HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 10 October Newsletter October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Danby Town News
26th Annual Danby Down &
Dirty Trail Race
The Finger Lakes Runners Club is
hosting their annual Danby Down and
Dirty race. The race will be held on
Saturday, October 11, beginning at
9:00 a.m. The race course begins and
ends on Michigan Hollow Road in the
town of Danby and runs along the trails
in Danby State Forest. Additional race
information can be found on their
website at
https://fingerlakesrunners.org/race/dan
by-down-and-dirty-2025/
Pancake Breakfast with the
Danby Fire Company
Pancake season is starting up!
The weather is cooling off and the pancakes are
warming up! Drive-thru or stop in for a plate of
pancakes, french toast, sausage, scrambled eggs,
and homefries all for $12. Join us Sunday, October
19th, 8am-11am! Cash, card, check, Venmo, and
Apple Pay are accepted.
We’ll be doing this on the third Sunday of the
month, October 2025 through March 2026, at the
Danby Volunteer Fire Company, 1780 Danby Rd,
Ithaca, NY 14850. Proceeds to benefit the Danby
Volunteer Fire Company. Fundraising targets
include improvements to our equipment for
managing breathing problems and to our rope
rescue equipment.
Community Conversations
The Tompkins Chamber is holding their
next Community Conversation event in at
the Danby Town Hall on October 30th
from 9:00am-10:30am. More information
can be found on page 5.
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Notes from the Town Supervisor Joel Gagno n
Timber Harvesting Law Proposed
After more than 6 years of crafting by the
Conservation Advisory Council, a Timber
Harvesting Law has emerged for consideration.
The Town Board has scheduled a public
hearing on this draft for October 20. There
were several drafts and many more revisions
along the path to this point. The NY State
Department of Environmental Conservation
was twice consulted, as were industry reps and
our Highway Department. Here are some key
features:
Small harvests are exempt. How small?
10,000 board feet of sawtimber and 20 cords of
firewood annually. Larger harvests would
require a permit, which the party doing the
harvesting would need to obtain. There are
other exemptions – take a look at the law for a
deeper dive.
The thrust of the law is to protect town roads
from damage. By requiring best management
practices, it would also help avoid serious
degradation of soils in harvest areas.
New Coordinator for Danby Town News
After almost 4 years as a volunteer
coordinating and producing this newsletter,
Town Board member Pat Woodworth is
stepping away from this demanding
assignment and handing it off to Blake Savoy.
Blake is an assistant in the Town Clerk’s office
and on the ballot to succeed Town Clerk
Mariah Dillon in November (I guess you could
call him Clerk in Waiting). We owe Pat a huge
debt of gratitude for having carried this ball
from the inception of publication. Her service,
along with the many others who have
contributed both to the content and to the
behind-the-scenes work involved with getting
this publication into your hands reflects a
commitment on the part of your elected officials
to keep you informed about what your
government is doing. Thank you, Pat and thank
you Blake!
South Hill Cider Update
A law firm representing neighbors of South
Hill Cider sent the town a letter demanding that
we enforce our Zoning Law, asserting that
SHC has clearly exceeded the bounds of an
agricultural business. Recall that in a meeting
with Leslie Connors and myself, Steve Selin of
SHC agreed to request a review by the NYS
Department of Agriculture and Markets to
clarify whether and to what degree the
operation has grown beyond the limits for an
ag enterprise. In a recent communication he
confirmed that he has contacted Ag and
Markets to initiate a review.
Since agriculture is allowed under both the
Zoning Law and the Conservation Easement
on the SHC property, clarity about what is
agriculture is needed. Were the town to issue a
notice of violation (of either zoning or the
conservation easement), we would have to
make the case for exceedance. SHC would
certainly maintain that their operation is
agricultural and similar to wineries, cideries,
meaderies, and distilleries all over the region.
Ag and Markets would be asked to help defend
the operation. Given that SHC is willing to
cooperate in a review, the town will not move
to a notice of violation at this point. What we
will do is request an Ag and Markets review
ourselves and, in light of the controversy
surrounding the situation, request that the
investigation be done promptly. I expect Steve
will want prompt review as well, since the
outcome will affect the scope of his business
operation and what kind of entertainment he
can schedule for next year.
Ultimately, SHC is limited by the
conservation easement on the property to
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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agricultural use. That constraint cannot be
removed by changing the zoning, even if the
town board were willing to consider that to
enable an event venue. The Ag and Markets
review and determination is therefore pivotal in
defining the future “envelope” within which
SHC can operate.
