This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Town Board will be meeting tonight at 7:00pm in the Dryden Village Hall (map) for a public information session about the purchase of land for a new Town Hall and other possible uses. The Dryden Courier had reported on the prospect of 20-25 acres, but the parcel in question turns out to be 47 acres. The price of $100,000 the article mentions does sound awfully reasonable for 47 acres. The Journal notes:
The size of the parcel has led to talk of possible other uses for the land. Some suggestions include building recreation fields and a nature trail. Wetlands comprise about 20 acres of the parcel for purchase and could be the site of the trail. With the new town hall built, there's also discussion of moving the town garage offices into what would be the vacated offices.
Last night's public hearing on the annexation of Dryden Mutual Insurance property to the Village of Dryden was quiet, with no opposition expressed to the annexation and some discussion of larger annexation possibilities.
Dryden firefighters provided mutual aid at a house fire in Virgil, but the structure was a total loss.
In the Ithaca City School District, the superintendent's budget includes some staff increases.
At the county level, the Tompkins County United Way discussed a survey which found that 10% of Tompkins County residents have trouble paying for food. They also found that:
Posted by simonstl at March 3, 2005 07:53 AMinterviews conducted in food pantries in rural areas of the county showed that users were using the pantries on a regular basis. People who were interviewed were also hesitant to sign up for food stamps, she said. People interviewed in the city, however, were more likely to sign up for food stamps, but did not want to visit food pantries.