Living in Dryden

Office fortress for rent

It's been a few years since I thought hard about the old NYSEG building, largely because its emptiness got way too depressing.

I was really happy to see this sign: hopefully someone will give them a call, and start that building coming back to life?

Sign invites leasing of the NYSEG office building.

I don't see a listing at Carrow's site yet, but hopefully soon.

100 pounds, Cortland to Ithaca, for a quarter

Most of what I've posted on the Elmira, Cortland, & Northern comes from David Marcham's The Ups & Downs of a Rural Line: Elmira, Cortland & Northern RR - 1867 to 1967 and On, but I've also watched for (and pretty much not found) other sources of information.

This week, I was delighted to open the mail and find this amazing bit of history from Mike Lane:

Freight Bill, Elmira, Cortland, & Northern, 1889

It's a bill for 100 pounds of freight, I think a box of drugs, moved from Cortland to Ithaca. It would have passed through McLean, Freeville, Etna, and Varna on its way there, on the line whose bed is on the opposite side of 366 from me. The fee was a staggering quarter - a substantial sum of money in 1889, but still seeming to me like a bargain given the headaches of shoving 100 pounds around.

Mike thinks this came from a box of papers from a Brooks' Drugs in Ithaca, though the bill itself isn't clear. In any case, it's wonderful to see a tangible piece of our past, a piece of a kind often thrown out.

Two great interviews on the Dryden ban

Wondering what happened to the Anschutz/Norse lawsuit? It hasn't gone away completely, despite Dryden's 4-0 victory at the Appellate Division.

Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner leads the current Tompkins Weekly with an interview on the case and what the Town is doing.

Resident and DRAC participant Deborah Cipolla-Dennis spoke this morning as part of a panel on MSNBC about home rule, the ban, the case, and more.

When there's more on whether the Court of Appeals (New York's highest court) accepts the gas companies' appeal, I'll post more.

Stonework 2013: Tear down this wall

We had dreamed of a year without major construction, but it was not to be: at the end of January, the bulging stone retaining wall on our driveway burst. We rearranged the debris, and used less of the driveway, but now are actually repairing it. Well, Rusty from Scott Land & Yard is repairing it.

Collapsed walls, tilted stairs.

Rusty cleared away the overgrowth and moved away plants. After rearranging the (oddly unpaved end of the) driveway, he put down pallets and started moving stone away.

Hauling rock from the wall.

In addition to the clay under our thin layer of soil, he revealed the drainage that hadn't protected the wall and some deeply planted cinder block (real cinders) footers.

Old tile, pipe, and footers.

In a day, the wall was gone, neatly stacked on pallets.

Want to see more? I've posted a gallery of the wall deconstruction.

Stonework 2013: Level stairs

As long as we were replacing the collapsed stone wall, it was time to replace the ever-more-tilted concrete stairs that had come with the house. The odd pipes (with their sharp edges!) serving as lamp post could also go.

The first step was removal - pulling the old concrete stairs out and breaking them into more manageable pieces for hauling away.

Breaking down the old concrete stairs.

Once the old stairs were gone, and after digging the right space, it was time to install the new stairs. After years of tilted concrete, it was time for (hopefully) immovable stone stairs.

Putting in the new slabs.

When the top step was on, Sungiva could come out and inspect it.

Sungiva explores the new steps.

There's more to do, building the wall against the stair, putting in a railing and new lamp post, and getting it set up. Even at this halfway point, though, this project is clearly an improvement.

Want to see more? I've posted a gallery of the stair replacement.

Niagara Falls

I just got back from the Niagara River area, but not from the Falls itself. I'll be posting pictures from my latest trip soon, but realized I'd never gotten around to posting pictures from an October 2007 trip Angelika and I made to the Falls.

Niagara Falls.

Niagara River.

Rainbow over the Falls.

I've also posted a long overdue gallery.

One final appeal on drilling ban

As expected, the Court of Appeals - New York State's highest court - has agreed to hear an appeal of Norse vs. Dryden (formerly Anschutz vs. Dryden). I think Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner says it best with:

"We are confident that the Court of Appeals will affirm, as two other courts have before it, that our town has the right, enshrined in our state Constitution and upheld by the courts, to decide how land is used within our town borders," Sumner (pictured) said in a statement. "Still, the oil and gas industry is dissatisfied and stubbornly insists on dragging out this court case. Clearly, they're not used to not getting their way."

The Court also agreed to hear the similar Middlefield case. (The Appellate Division ruled 4-0 in favor of Dryden in May.

Two openings at Ellis Hollow Nursery School for 2013-14

The Ellis Hollow Nursery School presently has two openings for the 2013-2014 school year. The school is located in the Ellis Hollow Community Center at 111 Genung Street. Classes go for four days (Monday-Thursday) from 9am-12pm, a three day option exists, with classes from Tuesday-Thursday. Tuition is $250 a month (4 days), or $200 a month (3 days). Classes start this year on September 16, 2013.

If interested, please contact the school's registrar John Quigley at jaq24@cornell.edu or call 607-229-8618.

Stonework 2013: Walls, drainage, post and railing

After the initial tear down and the construction of new stairs, it was time for the bulk of the work to proceed. Rusty from Scott Land & Yard did lots of stone cutting, selecting, and placing.

Cutting stone.

Selecting stone.

As failed drainage was what had collapsed the previous wall, we tried to ensure that the new wall had much better drainage, both with wrapped pipes and with drainage gravel rather than ordinary fill on top.

New drainage behind the wall.

On the north side of the driveway, a shorter mortared stone wall had been collapsing slowly for years, and we removed it.

Tearing down the smaller north wall.

To keep the slope in place, they piled small boulders. I would have liked a new wall, but we didn't have the funds to push that far.

(Small) boulders to hold the slope.

With last week's rain, I got to see how the drainage behaved, and was happy about it.

Drain at work.

One final touch was installing a post (to replace the departed light post) and railing (to replace the old pipes). This is the one piece I'm likely to modify - the one piece I can easily modify - as I don't love the pressure treated railing or the rectangular post. I should have discussed it more with them before installation day. However, they've provided a very solid foundation on which I can build.

Installing the railing.

In the end it looks great, and should work far better than it had.

Finished project area.

If you'd like to see a lot more, I've posted a gallery of stone wall destruction and construction.