Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011 Spring NewsletterQUESTIONS? 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.Town of Ithaca215 N. Tioga StreetIthaca, NY 14850Phone: 607-273-1721Fax: 607-273-5854www.Town.Ithaca.ny.usPersonnel Update SUSAN RITTER PROMOTED Planning staff have been focusing on revising the Comprehensive Plan for the past year and that process will be taken on by the new Direc- tor of Planning, Susan Ritter. Susan has over 13 years’ experience working in the Town’s Planning Department, serving the past ten years as the Assistant Director of Planning. Susan’s background is in land use planning, environmental impact assessments, natural resource protection, and water resource man- agement. She is strongly committed to involv- ing the community in the planning process. TOWN APPOINTS FINANCE OFFICER The Town Board appointed Michael Solvig as the new Finance Officer in December to over- see the Town’s finances and purchasing opera- tions. Mike joins the Town after 30 years of government and purchasing experience in the City of Park Ridge and Village of Glenview, Illinois. Mike is available to help answer ques- tions you may have about the Town’s budget and finances. WELCOME ABOARD Dan Tasman: Assistant Director of Planning Nancy Flood: Public Works administration SEEKING BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS Have you ever wanted to give back to the com- munity? Have you ever been interested in local government and how it works? Did you ever wonder how people get to serve on commu- nity committees? The Town is looking for volunteers who want to serve on various boards and com- mittees. Become a representative to the Joint Youth Commission, which has vacancies for the Village of Cayuga Heights and the Town of Ithaca. Volunteer to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals or the Conservation Board. These are opportunities to learn more and get involved with the Town. To learn more, please call the Town Clerk’s Office at 273-1721 or submit your interest through our website at www.town.ithaca.ny.us. SPRING 2011 VOLUME 75 SPRING CLEANING Spring is the time to clean up your property. The Town is revising its property maintenance law (Chapter 205 of the Town Code). Watch our website for upcoming public hearings on this topic. These changes could affect YOU. TOWN OF ITHACA Dog Licensing Update The Town of Ithaca completed a dog enumera- tion in December, and several hundred more dogs are now legally licensed in the Town. New York State law mandates that all dogs over the age of four months be licensed, so if you’ve recently moved to town or gotten a new dog, please contact the Clerk’s office. New York State no longer administers a state- wide licensing program, so the Town has taken over all aspects of dog licensing. This has pro- vided us with the flexibility to offer some options that our residents have requested. Length of license: You can now license your dog for 1, 2, or 3 years. The license term cannot exceed the life of your dog’s rabies vaccine. Synchronization of multiple licenses: Owners of more than one dog can now renew all their dogs’ licenses in the same month. Let’s say you have two dogs: Beethoven and Mozart. If Beethoven’s renewal month is March and Mozart’s is May, you can renew both licenses in March as long as they don’t exceed the rabies expiration date. You cannot put off renewing Beethoven’s license until May, however. Dogs owners renewing licenses will have noticed that new license tags are being issued imprinted with the name and phone number of the Town. If you move to a different municipality, please let us know so we can remove your name from our records. You will need to renew your dog’s license at the clerk’s where you reside. ECOVILLAGE AT ITHACA WINS FISCHER CONSERVATION AWARD At their March meeting, the Town’s Conserva- tion Board unanimously approved EcoVillage as the eighth winner of their annual Richard Fischer Environmental Conservation Award. EVI has gradually and carefully changed 175 acres of woods and farmland into a model for compact housing, natural area conservation, and local organic food production. As its third residental neighborhood is now under development, we want to celebrate the way EVI not only builds environmentally-sensitive housing, but also edu- cates the public about their graceful occupation on West HIll. Recent books by EVI’s Executive Director are just part of EVI’s broad inspirational message, teaching us how to “Choose a Sustainable Future,” and welcoming all to learn more about the crucial importance of conservation through EVI’s Center for Sustainability Education. EVI, a pragmatic living workshop with a mission to meet “human needs for shelter, food, energy, livelihood, and social connectedness that are aligned with the long term health and viability of Earth and all its inhabitants,” well deserves the Town’s official recognition. We greatly appreciate that EcoVillage is here at Ithaca! Join us in May for a tree-planting party to cel- ebrate EVI’s award at Westhaven Preserve near Helen’s Way, date to be announced soon. TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE INSIDE ■ Staying Informed ■ Emerald Ash Borer ■ Freedom of Information ■ Tax Cap ■ Sewer & Water Rates ■ Fire Protection ■ Public Works Projects BACK PAGE ■ Richard Fischer Award ■ Personnel Updates Spring Brush and Leaf Pickup The Public Works Department will be picking up yard waste starting Monday, April 11th, and will continue throughout the Town until finished. All yard waste must be at the roadside by 7 a.m. on the first day of collection. 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 yard waste (as is gener- ated 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 improp- erly 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 neigh- bors. 