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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-10-12 Board of Public Works Meeting AgendaBOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS OFFICIAL NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING A meeting of the Board of Public Works will be held on Monday, September 10, 2012, at 4:45 p.m. in Common Council Chambers - Third Floor, City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York. Agenda 1. Additions or Deletions to Agenda (Items 1 -5: 15 min.) 2. Mayor's Communications 3. Communications and Hearings from Persons Before the Board 4. Response to the Public 5. Reports Special Committees of the Board Council Liaison Board Liaisons Superintendent and Staff Other Department Heads 6. Approval of Minutes 6.1 November 16, 2011, Regular Meeting Minutes 6.2 December 14, 2011, Regular Meeting Minutes 6.3 April 23, 2012, Regular Meeting Minutes 7. Administration and Communications 8. VOTING ITEMS 8.1 Buildings Properties. Refuse and Transit 8.2 Highways, Streets and Sidewalks 8.3 Parking and Traffic 8.4 Creeks. Bridges and Parks 8.5 Water and Sewer 9. DISCUSSION ITEMS 9.1 School Speed Limit Study for North Cayuga Street near Ithaca High School 9.2 Solar Liberty Lease Program to Install Solar Panels on City Buildings - Update 9.3 New City Code Chapter 141 entitled 'Bridges' 9.4 Lead Agency for Commons Rehabilitation 9.5 Loaves & Fishes Garden Site Request 9.6 Hydrilla Update 10. New Business 11. Adjournment If you have a disability that will require special arrangements to be made in order for you to fully participate in the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at 607 - 274 -6570 at least 48 hours before the meeting. The Board of Public Works meets on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of the months at 4:45 p.m. All meetings are voting meetings, opening with a public comment period. Meeting agendas are created from prior public input, Department operating, planning issues, and requests made to the superintendent. The Board reserves the right to limit verbal comments to three minutes and to request written comments on lengthy or complex issues. This infonnaton may then be used to create comnuttee agendas, with the speaker or author invited to attend. Notes for BPW Agenda, September 10, 2012 9.1 School Speed Limit Study for North Cavuaa Street near Ithaca High School Attached is Tim Logue's report and recommendation on a school zone and its recommended speed limit. We have no reason to believe that speeding is a cause of any of the recorded accidents in the area of the school along Cayuga Street. However, it is unusual to not have a school speed zone along a main school artery, in an urban environment, where travel patterns and school activities bring children and young adults out adjacent to the street or have them traveling along the street. I think the loss of visual contact due to the height of the Fall Creek Bridge at this location makes the warning signs and reduced speed valuable. I am a little nervous about the recommendation of a 20 MPH during school hours in that location. I would have recommended 25 MPH at first blush. However, the posted zone on Lake street is 20 MPH, the other school zones in the city are 15 MPH, and if using these values makes it easier for a police officer to write a school zone speeding ticket at 30 MPH or 25 MPH respectively without getting much argument from the driver, then I guess they are the right values. 9.2 Solar Liberty Lease Program to Install Solar Panels on City Buildings — Update I will provide you an update once I have one. I have tried to contact the County about their experience. The Attorney's Office was contacting the Leasor for additional information prior to the Mayor's possible signature. The holiday was in the way of progress. 9.3 New City Code Chapter 141 entitled 'Bridges" Attached is a copy of a new City Code provision designed to make it easier to deal with the installation of safety nets below the city's high bridges by Cornell this fall. We have a contract with Cornell that calls for them to cover all City costs during the ten -year period of the agreement. These provisions make it possible to state the purpose of the nets and to recover those costs which result from abuse, misuse, or vandalism. I would normally have brought these to the BPW for their review and recommendation to the Common Council for adoption, but they slipped though the Council Committee system faster than I managed to put them before the Board. These are provided for your information. 