HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-17 TB 6-17-21
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TOWN OF DRYDEN
TOWN BOARD MEETING
June 17, 2021
Via Zoom Hybrid
Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl James Skaley,
Cl Loren Sparling, Cl Leonardo Vargas-Mendez
Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk
Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent
Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director
Peter Walsh, Town Attorney
Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. Board members and audience
recited the pledge of allegiance.
Supv Leifer acknowledged the passing of Tom Hatfield, who had served two terms on
the Town Board. He had served on the Planning Board since 2002, volunteered for Neptune
Fire Company and also did work for other departments as an accountant. Supv Leifer said
Tom was a super volunteer and we need more people like Tom to step up when the community
needs them. He put his heart into the whole town.
Cl Lamb said Tom knew the town and served it well. His institutional knowledge will be
missed on the Planning Board. He always found a middle ground. The Planning Board is
working on a formal resolution for presentation in July. There was a moment of silence in
Tom’s honor.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
RESOLUTION #123 (2021) – APPROVE MINUTES
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of May 13 and
May 20, 2021.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
COUNTY ELECTED OFFICIALS CALL NOTES
There was discussion about holding open meetings. The County has had several days
of zero new positive cases in the past week and there are currently only 7 active cases. The
current executive order allowing remote meetings expires July 6. The county was asked to
develop some operational guidelines for all boards. If there is a sort of county -wide standards,
residents will know from one area to another what to expect.
The Planning Board will hold a hybrid next week.
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HIGHWAY/DPW DEPT
R Young would like to purchase a 1996 Broce Broom (road sweeper) off the Onondaga
County Contract for an amount not to exceed $16,000. Board members were provided with
details last week.
RESOLUTION #124 (2021) – AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF 1996 BROCE BROOM
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the purchase of a 1996 Broce
Broom Model RJ300 at a cost not to exceed $16,000.00.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
R Young shared information with the board about the AlpinePure Ionization air
purification unit that will be installed at town hall while the HVAC repairs are being made.
They’ve been working the last week or two on repairing the system.
The highway crew has been busy paving and road trimming. Leisure Lane, Mill Street,
Star Stanton Hill Road, Sunset West, Sunset Circle, parts of Pinckney Road (bridge area), and
Ferguson Road have been paved. A lot of work on the trestles on the trail has been done. They
discovered more damage and rot than anticipated, so they have made appropriate adjustments
to strengthen them.
They will be doing roadside mowing and R Young asked people to let them know if there
are areas that should not be mowed. T hey try to work with everyone but need to keep the line
of sight open.
PUBLIC HEARING
CONTRACT WITH NYSDOT
Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 6:30. Purpose of the public hearing is hear
comments on whether the town should agree to let NYSDOT manage the acquisition of a right-
of-way to build a pedestrian bridge over Route 13 for the rail trail. The town has 2.2 million
dollars for this project and will be seeking more funding. The Town Board voted to accept the
chosen alternative earlier this year. The agreement with NYSDOT is posted on the website.
Bob Beck, 54 West Malloryville Rd, read the attached statement.
Judy Pierpont, 111 Pleasant Hollow Road, said she is excited that the town is nearing
completion of this section of the Dryden Rail Trail, a project that has been imagined and
studied for decades. She thanked the Town Board, the Planning Boa rd and the Rail Trail Task
Force and the many, many volunteers who have helped to make this trail a reality. They just
need a few more easements and a way to cross Route 13 to make it complete. She thinks the
task force has found the most feasible way for trail users to get across this dangerous road.
Many, many options were considered and rejected as unreasonable or unsafe. There must be
efficient passage across Route 13 that will not endanger people’s lives. In particular, we don’t
want users to cross in front of traffic. The DOT was insistent that even a user -operated light
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would not deter some walkers or riders from trying to make it across the highway. A detour
away from the trail itself, such as down to the undercrossing at Fall Creek, would be too often
disregarded in favor of a direct and quick crossing. Users might also ignore a detour up to the
four-way light at the junction of Route 366, which is also a risky crossing involving users
negotiating a complex intersection. The decision to construct a bridge was largely a matter of
complying with DOT safety standards, although a tunnel was also considered. A bridge, it
turned out, would be cheaper than a tunnel. This version of the plans drawn by Erdman
Anthony is the least expensive of the 11 they offered. It is also the most conservative regarding
how much land would be required to build a ramp at a specified slope. It does appear that this
is the most reasonable and cost-effective way of getting across Route 13 safely. The viability of
the trail as safe and useful depends on this bridge. The whole notion of an alternative to
transportation as well as a link to other communities depends on safe passage over a bridge. If
we agree that this is a community asset, a public recreational benefit for all, then she thinks
we need to support this resolution to acquire the small amounts of land required for the ramp
access. Bear in mind that it is still possible that the owners will grant easements on the land
on either side and the DOT will not need to acquire it after all. But in the case that the owners
are not willing, she agrees that the DOT should be given the contractual power to acquire the
needed land. Otherwise, this important, long-awaited project will not come to completion.
