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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-26 PB 8-26-21 TOWN OF DRYDEN PLANNING BOARD MEETING August 26, 2021 Present: Craig Anderson,Tony Salerno, Daniel Bussmann, Joe Wilson, Linda Wagenet(via Zoom),Alice Green (alternate),Simon St Laurent (alternate) (via zoom) Absent: John Kiefer Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director Liaisons: Craig Schutt(Conservation Board), D Lamb (Town Board) Due to John Kiefer's absence, the meeting was chaired by Tony Salerno who called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Public Comments Shirley Lyon, Mineah Road, read the attached letter. She shared photos of gyro boards. A Green thanked her for bringing this information; she is on the Rail Trail Task Force and was not aware of these gyro boards. Is this a different location than the Route 13 bridge project?Yes Can gyro board tires move on the stone trails?Yes Is your primary concern the trail location in general?Yes, she is concerned about kids getting into the industrial park area. Jolene Lyon read the attached letter. J Osmeloski said he has sent this board two emails (dated 7/31/2021 and 8/24/2021)that he asked be entered into the record and is attached). He thinks the Town Board and Planning Board have become ends justify the means boards. They put out misinformation and lie to the public and violate open meeting laws repeatedly. He believes no matter how many violations they have or will have, if they want it,they're going to get it. He gave several examples such as the solar fields, the stretch code, building and energy committee, and now he thinks it's happening with the bridge. He guarantees there will be violation after violation.The public is sick of it. It's gotten to the point where it'll get ugly for everybody. Follow the laws. Craig Schutt agrees the trail crossing at Pinckney Road is going to be a problem, as well as the trail going through the industrial park. Who is going to mitigate the problems this is going to cause, splitting it down the middle with a trail?This makes no sense. Kids are not going to mind everything they are told;they're just kids. He hopes the Town Board and Rail Trail Committee comes back and asks the Planning Board for input.They keep talking about safety at Route 13, but they aren't talking about safety anywhere else. 1 PB 8-26-21 There was a thread of emails from the Conservation Board going around about the solar panel projects.There were supposed to be tall trees and most of those are dead.The Town Board acted like they didn't care. He thinks the Planning Board should be thinking about this, because we all got bamboozled. J Wilson asked if there was missing screening toward the George Junior side of the solar field. Yes. T Salerno said this has been brought up at the Planning Board several times. He agrees this screening is not what it was supposed to be. It has been brought up to the Town Board and the Planning Department. R Burger said the plantings are not performing. C Schutt said it didn't appear that they planted what they were supposed to. Village of Lansing has a developer fund the Village can dip into for situations like this.This is something that could be looked into. Approval Of Minutes of July 22, 2021 J Wilson emailed a short list of typo corrections to B Avery, R Burger and J Kiefer for the July 22 minutes. C Anderson also provided corrections as well. He also asked that the email thread be added in as an attachment.The board decided to wait to approve the minutes until these changes are made. May 27th Minutes There was a discussion about email threads attached to the May 27th minutes. There was a motion by T Salerno to amend the May 27, 2021 minutes by removing the email threads and reference to them in the minutes, make a note in them that the emails were not discussed at the meeting were removed, and amending the second sentence to read: C Anderson noted that pricing information provided at the meeting by one of the consultants was later acknowledged by them to be inaccurate. All in favor. T Salerno states they are not trying to cover anything up,the email thread just should not have been put in the minutes. Town Board The census bureau numbers came in. The Town of Dryden population from went down 530 residents between 2010 and 2020 according to the census bureau. There has been development in the town over the last 10 years so it's surprising the numbers went down. D Lamb and J Leifer were going to take issue with the number but they need solid data before they can. Enrollment in TC3 and short term rentals could affect these numbers.The census bureau did not adjust for Covid, so that could be affecting these numbers as well. D Lamb would like to see voting numbers from 2010 to now. The city of town of Ithaca increased by almost 4000 people. Planning Department Updates Even though their schedule was light on project reviews this month,they expect a couple for next month at the September meeting.There will be 2 special use permits coming before the Town 2 PB 8-26-21 Board in October. R Burger will be looking for site plan review recommendations in September. He was asked about the Trinitas project and said he has not heard formally from Trinitas