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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPWC Minutes 2011-07-09 TOWN OF ITHACA PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE July 17, 2011, 10:00 a.m. Public Works Facility Board and Staff Present: Bill Goodman, Nahmin Horwitz, Rich DePaolo, Jim Weber, Herb Engman, Bruce Bates, Creig Hebdon Guests Present: Kathy Edmondson, Cathy Emilian, George McGonigal – residents of West Haven Drive and Elm Street 1. Approval of Minutes: There were some minor wording changes to the May minutes. Mr. DePaolo motioned to accept. Mr. Goodman seconded. Approved. 2. Member Comments / Concerns: Mr. Horwitz commented that he was concerned about the Sand Bank Road parking situation and the State Parks policy for parking lot closure. Mr. Goodman added that the Town Board can pass a resolution to request that the State Park open the lot. Mr. Horwitz would like to talk to the appropriate Assemblyperson. Mr. Goodman also offered Tim Joseph, Head of Parks in this region, as a contact. Mr. Engman reported on two noise requests received. LaTourelle had an event with amplified sound with no noise permit. They have been informed that a permit is needed in the future for amplified sound. Also, a complaint about Six Mile Creek Vineyard setting off a loud booming noise in the early morning hours was received. They do this to scare the birds away, which is allowed under the Agriculture District Law. Mr. DePaolo reported that Ithaca College has started up their ventilation/chilling system which he is sure will produce complaints as it is very loud. a. Consider modification to agenda: Mr. DePaolo requested the status of Pine Tree Road. This will be discussed under project updates. 3. West Haven Road Drainage – Mr. Goodman has received emails from Kathy Edmondson and Cathy Emilian about drainage issues causing erosion from West Haven Road to the Elm Street Extension caused by development around their properties by Mark Mecenas. Information from the Town Staff is needed in regard to rights and responsibilities regarding the situation. Mr. Weber indicated that the situation arises out of a subdivision of property on Elm Street by the landowner/developer. The original driveway plan was not followed by the owner, as construction was completed to the standard requested by the Fire Department. A second issue is that the current building permit for a single-family home has limits as to what we can require, as outlined in Storm Water and State Law. We have responded to concerns within our limits. Mr. Hebdon explained some Simple SWPPP rules around erosion control which consists primarily of silt fencing, rock dams, and vegetation and said that the State does not even require a Simple SWPPP for a single-family home. Mr. Hebdon explained that NYS Law was changed in March, 2010 to require municipalities to look at properties as a whole rather than in pieces. Mr. DePaolo asked about the status of discussion with Mr. Mecenas. Mr. Hebdon explained that he has been doing inspections of the property and has had discussion with Mr. Mecenas about mitigation ideas such as downspouts and culvert pipe/bio-swale along the contour line to help water to soak in. A rain garden is another idea after construction is completed. Mr. DePaolo asked about any current mitigation to which Mr. Hebdon replied that there is a silt fence and mulch. Diversion mitigation above his lot was not wanted by residents. Mr. Weber added that Mr. Mecenas’s ideas need to be substantiated in order to avoid further loss of documentation. Ms. Edmondson showed pictures of drainage damage. Ms. Emilian suggested the option of approaching the issue from a legal “effluent” and environmental aspect. Mr. Goodman informed the residents that they are within their rights to sue the land owner. Mr. DePaolo suggested that Mr. Mecenas be present at our next meeting. Mr. Bates said that he would check for any updated maps that have been filed. 4. Project Updates – Mr. Weber Ridgecrest Road Water Tank – The tank was down for approximately four weeks. The tank is back online now. The latest testing for VOCs met requirements. More testing will be done next week. Pine Tree Road – Update requested by Mr. DePaolo. Mr. Weber reported that the County is still moving forward on this project. There have not been any additional meetings or discussions relative to project changes. 118 Eastern Heights Drive – Mr. Weber provided a summary of costs for the project. The Town Board approved up to $60,000.00 to complete the repairs. The Town’s cost came to $48,377.00 less final licensing agreements. He will have the summary available at the next Town Board meeting. East Shore Drive Water Main – Work began this week. Phase I Remington Road PRV needs to be done before the contractor can get in to start Phase II work at Route 13 & 34. Snyder Hill Road – Service connections are being completed. The paving contractor should be able to start within the next three weeks. Hungerford Hill – Waiting on control components and contractor concrete quality issues. Town Hall Roof – No contractors showed for the mandatory pre-bid meeting. Several plans are out, so the bid opening and pre-bid were extended by a week. An update was provided regarding the pre-bid meeting. Town Hall Air Quality - Bids are due tomorrow. There have been at least three consultant responses with more interested. Warren Road Walkway – The last section of the concrete walk should be poured today. th The ribbon cutting ceremony is July 20 at 5:00 pm in the DeWitt Middle School parking lot. 5. Road Preservation Mr. Weber provided a list of Town road conditions and said that we could evolve the report to have a numerical rating system. Mr. Engman reported that a road cut law can be established very easily, but a road preservation law is more difficult. Since the cost for producing a law was approximately $16,000.00, he offered the suggestion of waiting until the Town of Danby adopts their Preservation Law formatted by Delta Engineering and then taking a closer look to see if theirs reflects our needs for legal authority to establish road use laws. Another suggestion is to look at the County’s approach of looking into requests for proposals to engineering firms to provide data of damage to roads as evidence. He suggested working on a road preservation law and road use agreement now and leaving the road condition data gathering open for review. He stated that, under a road use agreement, developers pay for road repairs. Taxes will not be increased to pay for damaged roads used by developers. Next Meeting: August 16, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Motion to adjourn by Mr. Goodman at 11:42 a.m. Seconded by Mr. DePaolo. Carried. Future Agenda Items: Road Preservation – Delta Law analysis and approach West Haven Road Drainage Forest Home Wall / Sidewalk Work lvp