That would be a great loss and a disservice to the community and people elsewhere who may
find it a desirable destination. She thinks the town should contract with DOT to pursue the
acquisition land as a necessary part of the trail completion.
Fred Crass said he and his wife own 3 Hall Woods Road. Since the beginning of Wilcox
Press and when Mahlon Perkins was the town attorney, Betty Gail Downing owned that piece of
property. When the building was being built he and his wife asked for a re-survey. The sign
says 23 acres and when Wilcox built the building it was only 14.7 acres. DEC came in and the
land on the south side of the railroad bed is a designated wetland. Hall Woods Road is a dead
end and the people there want to keep it that way. It’s bad enough that they wanted to cut
down their trees on the railroad bed. It gives the houses there some privacy. Their house has
always been in the woods. He has the most road frontage of any house on the roa d and owns
property all the way to Saunders Concrete and has a 50’ right -of-way on Pinckney Road. He
has been opposed to this. He doesn’t want the noise or the traffic on the road. Cutting the
trees on the railroad bed will make him wide open to Route 13 and all their privacy will be
gone.
Bob Beck said the trees that were planted on southerly edge of the railroad bed (parallel
to Hall Woods Road) will be left place. They are asking for 8’ of the 33’ on the printshop side of
the centerline of the former railbed. They intend to leave the trees there and add additional
gravel for the trail to widen the railbed as needed in order to leave those trees there. They
know those are important as screening for the neighbors on Hall Woods Road. They are going
to extra trouble to protect that screening vegetation, and minimize as much as they can the
removal of vegetation between the railbed and Hall Woods Road. That will remain a dead end
road just as it is.
Alice Green said no motorized vehicles are permitted on the trail – no motorcycles or
vehicles coming from Route 13 will enter the trail.
B Beck added there may be occasional maintenance vehicles or emergency vehicles.
They do allow quiet ebikes. They want to make sure the neighbors on Hall Woods Road
understand what the plan is. There will be an open house on June 30 from 5-8 at Neptune Fire
Station in Dryden for those who want to learn more detail about the project, ask questions and
share concerns.
Alice Green, 609 Fall Creek Road, said her colleagues from the Rail Trail Task Force
have made it clear that the RTTF and the bridge subcommittee did not take this decision lightly
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to request that DOT assist us in acquiring these small properties that are critical in order to
cross Route 13 in a safe way. One of the things that is important to point out is that this is a
recreational corridor, but is also a transportation corridor. That is one of the reasons that DOT
was insistent there be a safe bridge that goes straight across Route 13 for those who are
commuting. Over the past five years they have heard from people who would like to be able to
ride their bikes or get an ebike and ride to their jobs in Ithaca. It is not just a recreational trail.
It is a transportation corridor and that is why we received more than 2 million dollars in grants
for this project. For those who say let’s wait until we have acquired all the outstanding
easements in phase 3, that is exactly the kind of thinking that has kept this important corr idor
from connecting Dryden for over 40 years. She was one of the homeowners along a different
section of the railbed when the Town decided in the 1970s not to turn the LVRR bed into a
recreational and transportation corridor when it was abandoned. She thinks the town made a
terrific mistake and two generations of residents have been unable to use that corridor that
connects the town from east to west. She thanked the town for being forward thinking this
time and for approving the contract to build this bridge. She’ll appreciate a vote on this small
step to get the DOT involved in helping us acquire the small properties needed to make the
connection of the bridge a reality.
F Crass asked about the bridge rampway and how it would be contained. Cl Lamb
explained there will be wing walls and encouraged Mr Crass to come to the open house on
June 20 and see the drawings.
The public hearing was closed at 6:57 p.m.
COUNTY BRIEFING
Martha Robertson was unable to attend and emailed an update (attached).
PLANNING DEPT
The monthly report is attached. The comp plan update effort is ongoing. The next
steering committee meeting is next Wednesday with the intent to get out a review draft to the
advisory boards in August and to the public after that. The Planning Board will hold a public
hearing as part of the process, probably in September. Cl Lamb noted that 2020 census data
will be available in August and will be able to be incorporated.
