Today, the STCC leaders have released a rant that really signals the end of their little fiasco.

The NYPA sent letters to officials and their main thrust was they were concerned with TWO risk factors -
1. the hazard rating (an indication of the likelihood of loss of life or significant economic impact in the event of a failure)
2. the condition rating (which implies the likelihood of a failure). Where the risks are high, we have no choice but to protect public safety.

They have NEVER wavered from this standpoint. How could they? Wouldn't that be accepting the responsibility of the loss of many lives? It is ridiculous in the extreme to think the NYPA would take any other position.

And Ms Agte says, "Non-problematic trees & vegetation"  Really? After all this time these folks STILL don't see the problem? This is what happens when you have people with no dam engineering qualifications trying to look at a dam's problems. Rose colored glasses? Squirrels and bees and butterflies - it's all so lovely. (I jest!)

It's no wonder the NYPA have shunned Agte et al. It's long overdue in my opinion.



They are a 'little bit pissed off' eh!  Haven't got their own way eh!  Ha!




Hopefully, the NYPA will carry out their obligation to the people of Perinton etc. and  bring these dangerous dams up to code this year.

If you read that letter again, carefully, you will see terms like "deferred maintenance" , flood risk, and canal community used often.

But not as often as the two words: public & safety.

Because unsafe, 100 year old earthen water impounding embankments are what is supposed to be the concern, the problem, and the catalyst for all solutions that might be brought forward by the public.

The Canal Corporation has "deferred" their embankment maintenance for more than 25 years, according to NYS Rules & Regulations, hidden behind the "definitions" used by those who owned the NYS Canal System before the New York Power Authority took it over. And NYPA understand the reality of owning and using unsafe dams in NY State, it's not allowed...because they are a Power & Utility Provider.

Here's the letter again: my redline highlights



And now read what a local "grassroots" leader says about trees on the same embankments...

Elizabeth R. Agte - Posted to Facebook on February 11, 2022

On Monday, February 7th, Rebecca Hughes, Senior Director of Public Engagement for CC/NYPA wrote an email alerting the Monroe County Executive Bello, and the Town Supervisors, Hanna, Smith and Moehle that a hard copy letter was on the way to them as a response to their letter to Governor Hochul in December. The letter was written by Brian Stratton and Justin Driscoll. As you can see below that letter is just so much more blah, blah, blah. We have heard that wordsmithing for four years. Not impressed. I certainly don’t need to point out the lack of shift change here, you all have been around this block as often as we have.

What has concerned us all week, is that there were not four signatures on that letter, there were six. Virginia Borden Maier and I also signed that letter, and did we get a reply, an acknowledgment that we are the engines of this grassroots effort to keep non-problematic vegetation and trees on the Historic Erie Canal? Clearly no.
 
It was a calculated and strategic decision on the part of CC/NYPA to exclude us from communications going forward. To the extent that they intentionally dismissed a third of the signatories, shows that even the largest state power authority in the country is willing to stoop to bad business manners and lack of professional protocol, because they don’t know what else to do.
 
I don’t know Justin, but shame on Brian with whom I have had polite conversations for four years now, have had pictures taken with him, and we have asked about each other’s families. I know we are on opposite sides of this debate but I always took Brian for a gentleman if nothing else. My bad.
 
Rebecca came on board, in large part I suspect, to contain us. Throughout the entire comment period last summer and into September, she kept repeating that she was there to listen, available for our concerns and questions. We want the stakeholders to know we are listening. We hear you! But in her email she clearly stated that any conversation going forward is going to be exclusively with elected officials only. When they trot out their “red-lined” draft, the only ones who will be in the room to comment will be specifically NOT US, the stakeholders. Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
 
My overarching concern is that NYPA has decided to entirely redact us. As in, Rebecca tried for a few split seconds (in the age of trees) to win us over, and it didn’t work, because we could see that the program itself was not changing (we have been at this rodeo for a long time) and we didn’t care if they send out gold detailed letters announcing the removal of the trees along the canal.

We still don’t want the trees removed for no good reason. Period.
 
Stay tuned. We aren’t sitting still. Cause we are just a little bit pissed off.


The NYS Canal Corporation just said in the very same letter referenced by Ms. Agte, that ALL trees on embankments are "problematic" and that they have to come OFF for the SAFETY of the public to prevent possible loss of life or property of neighboring communities. And Ms. Agte's reply is "I don't think so, that's not a good enough reason"

It's no wonder that the Canal Corporation "opted out" of including the leader of a group that won't listen to reason, or has any amount of common sense. I guess some people will never understand "what they don't know", blame Dunning Kruger again

What the Canal Corporation has stated in this letter is EXACTLY what they found in their SEQR Environmental study, and supported by their NYS Canal Integrity Program.


https://www.nyscanalintegrity.org/



And the vegetation that was asked for by Ms. Agte and company WAS included in the new Embankment Manual, when the NYC Canal Corp. allowed the "pollinator planting" section to be added. They state plainly that even these small plantings can become an issue for leaks, seeps and burrows.




And so the message has always been the same from the NYS Canal Corporation and parent company, NYPA, from the very beginning, about canal embankments...

 That message is that PUBLIC SAFETY matters more than any other reason that some might think to "keep trees" in place on 100 year old earth dams. Sadly it's not the message that some in our community wanted to hear, but it's the truth, so we ALL have to live with it...period.

And it's time to stop standing in the way of NYS public safety work, before something tragic happens and we all say.. "told you so"

Go read the NYS Canal Corporation Embankment Manual for yourself... it's about FIXING DAMS, nothing else.

https://www.canals.ny.gov/Earthen_Embankment/DGEIS/Attach1_Final_Draft_Embankment_Maintenance_Best_Practices_2021.03.10.pdf

A clear case of Selective Understanding

That's where someone might chose to ignore everything they hear or read that doesn't jive with what they believe to be the truth...or at least the truth according to their somewhat limited experience or understanding.

Or perhaps its just someone who realizes they have been wrong all this time, but has decided to ignore that truth, and insist that everyone else is wrong.

But we all know that will only go so far before the "smarter" people catch on.

The ECNA has come to realize one important truth about this Facebook group, its members, and its leadership...

Reading Comprehension is not something that this group has mastered yet, especially if what is written doesn't agree with the dribble their "founders" are whining about on any given day.