It was a perfect day for a hike, and a perfect day for a Hammond Hill trail fixup day. This one ran a little differently from last year, so I followed a crew around and took pictures of them, though there were at least five other crews out there. Removing fallen trees and clearing brush were the main duties of...
The Town Board approved the budget on Thursday night with minor corrections (which I've added to the list). The budget has a property tax rate of $1.436410 per thousand, down from $1.477628, for a decrease of 2.8%, while the tax levy climbs from $912,241 to $958,525, for an increase of 4.8%. At the meeting they also approved the special permit...
Ann Leonard sends an update on Sunday's Hammond Hill trail repair: Update for Hammond Hill Trail Work and Dish to Pass October 30 8:30am There has been a tremendous response to the call for action from our terrific trail enthusiasts! Thank you, one and all, who have responded so far and welcome to all you who haven't stepped up to...
This week's Dryden Courier leads with a picture of last week's press conference at which County Legislator Mike Lane and Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton announced $50,000 in funding for firefighting equipment at Dryden's Neptune Hose Company and Freeville's W.B. Strong. $35,000 at Dryden will pay for an emergency generator to let the fire hall operate as an communications center in case...
After the success of last year's trail repair day and party, Ann Leonard is hosting another repair day at Hammond Hill State Park: Hammond Hill Trails Fix Up Day and After Work Dish to Pass Lunch There will be trail work party/pot luck lunch on Sunday October 30. We will meet at Ann Leonard's house (46 Hammond Hill (map) ......
I was planning to spend this weekend catching up on a number of stories, but instead wound up resting (for the first time in too long), painting and fixing storm windows, and replacing my windshield wiper blades after a chunk of what appears to have been wet cornbread came flying across Route 13 by the airport. Fraternity prank? Fortunately, the...
The Town of Dryden has a small but beautiful nature preserve, one that so far as I can tell relatively few people have discovered. The O.D. von Engeln Nature Preserve, owned and operated by the Nature Conservancy, includes 1.75 miles of trails and a kiosk explaining why the area is so special, tucked away off West Malloryville Road (map). Photos...
This evening's Town Board meeting includes a vote on the Comprehensive Plan, and one aspect of that plan gets a letter in the Ithaca Journal this morning from Robin Hadlock Seeley, who writes: Municipal trails proposed for private land violate traditionally recognized property rights and the basic need of individuals and families for privacy. A new state law placing a...
The Comprehensive Plan definitely gives priority to the old railbeds for use as trails, with a vision of connection Dryden Lake to Dryden (done), Dryden to Freeville (in progress), Freeville to Varna, and Varna to the East Ithaca Recreation way. I hadn't heard of anything happening presently on the western end of this, so I was surprised to see heavy...
Jennie Daley reports on last night's Dryden Town Board meeting, highlighting problems residents reported with their water systems and traffic. Cathi Calori and Art Berkey presented their work on a possible water district for Ellis Hollow Road from Game Farm to Turkey Hill Road, as wells in the area are faltering. They'll be collecting signatures on a petition and asking...
There's all kinds of Dryden news in this morning's Ithaca Journal. They have a story on the Dryden Youth Conservation Corps' work on trails in the area, including a bridge at 4-H Acres, signs at the O.D. von Engeln Preserve in Malloryville, and information for a kiosk on the Jim Schug trail. The Town of Dryden Youth Commission oversees the...
Thursday night's public hearing on the proposed Town Comprehensive Plan demonstrated residents' concerns and hopes for these guidelines for future development in the Town of Dryden. The first speaker, after Supervisor Steve Trumbull had opened the hearing, noting that this process had been in the works for at least seven years, was Ken Miller, a farmer who has spoken at...
Cathy Wakeman writes about Dryden United Methodist Church pastor David Nicholls' retirement in today's Ithaca Journal. Nicholls retired on Sunday after ten years at the church, and he and his wife Maxine plan to stay in the area. There's also an article on the planning for the Dryden-Freeville trail, which generally sounds to be moving forward except for this bit:...
This week's Dryden Courier leads with the Dryden High School graduation, as well as congratulations given to the Dryden school board and superintendent. Inside the paper, there are articles on the plans for a Freeville-to-Dryden trail and one on the walk Rebecca Elgie and Bernie Fetterly took, including a stop at Dryden's Time Square park, to highlight health care issues...
