HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04 Town NewsletterApril 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Danby Town News
1
Two Public Hearings
April 15 at 6pm
Local law to allow free standing business
signs with some restrictions. More
information on p.3.
Local law to approve an easement to
extend the South Hill Recreation
Way. More information on p.3.
More information on both proposals are
on the town website - danby.ny.gov.
Local Earth Day Activities
On Saturday April 20
9 A.M Roadside Cleanup in West Danby.
Meet at Peter McDonald’s – 7 Valley View
Road.
10:30 A.M. Roadside Cleanup in Central
Danby . Details at danbycc.org/events
Noon-5 P.M Earth Day Festival on the
Ithaca Commons. Host: Cooperative
Extension of Tompkins County - Details at
energy.ccetompkins.org/energy
Open House!!
Danby Volunteer Fire Company
We will be hosting an Open house event
for RecruitNY on April 14, 10am-2pm. We
welcome the community to come to learn
about volunteer opportunities and fire
safety.
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
2
Town of Danby Mowing Contract
The Town of Danby is seeking proposals for lawn mowing for the 2024 season for the
following properties: The West Danby Water District, Danby Town Hall, Jennings Pond, and the
following Cemeteries: the Bald Hill Rd. Cemetery, the Peter Rd. Cemetery, the Nelson Rd.
Cemetery, and the West Danby Methodist Cemetery. If interested, please contact Joel Gagnon
(jgagnon@danby.ny.gov or 607 227-4440) for more complete information. Proposals must be
received by April 12, 2024.
Fire District - Mowing Proposals Sought
T he Danby Fire District is soliciting proposals for lawn mowing at the Danby and West Danby
Fire Stations for the 2024 season. Anyone interested in submitting a proposal should contact the
Danby Fire District, 1780 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 or call 607 319-4721, or go to the District
Website, danbyfiredistrict.org for a list of requirements.
Proposals need to be submitted to the Secretary by 5:00 p.m. on April 8, 2024, by mailing
proposal to Danby Fire District, Attn: Secretary, 1780 Danby Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, or by
email at secretary@danbyfiredistrict.org.
Proposals will be considered at the April 9, 2024 Danby Fire District meeting at 7:00 pm.
Notes from the Town Board
Personnel Changes
After many years of service as clerk for the West Danby Water District, Marge Seaman is
beginning her well-deserved retirement. Thank you, Marge, for your service. Marrell Cortright,
who has been training to serve as a backup for Marge for quite a while, has been appointed to
fill her position. Welcome Marrell and thank you for your willingness to serve the water district.
Johanna Shawley, who has served on an as needed basis for several years to support the
bookkeeping operations of the town, has moved on. Thank you, Johanna, for the support you
have provided when needed. This support position is especially important because of the
town’s upcoming transfer to new software. The board has appointed Julia Hughes to serve in
this position. Welcome Julia and thank you for your willingness to serve the town.
Jody Scriber has stepped down as chair of the Planning Board, but will remain as a member.
Thank you Jody for your work as chair. The town board has appointed Kelly Maher to serve as
the new chair. Welcome Kelly and thank you for taking on this job.
Special Event Permit
The Town Board is working on a special event permit. The Board is being careful to allow
such events that benefit residents while mitigating the negative impacts on residents. Only
when we are satisfied that what we propose accomplishes that balance will we advance
something for review by the public and possible adoption.
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Notes from the Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon
Historically, fluctuating spring temperatures have made fruit growing in valley locations (which
includes my property) a sometimes thing. The exacerbation of the temperature swings in recent years,
though, has made the difficult practically impossible in marginal locations and made even favorable
locations vulnerable. Last year’s 24-degree night on May 18 was the worst freeze in my lifetime. It not
only wiped out my tree fruit, it took out most of the tree fruit (and the grape crop as well) even in
traditionally safe orchard and vineyard locations throughout the region. As I write this, this year the
season is advanced almost an entire month. Peach buds are already swollen. Forsythias are in early
bloom. Teen temperatures are projected for the night of March 21. Will buds survive and go on to bloom
and fruit? We shall see.
I am pleased to announce that after years of negotiation an agreement has been reached with NYSEG
for a trail easement to extend the South Hill Recreation Way from its current end at Burns Road all
the way to the Tioga County line. The extension goes through parts of four towns – Ithaca, Dryden,
Caroline, and Danby. Each town will hold title to an easement for the part of the trail within its borders.
Each has to ratify the arrangement. A public hearing will be held – again at the April 15 Town Board
meeting – on accepting the easement for Danby’s section. Additional information about that will also
be on the town website in advance of the meeting. Initial development will focus on the section
between Burns and Banks roads. There are a couple of big washouts in the Danby section that will take
serious work to repair and for which we will seek grant funding.
