Town Board Meeting 4/24/08 8:30 am

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting on the morning of Thursday the 24th below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes!


AUDIO

Present at the meeting are,
Supervisor Doug Austic
Trustees Liz Thomas, Lucia Tyler, and Dave Kerness
Also, Alan Vogel, Geoffrey Hart, John and Martha Ullberg, and Sue Henninger



0 hrs 0 mins 0 sec --- The first half an hour is all about the budget. It sounds to me like the only person in the room that understands the budget is the book keeper - Doug Austic. Apparently the State requires him to follow certain procedures, and formats, and use specific software. There are A funds, and B funds, and carryovers, double entry and multiple accounts. I don’t envy them this work. It’s difficult for dummies like me to know what the hell he’s talking about. I was pleased that others, especially Liz Thomas, were keeping an eye on it, and asking tough questions. I went to the website then to “Town Offices” then to “document downloads” and the budget aint there. Am I just not able to find it? The village budget is available on their website.

0-31-30 This is interesting. Alan Vogel speaks to the Board and encourages the Town to buy the old Trumansburg Phone Company building which is adjacent to the Town Hall. Doug plays his usual conservative role, and objects because of the liability and cost issues. Alan insists that the costs would be low if he and other volunteers did a lot of the work, and fundraising paid for materials, and asbestos removal. Alan was an important part of building the kids play area in front of the laundromat, and I believe he was also involved in the volunteer effort at the Ulysses Philomathic Library.

I see this as a philosophical conflict. Alan believes in “The Commons” and wants to grow the commons for the benefit of the community. Doug is more the traditional conservative, that wants to maintain the status quo. The discussion goes on quite a while. They both have valid points, but in these liberal vs conservative arguments I always side with JFK -

"If by a "liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "liberal."

just substitute “in Ulysses” for “abroad”

Doug does his best to pull the rug out from under Alan, but Liz sticks up for him. Apparently Alan will pitch the idea to the Village Board next. The Village decided to have a second meeting this month Tuesday 4/29 at 7pm. I don’t know if Alan is on the agenda. This meeting is not on the village website calendar.

1-05-06 They discuss the hiring of a Dog Control Officer other than the SPCA. My regular readers will know, that I think this is a lousy idea - privatization strikes again. They unanimously pass Doug’s resolution to create a position. Among the whereases,

whereas under the agreement with the SPCA, we have the ability to provide the same or better dog control services to the residents by having a town dog control officer contracting with the SPCA, for kennel services ..........

I object to the “same or better” part. I doubt that this fellow from Covert, doing this part time, can offer the same or better service as the full time trained professionals from the SPCA.

Liz wrote "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."

When we withdraw our support from the SPCA we essentially ask them to continue this work for free.

I wrote about this issue before the election on March 18th. You can find it below if you are inclined.

1-14-12 Ag Land Protection Plan discussed

1-18-25 Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCOG) is investigating pooling insurance

1-27-10 Liz to be alternate rep to TCOG

1-27-40 Dick Coogan - please come to working sessions

1-29-0 job descriptions , and all town board appointments - please report to the board at least twice a year.

1-37-0 Kris Cail to be Water Resources Council liaison

1-40-0 Liz wants a donut

Tompkins County Area Development Council - should we have a rep? Maybe they could help find someone to use the empty Babcock facilities - thereby boosting our tax base. Doug says they send everybody to the Airport Industrial Park.

1-42-50 Water District Commission

1-46-0 Dave says Anita Fitzpatrick (Tompkins County HR) is willing to review the town’s personnel processes and procedures and policies

1-57-30 Liz asks the board if they would like her to investigate website improvements. Doug downplays the importance of websites, but he and the board basically say - yes.

1-59-10 Liz reports on the last Village meeting

2-01-03 Comp Plan and Rt 96 Corridor Plan

2-02-10 Dave says Tompkins County Planning, and our planning board will have a presentation on Unique Natural Areas (UNAs) June 6th (tuesday) evening at the Town Hall - double check this - I’m not sure I got that right.

Next TB meeting - Tuesday May 13th - next working session May 27th 7pm?

Move to adjourn.

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.

Village Board Meeting 4/14/08

Here's a link to the AUDIO

(see post below from 3/5/08 for technical info on how best to listen to the audio file)

Present at this meeting, in addition to the trustees, clerk, treasurer, and mayor who were all present were,
Robert Brown
David and Susan Means
Allen Carstensen
Liz Thomas
Geoffrey Hart
Vanessa Willard
Amy Drake
Jerry VanOrden

The first few minutes is just chatter.

6m40s call to order

7m15s first public comment period. This is where I, Allen Carstensen, read my monthly comment on the continuing insanity in Iraq, and the illegality of the Bush administration. I reassert that we want the Board to pass our resolution, and I ask for an update on the thinking of the Board members. I am ignored. They move on to more pressing issues, such as wether or not we should have a fire whistle. I will post the text of my comment over at trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com

10m31s Robert Brown's questions about fire whistles and blue-stones

17m20s organizational affairs - this is the first meeting after the election.
Hrubos - commissioner of water, sewer, dpw, and he is the deputy mayor
Hart - police commissioner
Thomas - fire, ambulance, ems commissioner
Nottke - this is her first meeting. She replaces Filiberto who was the youth commissioner. Mayor Petrovic has greatly expanded this commission, to include not only youth, but chamber of commerce, library, historical society, farmers market, winter festival, and senior organizations. She's going to have to go to a lot of meetings.

22m20s official designations, meeting dates and times, voting, minutes, etc.

