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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 09 September NewsletterSeptember 2025 Town of Danby, New York 1 Danby Town News Public Hearing Monday, Sept 8, 2025 ay 6pm Possible Submission of one or more Community Development Block Grant (CDGBG) applications for the funding year 2025. More information is on the town website – danby.ny.gov Stay Tuned for Danby Youth Programs Rural Youth Services is excited to return to Danby this fall! We’re working on a menu of fun and educational programming, which will be announced in the next few weeks. To find out more information about programs, and to register, keep an eye on the following link: https://bit.ly/danbyrys You can also reach out to the Danby Youth Services Coordinator, Jorin Clougherty. He can be contacted at jc3842@cornell.edu or (607) 319-3338 You can listen to an interview with Jorin at: https://607newsnow.com/news/258852-youth-program-educator-to-bring-creativity-to-danby/ To the volunteers who have spent many hours taping the edges and sticking on mailing labels every month so each issue of the Danby Town News can be delivered to you. September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 2 Notes from the Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon SS4A The Town Board adopted the Safe Streets for All Action Plan. It has sections for all of the participating municipalities, including Danby. We adopted the target of zero fatalities on our roads. Accident statistics for all our roads informed the selection of a couple of key target areas (the main intersection in West Danby and 96b from Miller to Michigan Hollow roads in Central Danby). The engineers made recommendations for mitigation measures. These recommendations position the town to apply for grant funding to implement those we choose to pursue. Accessibility and Safety Improvements Inch Forward The NYSDOT approved adding a crosswalk between the town hall property and the bus stop across 96B, contingent on installing approaches to it. Those need to be engineered to state specifications. The Town Board also committed to redoing the north (parking lot) entrance to the town hall to improve handicapped accessibility. We have a conceptual plan, but this too needs an engineered set of specifications so that construction bids can be solicited. We thought we had a viable route to a quote for the required design services, but the quoted price for the design of these two projects came in at 10-15 thousand dollars. The committee balked and is seeking other quotes. Skate Park Progress Property owners in the neighborhood of the proposed skate park (on Bald Hill Road where the highway department used to be) were sent a mailing to tell them about the proposal and to solicit feedback. There was one negative comment, citing concern about the entrance being on the curve in the road. Many comments were enthusiastically in support. We hope to reuse the former equipment shed on the site as a roofed enclosure for a good part of the skate park. The town Board voted to seek proposals to engineer the needed modifications to the building. Zach Larkins is taking that task on for us. Enforcement Action We held a public hearing on the order to demolish the house next door to the town hall. No one opposed the action and there were a couple of “it’s about time” comments. The clock is now ticking on the demolition, with 60 days allowed for it. The Board initiated action on 3 more derelict houses (1644 and 1896 Danby Road and 223 South Danby Road). The first step is for the Code Officer to do an inspection, report, and recommendation. The Board directed him to do so. If, as seems likely, he concludes that these buildings are unsalvageable, the Board can order them removed. South Hill Cidery We took a look at the South Hill Cider situation. The Board was presented with a neighborhood petition last month urging action enforce sound ag practices at South Hill Cider. It is allowed as an agricultural use within our zoning law as well as within the conservation easement on the property, but many believe that it has grown beyond what can reasonably be defended as agriculture. The town has corresponded with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets to gain an understanding of what the state regards as agriculture and consulted with the attorney for September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 3 the town to explore enforcement options if we assert exceedance. Rather than start with a notice of violation, Leslie Connors and I met with Steve Selin to assess his willingness to voluntarily seek clarification from the Dept of Ag and Markets. I believe it was a very positive meeting. Steve said that he believes the operation to be within the agricultural “envelope” and agreed to ask for the review by Ag and Markets. Further, he offered to meet with the neighbors to address their concerns and explore possible mitigation measures for their main complaint, which is excessively loud music. We have requested that both of these welcome actions be implemented promptly. The town will facilitate if desired. Noise Law to be Revisited The South Hill Cider concerns about excessively loud music brought into the light the fact that we lack regulations specifically dealing with noise. Recall that we spent a lot of time and effort working on a noise law that we could live with a couple of years ago but did not come to an end point. You might wonder what happened. The town board had come to agreement that we wanted a noise law to be as simple and straightforward as possible. We charged the attorney for the town with drafting a law to those specifications. The document we got back was more than we expected. The lawyer