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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03 NewsletterTown of Ithaca March 2019 ******************************************************* 2018 SPRING BRUSH AND LEAF PICKUP BEGINNING MONDAY, APRIL 22nd The Town of Ithaca Public Works Department will be picking up yard waste (brush, leaves, pine needles, dead flowers, garden waste, and grass clippings) starting Monday, April 22nd, and will and continue throughout the Town that week until finished. All yard waste must be at the roadside by 7 a.m. on the first day of collection. THERE WILL BE NO SECOND COLLECTION AND NO CALL BACKS. The intention of the Town’s roadside collection service is for Town residents outside the Village of Cayuga Heights and the City of Ithaca to put a reasonable amount of yard waste (as is generated during a normal year) out at the roadside for pick up by the Town’s crews. Clearing of building lots and hedgerows is beyond a normal amount of material. Roadside collection crews reserve the right to not pick up excessively large volumes of brush and improperly piled materials. Our crews do not use leaf vacuum machines for spring leaf pick up; no loose piles will be picked up. Also, no plastic bags will be picked up. Brush you collect before the first day of the pickup needs to remain out of the rights-of-way until a couple of days before the pick up; this will assure your safety and that of your neighbors. Errant brush piles can wreak havoc on the storm water systems and can create a hazard for walkers and cyclists. You may also drop your yard waste off at the Public Works Facility, 106 Seven Mile Drive, Monday - Friday from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. year-round. Please first sign in at the office. WHAT TO DO  Bag leaves, garden and other yard waste in biodegradable paper bags. Fill bags and place on road shoulder. Fold over openings of bags to close – do not staple or tape. 30-gallon bags are available at Agway, Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, and Wegman’s along with other stores in the area.  Brush should be placed in neat piles going with the flow of traffic so that the chipping trucks can feed the cut ends first. ******************************************************* Conservation Board Seeks New Members How do you share your passion for the environment? What do you do to make our community a better place to live? The Town of Ithaca Conservation Board engages both the Town Board and the Planning Board to make sure our community's environmental concerns are heard. If you are interested in land conservation, proposed development projects, water and energy consumption or invasive species control, come to one of our meetings, held on the first Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Ithaca Town Hall. If you enjoy the meeting, please apply for membership to the Town Conservation Board. Applicants must be Town residents and be interested in playing an active role in the Town’s planning and advisory process, as it relates to environmental concerns. Specialized knowledge is helpful, but not required. For more information about the Conservation Board and their current activities, please visit the Board’s website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us/conservation-board, find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IthacaConservationBoard, or join them for any upcoming meeting (all meetings are open to the public). If interested, please complete a “Board/Committee Application” which can be found on the Town’s website (www.town.ithaca.ny.us/town-clerk) or picked up at the Town Clerks office, 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY. Please contact Michael Smith, Senior Planner, at 607-273-1747 or msmith@town.ithaca.ny.us with any questions. Please contact Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk at 273-1721 or via email at townclerk@town.ithaca.ny.us or visit our website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us for an application. How and Why We Use Easements Water and sewer easements are utilized in a number of ways for maintenance purposes, including:  For access of equipment (excavators, loaders, backhoes, trucks and trailers), materials (pipe, gravels, valves), and manpower to repair, replace and maintain infrastructure, etc.  For cleaning of sanitary sewer mains and manholes  For flushing of water mains and operations of valves  For inspections of infrastructure (manholes, PRV pits, control buildings, pump stations), which may require the cutting or removal of tall grass brush and trees Maintenance of easements is the key to preventing crisis situations when problems arise with the utility. In maintaining these utilities, providers could avoid bigger problems of accessibility during the night, environmental impacts, and mass outages of vital utilities. Items or conditions not allowed within an easements:  Permanent structures or improvements, including foundations retaining walls, fences, garages, sheds play equipment/structures, decks, trees or large shrubs or other features that impede vehicle access along easement,  Private electrical services, buried irrigation systems,  Placement of fill or regrading of property that increases/decreases the cover over the pipes or buries/exposes manholes, valves or cleanouts. Items or conditions allowed within an easement;  Semi-permanent improvements, including landscaping/gardens, decorative walls, walkways. These items should be easily and quickly removable; however they may be damaged during access for maintenance, inspection or repairs. Upcoming Water Main Projects The Town of Ithaca will be performing water main replacements on Muriel Street, Winthrop Drive, Winston Drive, Winston Court, and Salem Drive. Additional projects included roadway reconstruction at the intersection of Bundy Road and State Route 96 and on Poole Rd. If you use Bundy Road, there will be a temporary total closure so stay tuned and watch for announcement of dates when they become available. As always, if you have any questions, call Public Works at 273-1656 ext 220 or the Town Clerks Office at 273-1721 ext 3 Re-Addressing for 911 Recent Town address changes for 911 The County’s enhanced 911 system and the upcoming Census has made it necessary for the Town to correct many addresses within the Town. These changes are necessary to ensure that emergency services are able to find the emergency situation and provide care as well assisting with the Census process to help ensure all residents are counted. Apartments without a clearly designated address that meets any addressing scheme are an example of one issue we have found within the Town and we are in the process of fixing. We recognize that this is a hard process for our residents, especially those that will be changing their address. The Town is working hard to help residents through this process by notifying the major entities of the change and following up with issues that arise. If your address is going to be changed, you will receive an initial letter letting you know that it is going to happen. A second letter will be sent within a few weeks that will identify the new address, the date it will go into effect and the names of people and organizations that the Town notified of the change. If you receive a letter, there are a few things that you can do that will help make the process easier. 1. Submit a change of address with the post office to ensure mail delivery. This can be done online usps.gov or in person. The Town also notifies the post office, but our notification does not change your mail delivery. 2. If you do not reside at the property you own, you must notify residents of your property of the address change so that they can also complete a change of address with the post office and other relevant places. 3. Notify the town of any updated contact information ie. email address, phone, mailing address. This can be done with an email to codes@town.ithaca.ny.us or by calling 273-9347. 4. Follow the directions in the letter for labeling your property correctly and get it done as soon as possible. As always, if you have questions, concerns or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us at codes@town.ithaca.ny.us or 273-1783. Town of Ithaca Public Works – NEW address is 114 Seven Mile Dr.