My pictures didn't turn out particularly well, but there was a fascinating open house at Dryden Town Hall tonight, looking at what's involved in creating a Freeville to Dryden trail extending the current Jim Schug Trail. Creating this trail involves a complex set of players - the landowners, the town, the villages of Dryden and Freeville, George Junior Republic, the...
This morning's Ithaca Journal is quiet on Dryden except for one letter from Leslie Fladd of Dryden, who writes about snowmobiles on the Dryden Lake Trail when they're not supposed to be there. As Fladd puts it: The Dryden Lake Trail, particularly the portion running adjacent to the lake, is a tranquil oasis of beauty and peace, that is until...
The Planning Board sent the Draft Comprehensive Plan to the Town Board on Thursday night, voting 6-0 to send it forward. Unlike the public hearing, the board didn't take public input this time, instead focusing on earlier comments. Apart from some minor language changes, the largest issue was a concern about the trail map. The board had previously removed lines...
I've been slack in covering the February Town Board meeting, and the minutes are now available if you want full details on what happened. Some key moments stand out in the meeting, so here are some highlights. I've bolded subjects for easy looking around. After a long search, the Town Board appointed Kimberly Gazzo, a Village of Dryden resident who...
The Town of Dryden has posted a revised version of its Draft Comprehensive Plan. This is the one document I'd encourage everyone interested in the future shape of Dryden (including the villages, even though they're not included) to read. The Planning Board will be having a public hearing on this document February 17th at 7:15pm at Dryden Town Hall (map)...
Tracey and I went hiking today with friends down the very snowy Jim Schug Trail, mostly along Dryden Lake. It was a beautiful winter day, the snow lit by bright sun. Skiers on the Jim Schug Trail People were snowshoeing, hiking, skiing, and icefishing out on the lake. Icefishing on Dryden Lake It was a wonderful way to spend an...
Today's Ithaca Journal provides an update on plans for the trail from the Village of Dryden to Freeville. Environmental Planner Debbie Gross talks about hiring a contractor and the early planning. Trail landowner Warren Van Pelt talks about his concerns, and contractor Rick Manning talks about the engineering challenges involved and the possibility of interpretive signs. To the west of...
The Ithaca Journal reports this morning on last night's Town Board meeting, focusing on board members' growing concern with the reponse times of the Etna Fire Company. The board approved contracts for other departments, but not for Etna. The article also notes the appointment of a consultant for the Freeville-Dryden trail. A Lower Creek Road resident has been charged with...
Ann Leonard, who organized the Hammond Hill Block Party in August wrote to report that the work is now finished: The work on Yellow One is complete! The DEC has finished spreading gravel where we agreed it needed it, and now, all we need to do is exercise a small amount of patience for about a week to let the...
I went for a hike today with friends down the south side of the old Monkey Run Road (coming off Route 366 above Varna) and then west along a trail above Fall Creek that went through the nature preserve to the Cornell research fields along 366, then along the old railroad bed to the start of the hike. Here are...
The minutes for both the September 9th and September 24th Town Board meetings are available. I missed the September 9th meeting, so it's good to catch up. Highlights include: A very quiet public hearing on increased costs for upgrading the Bolton Point water works, which were eventually approved. Neptune Fire Chief Ron Flynn introduced a new Director of Operations for...
Trails seem to be a constant issue in Dryden lately, so I've added a category to reflect that. If you want to see what's happening with trails, visit the trail category archive....
The Dryden Planning Board met Thursday night, first approving a subdivision and changes to an existing subdivision, and then focusing on two of the more difficult parts of the Draft Comprehensive Plan, agriculture and trails. The first item on the agenda was a public hearing about a proposed subdivision at approximately 200 Hunt Hill Road (map). Kent Moore wanted to...
I was away last week, so I'm covering two issues of the Dryden Courier in one article. Both issues focus on farming issues and the start of the school sports seasons. In the September 8th issue, Courier reporter Tony Hall looks at the difficulties caused by increasing costs on the Dryden elementary school renovations and the challenges of extending the...
