HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09 September 2022
Danby Town News
Public Hearing
September 21 at 6 pm
- Proposed zoning amendment to extend the
hamlet neighborhood zone slightly.
More information on p. 3 and online.
Fire Department Dinner
The Danby Volunteer Fire Company and
West Danby Fire and Rescue will host a
spaghetti dinner at the DVFC Station on 1780
Danby Rd, October 1st, from 5pm to 7pm.
Check our Facebook page and website for the
menu, prices, and further details.
Last Summer Market...
in 2022! On Friday September 16 from 4 pm
to 6 pm at Dotson Park. Please stop by or else
wait until next summer!
Cleaning the monument!!
A big thank you to the following people who
voluntarily helped to clean the civil war
monument located in front of the town hall.
Danny Wheeler from the Sons of Union
Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) and two of
his grandsons—Andrew Wheeler and Calen
Honig,
Keith Shipman who provided the lift from the
Highway Department,
George Jacobs from
the Danby Fire
Department who
brought a fire truck to
wet the monument as
needed, and
Larry Green and Bob
Kent from the
SUVCW.
September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
From the Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon
Gardens are at their
peak of productivity
and deliciousness in
late August and the
coming of goldenrod
into bloom signals
that school will soon
resume. For me and
the Town Board,
those signals also
indicate the budget
crafting season is
ramping up.
Budget season
This year we will be prioritizing our capital projects
wish list and deciding which ones to fit into a multi-
year financial plan. Inflation complicates the
process and makes it more difficult for everybody
to plan. The town’s contract with the union
representing our highway workers is also being
negotiated this year and I am sympathetic to the
request to significantly bump up wages. I am
keeping in mind, though, that wages have lagged
the cost of living for quite some time for most
workers and many taxpayers cannot easily absorb
a large tax increase.
Cannabis
Last year the Town Board decided not to opt out of
allowing cannabis sales and consumption sites in
Danby. The Board is wrestling with whether to
impose upon them more restrictive rules than for
other businesses. Should they be limited to the
core areas of the hamlets, or could they also go in
commercial zones? Maybe they should be allowed
anywhere cottage industry is allowed. Are there
potential negative impacts that should be
addressed proactively, like smoke? There is little
chance Danby will be seen as a great place for
multiple cannabis-related businesses to locate in,
so this may end up being something of an
academic exercise. The zoning law already
addresses size, location, and appearance, so we
are reasonably well positioned even without
changes. I will report (or David West will) how the
tweaks work out.
Noise
The issue hasn’t gone away, but what to do about
unreasonable noise is not yet clear. At the August
17 Town Board meeting Warren Cross (who has
extensive expertise in acoustics) spoke to the
Board about what he would suggest as an
approach. He believes that severe noise
constitutes a clear and present danger and should
be dealt with differently than other noise.
Following a fairly long conversation, he agreed to
research what works and what does not and to
report back in a couple of months. There will be
more about this on the town’s website.
Broadband
Now that we have the results from the study
conducted by Chuck Bartosch of where wired
internet access exists in Danby, what do we do
next? The Tompkins County Council of
Governments has been looking into options and
recently held a webinar led by Hunt Engineers on
this (worth watching!). TCCOG was to consider
next steps at their August 25 meeting. Here in
Danby, Zachary Lind and Jeff Lang have
volunteered to work together to do much the
same. The TB asked that they report how they will
approach doing that. I think there is potential for
inter-municipal cooperation.
South Hill Recreation Way
Negotiations with
NYSEG to get an
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Photo by C VanHeest on Unsplash
September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
easement to extend this trail seem finally to be
coming to an end point. It looks like we will get the
right to extend the trail all the way to the county
line along the old rail bed. The partners in this
venture are the towns of Ithaca, Dryden, Danby,
and Caroline. We will be applying for grant money
to identify what will need to be done and what that
will cost. The resultant plan will position us to seek
additional support to build the trail. The first
couple of legs are already pretty usable; there are
serious washouts further out.
Amy Cusimano
I was shocked to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Amy Cusimano, as were my colleagues
on the Town Board. Amy was the steady hand at the helm of the Jennings Pond swimming program for
many years. Anyone who might wonder if one person’s efforts really make much difference need only
look to what Amy did to dispel any doubt. Instrumental is the word that comes to my mind when I think
of Amy. She will be sorely missed!
