SIGNS OF SPRINGING INTO ACTION

New NYS Historic Site sign along Route 90 near Erie Street

Signs of Spring are early this year and not only have the birds been busy, but we have some new great projects underway at the Montezuma Heritage Park. Two new signs went up this week by the NYS to direct visitors from Routes 31 and 90 to the historic canal sites in the park.

NYS Historic Site sign on Route 31 near High Street

Roof Sections for two new kiosks

Saws have been a-buzzin' at the highway garage where volunteer Design Committee members Dan Randolph and Stan Longyear have been busy building the roof sections for two kiosks to be located at the site of the High Street trailhead of the Byron Lapp Memorial Trail and the Chapman Road trailhead at the Aqueduct Trail.

Once the roof sections were finished, they started  building four new benches for the Byron Lapp Memorial and Aqueduct Trails. Plans are for volunteers to install the new benches on Saturday, April 21 during the Canal Clean Sweep event scheduled to clean up and work on the trails in the park. Both the benches and kiosks were designed by Town Supervisor John Malenick.

Workshop set up at Town Highway Garage

The next project ready to begin are the trail markers. At our Design Committee meeting this week we gave each trail a name, number and color for the signs to go on the markers.  Maps will be created for the kiosks to easily identify the trail locations and their distances.

Funding for this project was made possible by the Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work & Play Grant (funded by the New York State Department of Health).  Thanks to our volunteers NYS, and CHP for making this happen!

TRAIL BOSS ANNOUNCED

At the February 23rd Heritage Park Committee meeting, Mike Riley accepted the volunteer position as Trail Boss for the park project. When it comes to natural resources, trails and canal history, I can think of no one better qualified than Mike for the job. I'm so grateful he accepted it on top of all the other many activities he is involved in.

Mike Riley describes the workings of the Richmond Aqueduct 

Mike's by-day "real" job is foreman at Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation. His overall experience working to enhance and protect natural resources will be a valuable asset to the environmentally sensitive areas in the park. His knowledge of canal history is responsible for helping me to learn and understand the different stages and mechanics of canal building.  Through his study, he's uncovered little known facts and stories that contribute to Montezuma's unique part of Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canal history.  Ten years ago, he wrote a book, "Twelve and a Half Miles: The Erie Canal in Cayuga County,"  and recently posted a web edition, free of charge on the Cayuga County Canals website, he helped to create with full color photos and maps.

He serves as a director with the West Onondaga-Cayuga Regional Trail Group of the Canalway Association. The Association is helping communities plan, develop and manage trail segments of the  524-mile continuous trail along New York's historic canals. He serves as a director with the Canal Society of New York, a non-profit educational organization that brings together canal enthusiasts from across the state. The Erie Canal Camillus Park has also benefited from his expertise on many projects, as well as conducting boat tours for them.  In his hometown, he serves as president of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron, Town of Mentz Planning Board member, and Town Historian. Here in Montezuma, the Town has benefited from his leading our yearly historic walking tours that has now expanded as part the Canal Splash Following The Flow Driving and Walking Tour and writes for the Cayuga County Canal Tours blog.  He attends monthly meetings of the Park Design Committee and gives valuable input.  

Mike and his wife Mary, along with their son, Shane, and daughter Kate, have enjoyed many camping trips that usually involve visiting a canal site. He is always learning more about trails and canal history that he is willing to share.  There's a saying, "If you want to get something done, just ask a busy person."  Thankfully, Mike's the man for this job!









 

NEW TRAIL BEING BLAZED

There's been been plenty of activity in Montezuma this winter to help raise some money for the park and develop a new trail that uncovers unseen parts of the original Clinton's Ditch. The work done  cleared the way for public access to the Cayuga-Seneca Lock 11 site now on the west side (towpath side) of the C&S only accessible from private land before. Much thanks is given to Bill Breen for the suggestion to raise money through logging some of the prime walnut trees we have in the area. The logging project was contracted by the town with William Haessner Logging who as part of the contract agreed to help create a trail exposing the part of Clinton's Ditch that joined into the C&S Canal here in Montezuma. Working with Bill, was Forester Doug Brico, who marked trees necessary for removal due to the state of maturity, disease or aspect making it undesirable as a park type tree.

On January 6, 2012, Bill Haessner drops the first tree and forges through the area east of Chapman Road and the drydock area. This begins opening up a new trail along Clinton's Ditch built here 1819.
The horse power of Bill's skidder is a sharp contrast to the axes, horses and stump pullers that would have been used to clear the land for the canal originally.

On a walk on January 10, 2012, Clinton's Ditch is clearly seen from 

 

the new trail opened up.

On January 21, 2012 my husband, Stan and I walked the newly cleared trail all the way to the C&S Canal and Lock 11. Clinton's Ditch is to the right of the trail.

