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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010 Spring Newsletter215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-273-1721 Fax: 607-273-5854 www.town.ithaca.ny.us Town of Ithaca Personnel Update Paulette Terwilliger Appointed Town Clerk Paulette Terwilliger was appointed to the position of Town Clerk on January 11, 2010. Paulette began her career with the Town in 2006 as a Deputy Town Clerk. Paulette’s desire to cross train and assist other departments is what led to her to lateral move to the secretarial position for the Code Enforcement department in 2009. Paulette’s dedication to the Town allowed the administration to work through some tough times as she covered for both the Code Enforcement and the Town Clerk departments. Paulette has a strong background in customer service and looks forward to making the Town Clerk’s Office more welcoming and user friendly to residents. Paulette appointed Deb DeAugistine as her Deputy. Deb previously served for five years as the Caroline Town Clerk and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience. Congratulations to both. Welcome Aboard Carrie Whitmore – Code Enforcement Tanja Eie – Public Works Board and Committee Members Needed Have you ever wanted to give back to the community? Are you interested in local government and how it works? Did you ever wonder how people get to serve on community committees? Well, now is the time to get involved. The Town is looking for volunteers to serve on various boards and committees: the Joint Youth Commission has vacancies for representatives for both the Village of Cayuga Heights and the Town of Ithaca, and there are vacancies on the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Conservation Board. If you are interested in volunteering your time and want to learn more about the opportunity, please call the Town Clerk’s Office at 273-1721 or submit your interest through our website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us. Every 10 years through the U.S. Census, the federal government counts everyone living in the United States, as directed by the Constitution. 2010 is a Census year, and you’ll be mailed a Census questionnaire this spring sometime between mid-March and mid-April. By taking just 10 minutes to complete a simple, secure 10-question form, you provide the population information that affects federal and state dollars to support our community services, as well as our area’s government representation. The Census counts you where you are living as of April 1. Be sure to be counted. Watch for your Census form. Fill it out. Send it back. For more information, visit www.tompkins-co.org and click on 2010 Census. 2010 Census EVERYONE COUNTS IN TOMPKINS COUNTY All yard waste (brush, leaves, pine needles, dead flowers, garden waste, and grass clippings) must be at the roadside by 7 a.m. of the first day of collection. This service is for all areas of the Town of Ithaca outside the Village of Cayuga Heights. You may make arrangements to drop your yard waste off at the Public Works Facility at 106 Seven Mile Drive, Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. year round. Leaves and garden waste must be bagged in biodegradable paper bags (you can find 30 gallon bags at many stores, including Agway, Bishops, Home Depot, Lowes, and Wegman’s). Place filled bags on the shoulder of the road. Fold over openings of bags to close—do not staple or tape. No loose piles of leaves or plastic bags will be picked up. Pile brush in neat bundles with cut ends facing forward and going with the flow of traffic (i.e., up the street). Place them along the road shoulder or at the end of the driveway where no shoulder exists. Do not place any materials in a ditch. Limb diameter must be less than 8 inches; it is not necessary to cut limbs into small pieces. Do not tie bundles. No metal, rocks, glass, roots, stumps, or lumber scraps. Brush piles should be no larger than a pickup truck load (approximately 4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet). The intention of the Town’s roadside collection service is for residents to put a reasonable amount of brush and limbs (as is generated during a normal year) out at roadside for pick up by the Town’s crews. Clearing of 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 or improperly piled materials. Please be respectful of pedestrians and bicycle riders who use the road rights-of-way when you place materials at the roadside. Thank you for your cooperation. For more information, please call 273-1656 between 6:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. STUDENT WORK INITIATIVE PROGRAM The Student Work Initiative Program interviews and assists youth with their employment search. This year we’re planning a community service expansion for youth at the West Hill Community Garden at Linderman Creek. Both programs offer youth employment and training opportunities for youth within the Joint Youth Commission municipalities. The effort is designed to increase employment opportunities for youth with a focus on teens between the ages of 14 and 18 that could benefit from job seeking and on-the-job training assistance. Last year this office worked with 108 youth — 32 in positions that directly benefited the youth with real work experiences and the community with their contributions. This program operates year round and work sites are not limited to the Town. To better access resources and serve a larger number of youth, we participate in the Tompkins County Youth Employment Network. We interact extensively with the public to find the best fit for teens and their employers. Public service requires creativity and a genuine interest in contributing to improve and support your community. Employment applications are available at Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street or from the Town’s web site. If you have questions, please call Marnie Kirchgessner at 607-273-1721 ext. 136. Spring Brush & Leaf Pickup Public Works will pick up yard waste starting Monday, April 19th, and continuing throughout the Town until finished. THERE WILL BE NO SECOND COLLECTION AND NO CALL BACKS TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE ASSESSMENT GRIEVANCE DAY  WAY2GO GARDENING NEWS  COMP PLAN UPDATE GAS DRILLING  CARBON MONOXIDE PLUMBING TALK  BUILDING PERMITS 2010 CENSUS  PERSONNEL UPDATE FREE RABIES CLINIC FOR DOGS, CATS, & FERRETS May 19, 2010 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sponsored by the Tompkins County Health Department The clinic will be held at the Town of Ithaca Public Works Department, 106 Seven Mile Drive, Ithaca. The clinic is open to everyone — not just residents of the Town of Ithaca. Please have pets leashed or crated. Call 273-1656 for information. 