On June 30 at Neptune Fire Hall from 5-8 p.m. the design team for the Route 13
pedestrian bridge will hold an open house. A draft report was submitted to DOT today.
PRESENTATION BY DOMINION ENERGY
Supv Leifer explained that as part of the approval and permit for refitting the turbines,
each year the company will present an update to the town regarding emissions and ongoings at
the plant.
Don Houser introduced Gary Comerford and explained that on November 1, 2020
Dominion Energy sold the natural gas business to Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the
operating company is Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage. They are now known as BHE
GT&S. The attached slides were reviewed. He acknowledged the memo and questions
submitted by residents (attached) and said they are not prepared to make comments on any
proposed regulations during the current comment period.
The first questions have to do with tanks. BHE GT&S has a waste oil tank and a lube
oil tank, so there wouldn’t be concerns of VOCs from those. They are n ot a facility that has
fuel holding tanks, no gas or diesel that would have a VOC issue.
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Q 3 - They use gas starters on engines 2 and 3 and they will be replaced with electric
starters so there will be no issue.
Q 4a – They do not have bleed devices at this station and have an internal program
through all the stations to replace bleed devices with no or low bleed equipment across the
entire system.
Q 4b – Unit 4 was retrofitted with a pressurized hold on May 4 of this year. The new
units (5 & 6) will be installed with electric driven seal boost pumps to extend pressurized holds
as long as possible without blowdowns.
Q 4c – Yes, they do use portable ZVACs to reduce pressure on the lines when doing any
linework to capture any gas so it is not vented.
Q 5 – yes, they have centrifugal compressors. Unit 4 has dry gas seals. Units 2 & 3
have wet seals but will be retired in this project. With respect to future LDAR requirements, no
comment will be made on proposed regulations.
Q 6 – There are no reciprocating compressors at the station.
Q 7a – They don’t have that information tonight.
Q 7b – They discussed notifying the town of planned blowdowns years ago. T hey use
the chair of the Safety & Preparedness Committee, who gets a notification that then goes to
Swift911. Citizens would like more advance notification and D Houser said they will talk about
it with operations staff.
Q 7c – Is a forward-looking question about regulations.
Q 7d - They have not, but knows it has been well publicized.
Q 8 - Is a forward-looking question about regulations.
Q 9a – They don’t have an answer.
Q 9b - There are no pigging stations, but they do have 4 launchers and 3 receivers
where pigs are inserted as necessary.
D Houser said they hope to get a building permit application in soon and expect to
complete the project this fall. They want to have it done before the heating season.
Katie Quinn-Jacobs said they would like to get the answers in writing from D Houser.
The slides are available on the town website. D Houser explained that their customers are gas
distribution companies, so there are takeaway points from various gas distribution companies
along the way.
She asked why they can’t comment on future leaning questions. D Houser explained if
the company decides to make comments on proposed regulations, they will do it in writing to
the DEC, not in this format.
K Quinn-Jacobs said they have feedback from the community that there was a
blowdown when the notification wasn’t activated. It was explained that they can only provide
notification on planned blowdowns. If there is an unanticipated need for a blowdown, staff
may not have time for the notification. D Houser will investigate that.
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Lizzy Evert asked why there was a delay in the p lanned upgrades. D Houser said they
had always planned to start in 2021. It would have been impossible to complete after the
special use permit was granted before the 2020 heating season. He did say in the process that
they would not order equipment until they had approval from town and FERC. He is hoping to
have the permit application to the town in the coming days and expects the project to be
complete by the end of 2021.
S Berg asked if the current project plan is flexible enough so that if something is
finalized in the future regulations it could be incorporated into the project. There are some
things already planned that would not be an issue. In general, if they know something may be
coming, would it be included in the project? D Houser said there is no regulation that they
have to use a ZVAC machine; they just do it. It’s just best practice. They don’t want gas loss,
and want to keep it all in the system. They are always incorporating new technologies and
always comply with finalized regulations.
J Skaley asked what precipitates an unplanned blowdown? D Houser said it could be a
number of reasons including a power outage. In that case the gates at the station would close
and it is isolated from the pipeline and gas would be vented through the blowdown system.
K Quinn-Jacobs asked about the Eastern Gas environmental program goals and
objectives for 2021. G Comerford said their goal is to have zero noncompliance situations.
