their backyard" that the new owners are making.

Yet some people in our area, it seems mostly those walking along the Empire State Trail system, are opposed to these canal embankment changes, citing a loss of shade & oxygen(?) as a reason to fight a public safety program. They say nature is being destroyed and their view of the canal will be different, in a bad way. They simply deny that any safety problems being brought up by the OWNERS of the NYS Canal System exist.

They seem to have the mentality that 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' and are failing to hear the New York State Canal Corporation saying that "the Erie Canal is BROKEN!"

This latter group is being led by a small trio of individuals from Perinton, NY using a Facebook group called Stop the Canal Clear-Cut or STCC. You can go see what they have to say, but be forewarned, they are a 'public' group by invitation only. And you have to be approved by the Founder, and also NOT do anything contrary to what this founder & group believes. If you do you will find yourself on the outside looking in, because leadership's opinions are law.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/374651252977621/

Why anyone would fight against what many knowledgeable people would and do consider a Public Safety Program, is a mystery.

It's a mystery that the Erie Canal Neighbors Association has perplexed over since we formed in 2018, in order to provide opposition to the dangerous rhetoric being propagated by a Facebook group in the Rochester area, in the eastern suburbs of Pittsford, Perinton & Fairport.

Still to this day, a small "pseudo-environmental" group on Facebook, who's calling itself the "Stop the Canal Clear-cut Group", is fighting against all of this NYS Canal Corporation's public safety work along the Erie Canal. And their surrounding community, the one in danger from possible flooding with these unsafe embankments, does NOTHING to stop the rhetoric.

In fact some local Mayors, like Pittsford, are supporting the cause of this group, which is fighting public safety on the wrong side

The owners of the Erie Canal, the New York Canal Corporation & New York Power Authority, are saying that they need to repair known safety concerns of their earthen dams, for the public's best interest, to prevent environmental devastation that could result from a breached embankment & flood. They are saying it loud and clearly, and started their messaging with Public Hearings in Perinton & Fairport areas. And what did the local community do? Many attended to hold up protest signs and gave the floor up to the leaders of this Facebook group to speak for their neighborhoods.

In fact the Leaders of this Facebook group stood up and said they believed that squirrels and trees were more important to save, than homes & residents.

Finally these Eastside Town & Village leaders joined forces with this Facebook group and sued these two New York State agencies to stop the Erie Canal embankment repairs, and hold all of this public safety work up. All of which has now resulted in new Flood Zone maps being created for canal communities, and more money being spent to get what should have been a simple public safety project completed. Where are the public officials, are they for or against public safety in their own communities???

Again, just asking the question.

What happened in Perinton, Fairport, and Pittsford to have so many public leaders & community members simply abandon common sense, and also good judgement, in protecting the public, from itself?

Isn't that the JOB of our community leaders, protecting the public's best interest? Shouldn't that be the GOAL of a community who truly cares?

News:

Author Topic: Is a local Facebook Group Influencing the Safety of Erie Canal Communities & Neighbors? (Read 203 times)

Doug K

What's happened to Perinton, Pittsford & Fairport Leadership?