36m5s slate of officers

41m51s general budgetary public comment period

49m30s water and sewer budget. there is some discussion here about the income from our water system. When the village annexed the Auble trailer park, we stopped charging 1.5x the normal rate. I asked what other 1.5x customers we have, and Hrubos answered - several residences, the gulf course, ShurSave, the fairgrounds, the American Legion etc. Amy Drake was at this meeting and wrote about it in the Free Press. She gives the impression that we lost all of our outside income. It's a little confusing - I don't know what percentage we lost when we annexed the Auble property.
The water rates will go up as of the August billing from 29.75/first 1000gals to 31.50/first 1000gals - for village residents (1.5x for outside customers)

56m20s sewer budget, stream watchers, discussion of sewer problems. Hrubos points out that our sewer system is dumping to much e coli into the river at times of heavy rainfall. This is likely because a lot of people plumb their sump pump discharge into the sewer instead of the storm sewer, or out onto the ground. This sends far too much water to the Lake Street Sewage Treatment Plant, and it is overwhelmed and can not properly treat the increased volume. If you, dear reader, know anyone that has a sump pump that is plumbed this way, and or has gutters plumbed this way - please alert them to the fact that they are responsible for polluting Cayuga Lake. (They are also in violation of the sanitary code) Jerry VanOrden, from Stream Watchers - affiliated with The Community Science Institute - was at this meeting and he reported that when they tested the discharge from the plant in January and February, the bacteria count was way too high.

1h5m20s water infrastructure improvements. Amy Drake did a good job on reporting this aspect of the meeting in the Free Press, but the editor titled her report "Village to Begin Water Infrastructure Work" . Odd. She reported on the whole meeting. I almost didn't bother to read it because the title is boring. Bill does this a lot. Maybe he ought to let his reporters write their own headlines. Anyhow, work will soon begin to replace some old water main on RT96, and Hunt Engineers is supposed to re-coat a tank on RT89, and replace some booster pumps.

1h11m0s passed the budget unanimously.

1h15m50s the village is probably going to soon sell 4 parcels of land that it owns. There will probably be somewhere around $50,000 income. There was some discussion here about what to do with this money. Chris Thomas mentioned Main St. Project completion. Hrubos mentioned buying a tiny little house on Salo Dr. adjacent to the DPW, for a youth facility. I would prefer that the village purchase the small lot next to the waterfall on the creek in back of the NAPA parking lot. This is on the market for $40,000. It would make a lovely little park. It is adjacent to the Carver's house on Congress. Frank Carver died early this year. He worked for peace his whole life. How about "The Frank Carver Memorial Peace Park" ? There is plenty of room for some picnic tables and benches here. The village owns the driveway down to the Carver's house, so a path could branch off of it down to the park. The creek is an underutilized asset to the village. If anyone agrees with me, I think now is a good time to make your opinion known.

1h23m47s much discussion about parking in front of the Town Hall.

1h30m50s pay some bills

1h37m30s Bill Chaisson has volunteered to write a grant application for street trees.

1h39m20s Gimme Coffee orange cone debacle

1h41m35s Safe Routes to School grant application. Chris Thomas says that chances don't look good. Maybe next year.

1h44m4s Public comment period 2. David Means on selling village property. Yours truly on the Frank Carver Memorial Peace Park.

1h50m50s Robert Brown asks what the new tax rate is - it's going from 5.28/1000 to 6.25/1000

1h52m40s Liz Thomas town update. Yours truly complains about the town's hiring a dog control officer other than the SPCA. Our SPCA does a lot of good work. More than just dog control (for which they are probably better trained and better insured and more likely available at any time) They also have an animal cruelty investigator for which they do not charge. I think it is a mistake to withdraw our support. This will come up again at the end of the year, and we could pressure the town to sign up with the SPCA again.

1h58m50s They decide to have a second meeting this month Tuesday 4/29 at 7pm.

2h1m30s Hrubos on the water main extension moratorium. He mentions that the City of Ithaca is also in violation, yet they are not under a moratorium. Odd.

Lucia Tyler's Water District Resolution

Here is the resolution that was passed at the Tuesday 4/8/08 Town Board meeting.

Voting,

Dave Kerness - aye
Liz Thomas ----aye
Lucia Tyler ---aye
Doug Austic ---nay

The democratic process is alive and well in Ulysses, if not in Washington.

I went to the Comprehensive Plan Workshop Saturday at the High School. Bergman Associates had four planners there. About 25 residents came. We broke into small groups around big maps of Ulysses spread out on tables, and everybody got a chance for input. I was impressed with their process, and I'm hopeful that if the Town Board places a high value on this work and if it informs the revision of the zoning ordinances, then we are headed in the right direction. Liz Thomas and Lucia Tyler attended the workshop. (no sign of the Supervisor)



Resolution Introducing Water District 6

Whereas the Town of Ulysses was notified on January 7, 2008 that the New York State Department of Health and the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) had reconsidered their position and allowed the Town of Ulysses additional time to submit a completed application and package for the Water District 5 project (WD-5) and would allow changes in the scope and service area of this project while retaining the current financing offer (DWSRF project #17468); and,

Whereas WD-5 alternative plans and cost estimates, as presented by Eric Pond of Barton and Loguidice on February 21, 2008 were produced on a short time table; and

Whereas there is insufficient time for adequate review of WD-5 Alternative C with revisions (revised WD-5 Alt. C) by elected officials and citizens nor enough time to meet the required legal application process, environmental review, and inter-municipal agreements needed by March 24, 2008; and

Whereas (revised WD-5 Alt. C) as presented on February 28, 2008 is significantly more costly than the original WD-5, since it is geographically more extensive, and the total estimated cost of $9.87 million is extremely close to the $10 million cap required to retain zero percent interest financing from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF); and

Whereas consideration of any alternate district is premature at this time due to the lack of a town wide water needs survey; and

Whereas the quantity of water that can be provided to the Town of Ulysses from Bolton Point through the Town of Ithaca infrastructure without improvements does not meet the total requirements of WD-3, revised WD-5 Alt. C, and the Village of Trumansburg second source; and

Whereas the revised WD-5 Alt. C is not in accord with growth patterns encouraged by our current zoning; and

Whereas revised WD-5 Alt. C impacts an identified Unique Natural Area and environmentally fragile lands west of New York State Route 89 not having proper conservation protections in place; and

Whereas revised WD-5 Alt. C cannot take into consideration the Comprehensive Plan initiative under progress, which is based on broad citizen input and scheduled for completion by October 2008.

