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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010 Fall NewsletterFALL BRUSH PICK-UP 2010 The Public Works Department will be picking up brush, limbs, and branches beginning 7 a.m. on Monday, October 18, 2010 and continuing throughout the Town until finished. There will be no second collections and no callbacks. The intention of the Town’s roadside collection service is for residents of the Town of Ithaca outside the Village of Cayuga Heights to put a reasonable amount of brush (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. 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 stormwater systems and can create a hazard for walkers and cyclists. You may make arrangements to drop your own yard waste off at the Public Works Facility at 106 Seven Mile Drive, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. any time of the year. WHAT TO DO ■ Pile brush in neat bundles in a direction so that the chipping trucks encounter the cut ends of the branches first. ■ Put out limbs no larger than 8 inches in diameter (it is not necessary to cut limbs into small pieces). ■ Limit brush piles to the size of a pickup load (approximately 4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet in size). ■ Place brush along road shoulder or at end of the driveway if no shoulder exits. WHAT NOT TO DO ■ Do not tie bundles. ■ Do not place any materials in a ditch. ■ Do not put out metal, rocks, glass, roots, stumps, or lumber scraps. ■ Do not put brush out until the week before collection. TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE INSIDE Streambank Setback Law Update Community Garden Student Work Initiative Are Taxes Going Up this Year? Think Snow: Town Snow Operation Guidelines Mounting Smoke Alarms & Detectors BACK PAGE Energy in Your Home Leaf Collection Leaf collection (including leaves, pine needles, dead flowers, garden waste, and grass clippings) will start at 7 a.m. on Monday, November 1, 2010. Leaves may be raked to t h e shoulder of the road or bagged in biodegradable paper leaf bags (30 gallon bags are available at many stores in the area). Please fill the bags and place them on the road shoulder, folding over the openings of the bags to close—do not staple or tape. No plastic bags will be picked up. As in previous years, the Town’s crews will go completely around the T o w n once with the leaf vacuum. For the rest of the month of November, t h e crews will pick up only paper- bagged leaves. Please note that we may send out leaf crews earlier than November 1st to test our equipment and to pick up paper bagged leaves before they get wet. AUTUMN QUESTIONS? Call 273-1656 between 6:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or e-mail us at publicworks@town.ithaca.ny.us. T O W N O F I T H A C A FALL 2010 VOLUME 7 4 Community Garden The Town recently held an open house at West Hill Community Garden at Linderman Creek to celebrate its second successful year. Visitors were treated to tours by Summer Job Squad members Timm Smith & Jimmy Carstarphen, who shared what they learned working in the garden over the summer. Entertainment included the music of Mutsu and a performance by magician James Warren. Tompkins County Dairy Princesses handed out cheese samples and Cooperative Extension community educator Josh Dolan provided the recipe for fresh salsa. Members of this year’s Garden Council are gardeners Joan Lawrence, Gail Felker, Jean Tyson, and Josh Dolan; Ithaca Town staff Rich Schoch and Marnie Kirchgessner; and Ithaca College intern Lauren Boardman, who served as the garden manager. Eight community work efforts were held this year: four by gardeners and four by community groups. Many people and groups contributed to the garden’s success: • Public Works staff Rich Schoch, Jeff Hulburt, Toby Brown, Hank Yolman, and Joe Hulburt • Sustainable Tompkins • First Assembly of God Church (David Sotero, Youth Minister) • The Learning Web Community Service Groups (Anrielle George, leader) • Renee Farkas & Amy Kuo Somchanhmavong of the Cornell POST program • Summer Job Squad members Timm Smith, Yeh Baht, and Jimmy Carstarphen • Audrey Norberg of Plenty of Posies • Zenon Wasyliew • Dennis Hartley & Anna Steinkraus of Little Tree Orchards Space is still available in the garden for fall planting, and applications for the 2011 growing season are now being accepted. Visit www.town.ithaca.ny.us/garden.htm for more information. Student Work Initiative Healthy living seemed to be a theme for this year’s popular Student Work Initiative Program. The Town Board recognized 29 youth for their work as project assistants at the September 13th Board meeting. Eleven of the youth worked on organic garden or farm projects. Others worked at Town Hall, Public Works, Lifelong, Buffalo Street Books, Southside Sound Studio, Coddington Road Community Center, Comet Skateboards, T-burg Mini-Golf Family Entertainment, the Floating Classroom, Computer All Stars, Brookdale Senior Living Center Clare Bridge Cottage, Sew Green, and the YMCA. The program operates year round