BSB Projects News

Update– Meeting Minutes, Town of Wolcott, November 15, 2022

Blind Sodus Bay Water District – We received notice that the Comptroller’s Office approved the application but, since the prices have increased dramatically that application will have to be returned to the Comptroller or start the process from the beginning all over again with new figures.

Blind Sodus Bay Bluff & Barrier Bar Status – Lynn said there was a meeting recently and they did their monthly inspection; everything is on schedule.

Blind Sodus Projects Status

The October 18, 2022 minutes of the Wolcott Town Board include the status of the Water District, Bluff and Barrier Bar projects for Blind Sodus Bay.

Blind Sodus Bay Water District – Lynn said it is still at the comptroller’s office but, when it does get approved it will probably have to be returned to them due to the significant increase materials that the project will require; the figures will have to be revised in the application. Lynn said he cannot look for any grant funding until the application is approved by the comptroller.

Blind Sodus Bay Bluff – Lynn had pictures of the process done by Brandon Martin, he said the project is ahead of schedule now but is running into some challenges with the soil and bedrock, he will update everyone next month.

Blind Sodus Bay Barrier Bar – Lynn provided an update saying the idea is to break the project into 3 parts with the first part going out to bid in November, but it is moving forward.

Opportunity to Comment on Lake Ontario Regulation

February 21, 2022 – President Mike Borrelli has been alerted to an opportunity for public comment on Lake Ontario regulation.

Plan 2014 is the plan for regulating Lake Ontario outflows that went into effect in 2017. In two of the first three years after the plan was adopted, extremely wet conditions caused record floods on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. In response to public concerns about these extraordinarily high water levels, the International Joint Commission (IJC) asked its Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee to launch an expedited review of Plan 2014. 

The GLAM’s Committee’s report on the Phase 1 of the Expedited Review of Plan 2014 is available for public comment from Thursday, February 17, 2022 to Monday, April 18, 2022.

Please follow the link: https://glam-engage.ijc.org to review the report and provide your comments.

REDI Project Progress

UPDATE May 7, 2022– President Mike Borrelli has been in touch with key officials and provides the following update: The project teams, one for the bluff and one for the barrier bar continue working through the design and permitting process. The process is time consuming as the projects must show public money is spent to the best ability and with little or no detrimental impact. An update will be provided at the annual meeting as noted above.

September 29, 2021– President Mike Borrelli received the following email:

Good morning Everyone,All three projects have successfully made it through a coordinated review process of SEQR.  Part of that milestone is sharing the findings with the public. Attached is a Press Release for distribution among the people of your community and association.  Please email or call me directly if you have any questions. 
Sincerely,
Lindsey M. Gerstenslager, MSEd, District ManagerWayne County Soil & Water Conservation District

port-bay-and-blind-sodus-bay-redi-seqr-9.28.2021-1Download

You can read more about the background and previous information on the Blind Sodus Bay REDI project at this link: https://waynecountynysoilandwater.org/blind-sodus-bay-redi-project/

Aquatic Vegetation Control (Weeds)

September 17,, 2021 — UPDATE — Well, no weeds were harvested in Blind Sodus Bay in 2021…maybe next year? On September 17, the Wayne County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD for those who in the know) invited representatives from the 4 Bays (Sodus, East, Port and Blind Sodus) along with leadership of the WCSWCD and the Towns of Wolcott and Huron to review the current state of the mechanical weed harvesting program. The goal is to create a better, multi-year program. This initial meeting focused on gathering input on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the current situation. As you might guess, the weaknesses and opportunities are where improvements might be made. Further discussions and planning will take place over the winter and perhaps there will be improvements in 2022.

June 25, 2021 — You may have seen the weed machine working in Fair Haven Bay, that is Cayuga County. Wayne County has started weed removal in Sodus Bay and has planned for Port Bay in the coming weeks. What about Blind Sodus?

President Mike Borrelli heard from Wayne County Soil and Water yesterday that they are evaluating the weed situation in Blind Sodus Bay but also need to secure access for the machine from the new owners of Holiday Harbor. More updates to come.