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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 Fall NewsletterFALL 2012 ISSUE TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE INSIdE Sustainability Planning Comprehensive Plan Update Groundswell Incubator Farm Will Town Taxes Increase? Conservation Board News BaCk PaGE Trash Talk Sanitary Sewer Etiquette TRAFFIC TRAFFIC cut ends 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. year round. cut ends Leaf Collection Leaf collection (including leaves, pine nee- dles, dead flowers, garden waste, and grass clippings) will start at 7 a.m. on Monday, October 29th. Leaves may be raked to the 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 openings. No plastic bags will be picked up. As in previous years, the town’s crews will go around the entire town once with the leaf vac- uum. For the rest of the month of November, the crews will pick up paper-bagged leaves on Mondays only. Please note that we may send out leaf crews earlier than October 29th to test our equip- ment and to pick up paper-bagged leaves before they get wet. Brush Collection The Public Works department will pick up brush, limbs, and branches starting Monday, October 15th, 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 collec- tion 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 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. Road- side collection crews reserve the right to not pick up excessively large amounts of and improperly piled yard waste. Brush you collect 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. If you have questions, please call Public Works staff weekdays at 273-1656 between 6:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. or send us an email to publicworks@town.ithaca.ny.us. WHaT TO dO • Pile brush in neat bundles along the shoul- der of the road or at the end of the drive- way if no shoulder exits. Brush must be oriented parallel to the roadway, as shown in the diagram below. • 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 2 x 4 x 8 feet in size). 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 a few days before collection. FALL BRUSH & LEAF COLLECTION Sustainability Planning Our new sustainability planner, Nick Goldsmith, is excited to help make Ithaca a more sustainable town that gives equal importance to the health of its economy, its environment, and its community. Nick’s first major task will be to collaborate with the community to set energy reduction and sustainability goals, and to create an Energy Action Plan (EAP) that details spe- cific actions that our citizens and govern- ment can take to reach those goals. Progress has already been made with town government operations and facilities. Last year the Town Board approved goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and adopted the “Govern- ment Energy Action Plan,” which is currently being implemented. The development of the community goals and EAP will be a collaborative process; we are seeking input from all members of the community. To this end, we will be holding informational sessions in multiple locations where residents can share their ideas. Watch for media releases in the papers and on our sustainability web page; we will be notifying our neighborhood groups as well. If you would like to be added to an email alert list, contact Nick at sustainability@ town.ithaca.ny.us or 273-1721 (ext.136). Additional information, including the town’s greenhouse gas inventories (for government operations and for the whole community) and the “Government Energy Action Plan” is available on the town website at www. town.ithaca.ny.us/sustainability. ComPrehenSive PlanWe WelCome Your CommentS This past June, the Town of Ithaca released its much-anticipated draft Comprehensive Plan. The plan, available now for your review and comments, is an update to our 1993 Comprehensive Plan offering a framework for guiding future growth and development in the town over the next ten to fifteen years. ComPrehenSive Plan baCkground & goalS The plan was developed using the input from town residents and stakeholders gathered from a survey and numerous meetings held over the last several years. The plan’s goals and recommendations focus on preserving the quality of life and those things that make living in Ithaca so special. The plan main- tains the town’s priority for protecting farmland and open space and identifies areas for conservation and agriculture. It also identifies where development would be appropriate and recommends new zon- ing approaches for sustainable development so that land can be utilized more efficiently and neighbor- hoods designed more thoughtfully—pedestrian-friendly, compact, and close to services and bus routes. Submitting CommentS There is still time to submit your comments on the draft plan. The Town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee is currently reviewing all letters and emails received on the initial draft. Soon they will be referring the document to the Town Board, at