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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-15TB 7-15-21 Page 1 of 16 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING July 15, 2021 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl James Skaley, Cl Loren Sparling, Cl Leonardo Vargas-Mendez Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director Peter Walsh, Town Attorney Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 6:04 p.m. Board members and audience recited the pledge of allegiance. Supv Leifer explained that this is a hybrid meeting and there are people watching from home who may be participating via Zoom. Those wishing to address the board under citizens privilege will be given three minutes to speak. APPROVE MINUTES RESOLUTION #133 (2021) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of June 10, June 17 and June 29, 2021. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Supv Leifer noted he was not present for the June 29 meeting. TRIBUTE FOR TOM HATFIELD Supv Leifer said the Planning Board has passed a resolution honoring Tom Hatfield. Tom served on the Town Board, Planning Board and had a huge impact on the town. H e refers to Tom as a super volunteer. His contributions to the Town of Dryden over his lifetime were pretty incredible. Cl Lamb said Tom’s passing left a big hole. He had a lot of institutional knowledge that he offered on the Planning Board. The Planning Board wanted to pay tribute to Tom and passed the following resolution which he read aloud. Planning Board Resolution #9 (2021) - Recognizing Tom Hatfield’s Many Years of Public Service J Wilson offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: TB 7-15-21 Page 2 of 16 WHEREAS Tom Hatfield served on the Town of Dryden Town Board from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2001, and WHEREAS, Tom served on the Town of Dryden Planning Board from January 1, 2002 to June 12, 2021, and WHEREAS, Tom also volunteered his time in service to public schools, fire companies, and other community groups, and WHEREAS, in his many years of public service and leadership Tom always conducted himself with great integrity and energy. Tom treated everyone with sincerity and respect. He was a great team builder and he worked to craft thoughtful, consensus-based solutions to complex problems, and WHEREAS, Tom was a wonderful friend and mentor to his colleagues in the organizations in which he served, and WHEREAS, Tom was tireless in his efforts to bring professionalism, consistency and dignity to the organizations in which he served, and WHEREAS, Tom passed away on June 12, 2021 after many, many years of excellent service to the citizens and institutions in Dryden, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Dryden Planning Board hereby recognizes Tom Hatfield’s many years of public service and contributions to the Town of Dryden. We will miss you Tom! 2nd A Green – all in favor COUNTY OFFICIAL CALL NOTES Cl Lamb reported the adult vaccination rate in the county is now at 75%. PLANNING DEPARTMENT The Planning Department monthly report is on the website. With respect to the comp plan update, the second draft is being reviewed by the Planning Board. The intent is to get it out to the public in late summer or early fall. HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT No report. COUNTY BRIEFING Martha Robertson said the legislature is getting heavily into budget season. They are trying to understand the opportunities in the American Rescue Plan funding. They are just organizing in terms of a process on how entities should apply for funds . This is one time funding (over two years) and they need to consider any ongoing costs. The county has a healthy fund balance and they may decide to pay for some things for the county out of the APR funding and use other fund balance for other things because of the massive, complicated reporting requirements for the ARP funds. It is all still to be decided, but they are thinking about how to use one-time money to make a difference now. They are trying to understand what the real need is and what the cost might be while keeping in mind that there will be other federal money for infrastructure. Highway will be covered well in the first infrastructure bill. Funds have to be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by 2026. There are 14 legislators, TB 7-15-21 Page 3 of 16 lots of staff and lots of opinions. The county d id approve $573,000 of one-time funding for tourism marketing (bureau and staffing) because they knew the tourism industry was really hurting and wanted to get some money out to them quickly to help . Relative to the search for a new county administrator, they are working on the job description and compensation package and will be forming a search committee. They will also now have to search for a new county attorney. They have hired a new budget manager because of a recent resignation and will be hiring a second person to work on the budget. RECREATION DEPARTMENT Supv Leifer reported summer camp is full, the music series is in full swing at both locations, and they are planning for fall. There are preliminary plans for ball fields behind town hall and talks with community garden. ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES Planning Board – Cl Lamb reported there were two meetings in June. Members commented on a draft of the comp plan and the consultant will present a second draft in August. The process was slowed down to allow more public comment and to take into account the new census numbers. They expect the plan to go to the public in September. At their second meeting they considered comments on the Hoy Road Fields near Cornell. They also asked the Town Board to revisit a resolution passed by the Planning Board in October of 2019 having to do with the amount of work that the Planning Department does and looking at ways to strengthen the capacity of that department. That will be taken into consideration in the budget season. Conservation Board – Cl Sparling reported most of the meeting involved discussion of the Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSPP) and the NYSDEC draft TMDL (total maximum daily load) for phosphorus in Cayuga Lake. The board thinks the DWSPP overall is a good, thorough document. They acknowledge that Dryden’s aquifers are relatively protected, but this should not lead to complacency. They wondered if the town had to implement any changes and if so, how they would go about doing so. They noted there is a lack of clarification as to what the recommendations were actually recommending. Regarding the draft TMDL, they thought this was a comprehensive document, but acknowledged that they were not experts on the matter and must defer to the document’s authors. The chair recommends that the town be compliant with TMDLs and f rom the town board perspective, it all really comes down to the section on implementa tion and best practices. What can the town do to facilitate the implementation? What practices need to be in place to encourage these goals? Worrisome to all members is exactly where the 20% in phosphorus reductions will come from. Though there are only 2-3 CAFOs in Dryden, they account for roughly 80% of ag land and are already doing all