Notes from the Planner’s Desk Greg Hutnik
Hello Danby Residents – a personal life
update here – I returned to office just after
Labor Day after taking some time off to
welcome the birth of my son, Linden Hutnik,
born at home on August 5. I will be working a
slightly reduced schedule until Thanksgiving to
continue caring for and bonding with Linden.
In a few short months, my family (which
includes my wife, Sophia, daughter Ceres, and
now our son) will be moving to White Hawk
Ecovillage where we have been building our
home over the last year. We are excited to call
Danby our home!
Now onto business in the Danby Planning
Office…
Planning Board
On September 16, the Planning Board
reviewed two development proposals. The first
was a sketch plan review of the Rhize Up
Residential Project on an unaddressed 14-acre
property on Hornbrook Road (tax parcel
number 6.-1-18.25). The owner of the property
is Khuba International, a non-profit
organization. Their proposal is to construct a
duplex on the property. Typically building a
duplex is a straightforward project that only
requires a building permit; however, this
particular property has three environmental
protection overlay zone districts, due to the
site’s sensitive environmental features, and
requires Site Plan Review by the Planning
Board for approval.
The proposal includes constructing a
driveway from Hornbrook Road through known
wetlands and crossing a perennial stream to
access the back (north) part of the property to
build the duplex. The three overlay zone
districts that are impacted are the High
Vulnerability Aquifer Overlay, Habitat Corridor
Overlay, and the Riparian Buffer Overlay.
The Aquifer Overlay requires that impervious
surface (e.g. roofed structures and driveway
coverage) not exceed 10% of the area of the
lot. Currently the applicant is proposing to keep
impervious surface below 1 acre, which is less
than 10% of the lot area.
The Habitat Corridor Overlay requires that
impervious surface be kept as minimal as
possible and “should encourage the
minimization of any barriers to plant and animal
movement within the corridor including
widening areas of human impact, fencing, and
other barriers.” The applicant will need to
demonstrate that within the Habitat Corridor,
the minimum amount of impervious surface will
be introduced and that the development
minimizes barriers to plant and animal
movement.
The Riparian Buffer Overlay places 50-foot
buffers from intermittent streams and 100-foot
buffers from perennial streams. This site has
both types of streams. The perennial stream
buffer has the strictest requirement – “no new
impervious surface may be added or
constructed within 100’ of perennial streams.”
The zoning law provides exceptions to this
rule, however, with a waiver from the Planning
Board, including for “the shortest feasible
crossing for roads and driveways.” Because
this development proposes to cross the
perennial stream, the Planning Board will
eventually need to decide whether a waiver is
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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appropriate in this case.
Before they make that decision, the Planning
Board asked the applicant to seek permitting
approval from the DEC and Army Corps of
Engineers for the development’s impacts to
protected wetlands and the protected Class C
stream. The Planning Board also asked the
applicant to seek approval from the Tompkins
County Whole Health Department for the
duplex’s septic system. If and when these
approvals are secured, expect the applicant to
come back to the Planning Board to seek
Preliminary Site Plan approval.
The second development review case was a
sketch plan review for clustering development
rights on the 88-acre parcel addressed as 353
Comfort Road. The owner wishes to add a
second dwelling unit to the property. This can
only be allowed with the approval of a Final
Plat showing the area where the development
rights will be clustered. A public hearing is
scheduled for October 21 to consider approval.
Notes from the Town Clerk Mariah Dillon
Greetings Danby Residents!
This past summer the Town Clerk’s Office
had a follow-up audit from the Office of the
State Comptroller (OSC) for the 2022 Audit of
the former Town Clerk. The follow-up audit
pointed out several previously marked
corrective action items (primarily regarding tax
collection) that the current clerk’s office has not
yet implemented. While certainly humbling, an
OSC audit provides strategies and
recommendations for corrective action.
Here is a list of the opportunities for
improvement and our corrective action plans:
Depositing (Tax) Collections in a Timely
Manner
While we did improve from the 2022 audit,
we still missed the mark to deposit all your tax
checks within 24-hour of collection. The clerk’s
office is currently strategizing how to get his
done. It may require longer workdays in
January but with 3 of us in the office I believe
we can get it done.
Remit Collections in a Timely Manner
This is all on me. I attended an OSC
workshop on Risk Management and Fraud
where it was explained that writing numerous
checks increases your risk for fraud. But the
auditors explained that not writing checks in a
timely manner also increases risk. The clerk
will now remit checks weekly to the town and
county during tax season.