with the greatest demand for summer employment. Participation in subsidized positions is limited to one 100-hour term of appointment. Positions are hands-on and give youth an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution and receive practical experience in the world of work. Services like resume writing are available to assist teens in locating private employment. Call Marnie Kirchgessner at 273-1721 Ext.136 if you have questions about the Student Work Initiative program or the Community Garden. Example of proper mounting for alarms and detectors with sloped ceilings 102-mm (4-in.) Not in this area Anywhere in this area 900-mm (36-in.) Mounting Smoke Alarms & Detectors National Fire Alarm Code Stream Setback Law Update The Town of Ithaca Town Board will soon be considering adopting a stream setback law. The purpose of the law is to protect the water quality of our streams and Cayuga Lake by establishing “setback’ requirements for development activities and certain land uses that impact streams and disturb the beneficial vegetation that grows naturally within a stream corridor. Vegetation along streams — especially trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants (grasses and wildflowers) — serves numerous functions. It slows the rate of runoff, which moderates flooding and prevents soil erosion, and it traps and absorbs nutrients and pollutants carried in stormwater runoff, thus keeping them from being washed into the stream. The Stream Setback Law essentially provides a low-cost non-technical means of managing stormwater and improving the health of our streams and lake. Additionally, a naturally vegetated stream corridor serves as important habitat for numerous species of wildlife and benefits the community by enhancing the scenic beauty of the area. As proposed, development activities and land uses — such as the construction of new buildings or the expansion of existing ones, disturbance of soil, and storage of waste materials — would be required to be set back a certain distance from streams identified on the Town’s Stream Setback Map. Streams identified on the map have specific required setback widths that are based on the stream size or, more specifically, the stream’s drainage area. As an example, a large stream like Six Mile Creek would have a 100-foot setback while a smaller stream would have a 50- or 35-foot setback. The proposed regulation would also incorporate two “zones” of protection within a setback width, with the zone closest to the stream being the most restrictive. Work on the Stream Setback Law has been ongoing for several years. Most recently, the Town’s Codes and Ordinances Committee refined the draft law in response to the many comments we received following last year’s public information meeting. The Town Board anticipates holding a public hearing to consider the law in late fall or early winter. If you are a resident of the Town, we encourage you to learn more about the proposed draft Stream Setback Law and view the Stream Setback Map. T H I N K S N O W ! It’s that time of year again. Below are the Town’s guidelines for snow operations. The primary consideration for making the decision between snow & ice removal and plowing is traffic safety and allowance for emergency services (fire and ambulance). When the roads are lightly snow covered and begin to become a hazard, the crews are called in and salt is applied to the roads to provide de-icing. If the situation progresses to a point where the accumulation is 1½ to 2 inches, the roads and shoulders are plowed and de-iced together. Our regular service hours for snow removal are 3 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and as needed on nights and weekends. County roads and rural connector roads are our primary priority and all other Town roads are a secondary priority. Of course, emergency vehicles and school bus routes will take priority as the need arises. Since snowplowing operations start early, parking on roads and shoulders is discouraged. If a vehicle hinders snowplow operations, the vehicle will be towed at the owner’s expense. Please remind your snow removal service that snow should be completely cleared from the road. Snow left in roads from your driveway can create a liability situation for the homeowner. If a mailbox that is properly installed and initially in good repair is damaged by a Town plow, the Public Works Department may, at its option, replace or repair it upon notification. The mailbox must be a minimum distance of 14 feet from the center of the road with a 44-inch clearance under the mailbox. Repairs to lawns or plantings damaged in the rights-of-way will be the responsibility of the homeowner. If you have any questions, call the Public Works Department at 273-1656 or e-mail us at publicworks@town.ithaca.ny.us. Example of proper mounting for detectors Not in this area Anywhere in this area 900-mm (36-in.)900-mm (36-in.) 102-mm (4-in.) Example of proper mounting for alarms and detectors with peaked ceilings 102-mm (4-in.)minimum 300-mm (12-in.)maximum 102-mm (4-in.) Acceptable