Post reply

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 60 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.
Name:
Email:
Subject:
Message icon:
Verification: Search engine are not allowed to complete captchas

shortcuts: hit alt+s to submit/post or alt+p to preview


Topic Summary

Posted by: Michael Caswell
« on: December 15, 2021, 12:13:01 pm »


Ms Eerie Agte is 'at it' again.

I can't believe she has nothing better to do that write this complete drivel.

And thankfully, it looks as if Senator Lunsford has realised she needs to distance herself from this crackpot!

Here's Agte's latest --

Elizabeth R. Agte
17h  ·

We had a productive Zoom with Assembly Member Jen Lunsford. We really appreciate that she takes time on a regular basis to check in with us! I wanted to share some of my afterthoughts that I sent her this evening.

Jen,
I appreciate you meeting with us today. I think we had a productive discussion, with some positive  paths forward.
 
I understand and appreciate that as an elected official your job is to find middle ground. “Some people like trees, some people don’t…” I pondered this while walking my dog along the canal this evening. Realizing this is very different than saying “Some people want Whole Foods in their town, some people don’t.”

I think we all can agree that we are at a critical crossroads here, today. In many regards it’s not even if we WANT trees, we absolutely NEED trees, everywhere. And what is especially distressing is that NYPA appears to have an overwhelming blind spot when it comes to our current climate crisis. ( I don’t need to point out all the other values that trees provide to maintain our economically vibrant canal communities, we all agreed in our meeting, we have been calling for that protection since 2017.)

My deep concern is that by labeling us radical tree huggers, NYPA misses many larger issues.

It’s one thing for a community to compromise and say, OK, you don’t want a six story apartment building, but could you live with one that is three stories? Climate, the ecological environment, and habitat are not things you can slice up like a pie. We are just now slowly coming to understand some of what we don’t know, and maybe haven’t even been curious about, when it comes to ecosystems. We tend to tease nature apart, only wanting to deal with gypsy moths, or invasive plants, without looking at the entire picture as to WHY things are happening. NYPA isn’t remotely curious as to the WHY. One can not randomly reduce a natural ecosystem by half, and have it survive and sustain. (I am being generous here, NYPA intends to reduce the ecosystem by at least 7/8)

Just as I cannot decrease my honeybee population and expect it to survive the winter, so too, environments  are co-dependent and rely on a critical threshold to survive.  NYPA is not concerned about that. The trees and vegetation they intend to leave standing as peace offerings are random, selected by human preference and proximity to homes and villages. Not because they are ecologically important or provide habitat.

How many of those 400 Canal Corporation employees we talked about today sit in nature and observe like Jane Goodall or Rachael Carson? My bet is none.

And how many people have they contacted to tell them what they are not seeing? My bet again is zero.

When their handbook states that wildlife will simply find someplace else to go, it is a giant red arrow pointing at their incompetence and incompatibility as caretakers of an important resource.

The time to stop cutting down trees in order to mow more lawns is NOW. Not tomorrow, not next year. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us to lead, not follow.
Every action matters. Especially the actions initiated by the state of New York. Those actions need to be visionary, showing leadership, curiosity and skill.

It’s the job of our elected officials to hold their feet to the fire and demand that they do better. Not tomorrow or next year, but now.

You can’t uncut a tree.


You can't uncut a tree? What a stupid thing to say.  (besides all this other nonsense)

The point the STCC is ALWAYS missing is that these trees are DANGEROUS on these old, badly constructed, badly maintained dams. They need to be removed.

If you're worried about the loss of a few trees here, get everyone in Perinton to plant ONE more tree in their yard. That will more than compensate for the loss.

Better still, lets get all the folks living UNDER THE THREAT OF FLOOD plant one tree in their yard, that's Crystal Springs, Bushnells Basin and Jefferson. 
Posted by: Doug K
« on: December 14, 2021, 04:35:39 pm »

Doesn't get any worse than this does it?




Facebook groups who have nothing better to do with their time than to "micro-manage" others, doing their own jobs, perfectly well.

And of course it isn't the Facebook Group's job to micro manage these people, and they also don't have a clue what those other people do, or how difficult the job is.