Notes From The Planning Office David West
As signs of the end of summer start appearing in
the Planning Office we are moving through several
projects that will help us move into the next
season.
Neighborhood Zone Extension
After much discussion regarding concerns about
potential impacts, the Town Board has asked for
additional shrinking of the area planned for an
extension of the Hamlet Neighborhood Zone.
When first considered the extension of the Hamlet
Neighborhood Zone included all of 2 parcels, 10.-1-
57.2 with address 104 Bald Hill Rd and 10.-1-21.124
which is behind 104 Bald Hill Rd and nestled into
the planned solar field. This month the Town Board
reviewed a map of the 2 parcels with a 200ft. deep
swath along Bald Hill Road from the existing house
to the corner of Lieb Rd. removed to provide
additional protection to Jennings Pond and
streams/wetlands on that corner (most of which
couldn't be built on anyway due to other Town,
state, and federal regulations but we like a belt
and suspenders approach). This month the board
will consider the removal of the rear parcel so that
only 104 Bald Hill Rd. is being considered and only
with the section previously removed from
consideration. Making this zoning change would
allow additional residential development on the
lot. By-right an owner could add 2 homes as long
as they followed the various form and design
requirements. With site plan review or subdivision
review and approval of the health department (all
opportunities to require additional mitigation)
more development would be possible.
Safe Streets For All
The Town of Danby has agreed to join in on an
application for funding with a coalition of other
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Municipalities in Tompkins County. The hope is to
fund a Safe Streets for All study that would look at
traffic safety needs in each municipality and lay out
the most useful improvements that could be made
from a safety perspective. This plan will help
municipalities plan infrastructure investments and
also unlocks the ability to pursue federal safety
improvement grants to help with the associated
costs. The participating municipalities is expected
to include the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village
of Lansing, Town of Lansing, Village of Cayuga
Heights, Town of Caroline and possibly Town of
Enfield. The more municipalities join the lower the
cost share for each municipality and the more
likely we are to receive the grant. It's great to see
all these local governments working together,
especially when rad safety across municipal
boarders has a great impact for Danby residents
who must all leave Danby frequently for basic
needs.
Hamlet Water/Wastewater Study
Town work with Hunt Engineers is continuing.
Hunt is working to understand where, how, and
how much various wastewater treatment options
might be possible to allow the development of the
Hamlet Center Zones and possibly Hamlet
Neighborhood parcels. A key component in
understanding what options are available for the
future of the Town is understanding what, if any,
issues residents currently have. Are there water
quality issues in existing well? Are there failing
septic systems? What are the owner's future plans
for different parts of the Hamlet? All of these
answers will help the engineers provide the Town
with a menu of options the Town could pursue in
the future as well as information about the cost
and technical limitations of the various
possibilities. In a time where there is substantial
infrastructure funding available this proactive
planning should help the town be well positioned
to address its needs in the future.
CDBG Homeowner Rehab Application
The Town's work with Cortland based Thoma
Development is going very well. We have a wait
list of 34 income qualified homeowners with
substandard housing that could benefit from
renovation. That high level of response from the
community will allow us to pursue the maximum
program grant award of $500,000 to serve 13-14
homes over the span of 2 years (a process we can
repeat as long as needed until we run out of
demand). If we are successful in pursuing this grant
the state funding would be matched with $53,000
– $71,000 in weatherization assistance provided
by CAPCO (Cortland County Community Action
Program, Inc.). Homeowners who are in need and
meet the income limits will still have an
opportunity to apply for renovation assistance if
the program is funded and we will be sure to keep
you informed right here.
Khuba International - Quarter Acre for
the People Planned Development Zone
In the Town Board's first meeting this month
Christa Nunez of Khuba International came to talk
about her group's hope to build a cluster of
homesteads on Hornbrook Rd. as a part of their
Quarter Acre for the People project. According to
their website, "This program seeks to provide
access to local farmland for local families,
particularly those in the community that are
nutritionally-vulnerable. Land can be used to
plant, maintain, and/or harvest perennial veggies,
fruit and nut trees, and grapevines. This project
involves a coordinated effort by farmers, local
landowners, and communities to address issues of
land access and the corresponding health
disparities experienced by this community through
land-sharing and perennial planting." The group
hopes to enable 5 households to live on the 14
acres that they purchased on the north side of
Hornbrook Rd. near Nelson Rd. This area is zoned
as Rural 2 which does not allow that level of
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
density so the group is discussing the possibility of
pursuing a Planned Development Zone for their
project. Planned Development Zones allow the
Town Board to approve creative uses of land that
they believe are appropriate and beneficial to the
Town but that do not follow existing zoning
regulations. The Khuba International team said
that they are working to overcome the
complicated technical challenges of the site and
hope to bring a plan to the Town Board in the near
future.