Therefore be it hereby resolved that Water District 5 Alternative C with revisions be removed from consideration in favor of a cooperative effort using the inputs from the newly formed Town of Ulysses Water Needs Committee, the Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Planning Committee, the Town of Ulysses Planning Board, the Village of Trumansburg, Finger Lakes State Parks, and the Town of Ithaca to look at alternative water solutions and to design more mutually agreeable, fundable water project hereafter to be known as Water District 6.

Further be it resolved that EFC and DOH be sent a letter that we will not be following through with DWSRF project #17468 and that we will be targeting submitting a new IUP by 2009.

Finally be it resolved that the estimated timeline for completion of a project plan and submission to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and other applicable funding sources is no later than October 2010 (see attachment for detailed schedule).

Town Board Meeting 4/8/08

You can listen to the meeting by going to (THIS LINK)

(see post below from 3/5/08 for technical info)

***** The recording starts before the meeting has officially started. Liz Thomas, Marcia Georgia, and Allen Carstensen, are chatting about the possibility of getting these mp3's up on the Village and Town websites.

9 minutes 15 seconds -- they're talking about various bills to pay

11 m 30 s -- pledge of allegiance, accept minutes of 3/11 meeting

17 m 40 s -- planning board representatives, Rebecca Schneider and Ken Zeserson talked about Unique Natural Areas (UNA's)

21 m 15 s -- Dave Kerness resolution asking planning board to focus on water districts, and UNA's, and conservation zoning, lake front zoning, alternative energy, residential and commercial zoning, in preparation for the adoption of a completed Comprehensive Plan, and subsequent zoning revisions

23 m 40 s -- Diane Hillman - Jacksonville Association

37m 10s - recreation partnership discussion with Roxanne Marino

41 m 0 s -- DPW - Jim Meeker talks about the possibility of the Town buying a parcel adjacent to the Town Barn.

48 m 30s -- Code enforcement - Dick Coogan - Grassroots camping on Agard Rd. is technically a zoning violation. No conclusion reached.

55 m 40 s -- Town Clerk financial

56 m 10 s -- Lucia Tyler reports that Tom Schlee and Michele have worked out a schedule for Night Court

57 m 20 s -- Dave Kerness on bulk mailing

1h 3m 40s -- budget problems - The supervisor's budget is off by $300,000! Hopefully this is just an easily corrected error.

lh 7m 30s -- Dick Coogan? UNA's, and Storm Water Annual Report

1h 12m 35s -- Dick on the web page - stay with John Levine or go to Road Runner - $130/month extra I think he said but that sounds wrong - probably 130 extra per year. town business should be done on servers paid for by the town and should be backed up.

1h 20m 40s -- Rt. 96 corridor? April 23rd at PRI 6:30 public meeting. Fly over - cost us $15,000 - attempt to locate failed septic systems. Apparently we got a lot of false positives.

1h 25m 50s -- Dog control officer - should he be an employee of the town, or a contractor? No conclusion

1h 42m 20s -- Lucia Tyler reads her resolution to nix WD5 alt C, and do it right, giving the Water Commission time to do it's work, and wait for the completion of the Comprehensive Plan, and zoning revisions. Vote,
Dave Kerness - aye
Liz Thomas ----aye
Lucia Tyler ---aye
Doug Austic ---nay
Heated discussion follows when Dave asks Doug to explain his vote.

1h 50m 56s -- Apparently the discussion here is wether or not to include a "Farm Protection Plan" as part of the Comprehensive Plan - Much confusion follows about how much this would cost.

2h 6m 10s -- schedule change - the next working Town Board meeting will be 4/24/08 at 8:30 am instead of 7 pm. Dave's bringing the donuts!

2h 8m 0s -- back to Dave's issue (resolution?) to ask for planning board work. Dave and Doug have very different concepts about how this should proceed.

at the very end of the recording - my battery dies - Doug asks for comments and Roxanne begins to say something about the WD resolution - perhaps she will send me her thoughts so I can post them here.

(4/19/08) Roxanne feels that May 2009 as a target date for submitting a new plan for a water district is too soon to let the processes of the water survey and water needs committee analyses, consideration of a new Comp Plan (presuming one is adopted in the late fall to early winter of 2008), etc. fully be incorporated into a new water district proposal.

Town Board Meeting 3/27/08

You can listen to or download an audio file of the meeting,

here

(see post below from 3/5/08 for technical info)

* it begins with a discussion of the new contract with Chris Austen (from Covert) to replace the SPCA as the town's dog control officer. I feel this is a mistake. I feel that the town should continue to use the SPCA for this.

6:30 - they revisit the illegal closure of the last meeting on 3/11/08 when the pro wd5 forces left in a huff after their resolution was tabled

8:15 - they discuss expanding high speed internet access. They are apparently unclear about the
differences between dsl and fiber optics and cable

15:30 Sue Poelvorde joins discussion about upcoming public Comp Plan meetings and how to best get the word out.

24:00 Tom Schlee - new Town Justice who is replacing the late Christine Springer discusses the need for a court clerk.

50:00 amusing discussion - who the hell works for this town? what the hell are they doing? why the hell don't we know?

1:00 Lucia Tyler discusses the new resolution for wd6
1:14 Lucia reads the resolution, then they discuss Unique Natural Areas, and can the planning board do some groundwork now, to prepare for new zoning laws, once the Comp Plan is finished?

1:31 Doug Austic quote about wd5 - "I'm not going to be in favor of moving ahead before the Comprehensive Plan" (You heard it hear first, folks) This is good news. Those of us who prefer not to be rushed into 10 - 15 million dollar infrastructure projects without proper study should participate in the upcoming Comp Plan public meetings 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

Thomas, Howarth, Carstensen, and Filiberto's writings on wd5 can be found on this blog below

they discuss the timing, and the process of drafting changes to the zoning laws

1:44 Village sidewalks grant application - the village requested a letter of support from the town. Rod Ferrintino blows hot and cold. Doesn't look good for getting the letter.  Individuals who want to support this grant application can send letters to clerk@trumansburg-ny.gov   Apparently, some on the Town Board feel that the Village was irresponsible for spending too much on the Main Street Project, and don't want to encourage further irresponsible behavior.  (hmm......  brings to mind irresponsible water infra.......  oh, never mind)

Liz Thomas recorded this meeting for me with my recorder, I was not there.  Thank you Liz.  I hope that someone on the Village Board will record their proceedings when I am not there, so that we maintain the accessibility and transparency provided here.  This should be done by the Town and the Village, and posted on their websites, but for now, all are welcome to get it here.

