HomeMy WebLinkAboutEngineer's Report 9/21/1970VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHTS
REPORT OF THE ENGINEER
September 21, 1970
I. A letter was received from Mr. Thomas E. Davis of 211 North Triphammer Road
expressing concern over the increase in the amount of water flowing in the
stream past his property and through culverts under North Triphammer Road in
front of his house. He pointed out that in his opinion water had been diverted
in the Town of Ithaca during the construction of the BOCES and the Northeast
Junior High School, that the Village had raised the elevation of North Tripbammer
Road in front of his house above the culverts 4 to 6 feet, that the culverts
under North Triphammer Road were insufficient to carry the flow of water. He
further suggested that if there was a large flood of water it would back up
causing damages to residents along North Triphammer Road and lawsuits would
result against the Village. I do not concur with some of Mr. Davis' opinions
but I would like to point out that there is a engineering report filed with
the Town of Ithaca recommending the replacement of the culvert under North
Triphammer Road in front of Mr. Davis' house. On Sunday, August 30, at 2:15 P.M.
during a heavy downpour I inspected this culvert as well as the ones at North
Triphammer Road and Winthrop Drive and at Winthrop Place. In all cases water
was flowing in the culverts to slightly over half the capacity. Inspection was
also made of the culvert flowing under Triphammer Road in front of Mr. Locke's
property. The level of the water in the culvert on the east side of the road
was ll" below the top of the culvert. On the west side of the property the
level of the water was 25" below the top of the culvert. The culvert under the
road is a 30" smooth bore steel pipe. At the time of the inspection I talked
to Mr. Locke who was present and suggested that he cut back a piece of Orangeburg
drainage pipe installed by him or his builder that projected into the stream
• in front of the culvert entrance. This pipe, in my opinion, restricts the flow
of water into the culvert. At 12:15 a.m. the following Monday morning after
another heavy downpour all of these culverts were again inspected and each was
found to be flowing about one -half full except the one under North Triphammer
and Winthrop Drive which was less than one -half full. The recorded rainfall
for the 24 hour period during which these inspections were made was 2.4 inches.
I was told that Attorney Buyoucos also made inspections during these rainstorms.
I have discussed some of the problems of drainage with Mr. Buyoucos but have
not received any formal report on Village liability for drainage water from
him.
..T. Street Lights - The question of placing street lights on every telephone or
power pole on new Simsbury Drive was investigated. It seems that the plan for
installation of street lights varies widely throughout the Village. For instance,
there are no street lights on any of the poles on North Sunset Drive between
Remington Road and Cayuga Heights Road. This section of road is some 1500 feet
long and is heavily wooded. There is a street light on every power pole in the
Williamsburg Park area. These poles are spaced approximately 200 feet apart
and there are few large trees to block the light. It would be my recommendation
to install one street light on Simsbury Drive on the pole nearest the corner
where the road makes a 900 turn and that an inspection be made of the street
lighting in all areas of the Village so that dark, hazardous spots can be
corrected and a consistent policy on street lighting be established.
:II. The purchase of a snow plow similar to and interchangeable with the one snow
plow now owned by the Village is recommended. It is also recommended that a
• mounting for this plow be purchased for the Chevrolet truck. Verbal instructions
have been received from the State with assurances that written instructions will
soon be received to discontinue the disposal of liquid digested sludge from our
Sewage Treatment Plant. This means that we would have no use for the Tank truck
and the International truck chassis purchased last year at the Sewer Plant and
it could be used as a chassis on which to mount the salt, spreading truck body.
Engineer's Report
Page 2
The last recommendation for snow equipment to be purchased before the coming
• winter is a smaller snowplow blade and mounting for the newly acquired used
4 -wheel drive power wagon. This could be moat useful in clearing of inter-
sections, the Village parking lots, the Fire Station and narrow roads.
IV. Requests have been received from residents who walk along Triphammer Road to
improve the condition of the sidewalk in front of 310 Triphammer Road. This is
the property owned by Cornell University. During their renovations of the
property the major section of the sidewalk was replaced by them but there are still
sections that need repair. In other areas of the Village,for short sections
of sidewalk that needed repair, it has been done so at Village expense. The repair
of sidewalk in this area is quite extensive and would be of significant cost to
the Village. A statement of Board policy on this type of sidewalk replacement
is requested.
V. The number of diseased elm trees marked for removal both in the Village road
right of way and on private property seems to grow each week. The monies set
aside in the Village budget for this work will not come close to being adequate
to complete the job. The Village work forces had little time to work on the
removal of trees during the last month. Upon the completion of replacing the
sewer lines now under construction men can be assigned to this work.
VI. At the writing of this report 500 feet of a total replacement job of 670 feet
of 10" sewer main has been completed across the properties of Mr. Roy Park.
Difficulties did arise over the existence of sewer line easements and the
Village responsbilities for replacement of property as close to the condition
in which it was found. These problems have been worked out and the project is
• expected to be completed before the Board meeting on September 21. An additional
section of 10" main is to be replaced in North Sunset Drive as soon as strike
in our suppliers manufacturing plant is settled and pipe now ordered is delivered.
John B. Rogers
Village Engineer
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