The Town Board also authorized the deputizing of both the Planner (who is responsible for
zoning enforcement) and the Code Enforcement Officer. They will become deputies of the County
District Attorney for the purpose of representing the town in enforcement actions that advance to court
prosecution. They will handle the most straightforward prosecutions, saving the town the expense of
using an attorney for all court actions. An attorney for the town, Guy Krogh, generously offered to train
both in how to serve in this role. All of this is to facilitate dealing with violations cost-effectively.
Notes from the Planner's Desk Greg Hutnik
Do you want to make a difference in the Cayuga Lake watershed? Community Science Institute (CSI)
is currently recruiting volunteers to monitor Buttermilk Creek and Enfield Creek as part of our Synoptic
Stream and Lake Monitoring Program. In the Synoptic Program, volunteers work in groups to collect
water samples for analysis at CSI's state-certified water testing lab in Ithaca. The data collected by CSI
volunteers are used to inform management decisions, identify sources of pollution, and for research
3
SIgns
There will be a public hearing on April 15 at 6:00pm for a proposal to regulate free-standing
business signs in the town. The proposal would limit their size, height, and how and when they
are illuminated.
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
purposes. You can read about the Synoptic Program here:
http://www.communityscience.org/monitoring-partnerships/synoptic-sampling/.
Interested volunteers should email CSI at info@communityscience.org.
The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (ITCTC) has developed an online survey to
help gather information for the update of the Long-Range Transportation Plan for Tompkins County.
The plan covers the 20-year period through 2045. The purpose and primary objective of the
transportation plan is to develop a common vision for the future of transportation in Tompkins County.
The plan addresses all forms of surface transportation –cars, freight, transit, inter-city buses, bicycles,
walking, shared transportation (bike share, car share) and rail. Air transport is not covered in this plan.
The ITCTC welcomes input on the plan. To help gather opinions, the ITCTC has developed a short online
survey addressing different transportation topics. Survey results will provide information that will be
used to develop policies and ideas to include in the transportation plan. The online survey and other
information on the Long-Range Transportation Plan update can be found on the ITCTC web site:
https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/itctc/lrtpupdate. The ITCTC will accept public comments
through October 2024.
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to schedule a time to meet, please call 607-592-
0417 or email planner@danby.ny.gov.
Notes from the Town Clerk Mariah Dillon
Greetings Danby Residents!
First off, I'd like to apologize for having a less than stellar chart
of Where Your Taxes Go, in last month's newsletter. To the
right is a better pie chart of how Danby spends our tax dollars:
By the time this newsletter reaches you, the Danby Property
Tax Collection will have ended, and any unpaid taxes will have
been sent to Tompkins County for collection. At this writing
there is just over $200,000 in taxes remaining unpaid, that's
less than 5%, out of a total collection of $4.4 million. Well
done ~ Danby Residents!
The board and I worked on developing an organization chart for the town. I initially thought we could
just grab a couple of org. charts from neighboring towns, and compare them with Danby's governing
structure and go from there. However, I found an absolute dearth of small town organizational charts
online. Then I realized why. Towns in New York State are generally granted broad home rule power to
run towns in such a way as to benefit the people in their communities. Town government is the truest
form of self-governance. Danby's Town Board is the legislative body that sets policy, and adopts
4
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
budgets for the town.The Town Supervisor is a member of the Town Board, charged with additional
fiscal responsibilities and running the board meetings (among other things). The Town Supervisor is not
the “supervisor” of the board, nor do they “supervise” the Town Clerk, Highway Superintendent, or the
Town Court. The organizational structure is nothing like the traditional hierarchical structure of typical
corporate America.
How does this look on an Organizational Chart? As you can see, there are a lot of lines representing
direct working relationships. Most committees and councils provide reports for the board, but do not
necessarily “report” to the board. While there are no lines between the clerks office and the board, I
work with them on an almost daily basis. This led to some excellent conversations with the board on
how the town is run, and why Danby Residents encircle the elected officials! While the lines show the
direct working relationships, we all work together for the residents of Danby!
This version of the org chart is certainly not the last, as several tweaks could arise as this chart is
disseminated to the town. I look forward to your feedback.
5
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Tompkins County Legislature News Dan Klein
The only out-of-town conference I have gone to during my 10 years on the County Legislature is to
Albany once a year for 3 days during the winter for the NY State Association of Counties (NYSAC)
conference. NYSAC is an excellent 100-year-old, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that
advocates for the interests of counties in NY, and for all the services that we provide.
