TO: Batchellerville Bridge Action Committee Members
FROM: Peter VanAvery
DATE: August 14, 2002

Here is some important homework. At the top of our web site (www.nybbac.org), you will find a link to a petition urging Governor Pataki to speed construction of the replacement Batchellerville Bridge and to resist attempts to increase the bridge height beyond the 42-foot vertical clearance announced in February. We want the governor to receive lots of these petitions. So please print out individual copies for everyone in your household and for your circle of neighbors and friends. Total numbers count!

To put it as diplomatically as possible, some sailboaters and their supporters are not familiar with the facts about the bridge replacement project. Here are some of their claims, followed by the facts of the case:

Claim: The Department of Transportation never mentioned the possibility of a compromise between the 35-foot and 55-foot vertical clearances, but sprang its decision on a 42-foot vertical clearance out of the blue.

Fact: As the transcript of the August 11, 2001 public hearing in Northville shows, Project Manager George Hodges twice mentioned the possibility of a compromise between the minimum 35-foot option and the maximum 55-foot option. A compromise as a possibility also was mentioned in the April 2001 issue of DOT's "Batchellerville Bridge News."

Claim: There's plenty of time for an economic impact study because construction funds have not been identified and the bridge's ownership is still in dispute.

Fact: Before the bridge can be built, an engineering design needs to be completed and approved by the state and the Federal Government, a lengthy process. DOT has the funds on hand to pay for the engineering design process. Before the engineering design is completed, construction funds may become available. The possibility that a section of the bridge will collapse and injure or kill someone will spur a state/Saratoga County decision on who owns the bridge.

Claim: The bridge will allow 77 percent of all boats on the lake to pass underneath. On August 1, the Albany Times Union quoted Town of Edinburg Supervisor Jean Raymond as saying this.

Fact: The bridge will allow more than 99 percent of the thousands of boats on the lake to pass underneath. The 77 percent statistic applies just to the 163 sailboats on the lake, only 37 of which won't have enough headroom when the lake is full. Even some of those will make it as the water level drops. With the level currently down six feet below "full," that 42-foot vertical clearance would now be a 48-foot vertical clearance.

Following are two recent letters to the editor that I thought would be of interest. The first appeared in the Gloversville Leader-Herald on August 8:

Dear Editor:

Sailboater David Gibson is wrong when he tells reporters that the state's decision to build a replacement Batchellerville Bridge with a compromise 42-foot vertical clearance came "out-of-the-blue." "Where did that come from?," he asks. "A 42-foot center height was never even mentioned. It was either 35 feet or 55 feet."

For a rebuttal, let's quote the transcript of the public hearing DOT held last August in Northville. Department of Transportation Project Manager George Hodges told the audience: "An intermediate value between the 35 foot and the 55 foot still could be considered." Later, he added: "The Department has no particular preference...for the 35 foot or 55 foot clearance option, or an intermediate value."

Let's also quote the April 2001 issue of DOT's "Batchellerville Bridge News": "The Department has established a minimum value of 35 feet and a maximum value of 55 feet for the vertical clearance parameter.... An intermediate value (between 35 and 55 feet) may be determined to meet the needs of stakeholders."

Mr. Gibson also is demanding that the state conduct an economic impact study on the height issue. He was one of the speakers at last August's public hearing, and I'd like to quote from the transcript what he said about the need for such a study. Unfortunately, I can't because he did not mention the subject. So now, five months after DOT announced its decision, why is he suddenly requesting such a study? If it wasn't important enough for him to bring up at last August's public hearing, it certainly is not important enough to bother with now.

Ronald M. Prusko
Day

The second letter appeared in the Gloversville Leader-Herald on August 9:

Dear Editor:

The Great Sacandaga Lake Association's endorsement of an economic impact study on the height of the replacement Batchellerville bridge is a thinly veiled attack on the state's compromise decision, announced in February, to build a new bridge with a vertical clearance of 42 feet at center span. The still higher structure favored by the small clique of sailboaters calling for the study would damage the quality of life of thousands who enjoy the lake's scenic beauty and/or who have qualms about the safety of driving across a high, arch-like bridge in winter.

The state's compromise decision did not come lightly. It involved a three-year effort to seek inputs from local groups, state and Federal agencies, and other stakeholders. This intensive process included public meetings in 1999, 2000, and 2001, and GSLA officials turned out for all three of them. As the transcript of last August's public hearing shows, the group's vice president was one of the speakers. He said nothing about an economic impact study. Two GSLA directors also signed up to speak, but when their names were called, they did not step up to the microphone. The need for such a study was not significant then, and it is not significant now.

During the state's public involvement process, the GSLA piously maintained its neutrality on the bridge height issue. As we found out by invoking the Freedom of Information Law, however, the group's officials allowed their vice president to use his title when he co-signed a letter lobbying the state for the higher bridge favored by sailboaters. Now, five months after the state's decision was announced, GSLA officials have suddenly issued a call for an economic impact study. Did they poll their members? No! In fact, their latest newsletter says nothing at all about the bridge.

Even though the GSLA has existed for decades, it claims only 630 members. That is less than 14 percent of the 4,550 access permit holders around the lake and underscores the fact that the group does not represent lake-area property owners who, through their taxes and purchases, pump many millions of dollars into the region's economy. The Batchellerville Bridge Action Committee is urging its members to consider the GSLA's stance when asked to join the association or to renew their membership in it.

Peter VanAvery
Edinburg