Informing Ulysses, by Liz Thomas

Informing Ulysses
March 11, 2008

On and off the record, from Liz Thomas, your Town of Ulysses Representative


The root of this information: When elected, one of my goals was to make sure official Town Board activities are open and available to residents who may be impacted by Board decisions. In this spirit, I hope to provide periodic short synopses of main topics of interest. These are my own personal notes, derived from the official (although not yet approved) town minutes and my own scribbles and understandings of activities at the Ulysses Town Board. Where opinions are expressed, they are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the understanding or attitude of the entire Board. Approved minutes of the Town can be found at http://www.ulysses.ny.us/town-offices.html. There are also several blogs that provide useful and interesting information about happenings in the Town of Ulysses and Village of Trumansburg. I encourage you to take a look at Finding Ulysses http://www.findingulysses.com/, and the newly created Ulysses Democrats at http://ulyssesdemocrats.blogspot.com/.

Comprehensive Planning:
Do you want to help shape the future of the Town of Ulysses? The Comprehensive Planning Committee established two dates for the public to give input into this important plan. Mark your calendar to participate and have your voice heard:
Thursday, April 10th 6:30 p.m. - Franziska Racker Center cafeteria, 3226 Wilkins Rd
Saturday, April 12th 9:00 a.m. – Trumansburg High School cafeteria, Whig St

Dog Control:
The Town appointed Chris Austen from the Town of Covert as Dog Control Officer to pick up stray dogs and transport them to the SPCA. The SPCA, Mr. Austen, and the Town Board believe this will be a more cost effective means to provide dog control. The new plan will be in effect for the rest of this year and will be reviewed at the end of 2008.

Ulysses Town Justice:
Three well-qualified candidates stepped forward offering to fill the remainder of Christine Springer’s term. Tom Schlee was appointed to fill the position and plans to hold court in the evenings to complement the day court now held by Roger Rector. See page 15 of the Town minutes.

Miniature Golf:
Mike and Melinda Cirri will move ahead after being granted approval to create a family entertainment business on Route 96 between Halseyville and Cold Springs Roads. The first phase of development involves building a miniature golf course followed by a batting cage and electric go-cart track.

Official meeting times and dates:
The regular Town Board meeting is the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30. In response to requests to hold evening meetings, the second Town Board meeting of the month has been re-scheduled to the fourth Thursday of the month from 7:00 to 9:00pm.



Progress on Providing Municipal Water:
The “Town of Ulysses Water Needs Committee” has been formed, and is in the process of creating a town-wide survey to help determine which areas of the town have the most pressing water issues. At the March 11 regular Town Board meeting, Rod Ferrentino presented a resolution to proceed with a greatly modified version of the original Water District 5, which now, due to the loss of Auble’s Mobile Home Park, must run nearly 25 miles and is extended to include Route 89 from Taughannock Park to the Town of Ithaca. Mr. Ferrentino’s resolution was tabled (see page 15 of the official town notes). Lucia Tyler intended to introduce a resolution to provide municipal water to residents through a process that includes considering the results of the Water Needs Committee, the updated Comprehensive Plan, and agreement with the Town of Ithaca, Taughannock Park, and the Village of Trumansburg, but due to Supervisor Austic’s enforcement of the rule that resolutions must be presented to the entire board six days prior to the official meeting date, Lucia’s resolution was not allowed to be presented. The resolution to appoint the dog control officer was created at the meeting, not six days in advance.

Bizarre Adjournment:
It seems likely that the Town Board illegally adjourned the March 11 meeting, since the motion to adjourn made by Doug Austic, and seconded by Rod Ferrentino, was never voted on. After hearing the second to his motion to adjourn, Supervisor Austic, along with Trustee Ferrentino and clerk Marcia Georgia left the premises. While it is true that a motion to adjourn is not debatable, it does require a majority vote of the Town Board. To be continued!

Let’s hear your thoughts:
If you have questions or comments about Town business, please feel free to contact me at Liz.Graeper.Thomas@gmail.com or call me at 387-8170. And if you’d rather not hear the scintillating tales from the Town, just say the word and I’ll remove you from this list.