Living in Dryden

State Forest futures

This Thursday, February 11th, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will be having a meeting on the futures of the Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State Forests in the Forum room at Tompkins-Cortland Community College. The room will open at 6:30pm and DEC staff will give a brief presentation about the unit management planning process at 7:00pm.

The easiest place to see the full press release is here, including an extra conversation between Mike Ludgate and the DEC about how gas drilling might be involved. A few key pieces I've already learned from the release and conversation:

• These two state forests total more than 5,000 acres.

• The area between the two forests is Valley Head Moraine, which splits the St.Lawrence watershed (via Cayuga Lake) from the Susquehanna watershed.

• "At this point in time, Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State Forests have not been nominated for oil and gas exploration or drilling, which is the first step in the lease process."

• For these forests, "New York State shares the mineral rights with the federal government."

There's also a link to another recently completed plan to get a sense of what they look like.

Etna Chocolate Festival, Valentine's dance today

The tastiest event of the year, the Etna Chocolate Festival, will be this morning from 10:00am to noon at Houtz Hall, on Lower Creek Road in Etna.

Tonight from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, there will be a Valentine's Day dance for adults benefiting the Dryden Senior All Night Extravaganza June 25th.

Stormwater sorted, well delayed, SPCA overloaded

I'm not sure why the state didn't notice a stream at the location of a gas well for which it issued a permit, but Dryden seems to have presented a case in how local officials can find genuine issues the DEC doesn't. This had come up at the January Town Board meeting, and I'm glad to see they got a positive response from the drilling company - who I suspect is aware that their popularity in the area is limited.

The future of the well isn't clear either, despite the permit having been issued by the state:

"There's a question of whether that well will even be drilled," said Jim Oursland, Anschutz's vice president of engineering. "The Cook well is one that we proposed, but we don't have any immediate plans within the next six months of actually drilling that well."

I'm very glad that the Town pursued this, especially given the state's attempts to minimize local control over everything related to gas drilling. State pre-emption of local regulation has really bothered since I first heard about gas drilling, and this seems like a step forward on that. We'll see what happens with the actual well, which isn't a Marcellus Shale well, so moved ahead under older rules.

In very different news, the SPCA is struggling after a seizure of 100 animals and hopes residents will come in and adopt them soon. Temple Grandin, an autistic professor and advocate for humane livestock handling, will be speaking at TC3 on February 23rd.

Zoning meeting extremely busy

I'm not sure what the official count was, but I'm pretty certain over 100 Dryden residents came to Town Hall last night for the opening special meeting on the new zoning law. There wasn't enough parking, even. It was a mix of people broadly supportive and openly dismissive, with a lot of people checking the maps to see where their property was and what might change.

After a presentation, the meeting broke up, with Environmental Planner Dan Kwasnowski talking to builders, architects, and contractors in one room while three listening stations (and a lot of Town, Planning, Conservation, and Zoning Appeals board members) collected comments. It was actually pretty overwhelming, and I think I'll submit my comments in writing instead. There were questions at the end, but a relatively few people spoke.

They're planning another meeting in March in Varna, and I don't think this is going to leap ahead. I suspect a lot of people who weren't that attentive when the Comprehensive Plan passed are going to be a lot more awake, now that binding zoning is in the works.

Update: Here's the Ithaca Journal story on the meeting.

Village of Dryden trustee races uncontested

Last night, the Dryden Democrats gathered in Dryden's Village Hall to select two candidates to run for the two two-year Village Trustee positions that are up for election this March. Unfortunately, we didn't have any candidates this year, and for the first time in a long long time, there will be no Democratic line on the ballot.

The Republicans will be running incumbent Trustees Charlie Becker and Don Norman, who they selected at their caucus, also held last night.

While it's still possible for candidates to get on the ballot by petitioning for an independent line through February 9th, it seems quite likely that Village of Dryden elections will be quiet this spring.

Zoning meeting Tuesday night

If you're interested in the future of the Town of Dryden, this is a meeting well worth attending:

A Public Workshop will be held on January 26, 2010 at 7 PM at Town Hall (snow date the 27th) on the Draft Zoning Revisions. The draft documents can be viewed here.

Definitely take a look if you have a chance. It will implement the Comprehensive Plan, but the details are always important! I'm worried about the implications of "Artist Studio / Craft Workshop" and how that differs from home occupations, as well as the mysteriously restrictive zoning on the most attractive parcel for development in all of Dryden. (Yes, that was in the Comprehensive Plan too, but I'd call that a mistake.)

Town Board meeting notes - drilling, speed

I finally got back to a Town Board meeting Wednesday night. Most of it was reasonably routine, but there were a few pieces that stood out:

• A number of people were there about gas drilling. Some of it was about the Trenton-Black River well off Irish Settlement Road that had received a permit from the DEC, and some of it was about ways to challenge the DEC on their control over the gas drilling permit process. This is clearly an issue that's only getting started.

• On a related note, Zoning Officer Henry Slater discussed correspondence with the DEC over that permit. He'd found a number of errors, notably relating to streams in the vicinity, and pointed out a basic problem in having the state administer all of this from an office in Avon: "I think that if we had been considered an interested agency... these could have been considered in the declaration."

• The area in Varna that will be getting a 30mph speed limit seems to be smaller than first suggested. I'd thought it would be around two miles, but it's only about 0.6 miles, in the "heart of downtown Varna".

Making the most of the snow

The Ithaca Journal reports that Hammond Hill was busy Saturday, as the Cayuga Nordic Ski Club held its 25th annual 10K ski race for club members, as well as a 5K race and a children's race.