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.

Back to Democracy Peace March in Trumansburg

We gathered in front of the schools and marched down to the peoples park across from the post office to commemorate the end of the fifth year of our illegal occupation of Iraq. We dedicated our march to the memory of Frank Carver, who passed March 4th after many years of working for peace and justice.



You can see all of the pictures here.

Ithaca Journal Saturday 3/15 - "T-burg, Ulysses continue water fight"

The Ithaca Journal printed a piece "T-burg, Ulysses continue water fight" Saturday morning. It's a disappointing piece of journalism. The headline makes it sound as if the village is fighting the town, which is not the case. The conflict is between those that want to rush ahead with ill conceived plans, and those who resist.

Then there is this,

"Carstensen said he's not in favor or strongly opposed to water district five, and said he thinks it's a decision to be made by the planing board and the zoning board."

They got this totally wrong. I am strongly opposed to water district five - as presently described (25 miles of pipe and 10 - 15 million dollars) I did not say that it is a decision for the planning and zoning boards. The author is confusing what I said about the Byrne Dairy project (where I can see both sides) with what I said about wd5.

The author also failed to mention a critical piece of information, which I feel voters need, in-order to make their decision. Back to Democracy, a local group of grassroots volunteers, held a candidate forum last Saturday. Debbie Nottke refused to attend, saying that BTD was a "political advocacy group". BTD advocates for participatory democracy, with the aims of peace, social justice, sustainability, and liberation from corporate control. They do not advocate for one political party over another. I asked for their endorsement, and they refused, in-order to maintain this neutral status. This is the third candidate forum that BTD has hosted between candidates for Trumansburg and Ulysses offices. This is a valuable service to the community, and I hope that all candidates will participate in the future.

Letter to the editor of the Trumansburg Free Press by Jules Burgevin

Below, is a letter submitted to the editor of the Trumansburg Free Press by Jules Burgevin, more than two weeks ago. The editor printed 3 letters in support of my opponent, Debbie Nottke, why did he not print this one?



Dear Friends:

We don't want to lose our sense of villageness. The sense of community. The sense of being able to bond in friendship with our neighbors. We really want to keep the integrity, the beauty, the uniqueness that exists in this lovely village of Trumansburg.

We want to be able to treasure and protect and keep in balanced harmony what was passed to us and what we will pass to the next generation coming into this village: the green spaces, the Smith woods, the creek, the pathways, the open Natural spaces that are inside and around where we live. Trying to preserve and enjoy what we have.

My sense is that Allen Carstensen has a keen political awareness of what is going on in this village, and has a profound interest and knowledge of how village government works. He is responsive and responsible and experienced. And he has a determination --- he displays a genuine zeal --- in his efforts to have us focus on the issues of the environment, and other matters of village concern for all of us.

The heart of this village now --- is the beautiful library. In a way, it is the center. And in the new village library is a reading room. Open, with a gas burning fire place. And all the intricate red oak trimmed woodwork was done by Allen Carstensen, as part of the volunteer building effort. Solid. Beautiful. Carefully made. Strong.

In these times we really need Democrats in offices where we know we can depend on them because of their experience in crafting a solid, dependable future for all of us.

Most Sincerely, Jules Burgevin 387-6253



This is my part of the volunteer building effort at the Ulysses Philomathic Library, that Jules refers to above.

Town Board 3/11/08 sound file

I wasn't at this meeting.
I'll post some comments later.
Again, the sound quality is better if you download it to your computer and listen with a program that will allow you to boost the treble and cut the bass.  
Here's the link.

3:50 Sue - comprehensive plan update

6:40 Chris Austin - potential dog control officer

23:00 Jim Dennis - County Legislature update

28:00 question for Sue about Ag District Survey

highway dept. report

39:40  Marsha Georgia treasury

44:00 Rt.96 corridor update - fly over - planning - 

46:00 Motion to hire Chris Austin - passed by all

47:40 Shall we get a second justice - Liz Thomas resolution 

Austic "I really don't think we need a second justice now"

54:00 Passed a motion about second justice

I need clarification here

54:57  Share Municipal Services Grant to study sharing services between 

Ulysses, Caroline, and Newfield  (storm water runoff)

59:50  Motion to accept SEQR

1:09   motion for new time for town meetings

clarification please

1:10   discussion about handing over road maintenance of annexed property 

on west seneca, the town wants clarification from the village.

Chris Thomas is on it. 

1:20    ?????? papers are passed out  - proposed changes to - ??????

1:25:30  Resolution - Michael and Melissa Series?  is this the minigolf project

passed by all 

1:33:30  I think what's happening here is Lucia, Dave, and Liz try to bring a resolution

forward and Doug and Rod, kill it on the basis of it not having been submitted

in writing 6 days prior to the meeting.

1:34:00  Rod  Ferintino reads a resolution to go forward with Map, Plan, and Report.

Doug Austic seconds

Dave Kerness moves to table the resolution. He gets a second. It's tabled

Doug moves to adjourn, and it sounds like he then leaves

Liz, asks for a public comment period  ?????

Roxanne objects to the way proceedures are followed.

1:39:50  Shall we read the resolution in spite of members walking out?

Lucia reads the resolution.

Can I post the text?

The jist of it, is to not consider wd5 or MPR in such a rush.

Village Board Meeting 3/10 Sound File

Sound from meeting here.
0-4:50 roll call, public comment period
4:50-10:00 Carstensen and Hrubos on wd5
10:00-15:00 Filiberto on carbon tax, reports from dept. heads
15:00-22:00 Police report
22:00 treasurer and clerk
24:00 Chris Thomas on sidewalks
29:45 Jim Dennis - County Legislature report
33:10 Chris Thomas on EMS
38:50 Marty Petrovic on old business
45:50 Carstensen and Hrubos on wd5
51:00 Jim Dennis on wd5
56:00 Bob Brown on wd5
The Town Board meets tomorrow night. There might be resolutions brought forth about wd5
(read the technical stuff in the previous post.)

