The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2024-06 Town Newsletter June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Danby Town News 1 Jennings Pond News Mary Ann Kozak Along with its fishing, canoeing and beautiful vistas, Jennings Pond will open for swimming free to everyone on Thursday, June 27th.. Our lifeguard will be on duty from 12 pm to 6 pm on Wednesdays thru Sunday every week during July and August. We are open to hiring more lifeguards. Contact Mary Ann Kozak at 607-342-7969 for more information. We reimburse lifeguards for their training. Danby Summer Market Elana Maragni 4th year!! Please join us in supporting our local farmers, crafters and musicians at the Danby Fire Department the 3rd Friday of June, July, August, and September. June 21 musical guest - Second Spring July 19 musical guest - Cielle on Solid Ground August 16 musical guest - Karlee Weaver September 20 musical guest - John Petronzio New!!! This year, at every market, there will be a community yard sale! Danby neighbors will be selling out of their car trunks! If you’d like to be a vendor at the market or sign up to have a spot at the community yard sale, contact market organizer Elana at elanamaragni@gmail.com. June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Notes from the Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon Enabling small lots and clustered development – to sewer or not to sewer? The town is now in receipt of a completed study of our options for wastewater handling to enable the small lots and higher density that are historically typical of hamlets. Danby’s Comprehensive Plan calls for minimizing development in the more rural parts of the town and focusing it in the hamlets. Such focused development would be less expensive to construct and easier to support. It would make walking and biking easier and help support businesses. All well and good, but if every lot needs to have its own well and septic system, such density is not possible. It was with this key issue in mind that we sought grant funding to study the problem and explore options. An initial grant from the county was judged inadequate by potential respondents to the request for proposals. With the help of Hunt-EAS we sought and got a larger grant from the State of NY. Hunt was chosen to do the study just now finalized. The “preliminary engineering report” (PER) looks at the range of options and recommends sewering the hamlet core zones. The cost for doing so is high and unlikely to find favor with property owners in the sewer districts that would be created if we had to fund them ourselves. Should we apply for grant money to implement sewers and sewage treatment? There would still be some level of local matching funds needed if the grant application were successful. The engineers have suggested that we try to get funding and offered to help with the application. The Town Board has not been heavily involved with the execution of the study. At the May 20 meeting the board agreed to a special meeting with Tim Steed of Hunt on a day and time that works for both the board and Tim. Tim will recap the high points of the study and the recommendations and we will see where that gets us. The PER does look at alternatives to sewers. Even if we were to install sewers and treatment plants for the hamlet cores these alternatives might be useful to enable clustered development on small lots in other parts of the town, like what is seen in White Hawk Ecovillage. Such small lot clusters would be far cheaper to develop and hence could enable more affordable housing, even while keeping within the density allowed in the rural zones of one lot for every 10 acres. There is a lot to talk about! This is a very important part of charting the course of the town. You can expect to hear much more about this question and to be invited into the discussion. 2 Secretarial Help Wanted Betsy Keokosky, Conservation Advisory Council Secretary, has told the CAC that she would like to step down from that role. The secretary is responsible for creating an accurate record of activity (the minutes of meetings, prominently) and other tasks in support of the work of the CAC. Do you enjoy working with words? This is a very part-time job. To apply, contact the Town Clerk Mariah Dillon (townclerk@danby.ny.gov). June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Notes from the Planner's Desk Greg Hutnik Danby now has an interactive online zoning map, courtesy of the Tompkins County GIS Division. Go to https://danby.ny.gov/ova_dep/planning/. Scroll down and click the Zoning tab, and click Interactive Online Zoning Map. From here you will be able to search a property’s zoning district and parcel information by one of two ways – either type the address in the upper left where it says “Enter an address or parcel number” or simply zoom into a parcel on the map and click on it to view parcel information and the zoning district. Consider this tool a work in progress. More features, layers, and functions could be added in the future. Danby’s CDBG Multifamily (Income Property) Rehabilitation Program is now accepting applications. The funds from this grant will be used for the rehabilitation of substandard, 2-4 unit rental properties in the Town of Danby where at least 51% of occupants qualify as low-to-moderate income (earning up to 100% of the area median income), per the table below. Household Size (number of persons) Maxim um 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Income $61,750 $70,550 $79,350 $88,150 $95,250 $102,3 00 $109,3 50 $116,400 The type of rehabilitation work that can be performed under this Program includes, but is not limited to, electric, plumbing, heating, roofing, insulation, masonry, windows, doors, painting, interior and exterior carpentry. For more information, or to request an application, please contact Thoma Development Consultants at (607) 753-1433. Related to the above, and as I wrote in the last newsletter, the $500,000 awarded to the Town in 2022 for homeowner housing rehabilitations has all been committed. We are now generating a new waitlist of homeowners to apply for more funding. If you are a low to moderate income homeowner earning up to 80% of the area median income (see table above and multiply those $ amounts by 0.8) and need home repairs like those listed above, please contact me. I have already had several residents provide their contact information – thank you! If you have any zoning or planning related questions or comments, or would like to schedule a time to meet, please call me at 607-592-0417 or email planner@danby.ny.gov. 3 West Danby Water District Scott Wendt The water district will be conducting system flushing on June 18th and 19th. June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Notes from the Town Clerk Mariah Dillon Things are hopping in the Danby Town Clerks Office! Friday, May 24th, the Clerks Office hosted a Records Management Seminar presented by Michael Martin, Records Advisory Officer from New York State Archives Department. Mr. Martin went over the basics of records management, a record life cycle, the LGS-1 (Local Government Schedule) retention and disposition schedule for New York local government records retention, when a Facebook post is official town business, and who in the town is required to have a town email address. Fascinating stuff! (Special shout out to Mary Ann Barr for planning and organizing this event.) Our current project is the Town of Danby’s migration from Zoho (a small proprietary software application) to Microsoft Office 365. Security and collaboration issues are the primary reasons for this change. On May 30th, the town will switch over to Microsoft Outlook email. The town's documents, however, will still be in Zoho. This is going to get messy! Remember the last time you had a big kitchen renovation - and you were horrified when your kitchen was torn apart? That's what the Town of Danby email and document retrieval is going to be like in early June. It will all get sorted out, hopefully very soon. Then we can move on to organizing our town documents in SharePoint and public documents on the Tompkins County Laser Fiche storage application. Like any construction project, it will get chaotic, and then it will get cleaned up, new functionality will be implemented, and it will be a joy to work with! Your patience with this process will be very much appreciated. The next objective is the codification project! No decision has been made yet, but it’s high on the priority list for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money projects. As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter submission, the codification process will ensure that Danby’s legislation is up-to-date, easy to find online, and is in-line with New York statutes and the needs of our residents, in addition to making the overall code consistent in format, style, and content. This will benefit not only residents, but our code officer, planner, and staff who need to access information to answer questions from residents and other municipal officials. 4 Conservation Advisory Committee Jonathan Zisk The Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) met on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 pm. There was a very constructive discussion included the following topics: Possible revision of the Easement Tax Abatement to be more inclusive; Report on the Draft Logging Ordinance, to focus more exclusively on road use and post-facto silt damage as guiding criteria; New easements' progress; Monitoring Template and form letter; Potential for utilization of a program at the NYS level for purchasing farm Development Rights. Our next meeting is on June 11. Community members are welcome to attend. June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Special Olympics Dan Klein Consider Volunteering for the Special Olympics “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt." This is the motto of the Special Olympics. The NY State Special Olympics, along with 1,200 athletes and coaches, will be in Ithaca on June 14 and 15 for the 3rd year in a row. It will also be the final year as the annual event moves around to different parts of the state. The NYS Special Olympics will take place mostly at Ithaca College, but there are some events in other area locations. There is a great need for volunteers for this event. Volunteers are needed for all kinds of jobs, and no experience is necessary. If interested, go to the NYS Special Olympics website. 