Waterway projects approved for Essex County

Local News

APPROVED FOR FLOOD WORK

The total amount for nine cleanup sites approved in Essex County as of Friday is $320,280, separate from the state grant funding pool of $9 million. The nine sites are:

— Carlott Road bridge, Town of Lewis, 88 cubic yards of debris.

— Scriver Road, Town of Elizabethtown, 2,277 cubic yards of debris. — Beede Lane, Town of Keene, 2,630 cubic yards of debris.

— Hurricane Mountain. Road, Town of Keene, 2,223 cubic yards of debris.

— Randys Lane, Town of Jay, 934 cubic yards of debris; estimated total cost is $25,794.

— Ledge Hill Road, Town of Westport, 133 cubic yards of debris.

— Dock Lane, Town of Moriah, 13 cubic yards of debris.

— Mill Brook at routes 9N/22 in Port Henry, Town of Moriah, 421 cubic yards of debris.

— County Route 2, Putnam Creek, Town of Crown Point, 367 cubic yards of debris.

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February 11, 2012

Funding OK'd for nine so far

KIM SMITH DEDAM Press-Republican The Press Republican Sat Feb 11, 2012, 02:28 AM EST

ELIZABETHTOWN — Essex County is looking to be first in line for river-recovery and flood-mitigation grant funds for many projects, nine of which were approved as of Friday.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has allocated $9 million for flood repair of riverbeds and riverbanks.

That money targets debris cleanup and flood-prevention efforts, Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Douglas (D-Jay) said at a flood information meeting held this week.

Tony Barrera, a disaster recovery specialist with the State Emergency Management Office (SEMO), said their teams have found 26 sites so far that qualify for flood-repair work, among them the nine approved for funding.

"The state believes all of those (26) sites are justifiable," he said, presenting supervisors and residents at the meeting with a SEMO Debris Task Force Summary Report.

The report estimates cleanup funding of $320,280 is available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But that money, Douglas said, may be in addition to the $9 million in DEC grant funds.

DANGEROUS DEBRIS

Among greatest concern, supervisors at the meeting said, is the amount of dangerous debris that has either sunk or piled up in recreational rivers, including the Boquet and Ausable, where people canoe, kayak and swim in summer.

Sheet metal, roofing, metal rods, iron spikes and other pieces of houses and property that washed away can still be found jammed into the mud and strewn along riverbanks.

Supervisor Margaret Bartley (D-Elizabethtown) said she hiked back to an area along the Boquet with a landowner in New Russia to find mounds of debris — pieces of a house — strewn along the riverbanks.

Essex County Emergency Services Director Don Jaquish said there are likely many sites unaccounted for in the Debris Report.

"Spring could be tell-tale of additional damages," he said.

Essex County's Debris Task Force is being led by Dave Reckhan, Essex County's Soil and Conservation scientist.

He is working to prioritize sites for cleanup and repairs to prevent flood damage in years ahead.

Both Gulf Brook in Keene and a stretch near the Jay bridges that tends to flood AuSable Forks have already earned top places on that list.

Gulf Brook turned into a raging force during Tropical Storm Irene and tore away more than half of the Keene Fire Station, damaging dozens of homes and businesses in its flooded path.

HIGH COST

The grant application compiling all the projects would be filed by Essex County, and the county manager's office would establish a Capitol Projects Fund for each site, according to Essex County Manager Dan Palmer.

And project planning is an allowable grant cost.

But the total environmental price of river mitigation and cleanup has not been tallied; it could surmount available funds.

Supervisor Bill Ferebee (R-Keene) said the initial engineering review of destruction on Gulf Brook estimates remediation there will cost more than $360,000.

One option suggests building a 140-foot retaining wall to bolster one bank, while another recommended a 400-foot retaining wall to protect the hamlet of Keene against future flooding.

Working with the State Department of Transportation and the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, DEC has repaired several areas along waterways in Keene.

Last week, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens explained the science behind a cross-weir built above the John's Brook bridge in Keene Valley.

GREATEST NEED

But DEC Spokesman Dave Winchell said three other projects have been completed at sites along Route 73.

One addressed issues on the East Branch of the Ausable River and two others on Beede Brook in Keene.

Essex County's Debris Task Force is working now to prioritize and finalize repair estimates for the 26 flood-mitigation and remediation sites documented so far, Douglas said.

Grant applications for municipal projects must be filed by April 11 with DEC's Division of Water, and monies must be spent within 18 months.

According to the DEC grant information sheet, "preference will be given to those eligible projects that demonstrate the greatest need and reduce potential threats to the integrity of public and private infrastructure from future flood events."

Email Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com