they can as they are heavily regulated by the state. This opens the question of should the remaining 20% of landowners take the hit for the entire community. TMDLs result in lots of money to towns, but are heavily regulated and will result in “lots of griping to the Town Board for these heavy regulations ”. The Conservation Board brought this to the attention of the Ag Committee last night, but they don’t have any comments on it as of yet. The Conservation Board hopes to work with Ag to hash out recommendations for the Town Board regarding this. Supv Leifer noted the comment period had been extended and August would be soon enough to comment. RECREATION & YOUTH COMMISSION – Did not have a June meeting. TB 7-15-21 Page 4 of 16 AG COMMITTEE – Cl Sparling reported that last night a lot of the meeting was devoted to the draft TMDL. Cl Sparling will reach out to them regarding the stretch code to share new information. The Committee also talked about the town newsletter. RAIL TRAIL TASK FORCE – Cl Lamb said they are excited about work going on at the DEC Game Farm. After long negotiations the town was granted a right of way through that DEC property for trail purposes. The highway crew has been refurbishing the trestles and putting them back in almost original form. In the next two weeks or so that section may be open to the public and connect our trail to the East Hill Recreation Way, which brings you into Ithaca and to the Black Diamond Trail and Cayuga Waterfront Trail . Once this section is open, use of the trail will grow exponentially. They are trying to find other places to park because too many vehicles are parking on Game Farm Road and think that may be able to negotiate with Cornell for parking space at the access point on Stevenson Road. A public information meeting was held on June 30 about the pedestrian bridge over Route 13 and will be accepting comments through July 23. DOT will review the comments and the draft design report and the next step will be for them to approve the design. PUBLIC HEARING CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATION FOR A CDBG GRANT FOR REPAIR/REPLACEMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CONSOLIDATED SEWER DISTRICT Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Cl Skaley explained that the sewer and water mains in Varna date back to 1960s, have a lot of issues and are in need of repair and/or replacement. The town has applied for funding from the Environmental Facilities Corporation as well as the Office of Community Renewal which administers the CDBG grants (federal dollars that come through Housing & Urban Development). The tow n applied in early 2021 for $1,250,000 in co-funding and was not successful in that round. This hearing is to consider an application to reapply to the Office of Community Renewal for a CDBG grant. We were told that we weren’t far enough along on a co-funding arrangement at the time of the first application. That is effectively completed now, so we are hoping to be successful in this round. We will be notified later in the year whether this application is approved. The water main replacement project will take place separately from the sewer. Everything needs to be coordinated with NYS DOT because they will be repaving Route 366 from the city of Ithaca to NYS Route 13, so we will have to work around each other. DOT is being very cooperative. Supv Leifer explained that the combined districts are self-funding, so any debt will be borne only by people benefitting from services, not spread across the town. The grant money can only be spent within the districts. The town owns a 2% interest in the Ithaca Area Wastewater Plant in Ithaca and there has been much discussion with all owners about addressing stormwater infiltration into the system which overloads the plant and can cause events that result in sewage getting into the lake. By replacing these pipes we will address that issue in Dryden and end up avoiding extra charges that the joint committee would charge any municipality that fails to address the infiltration issue. This will also allow for expanded capacity in the town. The town currently sends double the amount of water to the sewer plan t that is taken from Bolton Point, so that is significant. Martha Robertson inquired about the progress on sidewalks in Varna. Cl Skaley explained that as part of the repaving project, NYS DOT has considered the Varna Community Development Plan that calls for sidewalks. There is not enough funding to put sidewalks on both sides of the road, but they will do a sidewalk on the south side of the road from Forest TB 7-15-21 Page 5 of 16 Home Drive to Mt Pleasant Road. That will provide pedestrian safety that we don’t currently have and hopefully we get other funding for sidewalks on the other side . There were no further comments from board members or the public and the hearing was left open at 6:37 p.m. ADVISORY BOARD UPDATE continued Safety & Preparedness Committee – They are awaiting written responses to their follow up questions from Dominion. Climate Smart Communities Task Force – Cl Sparling reported they discussed many topics. There was an overview of clean energy and climate smart actions in progress. There was a report on potential providers of 100% renewable energy for municipal buildings and the possibility of solar installations on town-owned land. There are no final numbers yet on the Energywi$e Dryden campaign. The goal is 7 residents to sign up for weatherization and 3 to commit to heat pumps. In terms of community choice aggregation, the director of sustainability for the city of Ithaca has suggested that rather than search for a part-time program director, to look for a full-time director. That may mean more money in terms of grants. The committee is revisiting that in light of being awarded $50,000 of the $72,000 asked for in the grant that was approved. A subcommittee has been formed to develop 6 and 12 month plans and the deliverables to be produced. The goal is to edit the plan in light of this new direction. One member asked if there were any actions that pertained to abandoned gas or oil wells because if the infrastructure bill is passed there may be funds set aside for that purpose . Cl Sparling is checking with the Planning Department. Supv Leifer said there is a DEC database with that information. Broadband Committee – Today they interviewed 3 equipment providers for back-end networking (Ciena, Calix and Nokia). They all have a different approach, so the committee will need to discuss the proposals. They all really want the project , especially Nokia. They are good companies to choose from for that aspect of the project and all have worked with municipalities on similar projects. They understand the need to design for a rural community with nodal development. The goal is to produce a system that is exponentially faster than what exists in the town and at less cost to the consumer. The committee expects to ask for approval of a contract to build the customer website to be discussed in August. An independent group has reviewed the financial plan for the broadband project and provided some useful tools. Jacques Schickel asked what impact Starlink might have on this project. Supv Leifer responded that fiber is the fastest