Village: Canal wall ‘our problem’

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By PJ Ferguson

The New York State Canal Corporation has completed its analysis of the damage to the canal wall in front of North Williams Street in Whitehall and it’s bad news for the village.

The village of Whitehall will assume full responsibility for repairing the canal wall.

The village board held a special meeting last Thursday to discuss the news and spitball solutions.

“They won’t do anything more with it, the issue with the wall is our problem,” said Mayor Phil Smith, delivering the news before asking the board what the plan of action is.

The Canal Corporation determined that erosion occurred around the village-installed catch basin pipe which separated the pipe from the wall. However, Smith said he disagrees with this assessment and believes the breach in the wall caused the pipe to fracture and not vice versa.

Smith suggested re-opening North Williams Street to one-lane traffic with a temporary streetlight on each end. The road has been closed for over a month since the discovery of the damage to the nearby canal wall and sidewalk.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.