Issue Duplicate Receipts
This was puzzling to me, because the clerk’s
office is currently issuing duplicate receipts and
will continue to do so.
Maintain Records
I believe the clerk’s office keeps excellent
records in duplicate of every transaction that
happens in the clerk’s office including building
permits and planning fees. All transactions are
entered into Williamson Law Books (or TCS for
tax collections) as well as two spread sheets,
one for cash and one for all transactions. The
clerk’s office will get additional training to do
better in this area.
Bank Reconciliations
This issue was entirely for tax collections.
Reconciling over 4 million dollars when we are
checking and double-checking journal entries
and deposit slips seems redundant, but I get it.
I will work with the incoming clerk to ensure
this is done efficiently and effectively.
Getting a less than stellar review is never
easy, but this follow-up audit has become the
motivation for several productive discussions
on process changes in the clerk’s office. It has
made us redouble our efforts to keep accurate
and transparent records for the Town of
Danby.
We’re here if you need us!
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Tompkins County Legislature News Dan Klein
Internet
Another option for broadband internet is
coming to parts of Danby. The Southern Tier
Network is a not-for-profit organization who has
strung more than 600 miles of fiber in our
region. They have done this in rural areas
where commercial companies have not gone
because there is not much profit for them in
these sparsely-populated areas.
The area that will be serviced soon includes
Coddington Road, Marsh Road, Gilbert Road,
Durfee Hill Road, and parts of East Miller
Road, Steam Mill Road, Nelson Road, and the
eastern end of Hornbrook Road. If you live in
one of these locations and are interested, go to
southerntiernetwork.org, and click on
“residential”. Then, you can enter your address
to see if you might have service available soon.
Meanwhile, we still have a grant application
in to NY State to get funding to provide access
to broadband for every unserved house in
Tompkins County. After more than a year of
not hearing anything helpful from NYS, there is
suddenly some movement on this issue. I will
report on this development soon, as more
details unfold.
Budget
As we work through the 2026 budget, I am
already thinking about the 2027 budget. The
National Association of Counties is a non-
partisan organization that watches out for the
interests of county governments. They recently
issued a report called “The Big Shift”, about the
upcoming changes in federal policy that will
affect County budgets starting next year, and
accelerates in 2027:
“These federal changes present three distinct
challenges for counties: increased costs,
diminished federal support and reduced local
autonomy. This triad could strain local budgets
beyond their capacity, potentially leading to
delayed services, workforce reductions or
increased local taxes to sustain essential and
required operations.
The changes not only place significant fiscal
burdens on counties but also reflect reduced
authority of local governments as the delivery
of federal programs is mandated with stricter
requirements but without sufficient financial or
technical support.”
2026 is looking to be a difficult budget year.
2027 is looking to be worse.
Tompkins Chamber Community Conversations
Join the Tompkins Chamber and your neighbors in Danby for hyper-local networking,
conversation, and advocacy at Danby Town Hall on October 30th from 9:00am-10:30am.
Community Conversations serves as a forum for the Tompkins Chamber and Visit Ithaca to
engage leaders of businesses and organizations in different localities within Tompkins County
and allow us to better understand and support the unique needs of each community. All
business owners, non-profit leaders, and government officials are invited to attend.
Community Conversations is presented by: Visions Federal Credit Union with support
from Cayuga Health.
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Conservation Advisory Council Margaret Corbit
The Danby Conservation Advisory Council
(CAC) met on Tuesday, September 10th at
7pm.
Our meeting was dedicated primarily to
discussions surrounding Conservation
Easements. Greg Hutnik has prepared a map
for us that identifies properties we believe
could contribute to the overall conservation of
the Town’s natural values. We will be reviewing
that as a tool for identifying land.
We received lists of the current easements
and we reviewed the status of each. And we
spent considerable time discussing how
individual easements can be modified from the
template to meet the interests of the donors.
This is a negotiating process and each
easement is unique. There is considerable
flexibility.
We had an in-depth discussion of
conservation issues related to the Hanson
easement. The group present agreed that our
role is primarily to ensure the sustained quality
of the agricultural soil.
We ended by talking about how and where in
an easement document the property owners
can express their views about the natural
values of their land and their hopes for its
future management. Some interests, such as
limiting use to organic farming, cannot be
enforced by the Town. However, the donors
can pass their wishes on to future owners
through the document.
Finally, the Town Board is scheduling a
public hearing on the Timber Harvest Law for
Monday, October 20th. See the Calendar for
the exact time.