and most reliable and will be less expensive ($50-$70 per month). It will be faster than what Spectrum is currently offering. The town will own the infrastructure, contract out the customer service and installation and the financial benefit will go to the town. In the beginning any profit will go to paying off the infrastructure costs and further expanding the system to more people in the town. At some point when the income is greater than the expenses, there will be a discussion on whether to lower the price or reinvest the money into other projects in the town. This model has been done in over 700 communities already. The town is doing it because these other patchwork companies have failed us. Fiber is more reliable than what Starlink can offer from space. The TB 7-15-21 Page 6 of 16 system that Spectrum has now is not a fiber system, most connections are through coaxial cable. It will take about 2000 subscribers to make this a viable project. Supv Leifer closed the public hearing at 6:48 p.m. RESOLUTION #134 (2021) - TO REAPPLY FOR CDBG GRANT TO HELP FUND SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HAMLET OF VARNA Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas, the Town of Dryden is proposing to replace aging sewer mains in the Consolidated Sewer District, and Whereas, the Town has applied for funding at the Environmental Facilities Corporation and the NYS Department of Health, and Whereas, the Town's initial application was not funded, and Whereas, the Town has held a public hearing to reapply for a CDBG grant as part of seeking additional funding for the Varna sewer project, be it therefore Resolved that the Town of Dryden is resubmitting an application and seeking funding for our Sewer infrastructure project through the Consolidated Funding Application for Community Development Block Grant funds. 2nd Cl Skaley Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Joe Kretinger, said he has strong concern about public safety. A year ago he was within inches of getting run over on Route 13 crossing Lower Creek Road on a bicycle. There is a fundamental problem with the sight lines and the traffic in that area. Something has to be done. He applauds the town for pursuing these bike paths because it is not easy to put all this together and it doesn’t happen overnight. He is a member of the Finger Lakes Cycling Club and Adventure Cycling Association and representing himself here tonight. Folks may be failing to realize the tourism dollars that will come in when you start building this. He has toured around the country and it is surprising how much money gets spent by bicycle tourists when they go through a community. He thinks a million -dollar investment could easily be recovered within a 5 to 10-year period. He has almost gotten killed on Route 13 and whatever unfolds here, please make sure safety measures get put into place. Bruno Schickel said he is a huge fan of the Rail Trail. He has put in 500-600 hours of physical work building the trail and enjoyed every minute of it. He is opposed to the pedestrian bridge because there is a wonderful alternative at about 1% of the cost. He doesn’t understand why the town would not pick that option. The trail only option would take the trail parallel with Route 13 for about a quarter of a mile and underneath the Route 13/Fall Creek bridge. The trail is already there under the bridge. It would come back up the other side to rejoin the trail. It would be a nice detour down to the creek. On the west side of Route 13 Cornell TB 7-15-21 Page 7 of 16 University has already donated the easement for this endeavor. Funding for the west side trail is already part of the Parks grant; it was already included. And it was always part of the plan to run the trail down and under Fall Creek bridge to that parking area. Yes, there is a wetland in there. Yet wetlands are crossed every day. He showed a picture of a Finger Lakes Land Trust boardwalk built on Irish Settlement Road in the Roy Park Preserve. He had originally budgeted about $53,000 for putting the trail down under the bridge on the west side of Route 13. From there you go back up the other side. It is not true that you can’t maintain ADA slopes on both sides of the road. It can easily be done on both sides of the road. Coming up the east side of the highway you would be about 30’ from the shoulder at the tightest area and DOT has already said that we can have an easement to come up the east side. We can have an easement up the east side or build the bridge, but DOT has said we can’t have both. He says take the cheaper option. To build the trail up the east side with the clearing, preparation, and building a 7’ high fence, he had budgeted $24,000 to do the work. It can easily be done. There is no reason anyone will climb a 7’ fence to save time. It’s not going to happen. He encourages everyone to rethink this. It is not a 2-million-dollar bridge as some have been saying. It if was a 2 million dollar bridge, the town would not have asked the Federal government through Schumer’s office for a $750,000 earmark for this bridge. You’re at least that much short, if not more, for this bridge. With respect to the use of eminent domain, you’re poisoning the well that we are all drinking from. This had been an incredible community building endeavor. He is heartbroken that the board would throw that away. He really hopes the board will r econsider. It will only make the creation of the rest of the trail that much more difficult. You will be faced with using eminent domain over and over again on the remaining parcels. It is very unfortunate. Please reconsider. Tom Corey, said he is a 45 year resident of the Village of Dryden. He is opposed to the 3 million dollar bridge to nowhere. He agrees with what Bruno so eloquently said. He held up a pile of comments that will be presented within the allotted time. There are basically three points on these comments: 1) No use of eminent domain by the town, county or state for the construction of the bridge. 2) Don’t use town, county, state or federal monies to build this bridge. 3) The alternate route under the Fall Creek Route 13 bridge is a more favorable plan. That is the way a significant section of the people of the community feel. There is anger out there, and we don’t want to drive people apart. That is not a constructive process… Ultimately, if the bridge is built at this point with eminent domain, with 500’ abutments on each side of the road, 18’ high, it will be essentially a bridge to nowhere because it will be very difficult to gain the additional access. This bridge will be built not even all the way to Pinckney Road and beyond there you have no right of way. It will be an unfortunate pl an to build this. It would be a great plan, however, to use the bridge that has access underneath it, that was added at a cost of at least a quarter million dollars. He doesn’t think we should use public funds for something that is unnecessary. Rosalie Borzik, a RTTF member, said she has been a resident since 1987 and pays taxes like everyone else does. She pays school taxes and has no children. They are doing this for the community as a community, so she backs up a bit when she hears people talk about using taxes and government money. The government