HomeMy WebLinkAboutAnnual Report of the Engineer Feb 1973O
VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHTS
ANNUAL REFORT OF THE ENGINEER
FEBRUARY 1973
JOHN B. ROGERS
During the past eleven and a half years the Village's lone refuse packer
truck has worked steadily hauling away an estimated 95,000 cubic yards of refuse
from the Village. This is enough refuse to bury the entire area of Schoellkopf
Football Field under 60 feet of discarded material. It is hard to believe that
our beautiful little village could generate such a vast amount of refuse but it
does and the job is ever increasing. The solid waste disposal area is now twice
as far from the Village as it was in past years, the number of residents in the
Village is increasing as is the number of stores in the commercial area. Also,
the average amount of refuse per individual increases year to year. The old
Village packer has done a wonderful job but it is now worn out and will be retired
to a backup position. In its place the Board of Trustees has purchased a new 20
cubic yard diesel powered packer that some of you might have seen already at work
on the never ending task of removing the Village refuse.
The road surfacing program of the Village was started this year earlier
than ever before. The extensive paving and resurfacing program was completed by
mid summer leaving the roads generally in good shape. In some areas additional
ditching will be necessary.
During the past fall replacement of the culvert carrying Renwick Creek
under North Sunset Drive was removed and replaced. Some of the damage to this
culvert was caused by the flood of June 1972 so some of the cost of its replacement
will be borne by flood relief funds. Although the rainfall during that flood was
• one of the highest ever recorded for this area and although we had one of the
wettest Falls on record, the streams and culverts throughout the Village carried
off the storm water with very little damage.
During the past year Mr. Ralph C. Garvin, who has worked with our streets
crew for the past seventeen years, retired.
The mowing of empty lots in the Village that are not mowed by their
owners has caused some complaints but the residents are to be assured that the
mowing is carried out to comply with the Village Ordinance that it is just the
cost to the Village that is passed on to the land owner and that continual efforts
are made to reduce the cost to as little as possible.
Diseased elm tree removal has continued throughout the Village during
the past year. Residents are reminded that the Village contributes to the cost
of this tree removal by cutting doom at the Village expense all diseased elm
trees that are on the road right of ways or on other Village property and removing
them to the County Landfill. It, also, will remove any diseased elm wood that
is cut to the proper length and placed by the roadside. This can be sometimes
one half the cost of removal of elm wood from private property.
Village officials have attended many, many meetings during the past year
on nolving the area's water problems. After much investigation and review of
all facts involved it has beenthe determination that joining the Town of Ithaca
and the Town of Lansing in developing the Bolton Point water supply would be to
the residents' advantage.
The major information on the operation of the Village Hall from the
Engineer's standpoint during the past year was the removal of bees from the Judge's
Chamber. This entailed removal of the ceiling and cleaning out over fifteen
gallons of honey and honeycomb. Unfortunately, it was not feasible to save this
Engineer's Report
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• honey for human consumption. The removal of the bees removed the source of an
unpleasant odor which permeated the Judge's Chamber for years.
The major accomplishment for the Village during this year has been the
awarding of contracts for the new Village Wastewater Treatment Facility. After
untold hours of meetings, planning, design, legal negotiations and last, but
surely not least, working with government agencies for approval. Contracts
totaling $2,225,502.00 were awarded to increase the capacity and to increase the
effectiveness of the Village Treatment Plant.
The Plant will not only have the secondary treatment required by the
State but it will also have the tertiary treatment (phosphate removal) which will
benefit our beautiful lake.
Because of the failure of a sludge drawoff line under the digester of
the present treatment plant which stemmed from the original construction in 1956,
it was necessary to do a major job of repair to the digester.
Although the weather so far this winter has not tested our snow removal
crew they stand ready with two large plows, one small plow, one salt spreader and
one sidewalk plow to quickly and effectively help the traffic flow through the
Village.
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