Cherry Blasts Mann, Airey over Blenheim Covered Bridge Dispute

Dear members of the BLTRC, and Town Board members,

I am writing to you in response to a newspaper article that was published in the Mountain Eagle in their December 5th edition (see attached photocopy). The article centers on the regular monthly meeting of the Blenheim Town Board which took place on Monday, December 2nd. According to the article, Supervisor Robert Mann and BLTRC Chairman Don Airey made some damning and accusatory statements about me personally, and more specifically, about my delay in submitting the latest proposal to FEMA relating to the Blenheim Covered Bridge. I believe that those accusations are blatantly false, and once you know the truth, I think you will agree. 

In September, Don Airey, representing the BLTRC, made a presentation to the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors requesting that they submit a new proposal to FEMA describing the former Blenheim Covered Bridge as a "pier". Mr. Airey’s reasoning was that FEMA had paid to replace the Santa Monica Pier in California which jutted out into the Pacific Ocean when it was damaged in a storm, therefore FEMA should also pay to replace the Blenheim Bridge because, like a pier, it was connected to land on the eastern side but not connected to the bank on the western side of the Schoharie Creek. In an effort to support the wishes of the people of Blenheim, the Board of Supervisors agreed to Mr. Airey’s request without necessarily taking a position on the logic of the argument. The Board then instructed me as Recovery Coordinator to direct Simmons Recovery Consulting to put a proposal together based upon Mr. Airey’s "pier" concept and submit it to FEMA as soon as possible.

As requested, Ron Simmons used his extensive knowledge of FEMA regulations to put together the documentation to be submitted. At the Board of Supervisors meeting which was held on November 15th, I reported that the Simmons pier proposal would be ready to be submitted to FEMA by the 25th of November, some ten days later. Ron completed his work ahead of the deadline, and on November 18th, the proposal was ready to be sent in to FEMA as soon as I signed the cover letter. A series of emails were exchanged between Don Airey, Robert Mann, and me over the next few days. In those emails, both Mr. Airey and Mr. Mann repeatedly requested that I hold off on sending the pier proposal in to FEMA until the BLTRC had the opportunity to review the document.

A sampling of those emails is as follows:

"I would appreciate it if Blenheim would be given ample opportunity to review and comment before any submission to FEMA is made." Supervisor Robert Mann, 11/18/13

"Bill, I ask that you please consider said request and not rush to submission but instead, delay such admission to early December in view of Thanksgiving and people’s schedules." "There is no need to rush." BLTRC Chairman Don Airey, 11/19/13

"Is there some urgency for the November 25th date? We have been waiting patiently for two years, it seems a shame not to give Blenheim at least a few days to consider it." "Please extend this small courtesy." Supervisor Robert Mann, 11/19/13

"Of course we wanted the proposal submitted as soon as possible, but in view of how long it has taken Simmons to do so, at this point a week or two more will not change the result either way…" BLTRC Chairman Don Airey, 11/19/13

I responded to these requests in the following manner:

"It is my understanding that (at the Town of Blenheim’s request), Ron Simmons was directed by the Board of Supervisors to prepare a submission to FEMA describing the former bridge as a ‘pier’ and to attempt to get FEMA to replace the former covered bridge with a replica to be located on the same site." "Just last Friday I delivered my Recovery Report to the full Board and informed them that Ron’s proposal would be submitted to FEMA by November 25th." Recovery Coordinator Bill Cherry, 11/19/13

"I am prepared to sign this proposal and submit it immediately unless the Board of Supervisors informs me they feel differently." Recovery Coordinator Bill Cherry, 11/19/13

After receiving the repeated email requests from Mann and Airey, and with due respect for the BLTRC and the Town of Blenheim, I wrote this to Don Airey:

"You and Robert Mann can have all the time you need as far as I am concerned. I was under the impression that you and Blenheim wanted this proposal submitted as quickly as possible, and that time was of the essence." "I will hold off on submitting it until I hear a consensus from the Board of Supervisors." Recovery Coordinator Bill Cherry, 11/19/13

In direct conflict with the true series of events, at the December 2nd Blenheim Town Board meeting, Mr. Mann and Mr. Airey tried to turn the situation completely around and lay the blame on me for not submitting the proposal in a timely manner. I cannot even begin to explain their motivation for twisting the facts of the matter to the members of the BLTRC, to town officials, and to the public. They both know perfectly well, and the emails prove it, that I was anxious to submit the Simmons proposal to FEMA as quickly as possible, in fact on the same day I received it from Simmons, and that I only held back based upon the repeated and strident requests by Mann and Airey. I guess this proves the old saying that no good deed goes unpunished. As quoted in the Mountain Eagle, here are some of things they said about me and the pier proposal:

Don Airey was quoted as saying that: "he was sick and tired with the anchor-dragging at the county level and frustrated with the lack of real support and initiative he has received from the county, and in particular, Cherry." At the Blenheim Town Board meeting, 12/2/13

"Quite frankly, I am growing fatigued with Mr. Cherry’s inappropriate, inconsistent, and intransigent attitude in dealing with this issue." Don Airey, 12/2/13

"As far as the bridge goes, he’s holding it (the Simmons proposal) on his desk right now, knowing that all he needs to do is commit and submit." Don Airey, 12/2/13

"We all want to move forward." "In my opinion he (Cherry) is basically thumbing his nose at the Board of Supervisors and I am angry." Don Airey, 12/2/13

"The problem now is it’s sitting on Bill Cherry’s desk and he said it will not be submitted to FEMA until he receives a go ahead from the Board of Supervisors." "At this point I feel like we are getting the run-around." Robert Mann, 12/2/13

It wasn’t until last Friday, December 13th, that I was presented with a copy of the newspaper article, so I really had no idea of what had transpired at the Town Board meeting until eleven days after it happened. Given the fact that in September, the Board of Supervisors had originally ordered the proposal to be submitted to FEMA as soon as it was drafted, and since the only reason it was still sitting on my desk awaiting my signature was because of the direct personal requests of Mr. Mann and Mr. Airey, on that same day, Friday, December 13th, I signed the cover letter and submitted the Simmons pier proposal to FEMA.

I will leave it to the members of the BLTRC to decide how to handle the matter from here, but in the meantime, rest assured that the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors, and I, are actively pursuing your request to replace the Blenheim Covered Bridge in its original location via the pier argument. Mr. Airey has been pushing for me to come to Blenheim to discuss this matter further with the BLTRC, but in light of the events described in this letter and the toxic relationship that has clearly developed between BLTRC Chairman Don Airey and myself, I prefer to await FEMA’s reaction to the proposal before entering into any further discussions. I hope you can appreciate my position.

Respectfully,

William Cherry,

Recovery Coordinator