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Topic Summary

Posted by: Doug K
« on: November 03, 2021, 07:36:21 pm »

Once again, words matter. Please read this Supervisor Hanna statement again, with some understanding of what matters the most.

"The Erie Canal is one of our most significant cultural, natural, and historic landmarks, and we must safeguard it for the generations to come,” said Hanna. “The Town has been evaluating how to best protect the Erie Canal through our Comprehensive Plan Update given the State’s imminent plan to remove trees and vegetation along earthen embankments. By doing this, we can help ensure the Town and our residents have more input and communication with the State before any clearing occurs. I want residents to know that Perinton is prepared to protect the Canal and the safety of our community to the greatest extent we can.”


Mr Hanna hasn't said he supports the view of the Stop the Canal Clear-Cut group on Facebook. and he hasn't denied the safety issues at work here with unsafe dams, like this Facebook group continues to do.

In fact, Mr. Hanna just said that he will do what's needed, to protect the Canal in Perinton and the safety of our community to the greatest extent we can.”

What do you think matters more to Mr. Hanna?

Keeping trees where they don't belong or Removing trees to insure his Town and it's residents don't die in a flood?

Mr Hanna has also said that he does NOT support the idea of "clear-cutting" the Embankments along the Canal. And he chose his words carefully, because he DID say he supports a "pragmatic, selective, and intentional approach" to embankment maintenance. That is EXACTLY the words used by the NYS Canal Corporation, to describe their new Earthen Embankment Integrity Program. The STCC Facebook group doesn't support any changes, even those needed for public safety.

"While I understand the State wants to modify its canal embankment maintenance practice to permit easier inspection and identification of potential hazards, a clear-cut is not the answer. Instead, a pragmatic, selective and intentional approach should be taken. It is our intent to require the State to actively engage all stakeholders – from the public to property owners to the Town, and provide all with an opportunity to have more input, communication, and engagement on the State’s plan moving forward,” continued Hanna.

So maybe the truth lies somewhere closer to this:

Perinton made a smart move… by adopting a comprehensive plan, any local zoning will show up in the EEIP Program “desktop audit” of project in design.

That triggers the “community threshold” Chapter of the EEIP SEQR Documents for additional review and community engagement... so his statements are true.

Hanna is no dummy – he knows what is at stake. By going the route of the comprehensive plan, he can appear proactive to his constituents WHILE supporting an objective approach to embankment management. He also understands that when a project is identified in his area, he can show that he held the NYS Canal Corporation accountable – he solicted input from his community to add value. In doing that he has also given the EEIP program a solid path forward for work to progress.

And he stands for the SAFETY of his community...FIRST, after that he will be trying to insure the aesthetic views along the Canal remain, if they don't interfere with the SAFETY of his community.

You see the ECNA has spoken in the past with Mr. Hanna, and he does understand the seriousness of having 10 miles of unsafe canal embankments in his Township. He also  understands that if trees are not removed, there is a chance that "unsafe earthen dams" may change the current Flood Zone Ratings in Perinton, and he does not want the residents that he serves, to be unduly burdened by mandatory Flood Insurance costs.

What the Canal Corporation is doing on canal embankments, is NOT a "clear-cut" by word definition.

Clear-cut is something that some group on Facebook made up to start a social media group. In fact that Facebook group started using the term because they actually believed that dead cottonwoods were being harvested for their cash value, and now they are trapped by it.

The Canal Corporation has been clear, as well as what Mr. Hanna has stated in his Comprehensive Plan... they do NOT support a Clear-Cut approach to Earthen Dam Maintenance... but they both DO support a pragmatic, selective, and intentional approach" to embankment maintenance.

That Facebook Group, well they want nothing removed, they want the canal corporation to go away, and they simply say the dams won't fail...

But what if they are WRONG?

Again, it won't really matter because most of this Facebook group simply walk along the Empire Trail at the top of the dam, they don't live below the waterline like many Canal Neighbors do. When you aren't putting your own life at risk, it seems to be very easy to treat other's lives very "casually", as evident by all these FB members that say that "safety warnings" from the Canal Corporation are just "fear-mongering".

But what is "really scary" here... a Facebook Group formed to fight AGAINST a NYS Canal Public Safety program, and the Town of Perinton, along with the Village of Fairport LET THEM DO IT!!

Posted by: Michael Caswell
« on: November 02, 2021, 09:23:09 pm »

Mr Hanna stated on the Perinton Town web page - https://perinton.org/news/perinton-supervisor-announces-use-of-comprehensive-plan-update-to-safeguard-erie-canal/

“The Erie Canal is one of our most significant cultural, natural, and historic landmarks, and we must safeguard it for the generations to come,” said Hanna. “The Town has been evaluating how to best protect the Erie Canal through our Comprehensive Plan Update given the State’s imminent plan to remove trees and vegetation along earthen embankments. By doing this, we can help ensure the Town and our residents have more input and communication with the State before any clearing occurs. I want residents to know that Perinton is prepared to protect the Canal and the safety of our community to the greatest extent we can.”

