Busti property owners along Vukote Canal are required to repair sections of the canal wall that are part of their properties. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – Nick Bradish is trying to do the right thing.

The Keller Road resident told the Busti Town Board Monday that other residents near the Vukote Canal are also trying.

Bradish said there are some property owners, who are on a list, and are required to repair sections of the canal wall that are part of their properties.

In a March 5 Post-Journal article, Busti Town Board Members were briefed on the varying conditions of the Vukote Canal, and the trouble officials are having spurring various homeowners along the canal to take action to repair dilapidated sections of the canal walls.

“I’m not on that list, but I’ve been trying to do stuff to mine before it (the wall) gets to that point. And I know people that are on that list that also been trying to do stuff. It is unbelievably difficult to actually get somebody there to do anything,” Bradish said.

Town Attorney Joel Seachrist said that while he believes there are no New York state codes that deal with canals, the town does have a code which does address the issues along the canal.

Seachrist said at the town’s March meeting that Chapter 392 of the Town of Busti Code: Article II, Retaining Walls, addresses the wall issue.

“Much like a homeowner whose property has a sidewalk running alongside it is responsible for the sidewalk maintenance – the same for canal property owners in the town,” Seachrist said in March.

Seachrist was to have drafted a letter explaining to town property owners their individual obligations under law to repair their assigned sections, along with the next steps the town would seek utilizing all legal actions at their disposal to remedy the situation.

Since March, Bradish said he has talked with several different companies on how to maybe fix his section of the wall. He added that what was suggested was a temporary fix that the property owner may have to repair again in five to 10 years.

“I’m trying to do mine properly to not ever have to touch it again,” Bradish added.

At the March meeting then Busti Code Enforcement Officer Greg Sykes explained to the board that because of the current wetlands regulations that contractors would have to come in by barge or waterside to repair the canal walls and it could cost anywhere between $25,000 to $40,000-plus.

In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law revisions to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. New York’s original Freshwater Wetlands Act was enacted in 1975 to regulate activities near larger wetlands, and smaller wetlands considered to be of unusual local importance. The new wetlands law eliminates the use of the old, inaccurate wetland maps and clarifies that all wetland areas acres are subject to Article 24 regulations. Freshwater wetlands are lands and submerged lands – commonly called marshes, swamps, sloughs, bogs, and flats – that support aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation.

“And I’ve gotten a few quotes, but couldn’t get anybody to actually come do it. Just to give you an idea, my quotes ranged anywhere from $85,000 to $250,000,” Bradish noted on the total replacement of his section of the wall.

Bradish said he has received another quote just to repair his section of the wall for between $30,000 and $50,000.

“I just want to make everybody (on the board) aware that people are trying (to repair their walls),” Bradish added.