They have a rigorous program for quality assurance to make sure records are in order and a
services group that maintains engines to be sure they are operating properly, and emissions
are below permitted levels. Title 5 reports are submitted to DEC. They have climate and GHG
initiatives and often do voluntary work. They try to stay ahead of regulations to know they are
doing best management practices whenever possible. One of their top goals is a cl ean
environment and a safe workplace for their staff. There are industry groups that they work
with and methane programs initiated by the EPA that are voluntary. They participate to see
what the latest technology is. They always try to stay out in front .
D Houser said they have extended their giving program to the new company and are
always looking for community or environmental projects to support. In the coming weeks the
portal to apply will be open at BHEGTS.com for groups with projects that need funding.
Lizzie Everett said Dominion was open about allowing a tour of the facilities and
wondered if the new company will allow this. D Houser will find out.
NYSDOT Contract
Cl Lamb said this resolution and choice of alternative was exhaustively reviewed by the
Rail Trail Task Force folks.
Resolution #125 (2021) - Regarding entering a contract with NYSDOT as it relates to the
proposed Route 13 pedestrian bridge. Also accepting the recommendations of the
Dryden Rail Trail Task Force to establish Alternative 11 as the preferred bridge design
alternative.
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
WHEREAS, the Dryden Town Board established the Dryden Rail Trail Task Force to guide the
establishment of the Dryden Rail Trail, and
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WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020 the Town Board via Resolution 49 (2020) approved the Project
for the Dryden Rail Trail Phase 2 (PIN 395071), a project to build a pedestrian bridge over
Route 13, and
WHEREAS, the Rail Trail Task Force unanimously recommends that the Town enter a contract
with NYSDOT to authorize the agency to manage the acquisition pr ocess of portions of two
parcels necessary for the Rt. 13 bridge project, and
WHEREAS, the Town appreciates the tremendous expertise of the Rail Trail Task Force
members, their meticulous oversight of this project, and their recommendation, and
WHEREAS, the Rail Trail Task Force recommends Alternative 11 as the preferred alternative,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town accepts Alternative 11 as the preferred
alternative, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Supervisor of the Town of Dryden is hereby authorized to
execute a contract with NYSDOT authorizing the agency to manage the acquisition process of
portions of two parcels necessary for the Rt. 13 bridge project.
Alternative 11
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2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
ELLIS HOLLOW ROAD
The board has received and reviewed a petition for a reduced speed limit and other
traffic mitigations on Ellis Hollow Road. After discussion, the board passed the following
resolution that will be sent to the county highway manager who will review it and send it on to
the NYS Department of Transportation. NYSDOT will determine whether the speed limit will be
reduced, but other mitigations may be able to be made locally.
RESOLUTION #126 (2021) – REQUEST REDUCED SPEED LIMIT AND OTHER TRAFFIC
MITIGATION MEASURES ON ELLIS HOLLOW ROAD
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, Ellis Hollow Road in the Town of Dryden h as become more densely populated
and more heavily travelled over the years, yet retains a speed limit of 45 miles per hour, and
Whereas, the Town Board is concerned with the safety of pedestrians and cyclists as
well as residents of Ellis Hollow Road and the travelling public, and
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Whereas, the Town Board has received a petition and communications from residents
requesting a reduction in the speed limit and other traffic mitigations and safety measures on
Ellis Hollow Road, now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Dryden Town Board hereby requests that the speed limit on Ellis
Hollow Road in the Town of Dryden be reduced to 40 mph and requests that NYS Department
of Transportation conduct a study of the area to determine whether such a reduction in spee d
limit is warranted, and it is further
RESOLVED, that this board will pass the petition received on to Tompkins County
Highway and the NYS Department of Transportation and request that the traffic mitigations
and safety measures are considered.
2nd Cl Vargas-Mendez
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
CONTRACT FOR RESUBMISSION OF CDBG APPLICATION
The town was not successful in its application for CDBG funding for the consolidated
sewer district in the 2020 round. G & G Consulting has submitted a proposal to resubmit the
application for the 2021 round of funding.
RESOLUTION #127 (2021) – APPROVE CONTRACT WITH G & G CONSULTING FOR
RESUBMISSION OF CDBG GRANT APPLICATION FOR CONSOLIDATED SEWER
Cl Skaley offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing (G&G), has previously submitted a
CDBG application to fund the Varna sewer project and,
Whereas, the Office of Community Renewal reviewed 118 applications but only funded 22 and,
Whereas, the Town of Dryden was not funded possibly due to lack of sufficient available funds
and,
Whereas, G&G has submitted a proposal to resubmit the Varna Sewer application to fund the
sewer project for up to $1,250,000, and
Whereas, G&G has proposed to resubmit this application for $2500 about half the initial fee
for the original application with costs to be borne by the sewer fund balance, be it therefore,
Resolved that the Town agrees to resubmit the CDBG application and authorizes the Town
Supervisor to sign a contract for resubmittal.