9.4 Lead Agency for Commons Rehabilitation The Commons Rehabilitation Project has to go through environmental review and a lead agent must be declared to make the determination. While the Commons could be considered part of Martin Luther King Jr. /State Street, it has operated under the Commons Advisory Board for day - today activities for years now. The Planning Board and the Planning Department have been the project leaders for the Rehabilitation Project, working with the designers and taking Page 2 public input. I recommend that the BPW decline the lead agent status and authorize the Planning Board to take that position for the environmental review. I expect we will be given that chance shortly. 9.5 Loaves & Fishes Garden Site Request Sharo n Clarke, as a volunteer with Loaves & Fishes, has returned with the attached note about the requested garden site. I told her I was not sure the exact process that would have to be followed for use of city parkland, but I thought we would need an attorney's opinion authorizing the proposed use and then an approved process to undertake use for individual gardens. I suggested that we would have to use a bid or lottery system for making approved spaces available and would not be able to contract for land use directly with Loaves & Fishes. This made it harder for her to run a program with continuity and to serve the particular clientele they were trying to serve. I also told her that the Parks Commission and Common Council were caught up in the question of Community Gardens and that might dictate the answer to this question in a broader context. At your direction, I can direct this question to the Attorney and Parks Commission for a response, but it may be conditional when we get it. 9.6 Hvdrilla Update Attached is a routine update of the Hydrilla eradication and monitoring effort from Roxy Johnston to the Local Task Force. A substantial effort is being extended to try to eradicate the plant before it can get established in the lake. We believe it is a successful effort to date but it will take years of monitoring to know the answer. The chances of re- infestation are also real, making ongoing monitoring, here and on the other Finger Lakes, important. We don't know the source of the plant here, though it is wide spread in Florida and other southern locations, originating in China I believe. Some of the pictures from Florida make this plant a rival of kudzu. This item is FYI. This is also the newest item in my "Things I never learned about in college" file. WULiPwj. Graff,P.E. SupeviwtewGVewt of PubUc WorYes Septew bey s, 2012 Page 3 CITY OF ITHACA 108 East Green Street, Suite 202 Ithaca, New York 14850.5690 OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER 7h1ephone: 6072746530 1u: 6072746587 Item 9.1 9116la To: Board of Public Works From: Tim Logue, Transportation Engineer Date: August 28, 2012 Re: School Speed Limit Study for North Cayuga Street near the Ithaca High School I am recommending that the City establish a school speed limit zone along North Cayuga Street near the Ithaca High School. I received a request from the school principal last fail and after completing our traffic counts, a review of the requirements of the Manual an Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and a review of the collision history, I am prepared to recommend its approval. Based on the fact that the middle school has a school speed limit of 20 mph on Lake Street and the MUPCD recommendation to set the speed limit 10mph lower than the 85 %ile speed on the street, I am recommending the school speed limit be set at 20mph. The only other factor I want to bring to your attention is cost. I am estimating that to properly sign the school speed limit zone, it will cost approximately $2,500 in materials and labor. I don't expect that these funds are available in the 2012 budget for the sign shop, nor do I expect that they are being programmed for the 2013 budget proposal. Assuming these to be true, the BPW could ask Common Council for an appropriation of funds to cover the costs in either year. Alternatively, we are submitting a Safe Routes to School grant and may be eligible to have 100% of the costs covered by the federal funding. However, we won't know about the Safe Routes to School funding until the end of the year and our schedule currently calls for construction in 2015. -M Equal Oppommity Emplpy ,r Ih a commitmem [o w , me diversification. 