| Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor Mark M. Finkle, Chairman John M. Hodgson, Executive Director |
|
Executive Director's Corner
The Hudson
River - Black River Regulating District is pleased to announce that John Hodgson has been named as Interim Executive Director. John joined the Regulating District in Jun
e 20
00 and has served as Maintenance Specialist and Engineering Assistant before being named Administrator of the Hudson River and Black River Areas in 2011. Previous to his employment at the District, John served his country for over 20 years in the United States Coast Guard as a Machinery Technician/Engineer.
John brings to the position of Executive Director thorough experience and a broad understanding of Regulating District policy and procedure. John has worked alongside the District engineers, maintenance personnel and the Board to keep the Regulating District viable by improving its dams, promoting a safe and enjoyable work-place and educating the public on the importance of protecting each reservoir's natural habitat, historic resources and recreational benefits.
John has been married to his wife Linda for 37 years and lives along the Great Sacandaga Lake in Mayfield, NY.
|
|
Edward Sargent's Granddaughters Visit the Regulating District
The Regulating District recently received a visit from the granddaughters of Edward H. Sargent. As the Hudson River Regulating District's first Chief Engineer, Sargent was responsible for overseeing the immense project that was the designing and building of the Conklingville Dam and the creation of the Sacandaga Reservoir.
Edward Haynes Sargent graduated from MIT in 1907 with a degree in Engi
n
eering, after which he worked for New York City on the
Catskill Aqueduct
. He was then hired by New York State and went on to be appointed to the board of the Hudson River Regulating District in 1922, becoming Chief Engineer in 1924. He remained the District's Chief Engineer until his retirement in 1954. The District's current Chief Engineer Robert Foltan said of Sargent, "They should be very proud of his accomplishments. It's nice for them to see such a prominent, vital legacy. Sargent was a Captain in the 20th Engineers during WWI and the father of New York river regulation."
It was wonderful to meet these two ladies, and to express to them the enthusiasm for the history of the dam and their grandfather's work that is shared by many of those who work for the District.
|
Meet the HRBRRD Interns
|
|
 |
|
Interns Ray Coffee, Brandon Smith, and Austin Lakata assist Operations Engineer Mike Mosher with the installation of a surveillance camera at the Indian Lake Dam.
|
|
This summer the Regulating District participated in Governor Cuomo's "New New York Leaders: Student Intern Program."
The program is administered by the Department of Civil Service and focuses on attracting new and highly-skilled individuals to the State workforce through both internship and fellowship programs.
Supervised by Assistant Foreman Dave Ioele, the four interns were Raymond Coffee, Brandon Smith, Austin Lakata and Mike Sollecito. Mr. Coffee received his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management
|
|
|
Summer interns work on repairing the log boom at the Indian Lake Dam.
|
from Paul Smith's College in May 2018. Brandon Smith came to the District as a junior at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry where he majors in Natural Resource Management. Austin Lakata is currently a senior at the Florida Institute of Technology where he majors in Mechanical Engineering, and Mike Sollecito attends the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry where he is pursuing a degree in Environmental Resources Engineering.
|
|
|
|
Austin Lakata works on the maintenance of one of the District's boats.
|
|
The District received over 200 applications via the New York State Civil Service online portal, out of which four were selected to spend the summer working alongside District staff maintaining property and facilities along the dams, collecting data, assisting on special projects and implementing District policies and procedures.
The Regulating District would like to thank all of the interns for their hard work this summer, they were a valuable part of the HRBRRD team. We wish them the best of luck on all of their future endeavors.
|
|
|
|
Maintenance Specialist Mike Chase works alongside HRBRRD Interns to trim brush and weeds along the Conklingville Dam.
|
|
The District will be participating in the internship program again this Spring. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for one of these positions, more information and application instructions will be available on the New New York Leaders Civil Service website.
|
|
Historic Spotlight
Construction Contracts of Sacandaga Reservoir:
Highway Construction
As the second in a series of articles on the contracts used to construct the Sacandaga Reservoir and Conklingville Dam, this edition focuses on the work completed to prepare the Sacandaga valley for its transition to a river regulating reservoir.
|
|
|
Northville Bridge Construction - 1929
|
Of the seventeen contracts used to complete the construction of Conklingville Dam and Sacandaga Reservoir ten contracts focused on the development of roadways, highways and bridges, and the preparation of the river valley.
Contracts No. 1, 2, and 3 involved the construction of 9.1, 7.2, and 9.0 miles of roadway, respectively, along what would become the north and south shore from the Town of Day to Edinburg. The Board received bids on these contracts on May 3, 1927. Shackett & Scofield, Inc of Beacon, New York was low bidder for Contract 1 and 2, while S. J. Groves & Sons Co., Inc. of Ticonderoga, New York was low bidder on Contract No. 3. On May 11, 1927, after some discussion with representatives from Shackett & Scofield, Inc. regarding its financial ability, experience, and equipment to carry out the terms and conditions of both Contracts No. 1 and 2, the Board resolved to award Contract No. 1 for the bid price of $184,619.10 to Shackett & Scofield, Inc. but did not award the contractor Contract No. 2. Instead, Contract No. 2 was awarded to the second lowest bidder, Kingsbury Construction Company of Hudson Falls, New York for the bid price of $121,368.50. Contract No. 3 was awarded to S. J. Groves & Sons Co., Inc. for a bid price of $123,205.
Seven construction contracts created or relocated a total of 37 miles of highway. These contracts involved the excavation of 555,300 cubic yards of earth and 33,480 cubic yards of rock, placement of 12,179 feet of concrete culvert pipe and 41,126 cubic yards of gravel.
Highway contracts involved the construction of 4 concrete culvert bridges, 6 concrete slab bridges, including a bridge at Paul, Sand, Glass House, Daily, Hans Creek and at Northville.
Work associated with bridge and roadway construction in Contracts No. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 16 and 17 was completed for a cost of $1,084,310.
|
|
Batchellerville Bridge Construction - 1928 |
|
Scheduled Board Meeting
October 10, 2018 at 10 AM: Regulating District Offices at Stillwater Dam, 116 Necessary Dam Rd., Lowville, NY 13367.
|
HRBRRD Stillwater Staff Complete New Garage
Doug Criss, Field Superintendent; Mike Dicob, Principal Plant Operator; and Tim Harwood, Plant Operator, recently completed the building of a new garage for the Hudson River - Black River Regulating District's facilities at the Stillwater Dam in Lowville. The garage houses a maintenance shop for District vehicles, as well as a carpentry and welding shop.
|
|
The geography of the Regulating District encompasses nearly six million acres in the Hudson and Black River watersheds.
|
|