West Danby Water District Tod Sukontarak
In the last month we have finally returned to our normal water pump rates of roughly 15,000 gallons per
day. Thank you to the customer who cooperated by turning off water supply to the residence when not
in use to significantly reduce the amount of water lost until their leak was fully repaired. The leak was in
a difficult to reach location that required quite a lot of manual excavation as well as drilling through the
house's foundation and slab to repair.
The work of locating and marking service connections is ongoing and time-consuming. You may see
either Scott or me out with a metal detector in your yard trying to locate your water service valve cover
then marking in blue paint its location on the road. Once this is done we are hoping to get all the
locations mapped using GIS. It may not be completed before winter as neither Scott nor I can devote
many daytime workday hours to it.
Highway Superintendent News Keith Shipman
Folks have asked why we are not grading some of our dirt roads. Currently Danby is in a minor drought
and regrading requires thousands of gallons of water to lay the material back into the road correctly. If
this is not done correctly, especially on hillsides, it simply won’t last through the first hard rain storm.
This will also create more dust than we already have which residents clearly do not want. Currently we
are doing minimal surface maintenance to our dirt roads with some grading and dust control. Before
resurfacing, one of the most important things to control is drainage – including cleaning ditches. We are
directing our attention on ditching in different areas to get to the foundations of our roads and address
some of the problems, which include water intrusion, culverts, and the materials in the roadway. We will
have to do some minimal resurfacing to some of the dirt roads soon.
Wood Chips
We at the Highway Department get many questions about free wood chips for people’s gardens and
such. We normally do not have large quantities of mulch. However, we do have a small pile outback that
can be picked up – 1 to 2 cubic yards per person.
Highway Projects
Capital projects utilizing state CHIPS funds for the remainder of this year.
Up to $190,000 to reconstruct Troy Road. Drainage will be addressed and the road will be
profiled and shimmed. New shoulders will be put in along with 4”ofcompressed cold mix
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
pavement, then topped with a chip seal.
Up to $14,000 to chip seal Yaple Road.
Up to $24,000 to chip seal West King Road.
Up to $25,000 to chip seal and reconstruct the shoulders for Comfort Rd.
Up to $13,000 to replace the culvert on Bruce Hill Road (the pipe has already been purchased).
Tompkins County Legislature News Dan Klein
Last year, Tompkins County received $20 million in federal stimulus funds. The County government
incurred a lot of extra costs during the pandemic, and so this money was welcomed. It is partly
responsible for keeping the County tax levy increase to zero last year.
As a further way to give this money to the community and to make Tompkins County stronger, we set up
a $6.5 million grant program we are calling the Community Recovery Fund. The fund should be
launching this month. Applications will probably be accepted through October, with the grants being
awarded around the first of the new year.
The money came from ARPA – the American Rescue Plan Act, and so we must follow the rules and
reporting procedures of that piece of legislation.
The goals of the program include addressing the impacts of Covid 19, responding to diversity, equity,
and inclusion needs, supporting local not-for-profits and small businesses, and addressing critical
needs in local services such as childcare, job training, housing, and broadband internet.
The minimum grant will be $10,000. Matching funds are not required but might strengthen an
application.
We welcome the organizations that are already watching this process and are good at getting grants.
But we also want to invite in the not-for-profit organizations and small businesses who do not normally
compete in the world of grants. We will be doing a lot of outreach for this purpose. We will keep the
application and reporting process as easy as possible.
Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Margaret Corbit
The Danby Conservation Advisory Council met
virtually on Tuesday, August 9 at 7 pm.
After the usual business of starting the meeting,
Ronda Roaring shared her enthusiasm and
extensive research on the potential for restoring
the Kentucky coffee tree to our region. This tree is
native here but has almost disappeared. Ronda is
having success sprouting the seeds in the summer
and would like to encourage others to join her
effort. You can contact her through
Ilovethefingerlakes.com to learn more.