0 f• ��® J �OgbRetEO `� CITY OF ITHACA 108 East Green Street, Suite 202 Ithaca, New York 14850 -5690 OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER Telephone: 607/2746530 F.: 6072746587 Engineering Study For North Cayuga Street School Speed Limit Zone at Ithaca High School August 27, 2012 I received a letter from the Ithaca High School Principal, Jarrett Powers, dated November 21, 2011, requesting that the City explore the possibility of creating a school speed limit zone on North Cayuga Street along the high school property. The New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law and the New York State Supplement to the National Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) address the creation of school speed limit zones. According to the City Code, the Board of Public Works has the ability to create school speed limit zones by amending the Vehicle and Traffic Schedules. This memorandum and attached materials constitute my engineering study, which concludes that it is acceptable to establish a school speed limit zone in this location. According to the MUTCD, three conditions must be met in order to establish a school speed limit zone. This location meets the first condition because it is a school. It meets the second condition because a number of students are currently walking or biking to school. Lastly, we have received written support for the establishment of a school speed limit zone, which is the third condition. North Cayuga Street is an urban minor arterial, from Clinton Street to the northern end near Route 13. A traffic count on N. Cayuga Street from Spring 2012 near the high school showed an average weekday daily traffic count of approximately 4,250 vehicles per day. Traffic volumes were a little over half of that on the weekend days (about 2,200 vpd), bring a weeklong ADT to about 3,700 vpd. Speeds were recorded as such: Northbound Southbound Ave. speed 28 mph 28 mph 85% ile speed 34 mph 33 mph 95% ile speed 35 mph 35 mph % over 30 mph 31% 28% A reduced speed limit zone can be established on North Cayuga Street, extending from just south of the bridge over Fall Creek to just about the north "M Equal Opponuttiry Employer with a comMtment to wockfotce Aim,sifintion." ( J end of the tennis courts between the high school and middle school, which is also just about the point where the asphalt path starts toward the middle school. This zone would then include the gravel parking area on the west side of Cayuga Street that is often used as a pick -up and drop -off area. Though there is not a painted crosswalk currently, this is a place where many students cross Cayuga Street and this location can be a little difficult due to the vertical curvature of the street as the bridge gets up over Fall Creek. A reduce speed limit zone would help in reducing not only speeds, but also stopping sight distances. Between January 1, 2008 and August 26, 2012, there were eight collisions reported to the Ithaca Police Department in the area proposed for the school speed limit zone. The collisions involved: • two people backed out of their driveways, just south of the bridge, and hit each other • ICSD truck pulled out of parking lot and failed to yield the right of way to a southbound motorist - minor damage to car • a student was standing next to the curb talking with a friend, with his back to traffic, then suddenly turned and walked into street and was hit by a car. • a person jumped into the back of a truck in the fHS parking lot and then fell out • a parked car was hit and run in the IHS parking lot • someone hit a parked car in the IRS parking lot • sideswipe as car in the pull -off near IHS pulled into street, failing to observe a northbound car • in the IHS parking lot, an inexperienced driver was practicing driving and hit a light pole and her daughter who was standing next to the pole. None of these collisions involved speeding vehicles. It is possible that slower speeds may have helped to avoid one or two of the collisions, but there is no indication in the crash reports that speed was a factor in any of the incidents. Based on the current travel speeds on the street, I would recommend a reduced school speed limit zone be established for 20mph. This is also the speed limit established on lake Street on the east side of Boynton Middle School. The standard duration of school speed limit zones in the City of Ithaca is 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Tim Logue City Transportation Engineer BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROPOSED RESOLUTION September . 