explained that he made it as simple as he could, but that what we wanted was impossible for him to produce. Our consultant in the effort, Warren Cross, suggested that it might be better to incorporate noise limitations into our zoning law instead of attempting a stand-alone product. That raised a whole different set of questions. How would the variety of zones provided for in the zoning be treated differently? What might be okay in one zone and not in another? We were told by the Sheriff’s Office that they would prefer there to be uniformity among noise laws across the county, rather than disparate regulations that would require them to know what the rules are in each town. Going in that direction pushes us back in the direction of a simple law that others can also use. Ruth Groff, Lansing’s Town Supervisor, recently inquired about the status of our noise law, hoping to use it as the basis for action in her town. So, we are reconsidering what our lawyer proposed. The draft is available on the town’s website (Danby.ny.gov). We request and welcome your comments and suggestions on it during the entire month of September. We will then consider modifications before initiating a formal approval process, including a public hearing. Allowing for modifications in October, that probably means a public hearing in November and a vote in that month as well. My sense is that the Town Board is committed to enacting a noise law of some sort. I believe we need one. I don’t want another round of rancorous debate about whether we should have one or not. I, and the rest of the Board understand the concerns about the potential “weaponizing” of a noise law to harass. We will do the best we can to minimize that. We want to put in place a tool that will enable us to deal with the occasional but very real need to curtail unreasonable and excessive noise. Is the proposed law adequate without being overkill? The time for your constructive comments is now! Please email comments to: townboard@danby.ny.gov September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 4 Notes from the Town Clerk Mariah Dillon Greetings Danby! The Town Clerks office is seeing an uptick in requests for marriage transcripts due to passport applications requiring one if you've changed your name due to marriage and are using your new name on the passport application. All the town clerks in the county are seeing this and we are considering a county wide database (just for clerks) to look up the town in which someone was married. The clerk’s office is happy to provide a marriage transcript ($10) if you were married in Danby. If you need a marriage transcript and are not sure in what town you received your original certificate, you can call us and we can try to track it down. The town is seeing a big uptick in building permits. Many for energy saving initiatives like solar panels and heat pumps for which the cost for the permit is free. Standby generators are another big item. I get it, losing power to your freezer or heating system during a storm can be a big hit! Standby generator permits are $50. Please make sure you get all installations inspected. Part of the building permit process is getting the work inspected either by the town Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) or a third- party electrician that has been approved by the CEO. Inspections are required for a certificate of compliance. If this type of work is done and not inspected and causes a fire, your insurance company will most likely NOT cover your loss. All dogs in Danby are required by law to be licensed – renewed annually. Further, all dogs are required to be vaccinated against rabies. Please check if your dogs are up to date with their rabies vaccination and annual license. Keep your dogs safe! Hunting and fishing licenses from the DEC are available online at: Https://decals.east.licensing.app/ If you do not have a printer they can be emailed to you or for $2.00 you can have them sent to you. Of course, you can also purchase your licenses at Town Hall. We have a few plastic envelopes left to put your tags in – or you can use a zip lock bag. It’s looking like a mast year (when trees produce an exceptionally large crop) according to the numerous acorns in my yard. A mast year can impact hunting strategies by creating surplus food for the deer. This can make deer hunting challenging, as well as rewarding! Stay safe out there! We’re here if you need us. Please let me know if you have any questions. Danby Seniors Pat Phelps The next meeting of the Danby Seniors is Thursday, September 4. Following the meal, we will play Bingo with Ted Merritt calling the numbers. Please bring a generous dish to pass, a serving spoon to serve it with, and your own place settings. Drinks will be provided. Looking ahead to the October 2 meeting, we will have a speaker from the organization “Love Living at Home“. Details about this organization will be in next months newsletter. A sign-up sheet for the December 4 Christmas luncheon will be available at the September meeting. As always, the meetings are open to any seniors over 55 years old September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 5 Tompkins County Legislature News Dan Klein County Offices get Shuffled One item that took up a lot of attention last month was the proposed temporary move of the Board of Elections to Lansing. This idea came about because the County has to move some of our departments temporarily, until construction of the new Center of Government building is complete. That is likely 3 to 4 years away. This was one of those issues where we received a large amount of feedback from the public who opposed the move. The main reason stated was the difficulty people without cars would have