The night before, the news was darker. Police arrested a Freeville man in Groton "suspected of shooting and wounding a South Carolina convenience store clerk in December."

There's also a broad article on Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania and its future in New York.

Natural gas fire in water-well drilling

No, this has nothing to do with Marcellus Shale gas exploration - it's just an unfortunate problem that's been a risk of water drilling here for a while. Etna, Freeville, and Dryden firefighters responded to a fire at a water-well drill that encountered a natural gas pocket on its way down.

County Legislator Martha Robertson sought dismissal of her driving on a suspended license charge in City of Ithaca court Wednesday.

Dryden legislator becomes Chair

The County Legislature elected Martha Robertson as its Chair last night by a 13-2 vote. The Journal doesn't report much about her plans, but what they do say is:

"I'm excited about the challenges and eager to really build a strong team," Robertson added.

It's a tough year to become Chair - the county's facing some serious budget challenges.

Antiwar opponent for Arcuri?

It looks like Congressman Mike Arcuri may have an antiwar opponent. The surprise in that, though, is that Logan Bell would run as a Republican, although he's apparently a Constitution Party member. (Update: More here.) He's not merely against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Bell called for bringing all American troops home, including from countries with which the United States is not at war, to cutting spending and taxes as the first step to economic recovery and stemming inflation.

He said is he troubled with the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, which "have nothing to do with national security," and are "undeclared and hopelessly undefined." Terrorism aimed at the United States, he said, is a direct result of decades of meddling in other country's affairs, and he believes the best way to secure American safety and "stop inciting hate" is to withdraw military personnel from all foreign countries.

The Journal says that Bell will seek the Republican nomination, but perhaps he's running as a Conservative as well, as they speak with Mike Sylvia about third-party candidacies. Sylvia, a Dryden resident (and occasional commenter here), ran as a Libertarian four years ago, and had this to say:

Mike Sylvia, 2006 Libertarian candidate for the 24th district, said the size of the district makes it especially difficult for third-party candidates to make an impact.

"Without money and support from the mainstream parties, we're just excluded," Sylvia said.

Sylvia said before Bell's speech that he has not decided definitely to support Bell, but "I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say."

Cathy Wakeman has a piece on a Dryden native's pursuit of a jump-rope world record as a fundraiser for Smile Train.

The Journal also has a broad look ahead at the county's prospects for 2010, and at the state level, absentee ballot signature rules will make a little more sense, among other things.

My comment on the gas drilling dSGEIS

It's the last minute, yes, but you can still submit comments today on the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement On The Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program, also known as the Hydrofracking dSGEIS.

Here's what I sent.

Reading the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement On The Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program has been a disappointing experience. While I recognize that New York State is taking a more active regulatory role than many states, the proposals in the dSGEIS suggest that the state isn't especially worried about hydrofracking.

After 809 pages, I still don't see a clear explanation of how wastewater from the process will be regulated. I don't see strong mechanisms for compensating property owners whose homes, farms, and businesses may be damaged by a process they didn't agree to.

The clearest indication of this document's failure to appropriately address risks is its handling of the New York City watershed. New York City and New York State have invested decades of effort to prevent even minor threats to that watershed, as the rules for steam cleaning boats in the reservoirs make perhaps absurdly clear. The writers of the dSGEIS, however, seem to think the risk to billions of dollars in infrastructure not to mention the drinking water of millions of people is too small to worry about. While I live Upstate, the risk calculations here make me wonder whether any part of this document is to be trusted.

I also find it strange that after massive effort over the past few years to make local municipalities regulate stormwater, the dSGEIS reserves jurisdiction over the stormwater impact of drilling sites to the state. I've not been impressed by the DEC's general lack of interest in local input regarding activities permitted under the 1992 GEIS - see http://livingindryden.org/2009/12/gas_drilling_permit_letter.html. This document seems intent on perpetuating the strange system in which muncipalities can regulate garden sheds but not natural gas drilling pads.

There are many more things wrong with this document, but given that thousands of people, governments, and organizations, are already commenting, I suspect that keeping it brief will improve my chances of being heard.

Thank you very much,
Simon St.Laurent
Town of Dryden

Broadband coming to area slowly

The Ithaca Journal has an article on hopes for a major step up in broadband delivery to the area. It notes that (Dryden resident) Chuck Bartosch, of Clarity Connect, has requested a stimulus grant for much larger-scale work than the work in the earlier grant he got for Dryden, on which I understand work is continuing, though also slowly.

There's also political news on the Marcellus shale front: New York City isn't very impressed with having it in their watershed.

Driving violation leads to arrest

I didn't entirely understand how things were supposed to work in 2001 when I got a speeding ticket in Horseheads, but at least mailing in the fine listed on the ticket seemed to work. Losing a ticket and then trying to figure out what to do doesn't seem to have worked out so well for my county legislator, however:

Officers charged Robertson with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle on Tuesday evening, Ithaca Police Department officials said. Officers stopped her on Maple Avenue around 10:20 p.m. because she had a tail light out, discovered her license was suspended for failure to answer a summons in Duanesburg and took her into custody.

I guess we'll find out January 6th, when Martha Robertson appears in Ithaca City Court, how this turns out, but in the meantime her critics are having a field day on the Journal's comment section.

There was also a nice piece on winter shares from Community-Supported Agriculture. We pick up our share at Ludgate Farms, but I wish more of this activity was in the Town of Dryden. It seems mostly to be to our west, on the other side of Cayuga Lake.