2012 To Amend Vehicle and Traffic Schedule III in order to Create a School Speed Limit Zone on North Cayuga Street along the Ithaca High School WHEREAS, the Board of public Works is authorized by Section 3464 of the City Code to adopt and to amend a system of Schedules in order to administer the Vehicle and Traffic Law, and WHEREAS, the principal of the Ithaca High School has requested a school speed limit zone on North Cayuga Street, and WHEREAS, the Transportation Engineer has reviewed this request and recommended that the Board of Public Works approve such a school speed limit zone, and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works is in favor of such a school speed limit zone, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works hereby amends Schedule III of the City Vehicle and Traffic Schedules to add: Twenty (20) MPH on North Cayuga Street, from a point approximately 200 feet north of the centerline of York Street to a point 1,320 feet (0.25 mile) north of that point, from 7:00 am to 6:00 p.m. on school days. J: \TRAFFIC\School Zmes\IHS - Cayuga St \V &T Schedules - Cayuyga Street at IHS School Speed Zcne.doc EI ?y CITY OF ITHACA 108 East Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 -5690 ' OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY Aaron O. Lavine, City Attorney Robert A. Sarachan, Assistant City Attorney RATED Patricia M. O'Rourke, Assistant City Attorney Krin Flaherty, Assistant City Attorney Jody Andrew, Executive Assistant 113aDB13[/)11F.11102111113 1 To: Board of Public Works From: Krin Flaherty Date: August 17, 2012 Subject: Agreement to Lease and Install Solar Panels at the Ithaca Fire Department and Ithaca Youth Bureau i+ItM'J Gllo l� Telephone: 607/274 -6504 Fax: 607/274 -6507 This was last discussed during the May 7, 2012 Board of Public Works meeting, and the original plan was extensively worked up by Dennise Behnaker, former Energy Sustainability Project Manager for the City. Prior to and until just recently, the City Attorney's office has been in negotiations with Solar Liberty regarding the contract terms. At this time, we believe that we have secured favorable terns for the City and that we are in a position to execute the contracts on this issue. In the May discussion, members of the Board of Public Works specifically asked what would happen if Solar Liberty went bankrupt. The terms of the contract provide that if Solar Liberty goes out of business for any reason, the contract would be assigned to another solar company. If you have any tbrther questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 607 - 274 -6504 or kflaherty @cityofithaca.org. "An Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to workforce diversification. 1+-em 9.`3 911O11a 10.3 Attorney's Office —An Ordinance to Amend the City of Ithaca Municipal Code to Create a New Chapter 141 entitled "Bridges" Ordinance 2012- BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows: Section 1: A new Chapter 141 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code entitled "Bridges" is hereby added as follows: 5141 -1 Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to protect the integrity of city bridges and the safety of those who use those bridges, and more particularly to ensure that no one interferes with the efficacy of the safety mesh under city bridges, to minimize expense in maintaining bridges and the safety mesh under the bridges, to prevent injury to people on, under or nearby bridges, prevent objects from being thrown and dropped from bridges, and to preserve and protect bridge structures. 6141 -2 Definitions: BRIDGE Any structure that spans any physical obstacle for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. BRIDGE STRUCTURE Any part of a Bridge, including the bridge deck, supporting structure, railings, fencing, guardrails, safety mesh, and any part attached thereto or intended to monitor or maintain a bridge, including video surveillance equipment. CITY BRIDGE Any Bridge Structure, including any Bridge Structure not owned by the City of Ithaca, within the boundaries of the City of Ithaca that is open to the public, including Bridge Structures intended for automobiles, rail traffic, pedestrians and bicycle traffic. RESTITUTION The cost to restore any damaged City Bridge to its condition prior to damage. Restitution shall include the costs to repair damages caused by prohibited acts contained in this chapter including but not limited to costs to retrieve objects, costs to repair safety mesh, costs to remove graffiti, costs of rescue, and administrative costs associated with any of the foregoing. SAFETY MESH Any material placed on, near, or under a City Bridge that is intended to prevent injury from falling from a bridge or to protect from being hit by objects falling or thrown from a bridge. 