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 Fri- day from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. any time of the year. WHAT TO DO ■ Bag leaves and garden waste in biodegrad- able paper bags ■ Pile brush in neat bundles parallel to the roadway. ■ 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 and filled bags of yard waste along road shoulder or at the end of the driveway if no shoulder exits. WHAT NOT TO DO ■ Do not tie bundles of brush. ■ 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. Why Did the Sewer and Water Rates Increase? Town residents noticed that the water and sewer rates increased substantially in 2011. One reason is that we tried to protect Town residents from additional costs during the uncertain recession years of 2008, 2009, and 2010. Now we must catch up. The primary reason for the sewer rate change is that our infrastructure—sewage treatment plant, pipes, pumps—are now over 25 years old and in need of replacement. The sewage treatment plant, jointly owned by the Towns of Ithaca and Dryden and the City of Ithaca, will begin over $9 million worth of improvements in 2011. The Town’ share is over $3 million. While we will enter into an energy per- formance contract that will pay back the entire amount in energy sav- ings, we must contribute to our part of the bond- ing on a yearly basis. Also, the settlement of a lawsuit from previous owners of the plant site over coal tar residues will cost the Town $80,000. Residents are using less water and, ironically, that increases the rates. The fixed costs for staff to run the Bolton Point plant are all necessary even when less water is used. Conservation efforts like low-flow toilets, reduced industrial use due to the recession, and less demand for irrigation of play- ing field and gardens because of adequate rain- fall, all contribute to lower water sales. We must also replace or refurbish increasing numbers of water filters, pumps, water tanks, and transmis- sion lines. Replacing the water main on East Shore Drive alone will cost $2.5 million. When these water and sewer systems were first built, state and fed- eral subsidies paid for up to 90% of the costs. Now when it comes time to replace these facilities, the expense falls almost exclusively onto the local rate payer. While the increases in rates this year were high, the total costs for a year are still quite low. The minimal rate totals about $300 per year, not a large amount for essential services like water and sewer. Many people spend that much on cof- fee each day, and it is certainly much less than other services like telephone or TV. To learn more about water, see www.bolton- point.org . For sewer, visit the City of Ithaca web site at www.ci.ithaca.ny.us and click on Departments > Public Works > Sewer and Water. The Town of Ithaca does not have a fire department, yet we own two fire stations: one on South Hill near Ithaca College and the other on West Hill near the hospital. So how are your homes and other property protected? We contract with the City of Ithaca Fire Depart- ment and the Cayuga Heights Fire Department. This is one of many examples in the Town of inter- municipal cooperation. The Cayuga Heights Fire Department covers a section in the Northeast. We pay approximately $172,000 per year for this service. Cayuga Heights has a paid, part-time fire chief and volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), some of whom are Cornell students. The City of Ithaca Fire Department covers the rest of the Town at a cost of approximately $3,200,000 per year. The City owns two fire sta- tions, one downtown and one in Collegetown, and operates the two in the Town. It is almost totally a paid fire department. One of the reasons the Town’s fire tax rate increased 10.5% this year is that both the City and Cayuga Heights have proposed new fire trucks to replace aged units – a combined cost of $1.2 mil- lion. The City truck is well over 20 years old and the Cayuga Heights truck is over 15. While the bills will not arrive until 2012, we started raising money this year to cover those costs as well as those for ongoing operations. Most fire departments no longer spend most of their time fighting fires. The City’s annual report shows how firefighters spend their time: Activity % time spent Rescue & emergency medical services 45.58 False alarms & false calls 30.28 Calls that are well-intended, but not a threat 8.51 Potentially hazardous conditions, including the possibility of fire 6.8 Firefighting 2.48 In response to the cost and distribution of fire protection and EMT services, the Town has cre- ated a temporary committee to study our options. Are there modern approaches to fire and EMT functions and ways to better control costs? The Town Supervisor invites suggestions from Town residents. You can contact Herb Engman directly at 273-1721, Ext. 125 or at HEngman@town. ithaca.ny.us. F I R E P R O T E C T I O N Public Works PROJECTS FOR THE UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION SEASON Hungerford Hill Pump Station and water main. Project to begin in late April/early May and be completed in 120 days Snyder Hill Road Water Main replace-ment and Road Reconstruction. Project to begin in late April/early May and be completed in 160 days Town Hall Roof Repairs. Project to begin in June and be completed in 90 days Warren Road Walkway. Project will be completed by end of June East Shore Drive Water Main Replace-ment. Project to begin in late May/early June and be completed by the end of the year. Pavement Maintenance & Repair. Project to begin in May and continue throughout the summer months; it will be occurring throughout the Town. How Would a Tax Cap Affect the Town? News reports have been rife with articles about a proposed New York State property tax cap. Combined with possible cuts in federal