which time there will be additional discussion of the Comprehensive Plan among the board members and a formal review process that will include public hearings and an environmental review. The draft Town of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan can be found on the town’s website at www.town.ithaca. ny.us/Comp-Plan. You can also review a printed copy of the document at the Ithaca Town Hall, Town of Ithaca Public Works Facility, or Tompkins County Public Library. Please feel free to contact Herb Eng- man, Town Supervisor, at HEngman@town.ithaca,ny.us or Susan Ritter, Director of Planning, at SRitter@ town.ithaca.ny.us with questions or comments. Come visit the groundswell incubator Farm In 2013, the Groundswell Center will launch a very excit- ing addition to its current suite of agricultural education, the Groundswell Incubator Program, with the first farm site located at EcoVillage at Ithaca. Groundswell will host two community-building events at the Groundswell Incubator Farm at EcoVillage on October 20th and 21st. All are welcome to take the opportunity to visit the Incubator and meet local farmers. On both Saturday and Sunday of that weekend, Ground- swell will host Farm Hack–Ithaca with the help of National Young Farmers’ Coalition, The Greenhorns, and NOFA- NY. This event will bring together all types of farmers from the Ithaca area and across the Northeast, to share, dis- cuss, and improve upon a variety of small-scale farm and equipment innovations. This event is free, and both farm- ers and enthusiasts interested in innovative farm equip- ment are encouraged to participate. If you wish to attend, please RSVP online at the Farm Hack registration page: www.youngfarmers.org/practical/farm-hack/events/ ithaca On Sunday, October 21st, The Groundswell Center will host its first Local Food & Farm Festival from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Come enjoy great local cuisine and fun farm activi- ties for all ages, take of tour of the Groundswell Incubator Farm, or meet some of the local farmers. The proceeds from the Local Food & Farm Festival will help make the Incubator model a reality here in Ithaca. Tickets and more information are available at www.groundswellcenter.org. New York State law mandates that town budgets be adopted by November 20th, but the Town of Ithaca begins work on budgets as early as March. The Budget Committee begins to examine the town’s finances and looks for data and trends regarding the local economy. CoStS For Water & SeWer The lower infrastructure costs described in the sidebar to the right also apply to fee-based services such as sewer and water. Bolton Point will replace one water tank this year and one next year, as well as a portion of a water main along Triphammer Road. Our water rates have increased a good deal in the past couple of years because past practice was to keep the rates at the same level or to cut them, allowing infrastructure to deteriorate. We have used the increased income to pay cash for items such as filters and pumps that generally cost under $100,000 each, thus avoiding interest charges on borrowing. In 2013 Bolton Point will add one person to do essential fire hydrant maintenance in the five member municipalities, a task that has been neglected for decades due to staff shortages. Regular maintenance extends the life of the fire hydrant and assures that it will operate properly to supply water in a fire emergency. At the sewage treatment plant, $9 million worth of improvements are underway. We were able to secure nearly $1 million worth of grants, and the rest is under a performance contract with a private company. In a performance contract, the company guarantees enough energy savings to pay for the improvements in reduced operating costs. If the savings don’t fully materialize as promised, the company cuts a check for the difference to the owners of the plant (the City of Ithaca and the towns if Ithaca and Dryden). Taken together, water and sewage costs for the typical town resident are less than the cost of a cup of coffee per day! CoStS For Fire & emergenCY reSPonSe A major budgetary concern has been the high cost of fire and emergency response. The town contracts with the Village of Cayuga Heights , a mostly volunteer force, and the City of Ithaca, a mostly paid force. The cost of the contract with the city, over $3 million per year, represents half of the property tax for the Town of Ithaca. The town has been investigating alternatives, in cooperation with the city, for reducing the costs for both municipalities. Another alternative is to increase income. While Cornell makes a substantial voluntary payment, neither it nor Ithaca College pays for its fair share based on assessed valuation or service calls. So, will property taxes increase in 2013? Yes, but the anticipated increase will remain under the tax cap rate set by the state – about 2 percent. The town board will pass an override of the tax cap just to make sure there are no mistakes in the complicated