4 141 -3 Prohibited and required acts: A. No person shall jump, step -off or otherwise go over the side of a City Bridge, or cause another to do so. B. When walking on a City Bridge that has sidewalks, pedestrians shall walk only on those sidewalks. C. No person shall climb, step on, or walk on any fence, railing, guardrail, or other siding on a City Bridge. D. No person shall throw, drop, or permit or otherwise cause any object to go over the side of a City Bridge. E. No person shall climb on, jump on, or throw or drop or cause an object to be dropped on Safety Mesh that is attached to a City Bridge. F. No person shall cause, or act in a way that causes, damage to Safety Mesh. G. No person shall deface, draw on, paint, or mark any part of a City Bridge without proper authorization. 141-4 Penalties: Any person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of an offense punishable by no less than a fine of $100 or 25 hours of community service, no more than $1,000 and 15 days in jail. Any penalty imposed may also include restitution as defined in this chapter. Section 2: Severability If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. Section 3: Effective Date This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law, upon publication of notice as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. (9/5/2012) Kathrin Gehring - Questions _ Page 1 We are getting ready to conduct site plan inmew for the Commons Redesign. Since there are three possible lead agencies, Common Council, BPW, and the Planning Board, we are hoping you would be willing to have a discussion with the BPW ASAP about whether or not they want to daim lead agency status for the environmental regrew of the Commons. We are hoping for final site plan approval at the December Manning Board meeting so Sasald on begin the construction documents. This means an environmental determination In October. Please let me now if you want to discus this further or if you would like me to attend the BPW meeting where this will be discussed. Also, Enk Whitney has asked about the status of the possible purchase of the State Street property for access to the Water Plant. i don't know where this stands so let me know. As mentioned several weeks ago, this will need site plan review as it is a modification M the approved site plan and could prove to be corrtrwousial. Please advise on both Issues. Thanks, ]oAnn I-I Q.4 nem —I F o l i o From: ]oAnn Comish To: Gray, BIII CC: Gehring, Kathrin; Lavine, Aaron; Myrick, 5vante; Nicholas, usa Date: 9/5/2012 3:00 PM Subject: Questions Bill, We are getting ready to conduct site plan inmew for the Commons Redesign. Since there are three possible lead agencies, Common Council, BPW, and the Planning Board, we are hoping you would be willing to have a discussion with the BPW ASAP about whether or not they want to daim lead agency status for the environmental regrew of the Commons. We are hoping for final site plan approval at the December Manning Board meeting so Sasald on begin the construction documents. This means an environmental determination In October. Please let me now if you want to discus this further or if you would like me to attend the BPW meeting where this will be discussed. Also, Enk Whitney has asked about the status of the possible purchase of the State Street property for access to the Water Plant. i don't know where this stands so let me know. As mentioned several weeks ago, this will need site plan review as it is a modification M the approved site plan and could prove to be corrtrwousial. Please advise on both Issues. Thanks, ]oAnn Page I of I Kathrin Gehring - CORRECTION Loaves & Fishes Garden Follow -Up Kathy, Thank you yet again for all your help as we move through the proper channels to find a suitable site for the Loaves & Fishes Garden Project. Following our discussion with Mr. Grey today, I'm sending you a revised email request. Please forward it to all whom you think can best help us along. Commissioner Gray: Thank you for taking so much time this afternoon to talk with me about the Loaves & Fishes Garden Project. When we (Rev. Christina Culver, Director, Loaves & Fishes, and 1) left our initial BPW meeting (Monday, July 23) we immediately went to see some of the sites recommended by various Commissioners. We were very excited by the prospect of site on South Titus near Fair Street along the Creek. We would like to pursue getting permission to used part of this site as quickly as possible. The Loaves & Fishes Garden Project is intended to be a year round raised -bed growing program. As such we hope to be able to plant this fall food to be harvested throughout the winter and garlic for next summer. The South Titus /Fair Street site is a very good site for a number of reasons. It offers several conditions that we feel are especially important to the success of the project in it's early stages. • Good sunlight; • Benches nearby and trees for shade to allow people to rest while working or enjoying the garden; • Close to low- income housing and within a residential neighborhood • Near Titus Towers and other elder housing whom we would like to invite to participate in gardening with us; • It is within comfortable and safe walking distance from Loaves & Fishes. Please let us know how best to proceed with making a proper request to use this site. We are more than open to suggestions of other locations should this one not be available at this time. Thank you again, for your support of this venture. Sharon Clarke, Volunteer, Loaves & Fishes Sharon Clarke "so little the forest's glory left in the mushroom soup" file: //CADocuments and Settings\kgehring \Local Settings\ Temp\XPgrpwise\50477420coima... 