Unfortunately, Renee Owens has resigned
from the CAC. We are actively seeking new
members. If you have an interest in joining us,
please come to our next meeting and/or get in
touch. There is an application process that
must be completed in time for the Town Board
to review.
Our next meeting is on October 14th at
7pm in the Town Hall. Community members
are welcome to attend in hybrid fashion or in
person and a link for Zoom will be posted on
the Calendar.
From the Town Historian Mary Ann Barr
Danby’s Civil War “Artifact”
Veterans’ Day will be here soon. That always puts me in mind of our Soldiers’ Monument which
stands proudly in front of Town Hall. It had its beginnings in 1866 with the idea of commemorating the
Civil War soldiers from Danby. The monument is well preserved even after 125 years due to
dedicated effort by Danny Wheeler and the American Legion (1231 Danby Rd.) in the past several
years. Danny is a great source of information about the monument and there is an interesting history
of it at The Soldiers’ Monument page on nygenweb.net.
Standing close to the obelisk you can read the names of those soldiers. There are forty-four (44)
names.
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Danby Youth Programs Jorin Clougherty
Year-round FREE programming for Danby
youth in grades 4 - 8 through Cornell
Cooperative Extension.
Sign up at https://bit.ly/danbyrys.
Questions? Contact Danby Youth Program
Manager Jorin Clougherty
at jc3842@cornell.edu or (607) 319-3338.
Sept-Oct programs: (already running -- sign
up by October 13th)
Rock Hounds (4th-5th grade) Mondays 2-4pm
Do you like rocks? Then this is the place for
you! Each week, we’ll explore beaches, cliffs, &
gorges to find and learn about rocks &
minerals.
Craft Crew (4th-5th grade) Wednesdays 2-4pm
Each week will focus on trying different
crafts, including printmaking, weaving, tie-dye,
and more! New craft ideas are always
welcome, and no crafting experience is
necessary to participate.
Fantasy Folk (6th-8th grade) Tuesdays 4-6pm
Calling all fantasy lovers! We’ll explore the
genre through all of our senses. We may cook
lembas bread, design coats-of-arms, create
magical staffs, invent potions, and more!
Puppet Masters (6th-8th grade) Thursdays 4-
6pm
Prepare for Halloween with some creepy
masks and puppets! We will learn building
techniques such as paper-mache and simple
sewing, and build puppets and masks to get
ready for spooky season.
The next round of programming begins in
mid-November. Keep an eye out
at https://bit.ly/danbyrys for offerings!
Danby Seniors Pat Phelps
The next meeting for the Danby Seniors will be held on Thursday, October 2 nd at noon at the Danby
Community Church.
Please bring a generous dish to pass with a serving spoon and your own table service. Drinks will
be provided. Volunteers are always appreciated for set up and cleanup.
We will have a speaker following the luncheon. Thena Lindhorst, Director of Love Living at Home,
will be speaking about her organization.
Founded in 2016, this non-profit, Love Living at Home, is a member driven organization that
enables older adults to live vibrantly while aging in place. Members, volunteers, and staff work
together to provide engaging educational and social programs and responsive support services to
promote a strong caring connected community.
Website: lovelivingathome.org
Phone: 607-319-0162
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Danby Community Groups
Danby Community Library
Contact: Cindy Parlett
library@danby.ny.gov
Open Tue 1-3pm,
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
Now that Fall is upon us with shorter days and colder weather, we will no longer be open on
Wednesday evenings. If you like local history, check out The Chuck Walker Story. From Newark
Valley, Chuck was the world’s second person to survive a complete heart and lung transplant. It’s a
heartwarming and inspiring adventure.
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
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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Monthly Meeting Schedule At-A-Glance
Group Day Date Time Call-in by Phone Meeting ID
Town Board* Mon 10/6 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 882 2697 6101 905098
WDWD Wed 10/1 5:00pm In person West Danby Fire station
CAC* Tue 10/14 7:00pm 1-929-205-6099 835 4940 5296 879507
FD Tue 10/14 6:30pm In person Danby Fire Station
DYC Thur 10/9 7:00pm Online- kshanks@tompkins-co.org
Town Board* Mon 10/20 6:00pm 1-929-205-6099 847 9505 5187 308958
PB* Tue 10/21 7:00pm 1-646-876-9923 893 3897 1114 956288
BZA* Tue TBD 7:00pm TBD 817 1432 4705 398041
FD Tue 10/28 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)
Co-Chairs: 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
October 2025 Town of Danby, New York
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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