C&S Lock 11 is now clearly visible from the west side of the newly formed trail.  The logging project gave public access to the site only before seen with permission through private owner's land.

The work on the enlarged Erie made it necessary to construct a lock at the junction of the C&S and the Erie in Montezuma. During the Clinton’s Ditch era both canals were at the same elevation and the Cayuga merely intersected with the Erie. When the Erie was raised to cross the Seneca River on an aqueduct, it was three feet higher then the C&S. The new lock, C&S Lock 11, was built just to the south of this junction, southwest of the present-day firehouse location. Cayuga-Seneca Lock 11 was put in use in 1853 and its remains are well intact today.

This early photo is near the site of the junction of the Erie and C&S Canals and Lock 11.

 

 

 

 

By the end of January. Bill had finished the project, and we now can look forward to further develop the trail this Spring.

DON'T LET THE LEGACY OF SMALL TOWN USA FADE AWAY

The lyrics to Justin Moore's song, Small Town USA go:

     "A lot of people called it prison when I was growin' up
          But these are my roots and that is what I love

               'Cause everybody knows me and I know them

                    And I believe that's the way we're supposed to live

                         I wouldn't trade one single day in small town USA."

                       

There's a lot to be said for growing up in a small town that I didn't so much appreciate when I was younger. Like Justin's song, my roots go deep here, and the things I used to take for granted are extremely important to me today. It seems like there was more of a sense of belonging and real connection that is slipping away.  Do we need to raise our vision higher to our physical environment to empower us to promote a more prosperous and enduring way of life?  How do we promote collaboration between community members to tackle the problems and opportunities in small towns today such as Montezuma? We need to wake up to the fact that its up to us to be more pro-active. With industrialization of agriculture, industrialized delivery systems and the globalization of our economy, our small towns are being by-passed and extremely challenged to endure. 

Today's challenges require us to find the possible solutions that are unique to a place and its people.  We must work towards a community that assures each citizen may hope to prosper and benefit from an inspired community life. We need to raise the bar on what we expect for our community and come together to create a stable, safe and healthy town that reveals our unique heritage and diverse values. One of the greatest challenges that our rural community faces today is the need to find ways for economic stability, growth and achieve a high quality of life.  Unfortunately, there are limited resources, with limited assistance and access to information or the means for implementation.
 
We need to focus on the appreciation for the character of a people and its place. I'm looking forward to hiring an architect firm through the EPF grant in the next few weeks that will offer creative and practical skills towards improving the environments in which we live, work and meet. It is my hope that we will begin coming together to identify our community's needs. We will then begin addressing how they might be accommodated with existing rich natural and historic resources of our region, so we can begin to organize our community towards a shared vision. Working with local leadership and partners, it is possible to protect our small home town legacy from fading away.

2012 -- Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Looking forward to all we can do to bring in the new year, and with it a new "sense of place" to live and support one another. 

HPDC MEETING SCHEDULED

The last meeting of the year of the Montezuma Heritage Design Committee (HPDC) will be held Thursday, December 29th at 7 PM in the Town Hall. We welcome community residents to attend. 

At this meeting we will be reviewing proposals for conceptual design services to develop the park. This planning project is partially funded through a grant received from the Environmental Protection Fund administered by New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. We also will be setting three main goals for the coming year as we partner with the Rivers, Trails, Conservation Assistance and Parks and Trails, New York Creating Healthy Trails, Healthy Places Program to assist us in putting together an Action Plan.

Park Plans Highlighted

I would like to thank Dorothy Long, Contributing Writer to the Post Standard Neighbors Cayuga County section for today's article highlighting Montezuma's plans for the park.  I enjoyed chatting with Dorothy about the article she did. Also, I enjoyed the walk to the aqueduct with Photographer, Stephen Cannerelli  as I shared with him about the historic sites in the park. I appreciate the article and photos helping us to educate the public about the important natural and historic resources we have here.   Supervisor John Malenick was quoted in the article as saying, "We are a very small community, but we are rich in history."  This is so true, and when we recognize the value of our history as an asset, it helps our community focus on what resources we do have.

I would like to make one correction regarding the grant that was received by the town mentioned in the article. It is an Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) grant administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP). The purpose of the grant is to conduct a park design project that will include building understanding and community support, exploring alternatives and preparing the final concept plan. The Town will then use a landscape architect to develop final designs, construction documents. and begin the permit process for this project of the priority components of the park design. The Request for Proposals are due today and the Heritage Park Design Committee will review the proposals, and make a recommendation to the Town Board for final approval at their January town board meeting. 

The article may be read online at:
http://blog.syracuse.com/neighbors/2011/12/montezuma_inches_closer_to_new_park_with_new_planning_grant.html