HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-31 enewsletter_RedactedCarissa Parlato, Town Clerk <ulysses.clerk@gmail.com>
Ulysses Updates for 3/31/23
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Carissa Parlato, Town Clerk <ulysses.clerk@gmail.com> Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 3:18 PM
To: Google Groups <town-of-ulysses@googlegroups.com>
Hello Ulysses,
See updates for this week below.
IN THIS WEEK’S ULYSSES NEWSLETTER:
Update from Supervisor Olson
1st Comprehensive Plan MeeƟng
Public Hearings- BZA
RecreaƟon Survey
Property Re-Assessments
Water ProtecƟon Volunteering
Get Involved- Board & CommiƩee OpportuniƟes
AŌer Words by Town Historian
UPDATE FROM SUPERVISOR KATELIN OLSON:
Despite Wednesday's brief snow shower, the spring flowers persist! One of my favorite "signs" of spring
in Ulysses is the availability of new recreaƟonal opportuniƟes. We have a number of sports opportuniƟes
for both youth and adults in our recreaƟon program.
Have kids who play soŌball or baseball? Want to try pickleball? Tennis? Indoor volleyball or soccer?
Check out our many spring programs here. Many programs are sƟll looking for more parƟcipants
(soŌball, especially!), and it's a great way to get some exercise as we come out of hibernaƟon.
Always be up to date on new offerings by signing up for Rec Desk, the online soŌware we use for
registraƟons and payment. It's the best way to get direct communicaƟons on all of our programming.
And while I'm personally parƟal to our own programming, don't forget that Ulysses residents receive a
discount on programming through the Ithaca Youth Bureau. Ulysses parƟcipates in a recreaƟon
partnership with other municipaliƟes in Tompkins County, and this means programming is available at a
reduced cost. This is parƟcularly great for acƟviƟes Ulysses is not quite large enough to support locally.
My kids all recommend the lacrosse program for both boys and girls!
This spring our family will be involved in indoor soccer, baseball, and track in Ulysses, and lacrosse in
Ithaca. I hope to see you out there as well!
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE (CPSC)
The CPSC will conduct its first meeƟng on Monday April 17 at Town Hall starƟng at 5:00 PM and will be
held via Zoom. Please see the town’s events calendar for more informaƟon.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
The Ulysses Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to hold public hearings on Wednesday April 19, 2023
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at 7pm on the applicaƟons below. The public may join either meeƟng below in person at 10 Elm St.,
Trumansburg NY 14886 or via Zoom video conference at https://zoom.us/j/96162758850 or +1 646 876
9923 US (New York). All applicaƟons are available for inspecƟon at 10 Elm St., Trumansburg or online.
1. ApplicaƟon for an area variance to construct a new tram system within required yard and buffer
setbacks.
Applicant: Shawn Ritchie, FLX Tram
Project LocaƟon: 1375 Taughannock Blvd
Project File Number: VAR2301-001
2. ApplicaƟon for an interpretaƟon/area variance of a minor subdivision in the A/R zone where the
exisƟng lot has 350' of road frontage and the current minimum width is 400'.
Applicant: Marc and Sharon Magnus-Sharpe
Project LocaƟon: 5221 Cold Springs Road
Project File Number: VAR2303-001
3. ApplicaƟon for two area variances (principal building limitaƟon and maximum floor area) to
construct a new two-story detached building, approximately 13,385 gross square feet, for use as a 25
bed facility associated with the exisƟng Cayuga AddicƟon Recovery Services building on the subject site.
Applicant: Ithaca Alpha House Center, Inc.
Project LocaƟon: 6621 Route 227
Project File Number: VAR2303-002
The Town strives to provide accommodaƟons for individuals with disabiliƟes. Please contact our office at
least two days prior to the scheduled event if accommodaƟons are needed.
Comments on the applicaƟons are solicited and all interested parƟes or their representaƟves will be
afforded an opportunity to submit wriƩen and/or oral comments during the hearing. WriƩen comments
may be sent in advance to the Town Planner at 10 Elm St., Trumansburg NY 14886 or via email to
planner@townofulyssesny.gov by 5pm on the date of the hearing.
RECREATION SURVEY:
The Trumansburg Community Recreation (TCR) board is conƟnuing to work with the Town of
Ulysses, the School, and the Village of Trumansburg to help bring more recreaƟonal faciliƟes to our
community. As TCR refines their case statement and development plans, it is helpful to get feedback and
insights from as many people in our area as possible. Please consider taking this 5-minute community
survey to voice your thoughts on what we could use in our community to improve our recreaƟonal
resources. Please feel free to share with your friends and other community members-- the more
feedback the beƩer!