In other business, the Council confirmed that the
Ravencache Conservation Easement will be
completed this month. Council members are
finalizing the annual easement inspections. We
have begun work on updating the CAC web page
to help us communicate our mission to the
community. As part of this, we are working with the
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Town Planner to generate a map of that shows
important natural features of the Town along with
properties that are currently protected, as one way
of showing the potential that exists now to protect
our rural landscape and natural environment for
future generations.
We are especially interested in hearing from
community members who share our interests.
Please, join us at our next meeting .
Danby Seniors
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday,
September 1, at noon at the Danby Church. It is a
dish to pass and we hope you can join us. If anyone
has a suggestion for guests or entertainers for our
meetings, please feel free to share. You can
contact Judy Cuyle at gnatcat87@yahoo.com. Or -
if you have a special talent you would like to share
with our group, please volunteer!
Future trip: "An Elvis Christmas Show with Ryan
Pelton" at Penn's Peak, Wednesday, November
30, 2022
Twin TIers Honor Flight
Cindy Cerrache
Donate any types of gently worn or new shoes to
help raise funds for the Twin Tiers Honor Flight that
takes veterans to Washington DC to visit and
reflect at their memorials. You can leave
donations in the covered container at the end of
the driveway at 338 Gunderman Rd. until
September 30th.
More information is available at
twintiershonorflight.org or you can contact the
coordinator of the shoe drive, Cindy Ceracche, at
607-339-9269
Fall Equinox Celebration at White Hawk Ecovillage
After two years off, Equinox is back! White Hawk Ecovillage is thrilled to once again be hosting our
annual Equinox celebration on September 17th, from 5pm-9pm. All are invited to come by, see how
much we have grown during these last few years, and enjoy a nice fall evening filled with food, friends,
neighbors, and music! Music by local artists Mike Early and Travis Knapp!
BYOB and bring a dish to share if you can. Please indicate with a label on any food you bring to share if it
is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or if it contains nuts. Please also bring your own plates, cups, and
utensils.
Town of Danby Historian M.A. Barr
History is not just in text books. Believe it or not we, the regular people and our day-to-day activities, are
who and what make history what it is. People like Danbyites who write. Local authors bring unique
insights to both fiction and nonfiction. Take the Payton family of Danby who have contributed their
viewpoint as authors. Their books are currently being displayed on the shelf above the Historian’s
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
bulletin board in the large meeting room at Town Hall.
Four new books have just been added to the Town Historian’s library – written by local people. The
books and authors are: “Permanent Residents” (about people buried in our cemeteries), a compilation
of essays each written by a Town Historian in Tompkins County, Political Tompkins – Presidential
Elections in Tompkins County Since 1828” by Joe Mareane, Tompkins county Administrator (ret.)., “Send
These to Me: Immigration and Ethnicity in Tompkins County” by Elaine Engst & Carol Kammen, both
local historians and “The Gayogohonq: People in the Cayuga Lake Region” by Kurt Jordan, a Cornell
professor.
Youth Programs Heidi Doggett
The Danby Youth Program has been very busy
with summer activities!
Here's just a few of our
adventures this summer:
we spent two nights
camping at the Arnot
Forest, built cardboard
boats and paddled them
on the lake, created
s'mores in homemade
solar cookers, and mixed
color-changing
lemonade using edible
pH-reactive flowers.
Looking for Fall fun?
September's program list
is coming soon. Check
https://ccetompkins.org/4-h-youth/rural-
youth-services/rys-program-sites/town-of-
danby for updates. We'll have a Dungeons and
Dragons campaign at Boynton Middle School,
nature programs at Dotson Park, and
Halloween costume workshops.
Questions? Contact Heidi Doggett at (925)240-
3572
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Danby Community Groups
Danby Community Library
Contact: Cindy Parlett
library@danby.ny.gov
Open Tue 1-3pm,
Thur & Sat 10am-12pm
Danby Food Pantry
Danby Federated Church
Contact: Joan Barber
Open: 3rd Thur 4-6 pm
Danby Community Parks
Association (DCPA)
Website: dotsonpark.org
Dotsonpark@gmail.com
Danby Seniors
Contact: Judy Cuyle
gnatcat87@ yahoo,com
Luncheons: 1st Thur at noon
Danby Community Council
President: Pamela Goddard
Website: danbycc.org
Meeting: 1st Thur
West Danby Community
Association (WDCA)
Contact: Pat Curran
pc21@cornell.edu
Food Scraps Pickup: Sat 9am - noon, behind Town Hall
Danby Library News
Is summer really gone?!