2nd Supv Leifer
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
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CONTRACT FOR SUBMISSION OF CDBG APPLICATION FOR SIDEWALKS
G & G Consulting has submitted a proposal to prepare an application for CDBG
funding for sidewalks in Varna. The income survey previously prepared by G & G will be
helpful in this instance. There is $3,000 currently budgeted for Varna development, and the
other $900 can come from fund balance, or some other budget line. We will need a budget
modification.
RESOLUTION #128 (2021) - APPROVE CONTRACT WITH G & G CONSULTING FOR
RESUBMISSION OF CDBG GRANT APPLICATION FOR SIDEWALKS IN VARNA
Cl Skaley offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing (G&G), has previously submitted a
CDBG application to fund the Varna sewer project has conducted an income survey for the
Hamlet of Varna showing that the Hamlet's average median income is only about 64% of the
average median income and CDBG grants typically fund only low to moderate income areas,
and
Whereas, the NYSDOT will be repaving and upgrading the corridor for RT 366 through the
Hamlet of Varna during 2022 and will be constructing a sidewalk on the south side of the road
between Forest Home Dr and Mt. Pleasant Rd, but has insufficient funds to construct a
sidewalk on the north side of the road, and
Whereas, NYSDOT will not allow bike lanes unless there are sidewalks on both sides of the
road, and
Whereas, both sidewalks and bike lanes are asked for in the Varna Community Development
Plan, and
Whereas, G&G has proposed to submit a CDBG application through the Combined Fund
Application (CFA) to fund approximately 2420 linear feet of sidewalk from Forest Home Drive to
Freese Rd at a cost of $3900, and
Whereas, this contract would be funded by a line item in the current budget for Varna
Community Development Implementation showing $3000 in Line A-820.412 with the
remaining $900 to be taken from Fund Balance, be it therefore
Resolved that the Town agrees to submit a CDBG application for sidewalks in Varna and
authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign a contract with G&G.
2nd Cl Vargas-Mendez
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Cl Skaley thanked the town clerk and bookkeeper for help in gathering documents and
moving forward with the budget work related to the Varna water and sewer projects. He h as
submitted the remaining missing documents this afternoon and everything has been completed
with EFC for the sewer except for two title documents for easements that the town attorney is
working on.
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Atty Walsh reported he has been working with Dondi Harner of TG Miller and Cornell to
identify what is necessary to bring the easements into date. Cornell is doing flow metering to
determine the actual flow of sewage through the 16” line that leads to the city at Thurston
Avenue to determine how much reserve capacity they have in that line. So they are w orking on
legal framework to bring those agreements up to date. If they cannot make a determination in
a timely manner, they will ask for a memorandum of understanding. Cl Skaley will be applying
for short-term funding through EFC and the title documents have to be submitted before any
funds can be transferred to the town.
Cl Lamb said he has talked with Heather McDaniel who helps advocate for CDBG
applications for the county. Cl Skaley will prepare information for Cl Lamb to share with her.
RECREATION DEPARTMENT
Written report is attached.
COMMUNITY GARDEN SPACE
Communication was received from the person in charge of the community garden and
they are concerned about plans to develop recreational fields in that area. There is no final
plan yet about where the fields are proposed, but will likely be able to accommodate the
garden.
ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES
Supv Leifer reported that Dryden Lake dam will be replaced, contrary to the rumors he
has heard. He talked with DEC last week and they know what we want and are going to do it.
They don’t want a barrage of phone calls and petitions. Because it doesn’t appear as a line
item in a capital budget doesn’t mean it isn’t budgeted for. They are working on the design,
getting information on the volume of the lake, and they know it is a recreational feature of the
park. When they have something to show us, they will let us know. It may be a year or more.
We don’t need people running around and bothering DEC about it.
Safety & Preparedness Committee – Katie Quinn-Jacobs reported that Dana
Magnuson is stepping down and they have elected Christina Dravis as their new chair, and will
need that approved by the board. The committee has been working on updating their bylaws.
C Dravis will be sending them to the board for review.
RESOLUTION #129 (2021) – APPOINT CHRISTINA DRAVIS CHAIR OF
SAFETY & PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
Cl Lamb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Christina Dravis to serve as chair of
the Safety and Preparedness Committee.