and state support to localities, all this could cause a radical change in the services provided by the Town of Ithaca. Simplistic solutions to the tax burden like a property tax cap do not take into consideration the unique circumstances of each municipal- ity. For example, the Town of Ithaca is growing more than any other municipality in Tompkins County. The new US Census will probably show that the Town now has around 20,000 residents, compared with 30,000 in the City and 100,000 in the County. Growth increases costs for roads, sewer, water, walkways, parks, and other needs. Contrary to common belief, residential growth does not create a net increase in Town income, it costs more (commercial development is the opposite and farms and open space place less stress on services). If the property tax cap were on the tax rate, it wouldn’t be so bad: the Town has raised the rate only three times in the past decade or so. How- ever, the proposal is to limit the tax levy, or the total amount the Town can raise via the property tax. The levy increases or decreases as property assessments change. It is often new develop- ment that increases the levy and the associated increases in infrastructure costs to the Town. Our aging water and sewer systems carry their own cost burden. These expenses are cov- ered by separate fees, but they require an appro- priate number of staff and equipment to keep the systems working. See “Why Did the Sewer and Water Rates Increase?” on the facing page for details Over the past three years, the Town has kept costs under control primarily by eliminating several positions as employees retired and by reducing the salaries of the highest-paid depart- ment heads. There is a point at which staff cuts become counterproductive, when service qual- ity declines and new service plans are shelved. Non-state-mandated services is the only other option. These include youth, recreation, and human services programs as well as support for the library, TCAT, and stream and Cayuga Lake scientific monitoring. The ultimate effect of a property tax cap is not known, but the result would likely be a dras- tic cut in Town services to our residents. The ultimate solution to the property tax dilemma is for the state to get its fiscal house in order and to eliminate unfunded man- dates to localities. Town staff estimate that the stormwater runoff regulations – while positive in intent – cost the Town $75,000 per year. And in the last year alone, the state added dog control and fireworks regulation to the list of unfunded mandates. The state should shift the burden of taxation from the property tax to the income tax, which better reflects the ability of the individual to pay. The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) defines a document as “any information kept, held, filed, produced, reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatso- ever including, but not limited to, reports, state- ments, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, let- ters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs, rules, regulations or codes.” That includes all correspondence from residents sent to any Town Official. Some information, like names and addresses, can be redacted to protect the privacy of the writer, but for the most part, any written word is considered a “docu- ment” and therefore must be released under the FOIL guidelines. Contact the Town Clerk’s Office for more infor- mation or visit the Committee on Open Govern- ment’s website at www.dos.state.ny.us/coog DID YOU KNOW THAT CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN A RESIDENT & A TOWN OFFICIAL IS NOT CONFIDENTIAL? YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ACTION Staying Informed The Town is very busy and growing every day. Residents often ask us how they can keep abreast of topics of interest as they come up for review by our boards and committees. Many projects go in front of several different boards and commit- tees at different stages of the review process. For example, the Ithaca College Athletics and Events Center went before the Planning Board, the Public Works Committee, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Town Board over a three-year span. All members of the public are invited to attend board and committee meetings to hear items of interest discussed. If you are unable to attend a meeting, log onto our website at www.town. ithaca.ny.us to find copies of minutes. The agendas of all Town meetings are available on our online calendar. Residents can sign up on the Town’s website to be notified when new agen- das are posted to the calendar. Here’s how it works: 1 Go to our website. Click on Information, then follow the link to the Meeting Calendar. The Meeting Schedules & Public Notices page contains current public hearing notices and a link to the individual calendars for each month of the year. 2 Enter your email address in the text box on this page to receive notification when a new public hearing notice is posted. Click on an upcoming month to navigate to the meeting calendar for that month. Enter your email address in the text box to be informed when additions are made to the calendar. 3 Click on a calendar item to navigate to that meeting’s agenda. Neighborhood associations are another way to stay informed about projects and events in your area. We encourage groups to contact the Town Clerk’s office with up-to-date contact information. Pest Threatens Ash Trees The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive insect recently discovered in several regions of New York State. This insect is known to kill ash trees of all species, size, and vigor and spreads through flight and by transportation in firewood, logs, and nursery stock. More information regarding the EAB can be found at: nyis.info and www.emeraldashborer.info.