9/6/2012 �te.m 9 From: Slow Food Finger Lakes food <clowfoodfingerlakes @gmail.com> •5 To: <kgehring @cityofithaca.org> 9 Date: 9/5/2012 3:47 PM `l0`l'd Subject: CORRECTION Loaves & Fishes Garden Follow -Up CC: Christina <director@loaves.org> Kathy, Thank you yet again for all your help as we move through the proper channels to find a suitable site for the Loaves & Fishes Garden Project. Following our discussion with Mr. Grey today, I'm sending you a revised email request. Please forward it to all whom you think can best help us along. Commissioner Gray: Thank you for taking so much time this afternoon to talk with me about the Loaves & Fishes Garden Project. When we (Rev. Christina Culver, Director, Loaves & Fishes, and 1) left our initial BPW meeting (Monday, July 23) we immediately went to see some of the sites recommended by various Commissioners. We were very excited by the prospect of site on South Titus near Fair Street along the Creek. We would like to pursue getting permission to used part of this site as quickly as possible. The Loaves & Fishes Garden Project is intended to be a year round raised -bed growing program. As such we hope to be able to plant this fall food to be harvested throughout the winter and garlic for next summer. The South Titus /Fair Street site is a very good site for a number of reasons. It offers several conditions that we feel are especially important to the success of the project in it's early stages. • Good sunlight; • Benches nearby and trees for shade to allow people to rest while working or enjoying the garden; • Close to low- income housing and within a residential neighborhood • Near Titus Towers and other elder housing whom we would like to invite to participate in gardening with us; • It is within comfortable and safe walking distance from Loaves & Fishes. Please let us know how best to proceed with making a proper request to use this site. We are more than open to suggestions of other locations should this one not be available at this time. Thank you again, for your support of this venture. Sharon Clarke, Volunteer, Loaves & Fishes Sharon Clarke "so little the forest's glory left in the mushroom soup" file: //CADocuments and Settings\kgehring \Local Settings\ Temp\XPgrpwise\50477420coima... 9/6/2012 [I�Av)k LOCAL TASK FORCE UPDATE LOCAL TASK FORCE UPDATE Johnson Boat Yard staff were given a laminated hydrilla sample to aid in distinguishing it from the elodea they are finding in masses around their docks. Sharon Anderson and students from a CU Communications Course are planning to clean the boat launch at Myers Park in the next few days in response to several complaints from users about the extent of weeds piling up there —and consequently getting onto boats and trailers. MANAGEMENT GROUP met 8/22/2012 Data sets from Bob Johnson, Icthyologimi Associates (IA) and the Floating Classroom (FC) were evaluated. Feedback was provided to IA and the FC regarding the quality and costs of their efforts relative to Bob Johnson's (and other typical professional work) on August 31° by Scott Kishbaugh on behalf of the Management Group. The FC has monitoring limitations due to the size of their boat. There are also issues with the need for continual training and /or lack of sufficient permanent staff that have adequate plant identification skills. Reporting data and vouchering unknowns was also problematic. The latter two problems can be overcome. It was unclear from reported data what the rate of sampling was on the FC, and therefore whether or not the FC could complete hundreds of sampling sites in the 4- 6 week window available each season. The FC costs were on the high end of competitive for simple monitoring. However, an added and much appreciated Outreach component is provided through the FC monitoring efforts. IA provided excellent data. Their rate of sampling appeared to be slow enough as to indicate they could not complete a larger sampling effort in the 4 -6 week window available each season. IA's costs were 5 -6 times higher than expected competitive prices. It was recognized the Bob Johnson is providing an oversight role separate from his contractual monitoring work. He was asked to invoice for that work. The full summary is available upon request. Bob Johnson surveyed approximately 1200 points in the lake. The FC surveyed 110. IA surveyed 62. Limited diver work was conducted on 8/17/2012. No hydrilla was found in the lake. Through the diver effort, one 8" strand of healthy hydrilla was found along the concrete wall towards the red lighthouse. This is in the area where fluridone concentrations were low and additional pellets were added on 8/15/2012. More diver work will be done to substantiate the negative findings of the rake toss survey. The most recent teleconference to discuss fluridone dosing focused largely on the hydrilla find. Several decisions were made: 4 new sampling sites were added to better define fluridone concentrations in the vicinity of the find. • Injections rates were increased from 5 ppb to 8 ppb (the permit limit) A 3' pellet application was scheduled for 9/4/2012 in just the 39 acres of the 'donut' • A permit application is being prepared for a late season endothall treatment in the 'donut'area —see attached map. This application will only occur if it is deemed necessary after evaluating fluridone concentrations in the area over the next few weeks. A 4'" pellet application will be considered based on monitoring data. LOCAL TASK FORCE UPDATE On a related note —some monitoring locations inside the treatment area were dropped to reduce costs (Angel —which ones were dropped ?) The MG plans to re- constitute the Monitoring subgroup and develop monitoring plans and RFP's for next year's survey work. OUTREACH — met7/25/2012 meeting 9 /13/2012 There is a new statewide Cooperative Extension person who will be working full time on invasives. Sharon Anderson met her on the 24th. She will be helping with hydrilla outreach outside of our watershed. Outreach at the Farmer's Market was extended through Labor Day Weekend. FLI has been asked if there is any plan or funds for Boat Stewards for 2013. A few hundred more 'Stop Hydrilla' brochures have been printed and are available from CCE. —50 laminates of both hydrilla and elodea have been prepared and are being distributed. Katherine McComas, professor in communications at CU, is again having her class assist in the hydrilla effort. They will refine the Communication Strategy that was drafted by a prior class, assist in outreach at the Farmer's Market and may also help in dock cleaning efforts or monitoring events. Sharon Anderson is working with the class. Some recent or upcoming outreach, August 21^ TC Legislature August 27th Town of Ithaca August 30" CU CEE Seminar Series September 27" Meeting with local environmental advocates to discuss eradication effort FUNDING DISCUSSIONS 775K NYS funds: Contract under review. Anticipated to be sent to FL -LOWPA for signatures soon. Awaiting approval of disbursement by NYS Department of Budget. Application for 2012 GLRI funds: Proposal submitted 25K from Aid to Localities: Contract signed by the City of Ithaca and mailed back to DEC. Awaiting approval of disbursement by NYS Department of Budgets. 60K update: Available. The Town of U lysses was approached for funding for the Floating Classroom and Outreach materials (laminated hydrilla and elodea sheets). They tabled the discussion after hearing concerns that the local funding effort should be more coordinated and that the needs were unclear at this time. Angel got feedback on GLRI grant we did not get from Karen Rodriguez, EPA - Chicago, highlights are below: • Focus on the ecosystem • Detail scientific methodology, quantification of results and determination of effectiveness LOCAL TASK FORCE UPDATE • Describe pesticides in detail • Detail determination of unintended impacts of herbicides • Stress importance of project to native flora /fauna (don't focus on recreation) BUDGET— Latest version pending. Local municipalities are being asked to consider setting aside funds for small contingency items. Steve Thayer, City Controller, will talk to the Mayor about it — updated from other partners? On a related note, Roxy is trying to coordinate a meeting of local task force representatives and our outreach partners to talk about funding needs for 2013. There is no money budgeted for our outreach partners for 2013 and forward. TASK FORCE met 8/22/2012 and today RESEARCH A research conference is being planned for September 11 -12 in Syracuse. The meeting is being hosted by US Army ERDC and Corps of Engineers Buffalo District. Scott Kishbaugh has suggested several local speakers and topics.