As exciting as the Hammond Hill block party August 21st was, wet conditions kept them from finishing the trail work. There's a bit left to do, if you're looking for something good to do on Saturday morning. Ann Leonard writes: Charlie and I spread almost all the remainder of the gravel on the trail this Monday and Tuesday evenings, hurrying...
Dryden appears briefly in this morning's Journal, mentioned once in an article about schools inspecting their roofs after a collapse in Washingtonville, and once in an article on the start of football season. The county is working on a long-range transportation plan. There will be a public meeting on the plan from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on Thursday at the Tompkins...
Wow. Ann Leonard knows how to throw a great party. Start with a few hours of shoveling mud in the rain, then head back to a camp area where barbecued chicken is waiting, people are playing music (including bagpipes), orienteering and history information is available, ornithologists are trying to capture birds, runners are getting ready, and riders on horseback come...
If you're looking for something to do today, I know of at least two events worth visiting: Varna is having a collection of yard sales from 9am to 3pm. I helped set up last night at the Varna Community Center, where a highlight is Art Berkey's lovely refurbished hand tools, and there will be other sales throughout the hamlet. I...
This week's Dryden Courier has a lot of detail on Mao Shen Lin, who failed to show up to his trial for kidnapping and attempted grand larceny last week after posting $200,000 bail. Mao Shen Lin was arrested in connection with an attempted robbery at the Song Tao restaurant in the Village of Dryden last November. In brighter news, the...
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...
The Environmental Planner's report examined the need to revise the Town Hazard Mitigation Plan and a kiosk on the Jim Schug Trail. Debbie Gross reported in a letter (247KB PDF) that while "Dryden chose not to participate in [the county hazard mitigation plan] process because Dryden already had a recently developed plan... Dryden needs to go through an update process......
This morning's Ithaca Journal includes a letter from Dryden Town Supervisor Steve Trumbull about the Lakeview Golf Course. It doesn't say that the town is buying the course. Instead, "We want to dispel the notion that the town board is blocking private enterprise in order for the town to take over the course. Rather, the board wants to encourage those...
This week's Our Towns section in the Ithaca Journal takes a look at the creation of the O.D. von Engeln Preserve in Malloryville, which hosts pitcher plants, carnivorous sundews, and native orchids. Its two miles of trails are attracting a "steady stream" of visitors. In this week's Dryden Town Talk, Cathy Wakeman talks about Adam Pamel's Eagle Scout project, the...
The Cayuga Trails Club will be hiking on Sunday at 1pm, starting from the Liddel Laboratory on Freese Road, between Varna and Hanshaw Road. It's a "Walk, look, and learn" hike, and contact information is available on their site. This reminds me that I'm working on building an events calendar for activities in Dryden; if you have events you'd like...
I didn't make it to this month's Town Board meeting, so I was especially interested to see the minutes which recently appeared. As a number of issues were discussed at different points in the meeting, the summary below attempts to cluster information by subject rather than time. Citizens question the town The meeting started with Robin Seeley's question about actions...
Last night's meeting on "Speed Control on Rural Roads" at the Varna Community Center was very different from a similar meeting in West Danby, but brought up lots of issues specific to the Town of Dryden, especially Varna, Etna, and the Ellis Hollow area. About twenty people attended, mostly from southwest Dryden, though Bruce Brittain of Forest Home was there,...
The Ithaca Journal reports that the Jim Schug Trail from Dryden Lake to the Village of Dryden has been groomed for cross-country skiing. The Dryden Caroline Drifters Snowmobile Club has volunteered to groom it weekly during the winter. (Elizabeth Gutchess has posted a year-round tour of the Jim Schug Trail, and general trail information is available from the New York...
After nearly a day, the Town Board meeting last night seems to have had four main Dryden-related themes: More interest in efficiency than public input Sewer pump with problems Storm water a growing issue Recreation and trails as important services The first one, of course, is the most troubling, though hopefully things will improve as the board settles in. On...
Whenever I look at a map of Tompkins County, I look for the distinctively-shaped intersection of Routes 13 and 366. Even if a map doesn't have road labels, it stands out pretty clearly. It wasn't always that way, however - Route 366 through Varna and Ithaca used to be Route 13, until they built the new road through Lansing. I...