that they are not pursuing a new proposal, and the property owner has advised him that they do not intend to proceed and the owner may be bringing a new project forward. C Anderson brought up the safety issues with Pickney Road and the industrial park. He believes it would be negligent if it's not talked about.This issue will be put on the agenda for the next meeting. Route 13 Pedestrian Bridge D Bussmann said that he has been asked by members of the public, as a Planning Board member, about the controversial Rail Trail crossing that people have been picketing. He has had to tell them that he appreciates their concern, but the Town Board hasn't asked the Planning Board to weigh in on this. D Lamb says they have a task force that is more than capable to weigh in on this type of thing, but he also says that the Planning Board can look into anything that is in interest of them. The Planning Board is going to ask Bob Beck to come talk with them. S Lyon says she would like to see the Planning Board discuss the Rail Trail along with the industrial park. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. Transcribed by Emily Banwell 3 P Good Evening, My name is Shirley Lyon, and I'm here to speak about the crossing point for the Rail Trail on Pickney Road near the Sanders Concrete Plant. After speaking with Mr. Jason Leiffer of the Dryden Town Board, it is my understanding that the Town Board does not require the Planning Boards opinion on this crossing and that they've had past "input" by Mr. Kefir and Ms. Greene. I'm sorry, but I believe that generalized input isn't good enough in this situation. We have a proposed pedestrian crossing next to a CONCRETE PLANT where trucks make EIGHTY trips each day. A fully loaded concrete delivery truck can weigh up to 70,000 pounds and clearly requires more breaking time and more breaking distance that your average vehicle. A truck driver would simply not have the capability or the time to avoid a pedestrian. In addition, they also have large blind areas where they would be unaware of others using the road. The Rail Trail Task Force has made suggestions to slow bicycles by making them dismount their bicycles and walk across the road, but this trail isn't just being used by bicycles, walkers, or runners. Kids these days have something called gyro boards. Maybe you've seen them, maybe you haven't, so I've provided a handout for you. These gyro boards are exploding in popularity and are becoming so inexpensive that more and more kids are getting them. I've already seen them at campgrounds, the parking lot at Dryden Lake, and over at the Dryden highschool. It's only a matter of time—and maybe they already are—zipping along the Rail Trail on these things. How fast can these things go? Anywhere from 5 to 15 miles per hour. They can move so quickly as to be out of a parent's reach within seconds. And let me ask you, honestly, do you think these children will stop at Pickney Road, dismount their single or duel gyro boards, walk across the road after checking for traffic, and then remount on the other side? I don't think so. A quick internet search reveals vehicle/gyro board accidents are on the rise as more people are using them. With this information, it is absolutely NEGLIGENT to put children on a path next to a concrete plant. There's the old saying that "it takes a village to raise a child." Well, sometimes it takes a planning board to protect them. I was present at the last Town Board meeting where Mr. Anderson presented an alternate trail, away from the concrete plant and away from the area designated for industrial use. I'm asking the Planning Board, for the safety of those using the trail and for the drivers of those concrete trucks, to seriously consider moving the trail to the safer area proposed by Mr. Anderson. Planning Board: I would like to comment on the proposed Rail Trail crossing on Pinckney Road near the Sanders Concrete Plant. To begin, I'm in agreement with Shirley Lyon who spoke with you regarding the safety of our children at this crossing . Kids are kids because they are young and inexperienced. Give them a gyro board and hand them a smart phone, and I hate to say it, some of them become downright stupid. The Rail Trail Task Force responds to these concerns —at least in regard to bicyclists at this particular crossing—by suggesting a zig-zag pattern in the trail leading up to the road with maybe a few vertical poles from the ground to encourage dismounting. You know what my twelve year old neighbor, Sam, sees when he sees something like that? With his gyro board, that's now become an obstacle course. Now throw in concrete trucks from Sanders, with their inability to stop quickly and their blind areas, along with driver stress of hauling heavy loads, and we have a recipe for tragedy. The Town Board has said that, technically, your input isn't needed. But it's pretty clear, with this dangerous crossing plus the fact people are being sent through an industrial zone, that you ARE needed. I'd go so far as to say you have a moral obligation to the people and their safety. To not take a closer look at the very real dangers with this crossing, to not look at the alternate plan provided by Mr. Anderson, would be gross negligence on the