PROPERTY RE-ASSESSMENTS:
You may have received a noƟce in the mail with your Preliminary Assessment from the Tompkins County
Dept. of Assessment. The changes are based on inventory, recent appraisals, and comparable sales. For
more informaƟon on sales, visit the county’s sales search application. In addiƟon, property owners can
uƟlize Imagemate Online to search property informaƟon and values.
If you do not agree with your updated assessment, you can request a review by either:
·Filling out the review applicaƟon on the back of the noƟce
·Filing an online assessment review application.
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·Scheduling a phone appointment with one of the appraisers in the office
For more informaƟon visit https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/assessment or contact Jay Franklin -
Director of Assessment at jfranklin@tompkins-co.org
WATER PROTECTION VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
The Community Science InsƟtute (CSI) is seeking volunteers to assist with water quality in the following
ways:
Water Quality Monitoring:
·Synoptic Stream and Lake volunteers- collect water samples 3-4 Ɵmes per year at fixed
locaƟons along a stream or on Cayuga Lake. These samples are then analyzed at CSI’s state-
cerƟfied water tesƟng laboratory for analysis producing a rich dataset of regulatory-quality water
quality data. This program requires an annual refresher training (a part of our Quality Assurance
Project Plan) where volunteers re-calibrate equipment, review sampling protocol and locaƟons,
learn about the water quality trends in the subwatershed where you sample, and coordinate the
year’s sampling events. It is also a great opportunity to connect with other volunteers who
sample near you and build community!
·Cayuga Lake Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) Monitoring volunteers (AKA HABs
Harriers)- commit to weekly surveys from July – September along the shoreline of Cayuga Lake.
When volunteers spot a HAB, they collect a sample, and transport it to CSI’s state-cerƟfied lab for
analysis. Volunteers determine the length of shoreline they monitor and oŌen live right along the
shoreline; many of them use their monitoring duƟes as an opportunity to spend more Ɵme on or
near the lake. This program also requires an annual re-training — research on harmful algal
blooms is moving fast!
·Biomonitoring volunteers- collect samples annually at the same locaƟons along streams as
a way to monitor long-term stream health based on which stream criƩers live there. If you’re
interested in benthic macroinvertebrates and want to interact with them more than once a year,
we also hold weekly Open Lab Nights in the winter when these samples are sorted! You don’t
have to be a regular biomonitoring volunteer to aƩend these; send an email to Adrianna Hirtler,
our Biomonitoring Coordinator, at adrianna@communityscience.org, for more informaƟon
about this program.
·Red Flag Monitoring Program- survey monthly throughout the year, conducƟng streamside
chemistry tests to determine the stream’s overall water quality. Volunteers follow quality control
measures that we will train you in when you start so we can be confident in the results.
Volunteers with this program mail or email their results to us at CSI.
·TransportaƟon volunteer- transport samples to Community Science InsƟtute’s laboratory.
Many of our water quality tests must be performed shortly aŌer sample collecƟon, so this is a
hugely important piece of the water sampling process. Our laboratory is located in Ithaca, so if
you regularly commute to Ithaca from anywhere in the Finger Lakes Region anyway (or perhaps
you just enjoy driving), this may be a good way for you to join our team!
CSI CommiƩees (meets once/month via Zoom):
·Fundraising CommiƩee- focuses on ways to improve the effecƟveness of current fundraising
efforts and brainstorm novel ideas for fundraising. This commiƩee is led by Grascen Shidemantle,
the ExecuƟve Director of Community Science InsƟtute. We fundraise annually through our
membership drive and parƟcipaƟon in Giving is Gorges and Giving Tuesday, and we have
addiƟonal ideas for how to expand our efforts, such as expanding our CSI merchandise or
partnering with local businesses. We would love to have community members join us to
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brainstorm ways to build meaningful relaƟonships with our community or other creaƟve ways to
expand CSI’s fundraising efforts!
