YOUNGSVILLE, NY — Officials at the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) have changed their plan about how to mitigate flooding issues on State Route 52 in Youngsville. The road and two bridges there have been flooded numerous times over the past decade in the area of the confluence of the Panther Rock Creek and the Callicoon Creek.

At a public hearing in November last year, the DOT unveiled a plan to use eminent domain to take the property on which the Youngsville Garage is located, and use part of that lot to reconfigure the roadway and one of the bridges. The plan also called for erecting three-foot retaining walls and guardrails in front of two other buildings: one is a business and residence building owned by former Town of Callicoon Supervisor Linda Babicz, and the other is a building that housed a small grocery store, which is currently empty. All three buildings have been repeatedly damaged by flooding over the years.

Many people turned out to the public hearing and spoke out against the plan, including Babicz, who complained that while the owner of the garage, town board member Scott Gaebel had been contacted far in advance of the public hearing, other property owners who would be impacted had been formally notified of the meeting only two days in advance.

She also said at the time, if the DOT plan moved forward, her building could no longer be used for its intended commercial purpose.

The DOT has since changed the plan, which now calls for DOT to use eminent domain to take Babicz’s building and the grocery store, and to leave the Youngsville Garage in place. There is a public hearing scheduled in which the new plan will be shown to the public on July 30 at the Youngsville firehouse at 7 p.m.

Jim Esposito, a DOT engineer, said at the November 2014 public hearing that one of the reasons the state wants to upgrade the bridge is because it is on a “flood warning bridge watch list,” and must be monitored by DOT crews whenever there is a flood warning. He said this has happened 10 times in the past 10 years, and it is expensive. He added that the bridge is still safe.