3/5/08 Budget Meeting Sound File

As an experiment, I recorded most of the last budget meeting with an Ipod + microphone. I turned that into a compressed mp3 file and uploaded it to my website. You can listen to it here.
Depending on your browser, there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. In the future (if elected) I intend to post these files along with a few notes that refer you to points on the timeline where I will tell you who is speaking, and perhaps comment on what was being said. The sound quality isn't great, but I can actually make out some of the conversation better than I could during the live version (perhaps because my hearing isn't great, and perhaps because I can adjust the sound with the equalizer and volume controls) I would like to offer sound files that are crisp and clear. If anyone has expertise in this and can offer advice, please contact me.

Bio and Position Paper

I’m Allen Carstensen, the Democratic candidate for the trustee spot on the Village Board. I was born in Philadelphia in ‘52, moved to Maryland, then Rochester in 1960 where my father was a professor of biophysics at the University of Rochester. I graduated high school in 1970 and spent 2 years studying photography at Ohio University, but I was drawn to a career in building. I built my parents a vacation home on Kueka Lake, and have been in the building trades ever since. My wife and I bought an old church in Enfield, in 1984 which now serves as my cabinet shop. My wife, our 3 children and I moved here from Enfield, in 1996, and bought an old house on Strowbridge St. My wife, Christine, is an Architect at Cornell, and she designed, and I built a 2 story addition to the house, and I'm still trying to find the time and money to renovate the rest of it. Chris also designed, and I built, the fireplace at the Ulysses Philomathic Library as part of the volunteer building effort, a few years ago.

I managed a crew of carpenters building houses, additions and remodeling from 1985 - 1995. Since Chris began full time at Cornell I have been working alone, so that I have more flexibility to help with the kids and the house.

My family and I moved here from Enfield because we loved the feeling of villageness in Tremendousburg. I want to work with the board to maintain that feeling. We have excellent schools, a skilled volunteer Fire Department, a friendly police force, a dedicated ambulance/ems service, beautiful, historic architecture and a fabulous new library. We need progressive Democrats on the Village Board in-order to safeguard the aspects of Trumansburg that we cherish as we move forward and face the challenges ahead.

I was invited to join the steering committee of Back to Democracy, and I was instrumental in bringing Les Roberts, and Eric Massa, to Trumansburg to address gatherings of our group. Back to Democracy is a group of progressive grassroots volunteers who promote participatory democracy, with the aims of peace, social justice, sustainability, and liberation from corporate control. I have attended every village board meeting since last summer, because I have become concerned about some of the issues before the board.

I have also been a member of New Yorkers for Verified Voting (Bo Lipari executive director) We have had considerable success, in recent weeks, in our struggle for secure, reliable, and verifiable voting systems.

I was dismayed to hear that the Village Board was investigating the possibility of partially privatizing our ambulance and ems service. What we have now, is a fully taxpayer funded ambulance/ems which is as it should be. All health care and emergency services in our country should be taxpayer funded. We have taxpayer funded police and fire departments, and every industrialized country in the world except ours, has moved to some form of taxpayer funded health care while we in this village, are considering a move in the opposite direction. When your house is on fire, or you need the police, our fire department and police department are focused completely on helping you. They are not worrying about the bottom line, they are worrying about how best to put out the fire. Polls show that a strong majority of the country is in favor of universal single payer health care. We have a portion of that right here, and now, but the board is
considering hiring a private, for profit billing service to bill the recipients, and their private for profit health insurance companies. Movements in Washington are gaining strength that may result in major reforms to our crazy system of health care. Let's stand on principle and resist the temptation to collect money from corporations that care much more about their bottom line than the health of their customers. The board is looking at this, in an attempt to save taxpayer money, which should always be high on their priorities, but taxes are the the entrance fee to a civilized society. The tax dollars that we spend to support our excellent ambulance service, are well spent. I would prefer to save money by taking a hard look at, say for instance, overly expensive water infrastructure projects.

The Town Board is considering privatizing our dogcatcher. The Tompkins County SPCA was the first no-kill shelter in the country. They are a quasi governmental agency that bills most of the towns in our area for dog control. They had a manager that, while he did a great job in many ways, apparently didn't watch the books closely enough, and didn't bill enough to keep the operation afloat. They now have a new manager, and she has doubled their rates, which would bring them inline with national averages. Many of the towns have balked and are considering switching to private, for profit dogcatchers without the sterling credentials of the SPCA. There is a potential savings of less than $5/household here. I think that we as residents of the town and the members of the Village Board, should ask the Town Board to continue our relationship with the SPCA.

I've read everything I can find about Water District 5 . This is a complicated issue and it's difficult to find complete information on all the aspects of it, but it seems clear that the process could have been more open. One of the arguments made by proponents of WD5 is that it is necessary because the well water at Taughannock Park has been condemned by the DOH. It hasn't actually been condemned but the DOH did report that the well was "under the influence of ground water". Dr. Robert Howarth, a geobiochemist and an aquatic systems scientist at Cornell, has concluded that there is no imminent public health threat to any user of the Park's water system. I could be in favor of a inter-municipal water project, if it was developed openly with close cooperation between all parties involved, with everyone informed every step along the way. The Town Board has been called into special sessions twice in the last two weeks, because the Supervisor feels an urgent need to move forward with his plans. The majority of the current Village Board members have wisely taken a cautious and skeptical view of WD5, as it was last described. I would like to join them in searching for a better solution to the problem caused by the Department of Health putting a moratorium on extending our pipelines to new construction.

When I first became curious about our local government, I found it very difficult to find information about what was going on. The Clerk posts the minutes online, usually late, and they only consist of the agenda and the votes on various resolutions, none of the discussions. I've asked for audio CD's of meetings but they won't play. The Free Press usually has a reporter there, but they don't seem to write about the things that I have found interesting, since I've been attending. If elected I will try to have improvements made to the website, and I will begin a blog where I will report from a progressive perspective, what I consider important at the meetings, and I will invite all members of the Town and Village boards (past and present) to participate.

