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Home My WebLink AboutDRYC 2024-12-04DRYC 2024-12-04 Draft Page 1 of 3 Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission (DRYC) December 4, 2024 Hybrid Present: Leslie Debo (chair), David Peck (vice chair), Julie McLean*, Will Olson, Ron Szymanski*(7:29), James Whalley Absent: Jenelle Carr, Rhonda Kowalski Liaisons: Jason Leifer (Town Board) Christina Dravis (Town Board) Kate Shanks-Booth (Tompkins County Youth Services)* Athena Steinkraus (Cornell Cooperative Extension – Tompkins County)* Joshua Bacigalupi (Superintendent of Dryden Central School District)* Staff: Marty Conger (Recreation Director) Allison Kjellander-Cantu (Deputy Town Clerk) “*” Denotes attendance via Zoom The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. L Debo updated that CHA sent their contract to the town’s attorney for review, and it was sent back to CHA with corrections for them to finalize. We should be seeing something from then soon. Reports: Recreation Department M Conger updated that winter sports have started. There are 8 basketball teams and 32 wrestlers with a few on the wait list. The room the wrestlers practice in is too small for that number of kids. Basketball schedules are out, and we are working through that. The weekend before Thanksgiving, there was a turkey bowl (football game) at the high school. It was open to 48 people aged 6 to 50. The booster club came out to sell concessions but due to the weather, there wasn’t a big turnout. J Whalley was involved and would like to slightly change the next turkey bowl, possibly having it earlier based on the weather. He also proposed having a captain or coach for each team. Possibly having two games going on at the same time would allow for the players to have more play time and to keep the players warmer. Overall, it was a great time. The senior tackle team coach got the team tickets to watch the Syracuse basketball home game. Cortland High School chartered a bus for this event. Around 50 people went to the game. This weekend is the annual Holiday Celebration throughout the village with several things going on during the day. Reports: Town Board J Leifer has nothing to report for this month. Reports: Tompkins County Youth Services K Shanks-Booth updated that the county finished up its budget and the legislature voted in early November. We had an OTR in it and that was passed unanimously. CCE funding will be available for all commissioners and municipalities, which is great news. DRYC 2024-12-04 Draft Page 2 of 3 Later this month TCYS will launch a conversation regarding youth homelessness in Tompkins County for ages 0-18 which is often overlooked. Right now, only shelter is available for those 18-25 but some do not feel safe or do not feel welcomed for several reasons. Throughout the county, post-COVID, we’re trying to narrow down the questions to ask the youth what their needs are. Transportation, housing, or childcare are issues that have not changed. Some larger conversations regarding the programming would come down to the support of the next RFP. Reports: Cornell Cooperative Extension Rural Youth Services A Steinkraus is pleased that Dave’s Program is doing very well and will be wrapping up within the next two weeks. The OURS programming coordinator position received several applicants who did not have an educational background but. We will be reaching out to see if they would be interested in other positions with Cornell Coop Ext because they would have otherwise qualified for this position. The Cornell YOURS program presidents and Cornell students delivered 25 baskets made up of food and activities for kids the Monday before Thanksgiving to 13 families around Dryden. The feedback was very positive, and the program received a beautiful card of an appreciative child of one of the families. The 2025 contracts have started, you will see that coming soon for signing. Reports: Dryden Central School District J Bacigalupi discussed that fall sports have transitioned into winter sports and that is exciting. The following Monday we hosted the district superintendent from TST Boces who came out and did a tour of the facilities and programming. They were very pleased with everything they saw and commented on how great the connection was between the staff, students, and community. Lastly, budget development is underway and will continue after the holidays. An approval from the school board will be in April and then out to the community to vote in May. Old Business - Cornell Design Connect Update L Debo announced that Cornell Design Connect did not take on our proposal for the possible community center at the Methodist Church. The big issue they had was the historical aspect of it which they didn’t want to take on. They did give us a contact person who we could reach out to if need be. Discussion ensured regarding the church building’s future due to the danger of closing within the next year or so. The idea was suggested to get the village of Dryden to get involved as it is in the village. This would give both the village and town time to talk with members of the church about working out something. Again, it all comes down to the historical aspect as there is confusion about it being on the New York State Historical Register. Several ideas come up: • reaching out to Tompkins County to bring their services to this location rather than having people commute to Ithaca and spend the whole day there, DRYC 2024-12-04 Draft Page 3 of 3 • using the sanctuary for the arts as it is already set up with great acoustics and seating; the organ is in working order and will need maintenance to keep it running, which is expensive, • the newer part of the church has several rooms that can be utilized for different purposes New Business - Commercial Property for Sale off Yellow Barn Rd and Route 13: D Peck emailed a property listing for sale on Yellow Barn and 13. The 18 acres are currently divided into several parcels, but the owner is motivated to sell. There was some concern regarding the wetness of the land. It was mentioned that D Sprout, Code Enforcement Officer, did look at the property and did not see any area of concern regarding flooding and would not need a wetland report done. Something of this size would help elevate the school from hosting. J Leifer suggested gathering pricing of what the project would cost, collecting more information with details, and submitting a solid plan to the town board to start the conversation. Comments included: • An indoor pool such as Cass Park and TC3 are the only indoor pools available, • Maintenance of the pool, • Indoor turf to give more practice time, • Ball fields and tennis courts, • Funding possible from NY State grants and loans, • Geographically close to being centrally located, • Yellow Barn District water and sewer hook-up, • Possible pushback from residents on Scenic Way, • Public Park area, • On the TCAT bus route, • Increase traffic on Route 13, • Flatter land location in the town, • The New York State Office of Parks and Recreation has funding available, • Money available for pool expense cost and managing staff, M Conger looked up the deadline for the NY State Empire Development grant. The cutoff is July 31st. If the town had more green spaces of this type, it would alleviate the pressure on the school district and its buildings. D Peck will contact the real estate agent, Zoe Leonard, to gather more about the property and the possible options available to the owner. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Allison Kjellander-Cantu Deputy Town Clerk