Informing Ulysses, by Liz Thomas

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





Planning for the Future of Ulysses

Several simultaneous efforts are underway in Ulysses to set the stage for expected changes in the future. How does it all fit together?



Comprehensive Planning: Two well-attended workshops provided an opportunity for residents of Ulysses to give direction on how to channel development over the next 20 years. Teams of participants were provided with maps to indicate locations for the most appropriate types of development for the Town. The resulting ten maps were remarkably similar and will feed into an updated draft of the Comprehensive Plan which should be available by June. There are only a few more chances to give your input on this plan, so keep your ears perked for the next opportunity.



Water Needs Committee: For those of you who do not have municipal water, watch for a survey sometime this summer which will help determine the areas with the most pressing water concerns. Results of this survey will help decide where additional municipal water lines are needed.



Planning Board: Our energetic Planning Board will begin to research ways to protect the unique natural areas (UNA) in our town as designated by the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council. Potential benefits include promoting tourism based on UNA attractions, preserving scenic views, and maintaining adequate vegetation on steep slopes to minimize impacts of erosion to Cayuga Lake. The Planning Board also intends to review current Lakeshore development protections and recommend improvements if necessary.



Progress on Municipal Water: The Town Board voted 3 to 1 to withdraw support for the revised Water District 5 proposal and instead employ a cooperative process to design a water district with input from the Town of Ulysses Water Needs Committee, the Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan, the Town of Ulysses Planning Board, the Village of Trumansburg, Finger Lakes State Parks, and the Town of Ithaca. You can read the resolution below - posted April 12th.



Dog Control:

Due to insurance woes, the Town ran into a slight snag in plans to hire Chris Austen as the Dog Control Officer. Last year, the SPCA announced a near doubling of its fees for Dog Control amounting to approximately $15,000 for Ulysses. Mr. Austen's fee is $5,500 plus $100 each time a dog is picked up (~17 dogs annually in our town). To cover liability insurance Mr. Austen would need to charge an additional $1500 unless he becomes a Ulysses employee. The SPCA offers other valuable services which they will still cover at no cost to the Town such as animal cruelty investigations, adoptions, housing lost pets, etc. Other Towns in the County are still negotiating with the SPCA and regardless of what the Town of Ulysses does this year, our dog control situation will be reviewed at the end of 2008. To be continued...



Ag and Markets Farmland Protection Grant

New York State Department of Ag and Markets recently awarded a farmland protection grant of $25,000 to the Town. The goal is to prepare a document that states the importance of agriculture and lays out a set of action strategies to preserve and protect agriculture as an industry and way of life in the Town of Ulysses. Based on data collected by Cornell Cooperative Extension in 2001, farming is the most significant economic activity in the town. The planning firm, Bergman and Associates, will facilitate the work and incorporate the findings into the revised Comprehensive Plan.



Ulysses Town Justice:

Tom Schlee has completed training to become our next justice replacing Christine Springer. Thanks Tom, for taking three weekends in a row away from your family to fulfill the justice position requirements.



Route 96 Corridor Study

Plan to attend a public meeting on the Route 96 Corridor Study where preliminary findings, including resident responses from a recent survey will be presented. At this meeting, attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the planning process, provide comments, and ask questions of the consultant team.

When: 6:30 Wednesday, April 23

Where: PRI (Paleontological Research Institution) 1259 Trumansburg Road



Takin' Care of T-burg

This group was started last year to provide an organized and fun way for community members to gather to do routine maintenance and cleaning in the Main Street area and to also work on some long-range enhancement projects. The first work session will be on Saturday, April 26 from 8-11 meeting at the Kid's Village. No need to commit to the full 3 hours. Next dates: May 10, May 31, June 14, and on into the summer. For more information, contact Karen Powers at 387-4058 kpp419@yahoo.com or Don Schlather 387-4135.



Are You Interested in Becoming a Representative?

The Town has a vacancy on the Water Resources Council, a Coordinating Committee for the Tompkins County Board of Representatives. The WRC addresses subjects such as drinking water supply, roadside ditching practices, and generally provides a countywide approach to water quality monitoring. Let me know if you are interested.



Next Meeting Times and Dates:

The time for the second meeting of April has been changed just for this month.

8:30am Thursday, April 24

7:30pm Tuesday, May 13



Spread the word

This letter goes out to about 180 residents of the Town of Ulysses and Village of Trumansburg. Please forward this to others who might have an interest in this information. I'm always glad to add to the list.



Here's to Ulysses!



Liz Thomas

Liz.graeper.thomas@gmail.com

387-8170





For more official and unofficial information:

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. You can hear recordings of meetings on the Ulysses Democrats website at http://ulyssesdemocrats.blogspot.com/ thanks to Allen Carstensen.

I encourage you to take a look at Finding Ulysses which provides all kinds of useful and interesting information about happenings in the Town. See it at http://www.findingulysses.com/ thanks to Jonathan Cook.