Planning Board's part. So despite what some task force says, your input is necessary for the public's safety, and I appreciate your attention regarding this matter. Sincerely, Jolene Lyon i Subject: Planning Board meeting 5/27/2021 FIASCO From: Osmeloski<ttia607@gmail.com> Date: 7/31/2021, 12:59 PM To: "Alice W. Green" <awg3@cornell.edu>, Ray Burger<rburger@dryden.ny.us>, Craig Anderson <cra iga @frontiernet.net>,Joseph Wilson <wilson.drydenplanningboard@gmail.com>,John Kiefer <jak14@cornell.edu>, Supervisor<Jason Leifer2 @dryden.ny.us>,t.salernol3O53@gmaii.com, dgbussmann@gmail.com, 'Loren Sparling' <Iparling@dryden.ny.us>, simonstl@simonstl.com, ks47@cornell.edu Dear Planning Board and TB members, I recently reviewed the PB "minutes" for the meeting dated 5/27/2021, and I put the term, minutes in quotes as whatever is posted is an absolute joke and violates in so many ways NYS OPEN MEETINGS LAWS, which by the way, members of this board have already done on many occasions with the latest being the now famous ill fated BUILDING AND ENERGY COMMITTEE, a subcommittee of the planning board. Lets start with PRIVATE EMAILS, that I have no idea how these private emails even show up in the "official" minutes of this meeting as I dont remember them ever being offered for the record of that meeting, AND they include many discussions on PLANNING BOARD POLICY, that again, because they are private and were never allowed to be reviewed or receive comments from the PUBLIC, again just another violation of open meetings laws. Again, this of course is not the first time that this board has violated open meetings, and given its history, wont be the last. Whats even more laughable is that the email discussion is about a complete LIE by Vogel and Carroll, which led of course to the Towns completely bogus and illegal Stretch code being approved. So like the Solar Farm at Willow Glen, which was approved based on a LIE, we have the Stretch Code being approved based on a LIE. Also, the person who candidly pointed out that Lie (which Vogel admits to) is then seen by another board member asking for admonishment who is a multiple violator of the Towns Open Meetings Laws. Obviously, if we lived in a Town where we could go through the normal chain of command to report these blatant violations, then I would go immediately to the Town Board and its supervisor, but given their history of ignoring many instances of Open meeting violations, I am forced to again go to the New York Department of State with my complaint. What I would ask Supervisor Leifer and its board to immediately act on is removing Mr. Keifer as chair of the Planning Board, as he has proven over and over that he lacks control of his board, unless of course Mr. Keifer takes the honorable action and resigns. Also, other members of the PB that have consistently violated open meetings laws should also be removed or resign. Thank you Joseph Osmeloski 1 of 1 8/26/2021,3:57 PM Subject: Behavior of Deputy Supervisor Lamb toward Craig Anderson at TB meeting 8-19-2021 From: Osmeloski <ttia607@gmail.com> Date: 8/24/2021, 3:35 PM To: "Alice W. Green" <awg3@cornell.edu>, Supervisor<JasonLeifer2@dryden.ny.us>, Craig Anderson <craiga@frontiernet.net>, Daniel Lamb <dlamb@dryden.ny.us>, 'Loren Sparling' <Isparling@dryden.ny.us>,Joseph Wilson <wilson.drydenplanningboard@gmail.com>,John Kiefer <jak14@cornell.edu>, t.salernol3053@gmail.com, dgbussmann@gmail.com, simonstl@simonsti.com,James Skaley<jskaley.dryden.ny@gmail.com> Dear Supervisor Leifer, TB members, and Planning Board members, After reviewing the Tape of the Town Board Meeting on 8-19-2021, I am writing this email in response to the abhorrent behavior of Deputy Supervisor Lamb toward fellow Dryden Citizen and Planning Board member; Craig Anderson. Mr. Anderson, like any other Dryden Citizen has every right to express his opinions during the Citizens privilege portion of the meeting and expect the respect of the Board, even though you may not agree with his opinions or views. Mr. Anderson has every right .to offer a different plan for the Rail Trail, and has every right to express that in his view, his option is the safest. Mr. Anderson has every right to express his concern for how dangerous the current Rail Trail plan is as it pertains to an Industrial Zone, and crossing many dangerous roads, especially at Pinckney road where Hanson cement trucks will be frequently coming and going. Mr. Anderson has every right to express his opinion that the Planning Board should have been asked to weigh in on the Rail Trail and Bridge as it pertains to land usage. What Mr. Anderson doesnt have a RIGHT TO, is the reprehensible response he got to his comments from Deputy Supervisor Lamb, especially the snide and disrespectful; "Nice Try" as he finished his comments and walked away. Also, to make it even more reprehensible is that Deputy Supervisor Lamb made the comment "Nice Try" as Mr Andersons back was turned making the act not only disrespectful but also COWARDLY. In the Town Board Meeting, as can be heard on the tape, I asked Deputy Supervisor Lamb to resign, and after this latest display toward Mr. Anderson, it is clear that Mr. Lamb is unfit to sit on this Town Board. Thank You, Joseph Osmeloski 1 of 1 8/26/2021,4:07 PM