is us. Where she lives on Johnson Road, they have no sidewalks, so they are walking along the side of the road and are constantly dodging trucks and speeders. In a 30 mph zone, they travel 50 mph. She has hesitation about putting the trail right along Route 13 where the traffic is exponentially worse that what she experiences on Johnson Road. It takes away from the idea of a trail and being outside, walking along a fence. She likes the aesthetics of the trail and communing with nature. That is her reason for being involved in this. Putting it along Route 13 she finds unpleasant. Some comments have been made that the Town shouldn’t use the highway department to work on TB 7-15-21 Page 8 of 16 this trail. She wants to point out that they already maintain town parks and the roads we use and other public spaces, so it is a natural extension for them to help out with the trail. With respect to the eminent domain concept, she doesn’t like the idea itself. But if you look at the facts about this and the two areas that they want to acquire, the owners of the properties are not community members, and this is a community asset. Alice Walsh Green said she lives at 609 Fall Creek Road on property that she and her siblings purchased 48 years ago. She is a member of the RTTF and is proud of the work they have been doing. She thanked every person, supporters, donors and people who worked to clear the trail, for all their contributions. It does have the potential for being a unifying project for the town. But there is now a disagreement about the best course for the trail, the heaviest lift for the trail, which is getting over Route 13. She believes that we can be unified at least by our strong feelings about how much we love our town and want the best for it. Everyone is here because they care about fairness, about taking action together for the common good, about spending our joint resources which include our tax dollars wisely, and about providing the best experience we can for all of our residents and visitors. She stands by the openness of the process that the RTTF took to recommend the bridge as the safest option. We would all have loved to have found a simple and cheap way to cross Route 13, but we knew enough not to settle for a solution that didn’t meet our goals for a safe crossing for both recreational users and for commuters. Safety concerns, ours and those of our advisors from the county and the state really account for the reasons for deciding the bridge is the best option. They ruled out an at grade crossing. They studied use of the intersection with Route 366 and looked at a tunnel, which would have been twice as expensive. The spur trail was and is still a good future passageway for some recreational users and equestrians, but it isn’t at all the cheap, quick, or scenic route that it has been portrayed to be. It would involve travelling a third of a mile out, under the bridge, and then back right alongside the heavy traffic of Route 13. It is possible that fencing would be necessary for people so close to the highway. Then there were the wetland issues on the east side of Route 13 that would require more expense and a long permit process. They think the trail would be a great addition, but it still wouldn’t solve the problem of getting people safely across Route 13. As somebody who represents the national rails to trails…. (out of time). She thanked everyone for their opinion and she appreciates the civility and decorum of our meeting. Jacques Schickel – No eminent domain. He is very disappointed with the Town Board for allowing and sanctioning Bob Beck and the Rail Trail Task Force to harass an elderly woman because they covet her property. This is the first time in Dryden history that the town government has sought to steal our neighbor’s land. If we open the door to this, as a warning to everyone who has land on any part of the trail in Dryden, they should all be very concerned with what the future holds for them. Alice is not being honest. She was very deceptive. There is a safe option. She knows it. At the meeting they held, a RTTF member was lying and saying that the state would not allow the no trail option, which thankfully the town planner corrected. The dishonesty to manipulate the public is very shameful as well. Gwen Beck, 54 W Malloryville Road, said her first point is the importance of the trail to the community. She grew up in Chicago and experienced firsthand public land, trails, parks and forest preserves and the benefits to her family and to the community. She learned to love the outdoors and has an appreciation of nature as a city kid. When she moved to this area, she specifically chose Dryden, has lived here since and has loved it. She moved here in the late 1970s when the railroad rights-of-way were being offered to the towns for purchase. She was in favor of that, and it wasn’t the right time. But it’s happening now . The second point is the importance of the bridge for public safety. She has family in Florida and Massachusetts where similar trails are in use. They all use bridges to cross highways. It is the safest way to do it. The more these trails are used, the more that will be a safety concern. The communities her family members live in are large communities, and these trails are loved a lot. She thanked the TB 7-15-21 Page 9 of 16 members of the task force and all the people that have helped, their integrity, their dedication, and their hard work. She also thanked the Town Board and all the people that have supported the trail. It is so important for our community. Ron Szymanski, said the beauty of this rail trail is that it has had community support because of the way it has been approached. It has been a buy in by landowners and the people who have been willing to work and invest money. That is the context we need to keep this. As he understands it, there was never an idea that all of the rail trail would be complete. It was a possibility, but to the extent it has some objections, and in previous times as we’ve seen, a lot of the rail trail has been developed over years by talking with landowners and getting their buy in. When that has happened, we’ve had that community support and a successful program. This right now is divisive; we don’t need this in this town. To the extent that we’re not getting the buy in at this one point, he thinks we back off. Things will come together when they come together. Let’s not take something that has been so positive and constructive and create an issue that doesn’t need to be created. There is another option, a less expensive option. If that isn’t acceptable, we table it. Dryden won’t fall apart because this part of the rail trail isn’t completed right now. In time, as we’ve seen before, these things will happen. It is best done when we have community support. Eminent domain is a critical issue. We don’t want to use that for something that isn’t absolutely necessary. This is not absolutely necessary for quality of life in Dryden. It would be nice if it can happen; that’s wonderful. But to the extent that we would use such a powerful government tool against the people, that is a problem. You’re seeing people respond to that. Shirley Price said she is probably the only house directly on the trail between