·Outreach and EducaƟon CommiƩee- focuses on ways to improve the effecƟveness and reach
of current programming and brainstorm new educaƟonal programs and materials. This
commiƩee is led by Grace Haynes, Community Science InsƟtute’s Outreach and Programs
Coordinator and Cayuga Lake HABs Monitoring Program Coordinator. We offer a wide range of
outreach and educaƟon already, including free summer programming for children (our 4-H2O
program), social media educaƟonal engagement, and water and community events. With the
help of our commiƩee, we would love to improve our outreach and educaƟon accessibility and
reach and develop a media strategy to expand our connecƟon to our community. We would love
to have community members on this community who are interested in educaƟon, media or social
media, and most of all who are passionate about building a scienƟfically literate community and
trust in science!
If you are interested in volunteering, fill out this form or send us an email at
We are always open to creaƟve ways you can contribute, too. If you have a skill you would like to offer us
that does not show up on this list, don’t be shy.
BOARD & COMMITTEE OPPORTUNITIES:
The town is sƟll seeking volunteers for the following vacancies. Link here for more informaƟon.
·Comprehensive Plan Update CommiƩee
·Ag CommiƩee
·Planning Board
·Board of Zoning Appeals
AFTER WORDS – by John WerƟs, Ulysses Town Historian- historian@ulysses.ny.us
“A Few Final Words from Lydia”
On the last Wednesday of this March’s “Women’s History Month” there was a gathering at the
Ulysses Philomathic Library to honor local women “who have told our stories.” Trumansburg resident,
Vivien Rose, brought her experiences as a historian associated with the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights
NaƟonal Park to bear on the topic locally and devoted an incredible amount of energy and research Ɵme
in the Ulysses Historical Society and the Philomathic Library to create an extensive Lydia Sears Exhibit in
pictures and words.
AŌer an introducƟon to the exhibit by Ms. Rose, several local women talked about “the other
women, besides Lydia” who have been acƟve in the past researching, preserving, and presenƟng to the
public the “Ulysses Story.” Too numerous to recall here without commiƫng the sin of omission; it is to be
hoped that any wriƩen copies of these recollecƟons will find their way into the Philomathic Library’s
Historic files or make their way to the Ulysses Historical Society.
Since Lydia was the centerpiece (by proclamaƟon of both the Town and Village governing boards)
it is fiƫng that she should have the last words here. We have in the Town of Ulysses Archival collecƟon a
28-page typescript copy of a conversaƟon between Lydia and an interviewer idenƟfied only as “Jack”.
This interview took place on April 5, 1976, two years before her death, while she was a resident at the
Ithacare reƟrement facility.
In the interview, Lydia refers to her whole life as an “EducaƟon”. In the interview she recounts
what she learned from family, farm life, friends and teachers in the local Trumansburg school system, as
a youthful member of the local Episcopalian Church, her Cornell University experience, teaching in
various schools in New York and the western U.S., her marriage to Dr. Keith Sears, the reestablishment of
the Ulysses Philomathic Library, and the many years as a local teacher at the Willow Creek one-room-
schoolhouse and at Trumansburg Central School.
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As she told Jack: “When I came to Ithacare a year and a few months ago—I had been ill quite a
lot, including some liƩle strokes—I could no longer ask my friends and my neighbors to drop in and look
aŌer me. So, one night in the hospital I simply said, “This is it.” I had heard about Ithacare and I had
made up my mind the next day to contact the place and see about coming here. I never have regreƩed it
except that night when I made that decision. That was a very hard night because I had loved
Trumansburg. I have been Mrs. Trumansburg, really. In Trumansburg I couldn’t realize I was geƫng sick
and that I was older, especially with the Bicentennial. There were so many demands that I couldn’t live
up to anymore and I coldn’t bear that either. So, except for that one night coming here has been one of
the best things I have done in my whole life”.
But, of course, her “EducaƟon” conƟnued at Ithacare. To Jack, she said: “When I walked in that
door, I just loved it. But it has been a terrific educaƟon in humanity…it is democracy run rampant. Even
though I had always lived on a farm and I had always come in contact with all kinds of people.
Nevertheless, this was a real jolt. We have the biggest stratum of people that I have ever come in contact
with. Ever. It is just unbelievable that we get along so well together.
It has been an educaƟon.”
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Best,
Carissa Parlato, CMC (Certified Municipal Clerk), RMC (Registered Municipal Clerk)
Ulysses Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Records Manager, Notary Public
10 Elm St.
Trumansburg NY 14886
(607)387-5767, ext. 221
Hours: M-F, 10am-3pm (or by appointment)
https://townofulyssesny.gov/
Get the latest updates on the town- sign up for the e-newsletter! Click here.
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