July 21, 2004

Principal, roads, 2-for-1 cats

Wednesdays are often busy Dryden days in the Ithaca Journal, but today's issue is overflowing.

Doug Premo, Dryden Intermediate School Principal for grades three through five, is leaving for a job in Ballston Spa after fifteen months in Dryden. He'll be departing July 30th, and the board is looking for an interim principal and a replacement.

In happier news, the Highway Department is maintaining its summer schedule despite changes and wet weather. There's some discussion of Hunt Hill and Genung Roads, where the current situation - patches that held up well - seems to be all right.

Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk brings a thank you to the community and volunteers from the Dryden Kitchen Cupboard, which provides emergency food to an average of 140 families a month. Wakeman also notes that the Seven Valley Chorus of Sweet Adelines International will be having a concert at 6:30 pm tonight at Montgomery Park in the Village of Dryden.

The SPCA has a buy-one-get-one cat sale going on; normally cats are $53, but right now you can get two for $60, complete "with cat carriers, pet food, engraved identification tags, a booklet on cat care, discounts at pet supply stores and a free veterinary visit.".

The Dryden Conservation Board is looking for a new member, and "is especially interested in finding a representative from the farming community."

In county news, the legislature voted down a mortgage tax 8-6, with County Legislator Mike Lane opposing it, saying, "I still feel it unfairly impacts the low and moderate income home buyer. This resolution is unworkable. It's rushed through."

The county is considering an income tax, setting up a study group. Raising money for local government through income rather than property taxes came up recently at a Planning Board meeting where farmers were expressing their concerns. If it's doable (a big question in itself), shifting tax collection from property to income might go a long way toward taking pressures off farmers. (It seems even more unlikely that schools would go the same route, however.)

On the opinion page, a Q & A with the Finger Lakes Land Trust mentions that "Ellis Hollow Preserve features a trail system through mature hardwood forests."

Posted by simon at July 21, 2004 8:29 AM in , , , , ,
Note on photos