here Never here Top of detectoracceptable here Sidewall Note: Measurements shown are to the closest edge of the detector. In 2010 staff received a 1% increase (1.5% for our unionized employees). The Town will have fewer staff in 2011. Plus with reorganization and the retirement of a number of long-time department heads, we’ll save about $20,000 for each of four positions. We’re considering a 2% overall wage increase in 2011, although the budget process has a long way to go. Last year we put off replacing vehicles and equipment that had reached the end of their useful life, but we must replace some of these before they become dangerous to our staff and the public. We also will take advantage of federal, state, and Cornell funding to complete several projects (see Figure 1). We will be bonding for several major projects that start in 2011 (see Figure 2). These projects will be paid for over a 20-year period. Fortunately, the Town has been prudent in its past borrowing and will continue to have a very low debt load compared to other municipalities. How much will taxes increase? The answer is, we don’t know yet. Budget-setting is a long and imprecise process. Data show that sales and mortgage taxes—major sources of Town income in addition to property taxes—have still not recovered to 2008 levels. Based on these reduced income sources and projections by Town departments, spending would increase 5.79%. We also need to review requests and figures from our water and sewer treatment plants and fire and emergency services before the figures become final. FIGURE 1 Projects to Complete in 2011 Project Total Cost Town Share Forest Home Traffic Calming $414,050 $58,525 Warren Road Walkway $498,010 $145,010 Pine Tree Road Pedestrian and Bike Improvements $956,454 $35,000 Forest Home Upstream Bridge $1,172,000 $102,500 FIGURE 2 Projects to Bond in 2011 Project Total Cost Schedule Town Hall Roof $300,000 June-July Snyder Hill Road Reconstruction $500,000 June-August Forest Home Drive Repaving $200,000 June-October Hungerford Hill Water Pump Station $400,000 April-June Snyder Hill Water Main $300,000 June - August E Shore Drive Water Main $2,500,000 March-October You can participate in the budget-setting process. The initial budget will be discussed by the Town Board in October, a public hearing will be held in early November, and the final budget adopted no later than November 20. In the meantime comments and suggestions can be submitted to Town Supervisor Herb Engman. Please call the Building Code Office at 273-1721 if you have questions. ARE TAXES GOING UP THIS YEAR? Probably. While the Town of Ithaca is doing a good job increasing efficiency and controlling staff costs, our infrastructure is aging and repairs and replacements are badly needed. Mounting Smoke Alarms & Detectors, continued Town of Ithaca 215 N. Tioga Street Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-273-1721 Fax: 607-273-5854 www.Town.Ithaca.ny.us The Town of Ithaca has just hired a sustainability planner, Katie Stoner, to help the Towns of Ithaca and Dryden build a more sustainable future. Every resident can help by saving energy at home, thus saving money as well. The article to the right is one of a series of articles you can find on the Cornell Cooperative Extension website. For more information, visit ccetompkins.org. Click on Energy and navigate to the different articles under Home Energy Savings. You can also call Cooperative Extension at 272-2292. STOP LOSING MONEY ON ENERGY IN YOUR HOME The average New York home uses over $2,600 per year on energy for electricity, heat, and hot water. Amazingly, it is possible to save 20 to 60 percent of that amount — up to $1,500 a year! Path to Home Energy Savings See how much you can save by navigating the Energy Efficiency Path. It starts with an energy-wasting home, progresses to an energy-efficient home, and ends with renewable energy. Choose from two routes: the do-it-yourself route and the certified contractor route. DO-IT-YOURSELF 1 No Cost/Low Cost Install energy-saving lightbulbs (CFLs), low- flow shower heads, caulking, and weather stripping. These steps will pay for themselves very quickly. 2 Tune-Up or Replace Energy Hogs Keep your major appliances and heating system tuned up and your thermostats programmed. 3 Seal Leaks, then Add Insulation Seal the attic floor, basement ceiling, and where the house meets the foundation. 4 Upgrade Major Appliances Replace appliances like refrigerators, washers, and dehumidifiers with Energy Star models. CONTRACTOR SHORTCUT! 5 Whole-House Energy Retrofit A BPI-certified contractor will look at your house as a whole, conduct an audit, make recommendations, and help you decide how to retrofit your house in the most cost effective way. 6 Renewable Energy The last and most expensive step is installing renewable energy systems. Renewable energy is like icing on the cake; employ this method after everything else. Types of renewable energy technology include photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar hot water, and wood pellet stoves.