And even worse, it's not even on their own property... they are tourist on Canal Property, telling the canal owners that "have it all wrong", when it comes to tree safety.

Now they are resorting to following NYS Canal vehicles around, complaining they are driving on "the trail", when hikers use it.

And the Group's leadership somehow believe the Canal Corporation will let them assume responsibility for something they know nothing about, like public safety or infrastructure condition?

Yeah, right... that day will never come.  And all Canal Neighbors should be thanking their lucky stars

Posted by: Doug K
« on: December 14, 2021, 03:45:25 pm »

It looks like Ms Agte was trying to make a statement about "Perinton Trees holding up to last Saturday's wind event. Here's the whole thread of the initial post Mike.



It appears Ms. Agte's post was in a response to an earlier post from Member Koelle, who had about 6 trees blowdown at the base of the 25' tall Earthen Embankment that borders his property. Maybe trying to make a point that the "dams held up", so trees should stay.

But of course it doesn't make the Dams any less unsafe, leaving trees all over them does it?

And I'm sure that the fact that Brockport led the COUNTY in recorded wind speed last weekend has somehow escaped Ms. Agte.





In FULL DISCLOSURE, the Canal Corporation asked Mr. Koelle if they could remove those trees back in 2018, as they fell under the 15' Toe of Slope removal rules.

Mr Koelle must have declined their offer. and now that the Toe of the Earthen Dam is over-saturated, from an Erie Canal that is still filled with water, these trees fell like dominos.

And now he sees fit to write on Facebook that these blew over... instead of reporting the issue to the Canal Corporation for immediate inspection. Just imagine what the trees that were 25' higher would have done????

Luckily Brockport was spared a flood, with that earlier Embankment Restoration work.

And the Canal Corporation has reached out to the ECNA for exact location of this major blowdown, so that their team can assess if any action is needed to reinforce the Toe of the Embankment Dam.

Just like the last issue that went unreported in Perinton, a major Canal Embankment leak at the base of a 40' tall dam.

It has since been reported and the Canal Corporation has been checking it and will be monitoring this active leak in the future, one of the 100s they have uncovered with embankment clearing and increased inspection by the community.

https://youtu.be/GJSUZB-gxcE
Posted by: Doug K
« on: December 13, 2021, 04:34:47 pm »

What else would you expect from a group on Facebook, Mike?

It's the classic "Triple D" response by Ms. Agte and those stop embankment safety "warriors"... Denial - Deflection - Distraction.

Of course these types of people will only be convinced, about the public safety issue (with "tree covered earthen dams"), when they see the Canal Embankment breach happen. And that event is well described by the NYS Canal Corporation... Loss of Life, Heavy Structure Damage, an Area Wide Catastrophe. 200 million gallons of water.

Of course when that breach happpens, these Facebook folks will be the first to start yelling & complaining that the Canal Corporation didn't do enough to avert the disaster.

Mike, maybe then this Facebook group, and Ms Agte, will finally stop thinking that "shade" is more important than the SAFETY of Canal Neighbors, Canal Communities, and yes.. even Canal Trail users.

Including the ones who can't understand common sense, science and reason about leaking, tree-covered, uninspected, raised earthen embankment dams.

It's just time... according to those who "wrote the book" about Erie Canal Earthen Embankment Safety.

https://www.canals.ny.gov/Earthen_Embankment/DGEIS/2021-03-09_DRAFT_FINAL_Embankment_Maintenance_Guidebook.pdf
Posted by: Michael Caswell
« on: December 13, 2021, 12:41:57 pm »



Posted on the STCC Facebook page ---



These folks love to put a spin on everything.

I find it amazing that in this thread there is a photo depicting two trees at the bottom of an embankment, yet no one can see the danger here. Just because nothing breached today, doesn't mean it won't next windy day.

And where did Eerie Agte get the idea that the NYPA wants to create embankments with lone standing tree? They don't want ANY trees on a dam, as per FEMA, ASDSO NY DEC and USACE rulings.

Its simply amazing how dumb these people are - really!