A new selection of Children's books has arrived from TCPL and our Fall selection of books are now on
display.
DVD-King Richard
Adult Fiction-
"Born Standing Up". Steve Martin.
"Sugar Cage". Connie May Fowler
"Bailey's Cafe". Gloria Naylor
"The Language of Flowers". Vanessa Diffenbaugh
"Dead Wake". Erik Larsen
"The Complete Birdhouse Book". Donald & Lillian Stokes
"Bastard out of Carolina". Dorothy Allison
3 New James Patterson books!
Deadly Cross;
Escape;
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Fear No Evil.
To add to 30+ of his books already on our shelves.
Our collection of LT (large type) is ever expanding.
"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a
friend."-Paul Sweeney.
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Monthly Meeting Schedule At-A-Glance
Group Day Date Time Call-in by Phone Meeting ID Passcode
Town Board Tue 9/6 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 980 8515 9868 754633
WDWD Wed 9/7 5:00pm 1-929-205-6099 971 0783 2596 002368
CAC Tue 9/13 7:00pm 1-929-205-6099 972 1566 0090 423584
FD Tue 9/13 7:00pm In person at the Danby Fire Station
PB* Tue 9/20 7:00pm 1-646-876-9923 958 0817 5336 245871
Town Board* Wed 9/21 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 971 0723 2988 535713
BZA* Tue 9/27 7:00pm TBD
FD Tue 9/27 7:00pm In person at the Danby Fire Station
See the Danby calendar at danby.ny.gov/events for the final , most up-to-date details.
*These meetings may be hybrid (i.e., both online and in-person at the Town Hall).
(Acronyms in the above schedule are identified below.)
Boards & Committees
Planning Board (PB)
Chair: Jody Scriber
planningboard@danby.ny.gov
Meets: 3rd Tuesday at 7pm
Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)
Chair: Earl Hicks
bza@danby.ny.gov
Meets: 4th Thursday, as needed
Conservation Advisory Council (CAC)
Chair: Clare Fewtrell
cac@danby.ny.gov
Meets: 2nd Tuesday at 7pm
Youth Commission (YC)
Contact: Katharine Hunter,
hkhunter@danby.ny.gov
Meets: 2nd Thursday at 7pm
Fire District (FD)
Secretary: Sharon Gaden,
secretary@danbyfiredistrict.org
danby.ny.gov/depts/danby-fire-district
Danby Volunteer Fire Company (DVFC)
Chief: John Gaden,
jgaden@danbyfiredept.org
danbyfiredept.org
West Danby Fire Rescue (WDFR)
Chief: Scott Wendt,
swendt@westdanbyfire.com
westdanbyfire.com
West Danby Water DIstrict (WDWD)
Contact: Scott Wendt,
swendt@danby.ny.gov
Meets: 1st Wednesday at 5p
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Town Officials
Main Phone: +1-607-277-4788
Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon, x1010
supervisor@danby.ny.gov
Town Board
Meets 1st Tue
and 3rd Wed
Leslie Connors
H Katharine Hunter
Sarah Schnabel
Pat Woodworth
townboard@danby.ny.gov
Town Clerk
Deputy Town Clerk
Hours: Mon–Fri
11am–6pm
Janice Adelman
Cindy Katz
clerkoffice@danby.ny.gov
x8001
Highway
Superintendent
Deputy Highway
Superintendent
Keith Shipman, x8009
highway@danby.ny.gov
Jack Shawley, x1012
Hours: Mon–Thu
6am–4:30pm
jshawley@danby.ny.gov
Town Justices
Court Clerk
Hours: Mon-Tue
8am-11am
Garry Huddle
Theresa Klinger
Diane Gair
dgair@nycourts.gov
Town Planner
Hours: Mon–Fri
by appointment
David West, x1007
planner@danby.ny.gov
Code Enforcement
Hours: Mon-Fri
by appointment
Steve Cortright, x1006
code@danby.ny.gov
Documents /
Historian
Mary Ann Barr, x1008
mbarr@danby.ny.gov
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Danby,
New York
From:
1830 Danby Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
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Permit No.428
Phone: +1-607-277-4788
https://danby.ny.gov
Welcome to the
Danby Town News!
Questions? Email us at
townnews@danby.ny.gov
Or share your preferences at
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September 2022 Town of Danby, New York
Bookkeeper Laura Shawley, x1011
lshawley@danby.ny.gov
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