5 Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council Seeks Public Input for Long Range Transportation Plan The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (ITCTC) is updating its Long-Range Transportation Plan for Tompkins County. The plan covers the 20-year period through 2045. You can view both the current transportation plan and information on the proposed update at the ITCTC website: www.tompkinscountyny.gov/itctc. Topics covered by the Long-Range Transportation Plan include: pedestrian and bicycle transportation, traffic circulation, maintenance of infrastructure, safety, transit, trail development and more. An in-person open house to address the Long-Range Transportation Plan update will take place on Thursday, June 6, 12 noon-2:00PM and 5:00-7:00PM at the Tompkins County Public Library in downtown Ithaca. Everyone is encouraged to attend. For additional information or to provide your input you may contact the ITCTC at 274-5570, email itctc@tompkins-co.org, go to the agency web site at www.tompkinscountyny.gov/itctc/lrtpupdate, or visit the ‘Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council’ on Facebook. Danby Seniors Theresa Klinger The Danby Seniors will meet on Thursday, June 6. Join us at 12 noon for a dish-to-share meal at the Danby Community Church. Everyone over age 55 is invited. As a reminder, membership dues of $10 can be sent to: Cindy Ceracche, 338 Gunderman Rd.,Spencer, NY 14883, 607-339-9269. Those 80 and over are considered lifetime members and no longer need to pay dues but may donate if they wish. This year’s BBQ with a 50/50 raffle will be held at the Eagles Club on 181 Cecil Malone Drive in Ithaca. The cost is $10.00 for members. Checks can be made out to Danby Seniors and mailed to Tammy Lopez at 68 Hornbrook Rd, Ithaca, NY or you can bring payment to the June luncheon. June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Youth Programs Heidi Doggett hd289@cornell.edu) The school year is wrapping up and we have a whole lot of fun planned for Danby youth this summer. We will continue current youth programs for the first two weeks of June, then have a two week break before summer programs begin the first week of July and run through most of August. Most summer programs run Monday-Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm. Summer program enrollment is generally capped around ten. Programs may fill up quickly. If you sign your youth up and then decide not to come, please let me know so that I can open that spot for someone else. If you have questions or need paper registration, contact Heidi Doggett at hd289@cornell.edu or 925-240-3572. Sign up for programs online at bit.ly/41jUwDO July programs Cardboard Boat Building Meyers Park in Lansing, M-W 7/1, 7/2, 7/3 9:00 am-4:00 pm Think big! These cardboard boats aren't models. They are big enough for youth to fit in. Working in teams, they spend several days and use a LOT of duct tape to build a lake-worthy craft. Then they paddle out on the lake (wearing a life vest and tied to an instructor) to see how long their boat stays afloat. When youth need a break from building, we'll have nature walks down the creek, playground time, fishing, and swimming. Lake Life Meyers Park in Lansing, M-Th 7/8-7/11 9:00 am-4:00 pm Join us for a week of lake-themed activities including a cookout, swimming, fishing, and a trip on the Teal's Floating Classroom at the Ithaca Farmer's Market. Dungeons & Dragons Adventures Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ithaca, M-Th 7/15-7/18 9:00 am-4:00 pm Level up with D&D themed activities of all kinds! This is our second summer running this program. This year youth will have even more chances to increase their character's ability scores and earn new spells, feats, and magical items through solving D&D themed puzzles, crafts like dice pouches and costume pieces, and even cooking. Monday's activities will include a Dungeon Master Boot Camp, all experience levels welcome. Whether you want to run a game with us this week or later on your own, this activity will increase your world- building and story-telling skills and give you key pointers for helping your players have fun. Create Your Own Adventures Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ithaca, M-Th 7/22-7/25 9:00 am-4:00 pm Youth will plan together to create their own week of activities given a budget and bus schedule. Parks, Gardens, and the Science Center are all possibilities. Last year youth even voted to buy their own sundae ingredients and watch a movie in PJs at CCE. Since this is a combined program, we'll have multiple educators available to give youth choices for each activity. RYS Summer Olympics Various Locations M-Th 7/29-8/1 9:00 am-4:00 pm For information on programs continuing for June, see the next page. 6 June 2024 Town of Danby, New York 7 Youth programs continuing in June All of the Above (grades 6-8) Mondays at Boynton Middle School 6/3 and 6/10, 3:30pm-6:00pm (grades 4-5) Tuesdays at Dotson Park/Danby Town Hall 6/4 and 6/11, 2:30pm-5:30pm Cooking, crafts, games, or park? You can choose all the above! Now that the weather is warmer let's try some outdoor adventures and BBQ on clear days, then choose from crafts, indoor games, or cooking when it's raining. Dungeons & Dragons will be an option some weeks, but not all. Parade Prep and Crafts (Grades 4-5) Thursdays at South Hill Elementary School 6/6 and 6/13, 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm For June this program will be crafts only since the Ithaca Festival parade is over on May 30. We will be making outdoor and garden-themed crafts such as suncatchers, windchimes, and kites, Program will take place outdoors on the playground when weather permits. Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, and Board Games (grades 6-8) Wednesdays at Boynton Middle School 6/5 and 6/12, 3:30 pm-6:00 pm During this program, youth can choose to play Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, or a number of other indoor and outdoor games. This program is not meant for playing electronic, phone, or laptop games. Youth will be asked to put those away and try out something else during this time. We usually have several D&D campaigns running, both youth-led and adult-led. Throwing an atlatl Yahoo!! Dotson Park Primitive Pursuits Painting miniature canvases Town hall lawn June 2024 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 Community Church Contact: Joan Barber Open: 3rd Thur 4-6 pm Danby Food Scraps Pickup every Sat 9am – noon behind Town Hall Danby Community Parks Association (DCPA) Website: dotsonpark.org dotsonpark@gmail.com Danby Rural Cemetery Contact: Sharon Boda Sharonboda@gmail.com Danby Seniors Contact: Pat Phelps patriciaphelps2.0@ gmail,com Luncheons: 1st Thur at noon Danby Community Council President: Pamela Goddard Website: danbycc.org Meeting: 1st Thur 7pm Danby Tosspot (Open Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting) Wed 7pm virtual West Danby Community Association (WDCA) Contact: Pat Curran pc21@cornell.edu Danby Library News Cindy Parlett Save the Date: Saturday July 13 from 10:30-11:30am Cornell Companions will be at the library with some friendly dogs for your kids to sit and read with. LT books from TCPL have arrived and our trip to the Friends of the library sale has brought in some nice titles. Here are a few: ADULT Migrations-C.McConaghy; Queen Bee and Pawley's Island-D. Benton Frank; The Seagull and The Darkest Evening-A.Cleeves (Vera Stanhope Mysteries), Left for Dead-JA Jance (Large Type); Thirteen Moons-C.Frazier; The Pull of theStars-E.Donoghue; Count Down-J. Patterson; The Investigation and Judgment Prey-J. Sandford YA (Yount Adult) The Lightning Thief; The Chalice of the Gods; and The Tyrant's Tomb-R. Riordan; Brian's Hunt-G.Paulsen; Anne Of Avonlea-L.Montgomery Juvenile Poppy and Rye-A.Floca; Anything is Possible-G.Belloni; Elmer Plays Hide-and-Seek-D. McKee; Duck on a Bike-Shannon; So Many Bunnies-W. Miglio; Mrs. Hen's Big Surprise-Desmoinaux 8 June 2024 Town of Danby, New York Monthly Meeting Schedule At-A-Glance Group Day Date Time Call-in by Phone Meeting ID Town Board* Mon 6/3 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 882 2697 6101 905098 WDWD Wed 6/5 5:00pm In person West Danby fire station CAC* Tue 6/11 7:00pm 1-929-205-6099 835 4940 5296 879507 FD Tue 6/11 7:00pm I n person at the Danby Fire Station DYC Thurs 6/13 7:00pm Online - contact jsorrentino@danby.ny.gov PB*Tue 6/18 7:00pm 1-646-876-9923 893 3897 1114 956288 Town Board* Mon 6/17 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 847 9505 5187 308958 BZA* Tue 6/25 7:00pm TBD 817 1432 4705 398041 FD Tue 6/25 7:00pm In person at the Danby Fire Station See the Danby calendar for the final, most up-to-date details. (Acronyms in the above schedule are identified below.) *These meetings are hybrid (i.e. both online and in-person at the Town Hall) Boards & Committees Planning Board (PB) Chair: Kelly Maher planningboard@danby.ny.gov Meets: 3rd Tuesday at 7pm Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Chair: Earl Hicks bza@danby.ny.gov Meets: 4th Tuesday, as needed Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Chair: Margaret Corbit cac@danby.ny.gov Meets: 2nd Tuesday at 7pm Danby Youth Commission (DYC) Chair: Jamie Sorrentino jsorrentino@danby.ny.gov Meets: 2nd Thursday at 7pm Fire District (FD) Secretary: Sharon Gaden, secretary@danbyfiredistrict.org danby.ny.gov/depts/danby-fire-district Meets: 2nd & 4th Tuesdays at 7pm Danby Volunteer Fire Company (DVFC) Chief: John Gaden, jgaden@danbyfiredistrict.org danbyfiredept.org West Danby Fire Department (WDFD) Chief: Robert McCray rmccray@danbyfiredistrict.org westdanbyfire.com West Danby Water DIstrict (WDWD) Contact: Scott Wendt, swendt@danby.ny.gov Meets: 1st Wednesday at 5pm 9 June 2024 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 Mon and 3rd Mon Leslie Connors Paul Hansen H Katharine Hunter Pat Woodworth townboard@danby.ny.gov Town Clerk Deputy Town Clerk Hours: Mon–Fri 11am–4pm Mariah Dillon Cindy Katz clerkoffice@danby.ny.gov x8001 Highway Superintendent Deputy Highway Superintendent Hours: Mon–Thu 6am–4:30pm Keith Shipman, x8009 highway@danby.ny.gov Jack Shawley, x1012 jshawley@danby.ny.gov Town Justices Court Clerk Hours: Mon-Wed 8am-11am Garry Huddle Theresa Klinger Diane Gair dgair@nycourts.gov Town Planner Hours: Mon–Fri by appointment Greg Hutnik, 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 Bookkeeper Laura Shawley, x1011 lshawley@danby.ny.gov 10 Danby, New York From: 1830 Danby Road Ithaca, NY 14850 PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No.428 Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: +1-607-277-4788 https://danby.ny.gov Welcome to the Danby Town News! Questions? Email us at townnews@danby.ny.gov