in accessing the Board of Elections. There was also a strong underlying feeling by many that voting rights, and democracy itself, are under attack right now, and that this was the wrong time to do anything that appeared to make voting harder. In the end, we decided to keep the Board of Elections downtown. We will be temporarily relocating the Assessment Department and the County Office for the Aging to Lansing during construction. For me, this is one of those issues where there is no perfect solution. I’m confident though that it’s all going to work out. I have found County employees to be very flexible. If we need to deliver services online, or by phone, or by zoom, or by site visits, or by pop- up locations, we will do what we can to serve the residents of Tompkins County. Budget September and October are the busiest time of year for the County Legislature as we head into budget season. I will be reporting on the budget in the coming months. For now, I can set the stage by saying that this is looking to be a very difficult budget year due to increasing and complex situations in several areas including homelessness services and how counties pay for criminal justice mandates. Another factor is the federal budget cuts that will begin taking effect next year, and will accelerate in 2027. Tompkins County has kept the tax levy increase under 1.2% on average per year for the last 4 years. That is far below the rate of inflation and well below what most other local governments and school districts have done. Unfortunately, I think we are looking at a bigger tax increase this year. But I promise that I will continue to do what I can to keep the tax levy as low as possible. Affordability is the most common countywide concern I hear about, and it is one that I take very seriously. Allocation to Town of Danby The County Legislature allocated $10,000 to the Town of Danby to help fund the “Map, Plan, and Report” for the sewer district formation project. West Danby Water District West Danby water district will be flushing hydrants September 8 ( north side) and September 9 ( south side). REMINDER If you would like to access the Danby Town News ONLY on the town website or if you know someone who is not getting the Danby Town News but would like to, please send that information to: townnews@danby.ny.gov September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 6 Danby Community Groups Danby Community Library Contact: Cindy Parlett library@danby.ny.gov Open Tue 1-3pm, Wed 6-8pm Thu & 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 And Park (DCAP) Website: dotsonpark.org dotsonpark@gmail.com Thu 12/7 at 7pm Danby Rural Cemetery Contact: Sharon Boda Sharonboda@gmail.com West Danby Community Association (WDCA) Contact: Pat Curran pc21@cornell.edu Danby Seniors Contact: Pat Phelps patriciaphelps2.0@ gmail.com Luncheons: 1st Thur at noon Danby Tosspot (Open Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting) Wed 7pm - virtual Danby Library News Cindy Parlett Another summer vanished like magic! Hope you squeezed in some awesome reads on your adventures. Swing by our school book display to get the kiddos stoked for the new year! Some requested books have been purchased to complete some of our series as well as other popular books: Young Adult- S. Maas-A Court Of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses,#5), Kingdom Of Ash (Throne of Glass#7) A. Martin-The Babysitters Club: Kristy and the Snobs#10; Goodbye Stacey Goodbye #11; Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery#13; Claudia and the Bad Joke #15 Adult Fiction- A. Lawhon-The Frozen River F. Davis-The Stolen Queen K. Slaughter-Triptych Adult Non-fiction- S. Parnell- A Woman of No Importance C. Zimmer-Airborne-The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 7 Monthly Meeting Schedule At-A-Glance Group Day Date Time Call-in by Phone Meeting ID Town Board* Mon 9/8 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 882 2697 6101 905098 WDWD Wed 9/3 5:00pm In person West Danby Fire station CAC* Tue 9/9 7:00pm 1-929-205-6099 835 4940 5296 879507 FD Tue 9/9 6:30pm In person Danby Fire Station DYC Thur 9/11 7:00pm Online- kshanks@tompkins-co.org Town Board* Mon 9/22 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 847 9505 5187 308958 PB* Tue 9/16 7:00pm 1-646-876-9923 893 3897 1114 956288 BZA* Tue 9/23 7:00pm TBD 817 1432 4705 398041 FD Tue 9/23 6:30pm 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) CoChair: Anne Klingensmith Jonathan Zisk cac@danby.ny.gov Meets: 2nd Tuesday at 7pm Danby Youth Commission (DYC) Contact: Patty Van de Bogart pvandebogartftc@gmail.com 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 6:30pm 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 September 2025 Town of Danby, New York 8 Town Officials Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon supervisor@danby.ny.gov Town Board Meets 1st Mon and 3rd Mon Leslie Connors H Katharine Hunter James Tyler Stein Pat Woodworth townboard@danby.ny.gov Town Clerk Deputy Town Clerk Hours: Mon–Fri 11am–4pm Mariah Dillon Cindy Katz clerkoffice@danby.ny.gov Highway Superintendent Deputy Highway Superintendent Hours: Mon–Thu 6am–4:30pm Keith Shipman highway@danby.ny.gov Jack Shawley 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 planner@danby.ny.gov Code Enforcement Hours: Mon-Fri by appointment Steve Cortright code@danby.ny.gov Documents/ Historian Mary Ann Barr mbarr@danby.ny.gov Bookkeeper Laura Shawley lshawley@danby.ny.gov Danby, New York From: 1830 Danby Road Ithaca, NY 14850 PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No.428 Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-277-4788 https://danby.ny.gov Welcome to the Danby Town News! Questions? Email us at townnews@danby.ny.gov