Dryden and Freeville. She has not given an easement yet because she doesn’t feel George Road is a safe crossing. She has asked that the speed limit be reduced from 55 to 45 mph at least. People fly and the sight line is very poor coming from Route 13. She has had a few problems with the trail since it opened. She’s had a naked man run into her field exposing himself, which was reported to the RTTF and they sort of laughed it off. She put it on Facebook because it was something that people needed to be aware of. She h as 4 acres of invisible fencing and her dog stays in the fence. Other people’s dogs are constantly in her field. People are in her field. She has also brought this up and finally put up her own signs. As far as eminent domain, she is not giving her easement, so if the town feels it wants her portion of the trail, it will have to do eminent domain and she will fight. Judy Pierpont, 111 Pleasant Hollow Road, Task Force member, said she was going to say a lot of things that have already been said in favor of the bridge. She has talked to a lot of bicyclists as well as walkers and they say there is no doubt that people will go straight across. They are in a hurry. We want this to be a transportation route and they don’t want to go an extra 2/3 mile out of their way. There will be accidents and people will be hurt and someone will be killed. Then it will be the regret of everyone that we didn’t put a bridge in. She thinks DOT knows this. We know this. She has been told in other places where there were fences, holes were cut in the fence so people could follow the route. That is the reason the bridge is thought to be the only alternative for completing the trail. They want to complete the trail. It has been a wonderful opportunity for recreation, for transportation, for getting people off the roads. For that reason she thinks it is the only alternative. The task force considered going down and under the bridge and up the other side. Even DOT says it is really dangerous. We can’t afford to put people in danger who don’t understand how fast the cars come and the line of sight on Route 13. With respect to eminent domain, often when people are unwilling to give their land or sell their land, it is the only alternative for a public good. We are now very proud of the railroad system that came through our town and it was a great economic boon, and now we think the railroad was a great thing, but they took the land of the people who lived along the railroad. TB 7-15-21 Page 10 of 16 Lawrence Lyon said he is struck by the fact that the first line of the RTTF FAQ sheet reads “recently a small but vocal group of individuals in our community has been spreading false information.” He suspects that reference is made for people for whom he has the utmost respect. If that is the standard, just a perusal of this document, could raise a number of questions as to whether what has been portrayed is a truthful and representative picture or not. He won’t go into detail, but the sport trails referred to generating $231,779 in economic activity annually in New York State’s nearly 10,000 miles of trail, how that relates to this particular trail and our particular matter here is highly questionable. His main point is to say that it strikes him the only reasonable approach, given that the so-called trail only option is roughly 98-99% cheaper than the bridge. Let’s get the easements from the DOT, lets employ that, let’s do seasonal traffic studies and see over the course of perhaps five years, what the use actually looks like. Then let’s determine whether we need to surrender those easements and consider a bridge. Joe Osmeloski, 2180 Dryden Road, said he is totally against eminent domain, totally against the bridge, and totally against that whole project. He wants to talk about something else. We haven’t met in a long time and there is still something that bugs him. We have a solar farm that was approved (special use permit by this board). It went through months of public hearings, so much scrutiny, and went through three court battles and finally they came to agreement and the solar farm went in. Then have a company that buys the project from Sun8 and they want to change the SUP , an SUP based on lies. Bharath Srinivasan told Shirley Price that the interconnections would be underground and now she has a disaster. The SUP was based on lies to begin with. His point is what is an SUP worth in Dryden? Nothing. The board passes an SUP and then someone says they don’t like it, paid all this money for this project, we want to change it. We want to put the connections above ground. That’s not what it said. Even M Robertson kept asking why they didn’t read the SUP when they bought the project? Didn’t you know that the interconnections had to go underground when you bought this project? They bought the project because they knew this board would fold. The board just folded. All you had to do was say no, that’s the SUP that we have, you guys have to abide by it. But wait, it was NYSEG’s fault. Because NYSEG said they never build them underground. That tells us that Bharath really lied to Shirley. This is what an SUP in this town is worth. (He ripped up paper.) Joe Wilson, 75 Hunt Hill Road, said he has watched and listened to a number of honest, straight forward volunteers, who have reputations in Dryden for competence and integrity, devote countless hours of study, research and outreach, work to make the town’s 40 year dream of a rail trail come to pass. What they are putting forward as a plan to extend the trail seems to have been carefully, openly, honestly developed. He doesn’t see any hint of bias, self-dealing, any kernel of prejudicial ax to grind or flat out dishonesty among the folks who are on the rail trail committee, including those who have resigned, that would make him question their collective judgement or their good faith. Balancing the task force process and the information provided by both sides, which has been made into a controversy over the pedestrian bridge. He has concluded that the balance is in favor of going forward as the task force has recommended. Craig Schutt said he is totally against eminent domain. That is not the way to do this. It sets a very bad precedent. If you do it here, what will be the next place you decide you want something. If you do it once, you can do it again. He is totally against that. He thinks bridge is way too expensive for its use, costing taxpayers a huge amount of money. His other issue is the solar farm by Willow Glen Cemetery. All kinds of screening was promised and it isn’t there. Has anyone looked? There are trees here and there and is nothing like what was promised for screening. Again – we were duped. Nobody seems to be following up on anything like that and making sure we got what we were promised. It is disgraceful. TB 7-15-21 Page 11 of 16 There is barely anything growing, no screening to speak of. He hopes someone will look into that and perhaps get something done. Chuck Geisler, 517 Ellis Hollow Creek Road, read the following statement: We are not yet committed to use eminent domain (ED) to complete the bridge linking the east and west portions of our rail trail. But since ED is under discussion tonight, I will address it. I am generally