I have recently read the newest version of the Comprehensive Plan. We owe many thanks to the great work of David Filiberto, everyone on the committee and the Tompkins County Planning Department. The plan was adopted by the board at the February meeting. Now we are able to move forward with updating the Zoning Laws, which have not been updated since 1971. David has recommended several firms that could do this work quickly and efficiently. I look forward to seeing this done so that the village might have more to say the next time some one wants to build an ugly Movie Gallery next to an ugly Dollar Store on Main Street.

I was instrumental in getting the Village Board to hold a special meeting last September, to consider passage of a resolution to encourage our representatives in Washington and Albany to hold hearings into the impeachable offenses of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. We didn’t get the resolution passed, but I feel that it was successful in that we had the largest turnout for a Village meeting ever, and that these issues should be discussed more than they are. It cost the village virtually nothing. I realize that local issues must take priority over national issues and I want to alleviate any fears that if elected I would tie up the board with constant arguing for passage of the resolution.


You are invited to a Candidate Forum sponsored by Back To Democracy (backtodemocracy.org) at the Village Hall at 10 am Saturday March 8th. Marty Petrovic and I will speak and answer your questions. My opponent, Debbie Nottke has refused to participate.

My cell phone number is 273-2186
My e-mail address is whwoods@lightlink.com
Please feel free to contact me.

Thank You,
Allen Carstensen

Thursday 2/28 Village Board Meeting - WD5

Last Thursday 2/28/08, the Village Board held a special meeting to discuss, inform, and vote, on WD5. I have been, until now, in agreement with the Board, in that they have resisted pressure from the Town Supervisor to cooperate and support his ill conceived plans. I am disappointed that they have now passed a resolution which states that the Village is willing to pay $500,000 for any connection to any pipe that can provide 250,000 gallons of water per day to the village. Lucia Tyler (Town Council person) was present and stated that she had a letter from the Town of Ithaca that essentially says that this amount of water from Bolton Point is impossible at this time. The vote on this resolution was unanimous, but David Filiberto was not present. The Village Board's position is now proactive. They have reservations about WD5, but they claim that their resolution is not tied to any infrastructure project in particular. This seems odd. We are not operating in a vacuum here. We know who's system we are discussing, and we know that there are many drawbacks.

David Filiberto (the Village Trustee for whose spot I am a candidate) wrote a letter prior to the meeting and sent it to the Board and Finding Ulysses. Someone should have read it at the meeting. Here it is,

After review of the newly proposed WD5 which plans to lay 25 miles of water infrastructure around the Village of Trumansburg and up Route 89, similar concerns exist as with the previous incarnation of the plan: there has been little regard to the impact such a project would have on the Village, Town and surrounding environs notably Cayuga Lake, Trumansburg Creek, agriculture districts, now and into the future.
In any large public development project all relevant costs and benefits should be ascertained in order to decide if a project is feasible and beneficial.
Points that have not been adequately considered now or previously include:
The estimated capital cost has risen from $4.9 million to $9.8 million according to the engineering firm Barton and Loguidice. The Ithaca Journal has quoted the Town of Ulysses Supervisor placing the cost at $14 million. The annual estimated cost borne by an EDU (a user in the district) has risen from $570 to $613. The estimated contribution from the Village for this plan has risen from $330,000 to $500,000. If these numbers are accurate, how can municipal officials expect residents in the proposed water district to afford such an increase and why would the Village which rejected the previous plan pay more for this plan?


As importantly the long term economic and environmental impacts from such a development project have yet to be ascertained. The newly proposed project runs through agricultural lands to the north and west, runs by a unique natural area (Taughannock Creek) and runs up Route 89 a potentially desirable place to develop housing because of the proximity to Cayuga Lake and its view shed. What impact will an increase in housing, commercial farming and other business lured by water infrastructure have on the area? If developed appropriately the impact would be positive, haphazardly potentially disastrous.
This new plan requires support from the Village of Trumansburg and from Taughannock State Park. The Village would only get an emergency source of water from this plan, not the desirable second source it seeks, and depending on who is the judge, is mandated to have. Furthermore, an independent study by Dr. Robert Howarth of the situation at Taughannock State Park finds that the influence of groundwater contamination is most likely due to a local source (proximity of park rest rooms to well) rather than from its shallow well near the lake.
The Village has just passed a Comprehensive Plan which advocates careful and thoughtful planning for the Village. The Town of Ulysses has a Comprehensive Plan Committee hard at work considering the best options for future growth in the Town. Recently the Town appointed a new Water Committee to take a closer look at future water needs and options. In spite of this the Village is asked to lend its support for this newly proposed project. Support from the Village for this project at this time would not only discredit and de-legitimize these efforts it would go against the will of previous decisions voted by each Board not to pursue a similar plan. Unfortunately, I cannot attend the February 28th meeting in person but I encourage the Village Board and residents of the Town and Village to reaffirm previous votes and reject support for this project or any incarnation of it until the necessary costs and benefits are ascertained correctly.
David Filiberto, Village of Trumansburg Trustee

Liz Thomas Writes about WD5

(Liz Thomas is a Ulysses Town Council-person)

Pros and Cons of Public Water in Ulysses


Recently the New York State Department of Health notified the Town of Ulysses of the potential for the proposed Water District 5 to move ahead with 0% interest loan funding despite the removal of Auble’s Mobile Home Park from the plan. However, in order for this to happen, the town needs to find an equivalent number of new water users to meet the annual target cost per user of $613. Going above this number would disqualify the project for 0% interest funding. To meet this goal, Eric Pond from the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice, proposed a reconfiguration of the system (see map below). The only alternative provided that fits the $613 target cost encompasses large areas of land zoned for the lowest residential density and also includes Route 89 from Taughannock Park to Glenwood Road resulting in a full 25 miles of pipelines and escalating the project cost to somewhere near $10 million, up from the original $4.6 million. These costs would be paid for by those within the water district whether they hook up to the water system or not.

The Village of Trumansburg is under a restriction from the Tompkins County Department of Health preventing extension of their water mains until they have a back-up source of water, in spite of the enormous water capacity of their well and their redundant pumping system. Due to this restriction, local residents and municipal officials are working to develop a back-up source to the Village.

