Residents of Braddock Bay hear little of project details; questions remain

About 300 residents attended a meeting at the Greece Town Hall Oct. 22 at which a spokesman from the Army Corps of Engineers talked about a proposed project which would place a permanent breakwall across a portion of Braddock Bay extending from the eastern side into the mouth of the bay.  

Expert Doug Wilcox, professor at SUNY Brockport, stated that Braddock Bay had a 'barrier beach' long ago, but upon questioning, could not point to a photograph or map that showed a barrier beach across the mouth of the bay.  It was the presence of this 'barrier beach' that kept the wetland healthy asserted Mr. Wilcox and this was backed up by the Army Corps representative who pointed to the 'erosion of the barrier beach' as the reason for the breakwall construction.  NOTE: THE US ARMY CORPS in Buffalo 'thinks' that there was a 'barrier beach' across Braddock Bay: "The barrier beach will be restored  ?? What if there NEVER was a 'barrier beach'?? 

Lines courtesy US Army Corps/Buffalo
Braddock Bay-Is this correct? 
Fisherpeople say 'no.' Bay looks 
today like it did 30 years ago:
"Hunting blinds are still in exactly 
the same place against shoreline,"
- Bay hunter.

"The barrier would never have completely blocked off the bay from the lake because Salmon Creek water has to reach the lake," Professor Wilcox said in a correspondence after the public meeting.  "As I have been told by others, the trolley line used the barrier as the foundation to follow in crossing the bay, like Edgemere Drive uses the barrier as its foundation. Loss of the barrier beach is the hydrologic change that has affected the bay.  With no barrier, sand in the littoral drift is able to sweep into the bay.  With no barrier, wave action keeps water in the bay turbid."  Huh? Don't you want to keep the bay 'turbid' to retain marshland which is built by sedimentation?

Additional questioning by residents to Mr. Wilcox about how the War of 1812 brigantines entered Braddock Bay harbor brought shrugs on the part of  the professor.  Apparently there was an adequate channel at one time through which deep water boats entered.  Subsequently in the late 1800s the now-submerged Manitou Trolley foundation was built entirely across the mouth of the bay and the rails were suspended over the bay on pilings. The trolley foundation still remains and serves as a natural barrier beach for the bay.

Representatives from the EPA, the Rochester Embayment and other agencies were available to answer questions, but there was no public Q & A.  To make a public comment to the US Army Corps, go to the contact on the Army Corps website: http://bit.ly/BraddockBay or to the EPA: Fred Luckey (luckey.frederick@epa.gov) 212-637-3853  or  Brenda Jones (jones.brenda@epa.gov) 312-886-7188, both of whom were at meeting.