There are 24,000 bills before the NY State legislature this year. There is no way anyone in Tompkins
County could monitor all that to see which bills require our attention. NYSAC monitors all this activity
and advocates for the bills that are good for counties.
As I am writing this in mid-March, NYSAC just issued a 48-page status summary of the NYS budget as it
stands after the NYS Senate and Assembly each passed their one-house budget resolutions. This is an
example of the kind of information that helps us give feedback to our State representatives to get them
to understand the impacts of their decisions on the people they serve.
Republican counties outnumber Democratic counties in NY State by more than 2 to 1. So most of the
attendees at the NYSAC conference are Republicans. But partisan politics plays no role there. The
federal government is deeply divided to the point where they seem unable to take action. NY State
government is deeply divided also. But at the County level, politics does not often get in the way. It is a
very rare event when a vote at the Tompkins County Legislature is split along party lines.
My experience at the NYSAC conference shows me that all across NY State, local government is
actually working for the people. Local governments are problem-solvers, with partisan politics playing
a minimal role in most cases. I find this refreshing and inspiring, and it’s a big part of why I’m proud to be
involved in local government.
.
6
Fire District Notice
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the fiscal affairs of the Danby Fire District for the period beginning on
January 1, 2023, and ending on December 31, 2023, have been examined by an independent public
accountant, Stokes, Visca, Hucko & Barone, LLC, that the report of external audit by the
independent public accountant has been filed in my office where it is available as a public record for
inspection by all interested persons. Pursuant to Section 181-b of the Town Law, the governing
board of the Danby Fire District shall, if necessary, prepare a written response and corrective action
plan to the report of external audit of the independent public account and file any such response
and corrective action plan in my office as a public record for inspection by all interested persons not
later than 90 days from the date hereof.
Dated: March 13, 2024
By Order of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Danby Fire District, Sharon Gaden, Secretary
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Conservation Advisory Committee Margaret Corbit
The Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) met on Tuesday, March 12 at 7 pm. Here are the
highlights of the meeting.
We were pleased to have three guests in person at Town Hall. Carrie Lamontaigne came to learn more
about the CAC and Ginnie and Chris Gartlein joined us later in the meeting.
Anne Klingensmith reported on her progress organizing the digital content that will be moving to the
Town’s new file system. This will include files that will be shown on the web site, as well as
administrative documents that should be much easier to find and use.
Don Schaufler shared what he learned from talking to Jeff Kehoe from NYS Agriculture and Markets
earlier on Tuesday. Don had questions about how Ag and Markets interfaces with the DEC on questions
of woodlot harvesting. The answers he got will be very helpful as the committee works on a new, and
perhaps final, draft of the Timber Harvest Law. Don, Joel Gagnon and Jonathan Zisk confirmed that the
new version will focus primarily on ensuring that Town Highways are protected.
Our next meeting is on April 9. Community members are welcome to attend.
Danby Youth Commission Jamie Sorrentino
DANBY YOUTH SURVEY – the results are in
Last Fall, the Danby Youth Commission (DYC) conducted a needs assessment of youth between ages
11 -19 who reside in the Town of Danby. The DYC are reporting highlights of the results. The assessment
was a multiple-choice survey completed by the youth themselves. The purpose of this survey is to help
inform the current programming of Rural Youth Services and to identify any unmet needs for youth in
our community. All up, 59 youth completed the survey. That is a robust response rate for a small town
like ours.
7
Danby Seniors Theresa Klinger
We had such a large turnout at our March lunch, that we had to add additional tables. Gail Mazourek
and her daughter read excerpts from their book which was well received.
Our next luncheons will be April 4 and May 2 at Noon at the Danby Community Church, 1859 Danby
Road. Bring a dish to share (with utensils to serve) and your own table service. Everyone 55 and over
are invited.
Annual membership dues are $10 and can be sen 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 can donate if they wish
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Below is a summary of the results:
In terms of demographic data, the vast majority of youth surveyed were between ages 11 - 17. We were
not able to access many youth between 18 - 19. About half of the respondents identified as female, about
one-third identified as male, and about one in six did not identify as male or female (i.e., non-binary).
One third of the respondents attended Ithaca High School, one third attended Boynton Middle School,
and the rest attended other schools in the area (i.e., LACS), were home-schooled or graduated.
Youth were asked what they do in their free time. The top responses were as follows: hang out with
friends (79%), internet/social media (62%), listen to music (52%), video games (48%), spend time alone
in room (45%), sports (40%), music/art (38%), read for pleasure (33%), and stream TV/movies (33%).