There seems to me to be a very thin line Mr Hanna has drawn here, between pandering to a radical Facebook group called the Stop The Clear-Cut, who have no regard for the safety of many of the residents of Perinton, and those who actually live under the threat of drowning from a breach in these dams, (living west of the Erie Canal like Crystal Springs and Bushnells Basin Marsh Road.)

It will be very interesting to see how he and his staff manage to juggle the "safety" problems to keep everyone happy.

It's probably an impossible task, because it has just emerged that ROYALTON has experienced a sinkhole, and the CC has disclosed that since they cleared 25 miles of dams of vegetation they have found over 200 leaks, where previously there were only 22 they were monitoring. I hate to imagine the leak count on the Perinton dams.

https://ecna.createaforum.com/notices-from-the-canal-authority/notice-to-trail-users-detour-on-empire-erie-canal-trail-due-to-royalton-ny-sinkh/?message=1835

When the USACE, FEMA, ASDSO and NYDEC are all saying  NO TREES ON EARTHEN DAMS and nowhere else in the world are governments are allowing this, why does The Town of Perinton think they are special?

Is it denial?  Does no one remember the 40' lengths of steel sheet piles they drove into the embankments at the Oxbow a couple of years ago?

And RIZZO engineering stating they were unable to inspect the dam because of the trees and brush?

Has no one looked at the steep slopes of the embankment between the Oxbow and 31f?

The 100+ year old dams are so out of whack with current engineering codes its frightening.

I look forward to Mr Hanna's solution, but remind folks that there are no dam engineers on his staff, so would ask how he thinks he is going to overcome the overwhelming knowledge of the qualified people who are all of one voice saying NO TREES ON A DAM!

And Mr Hanna appears to not have seen the NEW website launched by the New York State Canal Corporation yesterday, dedicated to advancing the conversation about Canal Integrity and how unsafe, overgrown earthen embankments are a major issue with Canal safety.

Mr Hanna and his friends on Facebook may want to discuss "scenery & shade", but those who are actually QUALIFIED to manage the NYS Canal Property are saying SAFETY is the biggest concern, for Erie Canal Neighbors, as well as the overall integrity of the NYS Canal System

https://www.nyscanalintegrity.org/

And FOR THE REAL FACTS ABOUT THE CANAL SEE- www.eriecanalfacts.wordpress.com



Posted by: Doug K
« on: September 23, 2021, 01:12:12 pm »

A long time coming, and a welcome change to what other Towns & Village leaders in eastern Monroe County have been saying about safety work along the Canal system

Supervisor Hanna has made an impressive statement to encourage the Perinton Community to accept and welcome the new Canal Corporation Embankment Integrity Program. The ECNA has had a few discussions with Mr. Hanna in the past, and welcome his move to work with the Canal Corporation, and the ECNA, to create an environment that supports acceptance of the need to "Inspect & Repair" the many Canal Embankments in Perinton and beyond.

https://perinton.org/news/eeip-key-takeaways/

Go read the statement on the Perinton Town web page, but the key takeaway is in bullet item number 2...

>>> "It is clear that maintenance along the earthen embankments of the Erie Canal has been lacking, which has resulted in areas of high hazard and poor condition. This, combined with the State’s diminished ability to perform inspections due to overgrowth, has created a public safety issue."


In addition Mr. Hanna has also touched on this key truth about Federal guidelines to insure Earthen Embankment Integrity, and public safety:


>>> "While FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers guidance states that zero trees should exist on earthen embankments, the Canal Corporation is trying to strike a balance between public safety and our desire to preserve the aesthetic value of the Canal. I believe it is in this compromise that we can all move forward."

This new EEIP statement aligns with the earlier one released by Supervisor Hanna in August.

https://perinton.org/news/supervisor-comments-eeip/

Hopefully Mr. Hanna has put in his request, or better stated, his offer... to have the Oxbox Lake Dam in Perinton become the first earthen embankment revitalized by the new EEIP effort. There are already 370 signatures collected, on two different online petitions, asking for this particular earthen embankment to be cleared.

https://www.change.org/p/jacquie-shillinger-support-vegetation-removal-from-erie-canal-for-safety-inspections?

https://www.change.org/p/erie-canal-neighbors-friends-help-save-the-oxbow-lake-dam-ask-the-perinton-town-government-to-help-protect-perinton-fairport-from-a-flood

Please show your support, sign a petition today... thank you in advance.