Based on speaking with residents and municipal officials, there is also support for Taughannock Park’s desire to connect to the municipal water. Where controversy arises is in the placement of pipelines through areas of the town that are not zoned for high residential densities; in fact much of the northwestern area of the town where the pipes will be installed is zoned for the lowest possible densities. Zoning is intended to encourage growth in certain areas and discourage growth in others. While the newly proposed (on 2/21/08) Water District 5 design runs through land currently being used for agriculture, it skips land near Ithaca with the highest density zoning. Why? Based on Tompkins County Department of Health information, since 1985, seven wells have a documented problem within the area of proposed Water District 5. However, wells outside the proposed water district also have documented troubles. An accurate town-wide survey of well water quality and quantity has never been completed, but a water committee is now formed to do just that. Once completed, a water plan can be designed to meet the actual needs of the most residents.

On February 20, 2008, a report from Environmental Advocates of New York was released highlighting the negative impacts of sprawl on rural communities resulting from misuse of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF is the funding source for Water District 5) managed by the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the New York State Department of Health. The article is available on line at http://www.eany.org/reports/Wasted%20Green_02202008.pdf (beginning at the bottom of page 9) and states in part, “the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, created with the best of intentions, may be working at cross-purposes to efforts to fight sprawl.” The article goes on to say, “The Department of Health reviews proposals to ensure they are technically sound. However, there is no evidence of a mechanism in place to ensure that the project is the most appropriate remedy to a public health or environmental problem. And the EFC simply looks at the applicant’s finances to determine if the municipality has the fiscal capacity to repay the loan.”

The scoring used by EFC gives 40 “points” to projects that address well contamination, whether there is one contaminated well or 100. To date the Tompkins County Department of Health has provided data on well contamination in only 7 wells in the project area over 22 years to determine the severity of the need. While water contamination is a serious issue, many homeowners already manage many water problems through home treatment and filtering systems. These methods may be inconvenient for homeowners, but in most cases are less expensive in the long run than a municipal water system in an area of low residential density.

Finally, the Town of Ulysses is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan. Based on the recent Comprehensive Plan survey, over 90% of residents of Ulysses rate the following three qualities as important or extremely important: open space, rural character, and Taughannock Park. Historically, where water flows, so does development. Should we proceed with a water district that encourages growth in rural and open space? Should we rush to pass this project before the Comprehensive Plan is being updated? Do we want to encourage development along the highly erodable steep slopes along Route 89? Infrastructure, such as water lines, should be preceded by thoughful planning, and be built according to those plans. Working together, let’s identify the water needs more clearly, and build a system that addresses the real needs while preserving the rural character of Ulysses that we all hold so dear. The deadline for making a decision on this plan is NOW, so if you have an opinion, please let it be heard.

Water District 5

The Ulysses Town Supervisor and (long time proponent of WD5) has called a second meeting in two weeks (outside of regular town board meetings) in-order to discuss WD5. Apparently we are again coming up on a deadline within which to apply for a loan. I wish that he would go a little slower on this. I am not convinced that this plan is good for Trumansburg or Ulysses as a whole. These weekday, daytime meetings are nearly impossible for many of us to attend, including some of the town board members that have regular jobs.

The meeting is tomorrow (Thursday) at the town hall (I assume - it's not on their website) at 8:30 am

I am running for a trustee position on the village board. It is my understanding that a "Memorandum of Understanding" from the Trumansburg Village Board, would be required for the town of Ulysses to go forward with this WD5 plan. I would be in favor of a water infrastructure project, if everyone was informed every step along the way in a very open process, and we then voted upon the project, with all members present. Calling these weekday, daytime meetings is not conducive to the kind of process that I would like to see. (I'd like to go tomorrow, but I've got work to do and bills to pay) If the supervisor is in a rush because low interest money is available for a limited time only, I'd say no thanks. Let's be sure this is what we want before worrying about the loan.

I'm going to write to my representatives. If you care to join me, here is their contact information,

Rod Ferintino----------rodf@twcny.rr.com
Lucia Tyler------------Tyler.lucia@gmail.com
Doug Austic-----------tousuper@twcny.rr.com
Liz Thomas------------egt3@cornell.edu
Dave Kerness----------djkerness@gmail.com

Below is a very informative letter that Dr. Robert Howarth sent to the supervisor after the first of these special meetings. Dr. Howarth is a biogeochemist and aquatic ecosystem scientist with more than 30 years of experience in water quality issues. He is a resident of Ulysses.


Dear Mr. Austic:

I have learned that at yesterday's special meeting of the Ulysses Town Board, you criticized my statement that the proposed ethanol plant in Seneca County poses a significant threat to water quality in Cayuga Lake, calling it a scare tactic. I could not attend the meeting yesterday due to work commitments, and so I am hearing of your criticisms only second hand. However, I note that you have never communicated any such concerns directly to me, despite my repeated offers to meet with you and the Board and despite my openly providing written information to you.

I write now in response to the comments you made, which include some major errors and some highly questionable statements. I am copying members of the Town Board and the chairs of the Comprehensive Plan Committee, the Planning Board, and the new Water Committee for their information.

Error #1: You apparently stated that the proposed plant is "way more than 20 miles away" from any area in the Town of Ulysses. You are dead wrong, as anyone with a local map can verify. The proposed site is in the southern part of the old Seneca Army Depot in the Town of Romulus. All of the Village of Trumansburg and approximately half of the land area in the Town of Ulysses is within 20 miles. And of course 20 miles is not a physical barrier to moving dried brewer's grain or manure; rather, the economics become less favorable as the distance increases, and most economic models suggest the greatest risk is within 20 miles. All of the Town of Ulysses is close enough to be at some risk.