2 3 4 WAY2GO Way2Go is a new county-wide hub of transportation information, dialog, and action. It provides transportation information through professional trainings, public workshops, collaborative community projects, and a website at www.way2goinfo.org. Way2Go promotes transportation choices that support individual, community, and environmental well being. The Way2Go website and other programs help people take charge of their transportation by understanding and comparing options and resources, and offers tips on getting around that save money, support community, and reduce pollution, whether people drive all the time, don’t have a car at all, or something in between. Way2Go can be reached at Cooperative Extension (607-272-2292 or takecharge@way2goinfo.org). Chrisophia Somerfeldt is the Way2Go Transportation Educator and Program Manager. Conservation Board members found an area in Coy Glen covered in Vinca, also know as myrtle or periwinkle, and a wonderful ground cover in many eyes. This “garden escapee” is a bit slower growing, but in the wrong place it smothers native plants. Japanese Knotweed along our lake shores near the East Shore Park is also a concern. Eradication of these weeds is not a simple spray or dig process. Persistence is necessary with repeated removal techniques. Board members and friends are planning to follow Cornell research recommendations to cut and bag the swallow-wort weed, followed by careful application of herbicide. It may take several seasons of similar treatment to destroy the weed in this location. Three steps you can take to decrease the spread of invasives: Know what plants are invasive. A plant list is available on the Environmental Management Council website. Check garden resources before buying plants. Remove invasive plants carefully. Research and follow instructions for specific plants. Wear protective clothing. Dig or cut before seeds form. Bag in heavy duty plastic bags and dispose of with your garbage. Be aware that disturbed and fallow soils in-vite the growth of invasive weeds. Plant an annual grass so that it is more difficult for other plants to get a foot hold. A Little Plumbing TYour sewer lateral isfrom your house to tmanholes are part oof miles of pipes thatHomeowners know system by checking tBasic maintenance sing of the lateral wiwastewater for the Tlandscape plantings Comprehensive Plan Update Public Information Meeting Tuesday, May 11th at 6:30 p.m. The Town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee is making great progress towards updating the 1993 Compre-hensive Plan. At the 2nd Public Information Meeting, the Committee will provide the following: A report on the results of the Residents Survey that was completed in 2009 An overview of existing conditions and trends in the Town since the 1993 Plan Feedback on its review of goals and objectives A focus discussion on growth and development in the Town. Visit www.town.ithaca.ny.us for updates on the Plan. The Committee has conducted many focus group meetings on subjects like housing, energy, ecology, agriculture, neighborhoods, and health. They plan to set up meetings with individual neighborhood groups to talk more about issues of interest to each neighbor-hood. The Committee will soon start to discuss possible growth scenarios for different areas of the Town as a precursor to updating policies and strategies to move forward over the next ten to fifteen years. Please plan on attending the meeting. If you would like additional information about the meeting or if you have questions about the Plan update, contact Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning, at (607) 273-1747 or jkanter@town.ithaca.ny.us. DO YOU THINK YOUR PROPERTY ASSESSESSMENT IS TOO HIGH? The Tompkins County Board of Assessment Review will be holding Grievance Days in May. Exact dates will be available soon. Call the Assessment Department at 274-5517 to find out how to file a grievance application. The Town opened the West Hill Community Gar-den at Linderman Creek in 2009 on park land adja-cent to the Linderman Creek housing complex. The Town received a grant to construct a protective fence around an acre area that was cordoned into 100 individual plots and a 200-ft by 30-ft communal gardening space. We’ve sent out letters to last year’s participants and are now accepting applications for the 2010 season. Forms are available on our web site at www.town.ithaca.ny.us/garden.htm. The Town was also awarded a grant from Sustainable Tomp-kins last year to purchase communal tools for use at the garden. Local growers Earlybird and West Hill Organic Farms provided plant sets for gardeners–83 percent of whom qualified for free plots–permitting anyone with an interest in gardening the opportunity to participate. This year the Town has made another request for funding to establish some permanent beds of herbs, berries, and vegetables. There’s a garden council consisting of Jean Tyson, Joan Law-rence, Gail Felker, Josh Dolan, Ithaca College intern Lauren Boardman, and Town staff Rich Schoch. To achieve an effective, low-cost program, the Town will continue to seek collaborations like the one with New Roots School that resulted in cold frames and grant support. Call or email Marnie at 273-1721(MKirchgessner@town.ithaca.ny.us) with questions. Invasive Plants and Garden Escapees Garlic Mustard has made local news but it is not the only invasive weed spreading and crowding out native species. Conservation Board members are concerned with swallow-wort, which is established around a town water tank and moving into the South Hill Nature Preserve. Swallow-wort forms a thick mat that kills other plants and is toxic to Monarch Butterflies. At left, large stand of Japanese knotweed West Hill Community Garden Gas Drilling in the Town of Ithaca Residents have turned out to meetings to learn about the potential for gas drilling in the Town and have asked what the Town government is doing to prepare for the possibility. Here are some steps we have taken: We requested that the Governor and Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) extend the review period for the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dGEIS) on gas drilling. that request was granted. We responded to the DEC’s dGEIS, stating that we have many features that need to be protected in the Town including drinking water, good farm soils, views, steep slopes, Unique Natural Areas, parks, and tourist attractions. We developed a “road construction law” in coordination with six other towns through the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG). This law, if adopted by the Town Board, will regulate culverts, road cuts for pipelines, and any other construction activity affecting Town roads. The TCCOG coalition is working with the County to develop a “road maintenance law” that will require any companies damaging our roads to pay for the repairs or reconstruction. We are investigating other measures, including declaring Critical Environmental Areas, to require greater environmental scrutiny and asserting the rights of towns to issue permits for industrial activities. WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET A BUILDING PERMIT? The time it takes to review and issue a permit depends on the proposed work. When the Building Department receives an application, the clerical staff check it over for completeness and accuracy, and confirm that the proper insurance forms are on file for the contractor, as required by New York State. Once the application is deemed complete, all materials are date stamped and entered into our database. Since Town law states that a building permit cannot be issued for a property that is in violation of any Town or State regulation, a code enforcement officer will review the application for compliance with the Town of Ithaca Code, State Building Code, and local planning and zoning requirements. This involves researching the history of work done on a property or if variances from zoning regulations have been satisfied, and reviewing old building permits. Our database contains every building permit issued by code enforcement, but does not always tell what the permit was issued for. Armed with this information, we begin the leg work of pulling old files and comparing the proposed work to what we have on record. If everything matches up, the permit application moves on to the next step. If not, we need to remedy the problem, which could include work having been done without a permit or without applying to the Zoning Board for a variance. Oftentimes, other departments are involved in the permitting process; for example, the Engineering Department reviews stormwater protection plans and the Planning Department site plans. We might also schedule a site visit before issuing a permit. Is there plumbing involved? We’ll have to wait for Bolton Point’s approval. Multiply this routine by several permits per day, then factor in the inspections that are required once a permit is issued and the day-to-day office activities. Now you have an idea of what it takes to process a building permit. We’re doing everything possible to process your application as efficiently as possible. How can you help in this process? Planning. Submit your application in advance of your tentative start date. Permits are generally processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Make sure you have everything we will need to process your application, including all information requested on the application. If you have questions, feel free to contact us or make an appointment to meet with us. Appointments allow us to schedule our time with fewer interruption, improving the turnaround time on all applications. Carbon Monoxide Amanda’s Law went into effect on February 22, 2010. It is named for 16-year-old Amanda Hansen of West Seneca, New York, who died on January 17, 2009, due to a carbon monoxide leak from a defective boiler while she was sleeping at a friend's house. Basically, this law requires all single and two-family homes and multiple dwellings to have at least one CO detector installed. Under Amanda's Law, homes built before January 1, 2008 are permitted to have battery-powered CO alarms, while homes built after this date are required to have the alarms hard-wired into the building. Since carbon monoxide has almost the same density as air, and CO and air mix freely, it does not matter at what level in the structure the detector is placed (unless the manufacturer’s instructions specify a location). Please contact the Town’s Code Enforcement Department if you would like us to review where to locate a CO detector in your home. New York State has passed Amanda’s Law requiring CO detectors in all structures that have fuel burning appliances or attached garages. Talk The Intermunicipal Sewer Use Law may not make a lot of dollars and sense to town residents. But in reality, the law protects tax payers’ interest by mandating specific use and enforcement guidelines of what goes down their sewer service lateral. What is your sewer service lateral and how can it save you and the Town of Ithaca in the long term? s intended to pipe your plumbing wastewater the sewer main. The sewer main and nearby of the wastewater collection system that consists t eventually gets treated at the treatment plant. w whether they are connected to the sewer their water bill from Bolton Point. steps you can do to ensure the proper function-ill help reduce the overall cost of treating the Town. First, refrain from installing permanent on top of your lateral, which could damage your pipe and allow groundwater to enter the sewer. Trees and shrubs could also result in expensive repairs to your pipe due to root intrusion. Do not connect your roof leaders, basement sump pump, foundation drains, or any other non-plumbing connections to the sewer system. These types of illegal connections carry fines of $500 a day plus legal fees and expenses for violations (Town Code Chapter 214-33). Penalties are severe because clean water costs just as much as wastewater once in the system. Finally, to help prevent sewer blockages, do not pour cooking grease down the drain. Laws cannot be enacted that address only gas companies – they must apply to all similar industrial activity. The only powers that are now clear are the abilities to regulate road use, water withdrawal and disposal, and taxation. Laws regarding the ability of local governments to regulate gas drilling will probably have to be tested in the courts.