Army Corps, North Adams Embark on $3M Study of Flood Control System
Mayor Jennifer Macksey with the signed cost-sharing agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; behind her on the screen is an image of Col. Alexander Young signing it on Monday.
"We have been waiting for this day for so long," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey.
Seth Greenwald, project manager, presented a delighted Macksey with the signed federal cost-sharing agreement with the Corps for the $3 million study.
"It's been 61 years that we finished building the chutes downtown," he said on behalf of Col. Alexander Young, commander of the New York District. "But we're back and we are excited."
Greenwald and his team were greeted with a short presentation at City Hall along with dozens of stakeholders and a tour of the half-dozen sites where the deterioration of the chutes are on full display.
The study is the culmination of years of advocacy and research by the city and the Hoosic River Revival, and pressure from state and federal officials including U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who described the condition of the concrete chutes as "urgent" almost exactly a year ago.
The 2.5 miles of the river were contained because of devastating floods in the early part of the 20th century.
The nonprofit Hoosic River Revival has been working for years to restore as much of the river as possible into a more natural attraction along the lines of similar works in San Antonio, Texas, and Colorado. The possibilities include walking and biking paths, fishing areas and stepped or walled structures that will continue to contain and channel the river.
"This has been, as I said, a very long, very important project and the community is the key. It's the reason the Corps is here now," said Judith Grinnell, found and president of the Hoosic River Revival. "It is because of all of you ... most of the people are not here, it has been hundreds since 2008 and therefore I am very, very grateful.
"And I want you to know that I see this as a project for the community, and one that we're going to work with. This is not just HRR and the city. This is going to be a community endeavor."
The feasibility study has a tight timeline, said Laura Searles, lead planner, and the clock started ticking Monday on the signing of the agreement. The team will review the 61 documents and studies that the River Revival has already done, take in other information, and come up with a draft report in nine months.
"A purpose of this feasible or any feasibility study is to identify, evaluate, and then recommend to the decision makers the coordinated and workable solution for these water resources problems that we're seeing and also identify any opportunities that we have," she said.
"Assuming everything goes well and it is a positive result, then we could request or you guys could request congressional authorization for construction of the project itself."
Residents will get a chance to provide input on Wednesday, Aug. 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 at the UNO Community Center on River Street.
Greenwald said Young planned to visit the sites himself after Labor Day as he was currently dealing with the damage in West Point, N.Y., caused by the torrential July 10 rainstorm that also hit the city.
The team had a closeup view of the damage — five fallen 20-foot sections and seven leaning panels — as well as degradation of the concrete "floors" and the decrepit dam at the Beaver Mill. A number of city officials, stakeholders and state Sen. Paul Mark boarded a yellow school bus for the nearly hourlong tour.
The River Revival has estimated more there is more than $600 million in real and property assets endangered by the river, and that's not including some $240 million in art inside the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
One of the concrete panels collapsed in 2017 at the edge of Building 6 just a month before the museum opened the 120,000 square feet of gallery and event space as part of a $65 million investment of public and private funds.
Blocks have been placed in the opening for now and a set of I-beams were jury rigged to keep a second section from falling.
Over in Willow Dell, the first panel that fell in 2013, two years after Irene, has exposed the banking behind it to constant erosion. On Sperry Street, chunks of the flooring have eroded away exposing the rebar. The water has gnawed away so much concrete at the Beaver Mill dam that the wooden forms have been bared.
"The river, the way it flows through the downtown, is so much potential, right?" Greenwald said. "There's so much potential to help the community of North Adams and the Army Corps really wants to help North Adams thrive and grow and develop the river. ...
"So we're studying all the alternatives and what we can do, and then we'll pick the best one for the community."
Macksey said the day had been a chance to showcase the city as well as the dilapidated flood control chutes.
"So this is one step forward," she said.