Error #2: You apparently stated that a large CAFO could not be built in the area because there is not enough land to spread the resulting manure. While it is true that there are constraints on how much manure can be spread, it is not true that this constraint would prevent the construction of one or more new CAFOs. CAFOs now require a SPDES permit, and as part of the application process, the owner needs to certify to the DEC that they have a "comprehensive nutrient management plan" (CNMP). In turn, the CNMP would include specifications on the spreading of manure. Interestingly, the CNMP is not filed with the DEC; rather, only the certification that there is a CNMP is filed. Spreading manure on land owned by the CAFO is one option for disposing of the waste. Another option is to sell the manure to another farmer; if that farmer does not also own a CAFO, they do not need to have a SPDES permit or CNMP. Other options are to landfill the manure, to digest it, or to compost it. Of these, the best environmentally would be to digest the manure to produce natural gas for energy, and then convert the waste from that in dried, pelletized fertilizer. But there is no guarantee that new CAFOs would follow that path. The most likely path is that the manure be spread to the maximum amount allowed by nutrient management plans, with the rest disposed of in some other fashion. This means there is significant risk of much greater spreading of manure in the Town of Ulysses than occurs at present, and this poses a potentially significant water quality risk to Cayuga Lake (not to mention odors, etc.), as well as local streams and groundwater supplies. I note that the business plant for the proposed ethanol plant calls for selling large amounts of distiller' grain, and this makes economic sense only if CAFOs are built relatively nearby (see below for more information).

Questionable statement #1: You apparently stated that no one knows if the ethanol plant will actually be built. The momentum behind building the plant is great, with support from the State, from Seneca County, and from the Town of Romulus. Tax breaks and government incentives are in place ( https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/news/press-releases/2006/2006 ). And according to the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce, $115 million in private funding has been identified; 100 investors have partnered with the owner, a California based company ( http://www.senecachamber.org/pages/advocacy/).

Questionable statement #2: You apparently stated that the population density is sufficiently high in Ulysses as to discourage CAFOs. There are no regulations in New York State against putting CAFOs into even heavily populated areas. As you are aware, local zoning cannot prevent CAFOs in agricultural areas in New York State; as you know, home rule applies to most Town actions, but not to any effort to exercise control over agricultural activities in State-designated agricultural areas (which encompasses much of the area of WD5 as currently proposed). Some CAFO owners undoubtedly favor locating in areas of low population, as this reduces complaints from the public. However, CAFOs frequently are built in relatively populated areas, including areas with greater population density than here. Drive down to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania for an example of this (I suggest doing so in the spring, when the pungent odor permeates the entire county).

I also am told that at yesterday's meeting, Rod Ferrentino pointed out that we already have at least one CAFO in the Town. I believe we have at least 3, perhaps more. According to the DEC, the only CAFOs in Ulysses are medium ones; for dairy farms, this means they have between 200 and 699 cows ( http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/36895.html). The farm that Roxanne and I own abuts one of these CAFOs, and for the past 22 years, I have considered them to be good neighbors. I also grew up next door to such a farm in New Hampshire. This scale of farming is a desirable aspect of rural life, in my opinion.

The concern I am raising regards a very different scale of operation -- with potential for much greater pollution -- when considering the waste from the ethanol plant proposed for Seneca County. After corn is digested to make ethanol, the waste material is called brewers grain or distillers grain. The business plan for the proposed plant calls for selling 175,000 tons (dry weight) of this material each year ( http://www.senecachamber.org/pages/advocacy/). That is enough to support 40,000 head of cattle in CAFOs, and these CAFOs are most likely to be within 20 miles of the plant because of the cost of transporting the distillers grain (Simpson, T. W., A. N. Sharpley, R. W. Howarth, H. W. Paerl, and K. R. Mankin. 2008. The new gold rush: Fueling ethanol production while protecting water quality. Journal of Environmental Quality, in press). This is a scale of operation that is 50- to 100-fold greater than our community has ever experienced, and I would think there might be a high probability that these facilities would be run by absentee owners (as no one is likely to want to live near them).

Putting municipal water into agricultural areas in Ulysses increases the risk that these CAFOs (and perhaps associated slaughter houses and meat processing plants) could be sited in our Town. I believe that this is an unnecessary and unacceptable risk, and one that should be given serious consideration as part of the Comprehensive Planning process for land use and development of municipal water in the Town.


I ask that you set the record straight at the next meeting of the Ulysses Town Board, with a retraction of your incorrect statements.

Thank you,

Bob Howarth

Talked to Ambulance/EMS Volunteer Feb. 2

I just met with a neighbor of mine, who was an active member of the Trumansburg Volunteer Fire Department and part of the volunteer staff of the Ambulance/EMS for several years. I explained my concerns about the privatization of the Ambulance/EMS. He disagreed with my use of the word privatization because he doesn't believe that this is the first step on the road to a fully private for profit Ambulance service. He may be right, but until I find a better word, I will continue to use "privatization". I consider every step in that direction to be a step in the wrong direction wether it results in a fully private company or not.

I told my neighbor that if I were a volunteer with the Ambulance/EMS service in it's current form (fully taxpayer funded) I would feel proud to be a part of a group that devoted time to helping their neighbors in times of need, and I would feel good about being able to say "there's no charge for this". If my Ambulance company then entered a relationship with private for profit insurance companies and billing companies, and I was now required to get customer's social security numbers and insurance company information, this would change how I felt about the work.

My neighbor informed me that the number of volunteers in Trumansburg is relatively high presently. We are not having nearly as much trouble maintaining sufficient numbers of volunteers as neighboring communities are. Perhaps this is because a fully taxpayer funded service is good for morale. My neighbor felt that some people might be less apt to continue to serve if we took this step towards privatization.

My neighbor told me that he was at the meeting with the representative from Professional Ambulance Billing, and Chris Thomas, and was told that a bill would be sent to care recipients regardless of health insurance status. There are 47 million Americans currently without health insurance. Most of these people don't have a lot of spare cash. Most of these people are honest, hard working, tax paying folks who helped pay for the equipment and facility that houses our Ambulance/EMS. They don't have health insurance because our government doesn't have the foresight and concern for their citizenry that the governments in the rest of the industrialized world has. Yet these people would be hit with a big bill from our ambulance service on top of a big bill from the hospital if they had a serious medical emergency. Most bankruptcies are caused by medical emergencies, and the bankruptcy laws were recently changed in favor of big corporations.