2nd Supv Leifer
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Skaley Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
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K Quinn-Jacobs said there were recent complaints regarding Cornell’s odorant station
from residents of Genung Road and other adjacent roads. There was a leak early on a
Thursday and they could smell it the following Tuesday. Cornell did eventually fix it. There
are communications pieces not in place for when this happens. VFD didn’t have access to the
building and didn’t know what to do. That needs to be updated because it is not just the
odorant; people were wakened in the night because it was so strong. She asked specifically if it
was only mercaptan that was leaking. Gary Stewart said there was methane also leaking,
though it was small. They need a better response process for questions. Cornell said they are
not required to file an incident report. The expectation is that the town will do something. G
Stewart gave them a flyer with an emergency number for people to call. Perhaps it can be
posted on the town’s website. C Dravis is working with the Varna Fire Department to get more
coordination between them and Cornell. G Stewart gave them the name of an environmental
contact at Cornell.
C Dravis will take over the Swift911 role for the Borger subscription starting in July.
The backup is Ellie Kramer. They will have an opening on the committee because Katie Quinn-
Jacobs is also stepping down.
Planning Board – Members are all engaged as steering committee members on the
comp plan update. They are reviewing a draft and there is editing work to be done. Edits will
be incorporated by the consultant. The steering committee will discuss whether to give the
advisory boards an isolated comment period and then go public or run it concurrently. There
will likely be a public presentation in August followed by a September public hearing in front of
the Planning Board and an October public hearing for the Town Board.
Rail Trail Task Force – They have been busy as previously discussed. Cl Lamb has
spent time preparing submissions to Senator Gillibrand and Senator Schumer for earmarks.
They have made the first cut and there is more work to do. The work being done on the Game
Farm trestles is exciting.
Broadband Committee – They had a good meeting last week and a timetable is
forming. At the next agenda meeting there will be a contract to approve for someone to build
the customer website for promotion and signups. It should be up before the end of the
summer. R Burger talked with the Village of Dryden about rights-of-way in village needed to
run the fiber. They have bids for the customer service contract and potentially for running
fiber on the roads. Securing the fiber may be difficult, but they should be able to do it. They
now have a tool to project what the long-range finances will look like based in subscription,
bond rates, and how much grant money is received. The person who developed the tool will be
meeting with the committee members. The project will pay for itself and then the town will
clear quite a bit of money.
Conservation Board – The next meeting is June 22. The board was informed of a
spotted lantern fly infestation in Ithaca. Lantern flies basically attack a single tree, in this case
a tree of heaven. They suck the liquid out of that tree and expel honey dew which gets mold on
it. They severely impact apple orchards and grape vineyards. The infestation was spotted
early, and Ithaca is currently working on the eradication of egg masses through the pesticide
treatment of trees of heaven.
Recreation & Youth Commission – The next meeting is June 23. Rural Youth
services overcharged Dryden $1,702.40 for the OURS program last year and the town will be
credited that amount this year. The Southworth Library is holding Let’s Talk Dryden
Conversation series. The goal is to create more social and education activities for adults and to
create trust in the community at large. Meeting dates and times are available on the library’s
website.
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Ag Committee – The June 9 minutes are yet to be distributed. Much of the previous
committee meeting was devoted to a conversation between the committee and Alice Green
representing the comprehensive plan update subcommittee. This is hopefully the first of many
discussions working toward climate resilient farms in Dryden. Cl Sparling reported he
attended a webinar series entitled “Farming in a Changing Climate – Implications of climate
Change on the Future of Agriculture” and there is a lot of information in the two webinars.
They did speak on specific strategies that northeastern farms should undertake to adapt and
mitigate climate change.
Climate Smart Communities Task Force – The Energywi$e event at Dryden Agway
was a success with 18 signups for free home energy assessments at last count . The next
meeting is Monday, and they will discuss the actual results.
Community Choice Aggregation has received notice that they were awarded $50,000 of
their $72,000 project budget for their proposal from the Park Foundation. They’ll have to
discuss how to cover the remaining $22,000. A subgroup of the committee drafted a job
description for a project manager that they hope to get posted by the end of the month once the
grant contract is signed. Another subgroup is forming to develop the MOU between the
municipalities and Sustainable Tompkins. The Town of Dryden signed on with this group to
basically get solar to the entire area and ultimately culminating in green jobs.
CITIZENS PRIVILEGE
None
There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried,
the meeting was adjourned at 8:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bambi L. Avery
Town Clerk