Youth were asked what they would like to see in their town. Their top responses were as follows:
places to hang out with friends (55%), larger community events such as parades and festivals (38%),
art/writing & music (36%), social events like dances (30%), outdoor experiences (27%),
job/employment skills (27%) and a community center (20%).
They were asked about barriers that get in the way of them participating in activities. Their top
responses were as follows: not enough time (54%), rather stay home (40%), not aware of what is
happening/available (39%), school commitments such as homework or clubs (35%), nothing
interesting worth doing (35%), and lack of access to transportation (25%).
When asked about the most pressing issues that youth face in our town, they answered as followed:
too much screen time/social media (49%), academic/school stress (42%), mental health issues (36%),
climate change (34%), poor social skills (30%), body image (21%), not fitting in (21%) and vaping (21%).
And, finally, on a gradient scale from "fantastic" to "miserable", youth were asked how they had been
doing in the previous two weeks. Most youth (58%) indicated that they were somewhere between
"okay" and "good", 10% were between "great" and "fantastic", and the balance (32%) were between
"miserable" and "meh".
This summary represents the highlights of the survey results. For a full account of the results, please go
to the Danby Youth Commission page on the Town of Danby Website. We thank all the youth who
participated in this survey and shared their experiences.
We hope these results spark conversations and interest in our community. The DYC would like to hear
your thoughts and concerns about our youth. Please feel free to share them by email or by attending our
monthly Zoom meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 7 pm. Email us at youth@danby.gov.ny
with questions or for the link to the next meeting. We look forward to hearing from residents, and
especially young people, who are passionate about making our community more accessible and
engaging for all youth.
8
April 2024 Town of Danby, New York
Youth Programs Heidi Doggett hd289@cornell.edu)
The weather is warming up, which means more
outdoor program options! For an extra special
treat, we're collaborating with Primitive Pursuits
to offer a program at Dotson on Fridays. All
current programs run through the last week of
April except D&D/Magic, which runs through
the end of the school year.
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
Baking and Cooking (grades 6-8)
Mondays 3:30-6:00 at Boynton Middle School
Youth are choosing their own recipes, creating
shopping lists on a budget, and cooking up a
storm. So far they've made pasta and vanilla
cake with chocolate frosting.
Games and Stuff (grades 4-5)
Tuesdays 2:30-5:30 at Dotson Park/Danby
Town Hall
Choose from an assortment of outdoor and
indoor games, including Dungeons & Dragons
which will be available about half the time to
make sure all youth get a chance to play the
games they like best. School bus transportation
from South Hill available.
Dungeons & Dragons/Magic the Gathering
(grades 6-8) Wednesdays 3:30-6:00
at Boynton Middle School
Youth can borrow Magic cards, bring their own
or join one if several ongoing campaigns. We
also have lots of board games and outdoor
options when the weather is good.
Sneaky Crafts and Surprises (grades 4-5)
Thursdays 2:00-5:30 at South Hill Elementary
Make tiny works of art to abandon with kind
notes. We'll be taking a trip to nearby areas like
the Commons to leave our sneaky art. We'll also
be making puppet skits and leaving QR codes so
that passersby can view them using their
phones.
Danby Primitive Pursuits (grades 4-5)
Fridays 2:30-5:30 Dotson Park
We're collaborating with Primitive Pursuits to
offer an outdoor program with whittling, fire
building, and other outdoor skills. Youth should
arrive prepared to stay outdoors without access
to running water for several hours if they wish to
participate. Bus transportation from South Hill
Elementary is available.
9
First D&D game completed.
How exciting!
Frosting a cake -
Yummy!!
April 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 Tosspots (Open
Alcoholics Anonymous
Meeting)
Wed 7pm virtual
West Danby Community
Association (WDCA)
Contact: Pat Curran
pc21@cornell.edu
Danby Library News Cindy Parlett
Friends of the Library Sale coming next month if anyone has author/book requests please let us know.
10
Continuing to honor women in history.
April 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 4/1 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 882 2697 6101 905098
WDWD Wed 4/3 5:00pm In person West Danby fire station
FD Tue 4/8 7:00pm I n person at the Danby Fire Station
CAC* Tue 4/9 7:00pm 1-929-205-6099 835 4940 5296 879507
DYC Thurs 4/11 7:00pm Online - contact jsorrentino@danby.ny.gov
PB*Tue 4/16 7:00pm 1-646-876-9923 893 3897 1114 956288
Town Board* Mon 4/15 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 847 9505 5187 308958
BZA (Tentative) Tue 4/23 7:00pm TBD 817 1432 4705 398041
FD Tue 4/23 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
11