and confusing calculations of the exact tax cap level. We anticipate the owner of a typical home in the Town of Ithaca will pay about $25 more per year in property taxes in 2013. TAXESTOWN OF ITHACA keePing ProPertY taxeS doWn Following are some factors that help us keep property taxes from increasing in the town. State oF the ConStruCtion induStrY There’s an opportunity to pay less for infra- structure in the current climate. For the past couple of years, bids on infrastructure proj- ects — for example, water tanks, sewer and water line replacements, and road construc- tion projects — have been below estimates. bond rateS Bond rates have been the lowest in history, aided by the town’s excellent bond rating of Aa2 with a positive outlook (Moody’s). The town has taken advantage of this situa- tion by undertaking quite a number of proj- ects — about $3 million per year — in the past few years. Low bids and bond rates will save town resi- dents a good deal of money over the long term. Of course, we try to pay cash when feasible to avoid interest charges. other taxeS Higher levels of sales tax and mortgage taxes reduce the need for property tax increases. ??? From the ConServation board timber harveSting Town laws governing the use of forest areas in town conservation zones have changed. In March, the regulation of timber harvesting in these zones was revised to promote tree pres- ervation and sustainable forest management. Residents with land in these zones should have received notification alerting them to the change. The new law was incorporated into §270-22(L) of the Town of Ithaca Code, and can be seen online at www.ecode360.com/8661513#8661581. While the new law affects only land in conservation zones, all residents with wooded areas on their properties are encouraged to help sustain our forests. A qualified forester can help you plan for which trees to cut and which to keep for a healthy forest. A brochure on local forest management is available online at www.town.ithaca.ny.us/con- servation-board or from the Town Clerk. FINd US ON FaCEBOOk! Visit us at www.facebook.com/IthacaConserva- tionBoard. Please “like” us if you want to be kept informed of our work and general conservation news in the Town of Ithaca. SanitarY SeWer etiquette:WatCh What You Pour doWn Your drainS The Town of Ithaca currently budgets thousands of dollars each year for repairs and maintenance of existing sewer lines, with a majority of it being spent to clear blockages in the sewer mains. Most people don’t think about what happens to the stuff they dump down their drains or plumbing fixtures until they’re dealing with the problems of their sanitary sewer line not working or regurgitating back into their houses or lawns. This is bad in many ways, mainly in the mess it makes and the hefty cost it entails, not to mention the horrendous smell. to FluSh or not to FluSh? Items such as cotton swabs, cigarette butts, diapers, cooking grease, dental floss, and disposable wipes will potentially clog the sanitary sewer lines. Even when the manufacturer claims an item is flushable, it doesn’t always mean you should send it down your drain. Any substance that could be harmful to the environment — chemicals like paints, photo developers, thinners, pesticides, used motor oil, and medications — should never be flushed. Most wastewater treatment plants are not capable of removing these chemicals before discharging them back into the environment. A quick call to the sewage plant would be advisable before flushing any chemical substance into your sewer. It is illegal to discharge stormwater through sump pumps or drain piping into the sanitary sewer. In addition, steer clear of deep-rooted plantings over the sewer lines to ensure that they don’t block your sewage system. Their roots will find a way into the sewage pipes and thrive off the moisture and nutrients in the sewage. This could lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of repairs or replacements. maintenanCe: WhoSe reSPonSibilitY iS it? The Town of Ithaca is responsible for maintaining only the lateral pipe coming off the main to the ease- ment line or property line. The remainder of the sewer line, including the cleanout risers, is the property owner’s responsibility. So the next time you’re running water down your drains, please remember the importance of what you are sending through the sewer lines to the wastewater treatment plant. All garbage set out for curbside col- lection in Tompkins County must have a trash tag affixed to the bag or can. One tag is required for every bag or can of garbage. To receive curbside garbage collec- tion service, residents and businesses must arrange garbage pickup with a Tompkins County garbage removal service or licensed hauler. The Ithaca Town Clerk’s office now carries trash tags for sale from Casella Waste Systems. The cost is $12 for 12 tags, payable by cash or check. Remember to look for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle items before you throw them away in your garbage.