skeptical about eminent domain and have opposed it on several occasions. If in fact NYDOT resorts to ED for the bridge over RT13 and its landing, I think we should hear the concerns of ED skeptics. The skeptics should listen as well to those who say ED is not objectionable in all instances and should be considered on case- by-case basis. Some cases are indeed deserving, including the bridge in question. Let me give two examples of wise ED. Sidewalks are something we use, enjoy, and often take for granted. Yet it startles some property owners to learn that a municipality can buy this land over their objections—usually as an easement for which they’re compensated—and use ED if willing-seller arrangements cannot be made. Most people see the benefit of doing this. A second example is Disney World, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year and already is experiencing yet more traffic on Interstate 4 by families wanting to get to the theme park. The State of Florida DOT used eminent domain and has acquired a 37-acre shopping/dining area just outside of Disney World called Crossroads, land once owned by Disney but no longer. This will allow a new, high- volume interchange to be built and the owners of Crossroads to be compensated. In other words, 37 acres of land at Crossroads are being acquired for a public use and with significant compensation for easier access and better traffic flow to and from the 27,000 acre Disney World. Eminent domain is not perfect in every instance, but it is preferable to government taking without compensation or to foregoing important public benefits held at bay because of hold-out landowners. Over 40 other owners have allowed their land to be eased, purchased, or donated to complete our fabulous rail trail and the people of Dryden clearly support it. I appreciate the work of the rail-trail taskforce and its many backers across Dryden. Thank you. Jolene Lyon, Mineah Road, read the following statement: I'm here to express my concerns for the proposed bike bridge over Route 13 and the effect that it will have on property owners in that area, specifically the threat of eminent domain. First, let me say that I hold a bachelor’s from Cornell University in Business with particular focus on agricultural land management and environmental economics. Secondly, I am also a small business owner in this community for nearly sixteen years. And however proud I am of these achievements, I am equally proud to be a lifelong resident of Dryden. I love my town; I love my community. That being said, I have grave concerns over the proposed bridge plan to cross Route 13. Please hear me when I say that I am in support of the Rail Trail —I love to bike, walk my dogs, and meet with friends for evening walks on these trails —and I have respect for all those involved. In particular for Mr. Bruno Schickel who has donated so much. This unnecessary bridge —and yes, it is unnecessary; I've read through several years of the Task Force minutes where the alternate path under the Fall Creek bridge is achievable—this bridge will TB 7-15-21 Page 12 of 16 undoubtedly cost well above the figures listed. Mr. John Lampman, during the June 30th community outreach, answered honestly that "costs are only going up" when I pressed him on this issue. Some might point to available grants to carry the larger half of this financial burden, but I can tell you as a local businesswoman that I'm hearing of grants being lost all the time. I'd go so far as to say they are dropping like flies. Once begun, however, this bridge will have to be finished even without grant funding. So our residents will be responsible for all costs, including maintenance and future liability. This is an outrageous burden on all for the benefit of a few that might use this as a direct commute to work over the more scenic and more economically efficient path of going under the Fall Creek bridge. And yet, I would like to add that I have respect for the Rail Trail Chair. Mr. Bob Beck has much zeal for this project. So much so that after seeing my comments on a Facebook page against the use of eminent domain for recreational purposes, he did an internet search on me, found my business, read my profile, and called me at 9:15 at night. He was very passionate to insist that that the property being taken did not belong to residents of Dryden. That did nothing to alleviate my concerns. In fact, they grew. Why should a business invest in our community if they are going to be treated as second-class citizens? And yet, in truth, there is a resident landowner being harmed by this decision. A senior, resident landowner, who in her own words, has felt harassed to give up her property for this unnecessary bridge. Let me close by saying that I've watched the parallel tragedy of eminent domain unfold in the Town of Caroline these last few years. Of watching peoples' rights being stripped away, their privacy invaded, of those forced to leave their communities. Some may argue that won't happen here. But it's already being proposed. And if we open Pandora's Box, if we set a precedent of taking land for recreation, then anyone's property will be fair game in the future. I am asking the board to carefully think over the ethical and the economic issues that surround this proposed bridge and the use of eminent domain. Thank you for your time. Martha Robertson, said she would like to acknowledge everyone who has worked on the trail and who has put so much effort into this. It’s a brilliant accomplishment and it is almost done. This piece is necessary; this bridge is necessary. If even one person is hurt crossing Route 13, what’s it worth? That’s not even thinkable. We’re talking about the western end of the trail where it crosses Game Farm, and that is way less traffic, but it’s an issue and there will be lights and crosswalks and signs. It makes her nervous that people will walk across Game Farm Road. But it is nothing compared to people trying to walk across Route 13. People get upset and have personal reasons for resisting the use of their land. She promises the town is not coming for everyone’s land. This is a huge community good. We saw during the pandemic that people were out on the trails every day. The tourism reference is absolutely true. If this trail is connected all the way through the town, there will be people coming from all over the country to experience this trail and see what a beautiful town we have. The federal money, the state money, the idea that it is taxpayer money and we shouldn’t waste it. If we lose these grants and turn back grants, property taxes are not going down. The money goes somewhere else. There is no relief on the tax bills because we don’t get the grant. The money goes to some other community. We have an entrepreneurial board in the Task Force that has worked so hard to bring these outside resources in. It is really a phenomenal accomplishment. She is sorry that some people that maybe had been okay with eminent domain before have now decided it is not a good thing. This is really for the benefit of the TB 7-15-21 Page 13 of 16 entire community. It really is the right thing to do. She can’t think about the possibility of someone losing their life because they tried to go across this big highway, and