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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 2024 NewsletterTOWN OF ITHACA NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2024 Friday, October 18th Fire Prevention Week October 6th - 12th This year’s theme is “Smoke Alarms: Make them work for you!” Please remember to check the batteries and test their functionality at least twice a year. Community Planning Month October is National Community Planning Month throughout the United States, and this month the Town of Ithaca celebrates the role that planning plays in creating great communities (like the Town of Ithaca!). The Town Board passed a resolution on September 23rd publicly supporting Community Planning Month and recognizing the participation and dedication of Planning Board members and Planning staff who have contributed their time and expertise to the improvement of the Town of Ithaca. The American Planning Association endorses National Community Planning Month as an opportunity to highlight how planning is essential to every community, and how planners are uniquely positioned to identify solutions to communities’ most difficult housing, transportation, and land use questions. Learn more about Planning in the Town of Ithaca at Planning Dept or contact our Director of Planning C.J. Randall at 607-273-1721 x120 or cjrandall@townithacany.gov. TOWN’S 2025 PRELIMINARY BUDGET The Town Board will hold a public hearing regarding the preliminary 2025 Budget on Monday, November 4th, at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall and broadcast via ZOOM and our YoutubeLiveMeetings channel for your convenience. Tompkins County is also going through the Budget process which does impact your Town and County tax bill, and you can follow the process and departmental requests via their YouTubeLiveMeetings Here on the Draft 2025 County Budget. VOTING AT TOWN HALL October 26th through Election Day : Absentee Ballots & Early Voting By Mail Apply online by October 26th – In Person by November 4th Postmark must be no later than November 5th The Board of Elections has a lot of information on where, when and how you can vote. TOWN EARNS BEST ISO SCORE IN THE STATE! The International Standards Organization (ISO) grades about 37,000 municipalities on the thoroughness of their inspections and processes in building and codes. The ISO rating scale is 1-5 with lower being better. Mr. Moseley, Director of Code Enforcement, reported on the results of our recent scoring and explained the process, saying that he pulled information and examples from 2023 permits and showed them the backend of our Open Gov system and how each project is reviewed, tracked, inspected, and the checklists used by the Town. The Town improved from ISO3 to ISO2 in Commercial and from ISO4 to ISO3 in Residential. The State average is ISO4 - Commercial and ISO5 – Residential and the highest in NYS is ISO2 - Commercial and ISO4 Residential. Mr. Moseley noted that this rating is used by homeowners’ insurance companies in underwriting and calculating rates and theoretically, this should help owners reduce their rates, and he encouraged owners to contact their insurance companies and let them know. Get Ready for the Winter Season! Sign up for SIREN SIREN is the official mass notification system used by Tompkins County and its municipalities to alert residents during emergencies and about major news/happenings. Alerts can be via text, email, or voice message, tailor your notifications to what you want to hear about. If you are a town resident, we encourage you to sign up for 'Town of Ithaca - Emergency Alerts' and 'Town of Ithaca - Community News,' in addition to any other lists from which you might like to receive notifications. Sign up at https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/siren Share the Woods: Hunters and Hikers DEC Hunting Regulations With hunting seasons underway and fall hiking at its peak, please remember some simple precautions to keep yourself safe: 1. Tell someone where you are going, and if your plans change, let them know. 2. Dress for the weather, accounting for both terrain and elevation. 3. Become familiar with the trails/woods you are going to. 4. Make sure you pack a bag with a light, map and first aid kit. Reminder – Fall Brush 10/21 start and Leaf 11/4 start - FLYER NYS Law requires the Town maintain the roadways for safe travel and that includes the rights-of-way. Please make sure any outdoor sporting equipment is out of the ROW. Town Crews Hard at Work - Pew Trail Parking Lot Overlay Project BOARD VACANCIES Zoning Board of Appeals - is a quasi-judicial board that is charged with ensuring compliance with the Town of Ithaca Code, Zoning Chapter 270. Variances or special permits are considered by weighing the criteria set for each type of action in the Code and/or NYS Law. Some knowledge of the application of municipal law or other rules and regulations is helpful but not required and you must be a Town of Ithaca resident. Meetings are generally held at 6 pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month and a small stipend per meeting attended is provided. Conservation Board – is looking for several residents with a passion for conservation, recreation, or education to join their efforts to safeguard and promote our natural and scenic resources for all. The board engages both the Town Board and Planning Board to make sure our community's environmental concerns are heard. Meetings are the first Thursday of the month, 5:30 to 7:00 pm. If you are interested in proposed development projects, deer management, invasive species education, water quality, waste awareness, scenic resources, or other conservation concerns, please consider joining, and of course, all meetings are open to the public and available via ZOOM platform as well. For more information, visit Conservation Board Website or Conservation Board Face Book Page Ethics Board - meets once a year to review the Town’s Ethics Policy and the Ethic’s Disclosure Forms submitted by elected and appointed officials. If an ethics complaint is filed with the Town, the Ethics Board will meet to investigate the complaint and make a determination. The residency requirement is being a resident in Tompkins County. Town Supported Agencies’ News March for Animals Book Sale Schedule Lifelong Tompkins County News you may have missed… Ithaca Area Economic Development Survey What is going well, what isn’t… Please help us learn what you want to see and what you think. New Temporary “Code Blue” Shelter Downtown Tompkins County will use the vacant building on the corner of Buffalo and N. Tioga St. as a Code Blue shelter for 6 months. The State mandates that counties provide shelter to unhoused people at risk of having to sleep outdoors when the temperature drops below 32 degrees. Read a statement from Dan Klein, Chair of the Legislature Code Blue. Ithaca City Cemetery Tours Hosted by Historic Ithaca and the Friends of the Ithaca City Cemetery Register Saturday, October 26, 2024 Sunday, October 27, 2024 11:00 am - 12:15pm 11:00 am - 12:15pm 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Haunted History Tours Hosted by the History Center in Tompkins County Tickets October 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 & 26 Tours begin at 6pm and 7:30pm on each date. 10/19 and 10/26 have a late night tour beginning at 9pm.