Voice Your Opinion: Public Meetings Provide Info; Allow for Input
on Lock Closures
Dock Talk
18 February 2011
From http://www.boatpittsburgh.com
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If you watch the news, you will surely see and hear that the theme in
Washington has shifted to cutting spending where possible.
Well it is just a matter of time before those cuts trickle down and
affect all of us. Unfortunately for boaters and other users of
the Allegheny River, the time is now.
Because of low commercial traffic, the Allegheny River lock system is
one of over 100 low usage projects across the country that are facing
severe budget cuts. For the upcoming 2012 fiscal year, the United
States Army Corps of Engineers operations budget for the Allegheny
River lock system was cut in half from $8 million to $4 million and
they have lost all maintenance funding for these facilities that are
already in a state of disrepair. In a press release, Col. William
H. Graham, Pittsburgh District Engineer, explains the situation facing
everyone concerned.
It has become apparent through the efforts of the USACE that the
situation needs to be dealt with in two ways. First they must
deal with the immediate budget that will affect river traffic in 2012
while at same time the collective users of the Allegheny River need to
get organized and look at the issue of the long term future of funding
for the lock operations.
Short Term Impact
They have put together two proposals on how to provide service to the
users (both recreational and commercial) that fit within the confines
of the budget they have been given. The USACE is also open to
suggestions that could include a hybrid of the two options on the
table. For a closer look at the two options, check out this
link. The USACE also posted a comparison chart of the two
scenarios for public review.
In an effort to gain input from the recreational boating community, the
USACE has scheduled two meetings in the upcoming week. The public
meetings will be held to provide information about the service cuts and
to gather input on which option recreational users would prefer or if a
third option might be better. The first meeting will be held on
February 22, 2011 at 6 pm at the O’Hara Elementary School, 115 Cabin
Lane, Pittsburgh, PA. The second meeting will be on February 24,
2011 at 7pm at the West Kittanning Fire Department, 401 Arthur Street,
Kittanning, PA. If you can't make the either meeting, the USACE will be
posting information on their site about submitting suggestions either
electronically or via mail. Once that feature is available, we
will be sure to provide a link to it here on BoatPittsburgh.com.
Long Term Impact
As far as dealing with the long term issue, several businesses and
individuals are looking to organize a non-profit with the goal of
studying the economic impact of these lock closures and to determine
the best way to find sustainable funding sources for the long term
future. Please check BoatPittsburgh.com for future updates on the
formation of that group. This will be a massive undertaking and
will take an effort from many of the stakeholders. Without the
help of a large amount of Allegheny River users, the long term
viability of the locks will be in serious doubt.
Whether or not you can make it to the meetings coming up, please feel
free to post your thoughts on the http://BoatPittsburgh.com
Boaters’ Forum regarding the short term and long term issues we are
faced with. We even set up a poll; please vote for the one you
feel would best serve all boaters using the Allegheny River. If
you wold like more information about the whole situation, check out
these articles provided by the USACE.
Submitted by: Terry Grantz