it will happen. She thanked the Town Board and thanked the Task Force and everyone who has already put so much into this. Let’s get it done. Allen Green said the guy that sold him his ‘86 Suzuki is here tonight. He has been riding bicycles and motorcycles and driving in this area for many years. He has lived on Fall Creek Road for about 40 years. He has noticed that not all drivers are courteous and safety oriented. Route 13 is a scary road and if we can figure out a way for people to get across on bikes that is safe, that would be a very good thing. Some people are kind of jerks and if they can figure out a way to avoid going even 100 yards, let alone 1/3 of mile and back, they will work on that and try to figure out a way to get across that highway and it is not necessarily going to be a safe way. He thanked the rail trail folks for all the hard work they’ve done and said he supports the trail and the bridge. Shirley Lyon said it seems a major concern is that people will cut through the fence and take a direct trail to the other side. We are not looking at the safety of the driving public. People have taken over overpasses for protests. One of the major things that is run through grated bridges on to traffic now is re-rod. In Pulaski a tire was thrown over an overpass. It’s becoming a concern worldwide and Australia now has standards and US is coming out with them. Darkened overpasses will need to be lighted and we will have to increase our fencing. On the FH Fox bridge there was a concern of things being thrown off (in the RTTF minutes). It is getting so DOT is starting to look at these overpasses that are dark and more accessible to people and they will maybe have to light it. It may be a never ending problem to have this bridge. While we are all concerned about this, we can’t fix stupid. If stupid is going to cut through the fence and go out into the road, she’s sorry. But if a driver comes down and gets a tire thrown on them or re-rod through it, we don’t want to believe it is happening, but it is happening. Jerry Lyon, Mineah Road, said he owned Gold Sport Cycle for almost 45 years. He is perplexed. There are people saying they don’t want to ride the little distance from the old railroad track down underneath the bridge. If that bridge and the lane way underneath the bridge, that was put in there for a purpose, wasn’t safe, why did they put it in? It’s beautiful down there. They put that in for a reason. Now we want to spend 3 million dollars. If a bicyclist can’t ride a little further down, and take a safe way across….. Every bicyclist and every enduro rider he ever knew wanted to get a little more distance. Y ou can’t ride a scant quarter of a mile down underneath the bridge with a nice view of Fall Creek? You’re complaining about it. How much study has been done on how much use the bridge will get? He wants to know how many people we are spending 3 million dollars of taxpayer money for. Not one person who has been working on the project has come up with a figure on how much the bridge will be used. He keeps hearing about the income we’ll get in the town of Dryden. What is in the town of Dryden? Alice said we’ve got ice cream. They’re going to ride a bicycle across country to Dryden for an ice cream cone? Someone needs to do a little more thinking in this room. Someone better see if this is worth it to the taxpayers of this community. That’s a lot of money and anyone who thinks a grant is not taxpayer money better get their dictionary out. Don’t make the taxpayers of the community fork out that kind of money because the bicyclist don’t want to ride down by the creek for the piddly return that we’ll get in the businesses in the community. How much study has been done in the last five years? He doesn’t think it has been complete. There’s something missing. Supv Leifer said this is the first live public comment in a long time. It was mostly civil and he’d like to see it continue that way going forward. He wants to see the safest crossing TB 7-15-21 Page 14 of 16 that the town can afford. This is not a done deal yet for the bridge. All of the intersections on Route 13 are a safety disaster whether you are driving or walking or biking. People have been hit at Mineah Road and there was a death at the next intersection and it is no better at the others. He recently travelled out west and drove from Colorado through New Mexico. There are many towns a lot poorer than we are, have trails alongside the roads. In Colorado tunnels have been built under Route 82 for bikers and hikers and they have less traffic. These are places people visit and spend tourism dollars year-round. He and his son rode bikes from the Village to Freeville and back on something that is nowhere near ready to be called a commuter trail, and they did get ice cream. People do it. He w ould love to ride on this trail to the Plantation when it is rebuilt. People are riding and visiting local businesses on their bikes. The roads in town in his opinion by and large are not safe to bike on. He rides on Ellis Hollow Road, but doesn’t feel safe doing it. He prefers long flat trails and we don’t have that in Dryden yet. We will one day but we aren’t there yet. It takes money and takes people who want to invest in this community. That means using the railbed. The town already has utility easements on it. Even if someone hasn’t given a trail easement yet, they cannot build on that railbed. We are looking to do something for the public good and we n eed a safe crossing so no one dies. J Osmeloski said he knows how dangerous Route 13 is. It seems hypocritical that the town keeps approving projects on Route 13. That makes it more dangerous each time. Supv Leifer said the corridor study just came out a few months ago and that will need to be used to get people to have shared driveways. B Schickel said no one is suggesting an unsafe way to get around Route 13. That is not what he is proposing. The idea that this alternate route is unsafe is a false argument. It is a solution that costs 1% of the price of the bridge. You are talking about all the other intersections that are problematic. No one is focused on solving those problems. Why aren’t you saying let’s spend $50,000 more and make a fence that no one can go through. Let’s find a solution for this. Maybe it costs a bit more, maybe 2% of the cost of the bridge, but it will solve the problem. Why are we trying desperately to spend 3 million dollars when the simplest solution is right in front of us. Cl Lamb said when he was first on the board he was asked to take point on the rail trail. He wrote the resolution that created the Rail Trail Task Force and made it deliberately bipartisan and wanted people from across the town to get buy-in. The Task Force looked at the problem and saw three main challenges. One was getting through the William George Agency property and they were able to secure an easement to complete that. Another was getting through the DEC Game Farm property. For years a lot of sportsmen didn’t want the rail trail going through that property and resisted it. After years of persistence, they got through the DEC property. The third challenge was getting over Route 13 and doing t hat safely. They had several opportunities to look at every option. He initially thought going under the Route 13 bridge was the best idea. The committee discussed all options and did research and ultimately came forward with the idea, supported by a large majority of the members, that going over Route 13 was the safest and only viable option to pursue. NYSDOT looked at the situation and advised that going over Route 13 was the best option. He confirmed today with Mark Frechette, the regional director for this project. So the Task Force went after this grant and got 1.5 million dollars to start working on the bridge. They didn’t know where the rest of the funding would come from, but they kept plugging along and Barbara Lifton got wind of the project and awarded half a million dollars in an Assembly grant program. People with a little vision will go find the money. Cornell University is very interested in this project and there are other grant programs. If you had to decide how to pay every cent up front for a project, we’d never do anything. We need to do things in this town. Upstate New York is in a death spiral. People are leaving; economic TB 7-15-21 Page 15 of 16 develop is leaving. We need to invest in the community. They see this as a very important project for the future of the town. On the question of who will use it, he has been working on trails for 25 years (involved in Federal, State and local government) and worked on a lot of projects from Binghamton to Owego to Ithaca to here. When you build a trail, people come. That little rail spur near Mclean is constantly used. People love trails. It is one of the surest things in development. If you build a trail, developers want to put projects near the trail. A NYSEG representative recently commented that the trail may assist them in repurposing their building on Route 13. This is an asset, infrastructure that we need to invest in. Regarding eminent domain, it is pro property owner. The worst thing we could have in the country is no eminent domain because you wouldn’t have any protection for taxpayers and property owners. This process is to protect property owners, not a process for the government to seize your land. It allows the property owner and the entity to discuss needs and wants. In this case, it could be an opportunity for the property owner to see what the government has to offer and to be justly compensated at the market rate for that property. We aren’t there yet, but if we did go there, it is a constitutional legal process that is used in a last case scenario. That’s why people have worked so hard to secure these easements. We have secured 42 of the 48 easements needed for this rail trail. They feel optimistic about the ones outstanding because they are building momentum for the project. What government in general does is make choices, and it is hard to make everyone happy. We have committees, we have proposals out the committee put to the Town Board. Sometimes you don’t get your way, but you don’t quit and try to blow up the process because you don’t get your way. The Task Force said this is the direction they wanted to go and told the Town Board. The Town Board listened and advocated on their behalf and supported the bridge project. That’s how government works and you don’t always get what you want. It just means the process played about. We have about 70% of the funding in place. This is not local property tax dollars. This is money coming from the Federal and State government. We have a right to get some of that funding just as much as communities in other counties. We are getting our share of grant money brought back to the town of Dryden and we’re not done, but we are going to get some more money for this project and it is going to happen. The Cayuga Waterfront Trail is tremendously popular. Eminent doma in had to figure into that project and the Common Council was very reluctant to do, but they had no other way to complete that project. The Gettysburg National Monument Park would not have been built without eminent domain. David Bravo-Cullen said when they rebuilt the Bridge over Fall Creek they added about 10-15’ of span in order to have an underpass under the bridge next to the creek. He has walked it and it is a beautiful thing. Why did they do that? Doesn’t it make sense to take advantage of that safe crossing? It is safer than a bridge because there is no opportunity for someone to drop things on the cars. It is safer for horses and others. Cl Lamb said it was thoroughly considered by the task force and the board. They decided it was unsafe and the town will not knowingly build a trail that it sees as unsafe. They will not risk people’s injury or death because of an unsafe design. J Schickel said if the town is concerned about safety they could solve the problem on George Road first. There was talk of repurposing the NYSEG building for senior housing. Would the town build another bridge so the seniors could cross the highway to get to the trail? This bridge is a commuter bridge, so a handful can ride their bike to Cornell. It is male white privilege. B Schickel said the action of eminent domain in this case because there is a viable alternate option, the action becomes a very divisive thing. If it wasn’t for a very good TB 7-15-21 Page 16 of 16 alternative, it would not be as divisive. There is an option that is very simple, easy and inexpensive and solves the problem in a very complete way. It isn’t a choice between a trail or no trail. Everybody in this room pretty much wants the trail. Cl Lamb replied that the comments B Schickel has made is divisive. S Price asked why do eminent domain when we can go around these people. Supv Leifer replied because NYSDOT says it is the safest way. Bob Beck in response to why they don’t go around, said the town already has an easement on 33’ on her side of the centerline of the former rail bed. The easement was obtained in 2016 and they were happy to donate. As time went on and they learned more about crossing Route 13 and the necessary height for a ramp to get over Route 13 and in order to minimize the impact on this private residence by encouraging the engineers to swing the trail and ramp away from that private residence, so they only needed about a tenth of an acre. As this ramp and trail pass by to the east past the house and garage, the ramp and trail are entirely off of the private residence property. They only need about half of the easement that has already been granted to the town. He has reached out to the owner numerous times and tried to explain what can be done to minimize the impact. He has never harassed any property owner and never will. He has tried to talk to those people in a polite way to get them to understand what they have tried to do to minimize the impact on their rental residential property. They have not been able to get a response. Don’t tell him that he is harassing anybody or has lied about anything. He has not lied to anyone. Supv Leifer introduced Greg Mezey who is running for County Legislature in the 13th District being vacated by Martha Robertson. He looks forward to serving the community and working more with the Town Board. Supv Leifer said he generally wants to hear everything people have to say, but insulting others is not acceptable. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk