The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutPWC Minutes 2026-03-17 Town of Ithaca Public Works Committee March 17, 2026, 9:00 a.m. Minutes Present: Rod Howe, Rich DePaolo, David McCune, Joe Slater, Justin McNeal, Judy Drake, CJ Randall, Joe Talbut, Travis Mills, Becky Jordan. 1. Approval of Minutes: Approval of February 24, 2025, minutes were motioned by Mr. DePaolo, seconded by Mr. Rod Howe. Carried. 2. Member Comments/Concerns Consider Modifications to Agenda Member Comments/Concerns a. Consider Modifications to Agenda – None 3. Project Updates a. South Hill Trail Extension Mr. Talbut - Contracted with MJ Engineering, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Land Surveying, P.C. (TB 2026-014) for a feasibility study to extend trail from Burns Rd out to Banks Rd. The study will look at the terrain and road crossings among other things. The scope of work involves working with other towns. There’s a lot of work. Burns road crossing is complicated with sight distance not great. Mr. Slater - Limited in what can be done with private property nearby. Contending with vehicle travel rate at 45mph or better. Neighbors on Burns Road have agreement with NYSEG to use the trail as a driveway. Parking alternatives? Prospective staging area on Coddington Road in the City. The intent of the feasibility study was to identify deficiencies and need. Now to pursue grant opportunities and develop a maintenance agreement with the other municipalities involved. Mr. Howe provided the Coddington Valley Rail Trail, a very active group supporting the four towns involved, has done a lot of clearing. The trail is not officially open but since it is walkable people will use it so this group will put up warning signs to the effect of - use at own discretion. Grant will go toward trail build out. b. Babcock Trail Mr. McNeal – This project is well underway with most trees removed for parking areas and along trail. There was a change order last week for removal of soft unsuitable material at lower entrance replaced with rock for stability and three extra trees cut from parking area not identified on drawings. Parking areas, which are in, will remain below grade during construction operations. Some work has been done on stormwater basins. Upper and Lower portion to be done by contractor. Middle to be done by town workforce. Actual trail work to begin next week or two. There will be some grading work. Proposed pavilion at flat plateau. Work completion is expected July/August. Waiting for dry weather to drive equipment up in to begin trail work. c. King Road West Box Culvert Mr. McNeal – Project underway with access gained to box culvert. Pre-construction meeting in next couple of weeks. Rehabilitation will involve removal of broken walls and patching inside the box culvert. Mr. Howe asked about drainage issues at Stone Quarry. Mr. McNeal - Erdman Anthony is going to be analyzing drainage and overflowing catch basins from the city line up to #253. Meeting next week to go over four options they’ve come up with. Mr. Slater Stone Quarry, as a minor arterial, is highly traveled with about 4-5k motorists per day. Accident data and guiderail damage indicate a lot of crashes on Stone Quarry. Erdman Anthony to reach out to City for coordination. Mr. DePaolo asked what became of the Gateway Trail crossing. Mr. Slater replied that the town has constructed the Gateway trail from Home Depot across RT13 up to Stone Quarry Road. The city was pursuing grant funding to continue it. We did make Erdman Anthony aware to anticipate the trail crossing. The city is pursuing BridgeNY grant funding to replace the old concrete culvert under lower Stone Quarry Road at the City/Town line. Ms. Randall provided that regarding chainworks gateway applications which were due last Thursday, the city has applied for NYS Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), so we are competing with them! We should hear results sometime over the summer. Ithaca College requested a feasibility study for pedestrian crossing to connect IC natural lands and Buttermilk Falls state park. Misc. Water Projects Mr. McNeal – Phase A to begin at Winners Circle in couple weeks. This first portion to take about three weeks. The second portion of Phase A is replacing a water main at the top of Stone Quarry. Mr. Slater - We are replacing guiderail along Danby Road, through Buttermilk Falls, and up to the 300 block of King Road W. For the 118 King Road W project, all precast structures are being handled in-house. A contractor is completing the box culvert and guiderail work on King Road W, while separate contractors are handling water main installation and culvert piping. The 2026 paving schedule includes the section from #253 Stone Quarry Road to the intersection. Prior to paving, we will replace the culvert pipe at the Stone Quarry–King Road intersection. Additionally, King Road W (300 block to Danby Road) is included in the capital improvement plan for paving. There is a lot of coordination! d. TH Court Clerks/Mezzanine Mr. McNeal – Start date of March 31st. Received a change order from electrical contractor regarding light fixtures needing changed. General contractor insulation, scaffolding. Insulator proposed to use spray foam insulation for efficiency but need to discuss with architect first. Concern for holding moisture in attic. Hoping for completion in 6-8 months. TH Weatherization Project Mr. Howe - that TY Lin has been nonresponsive with the breakdown of cost if project were to be done in phases. We are also awaiting drawings that TY Lin stated were 90% done back around September. We do know there was a tragic event that caused initial delay. e. Playground Grant Application Ms. Randall - New York PLAYS (Places for Learning, Activity and Youth Socialization) has a $67.5m competitive 80/20 grant program this year. The grant window is open May 4 – June 15 with awards expected to be announced late summer. Iacovelli playground is the last wooden playground the town has. Mr. Howe - The town did letter of support for CRCC for their NY PLAYS grant application. Mr. Slater – The thought is to remove the old playground. Gas lines for Pennsylvania Ave are underneath or in close proximity that run parallel with the trail. f. Water & Sewer Benefit Assessment Formula Request from Coy Glen Road resident last month re: water & sewer benefit assessment for his property. Looking at #10 in the water & sewer benefit assessment formula and coming up with criteria for what parcels have to do to get an exemption from this process to include understanding and clarification of topography. g. Right of Way and Use & Occupancy Mr. Slater - Working with Joe Delaney of CMS Delaney Services to update our Right of Way and Use and Occupancy permitting. He’s done a great job of laying out the process and using defendable information. Our road excavation permits are pretty solid now with pavement degradation schedules. Working on getting age of pavement data into our asset management program and communication to our permitting platform. Hoping to present to the town board in April. Also analyzing franchise agreements with a lot of incoming fiber requests from Fiber Spark, Dryden Fiber, and other wireless infrastructure. Right to collect annual fees and agreements. Mr. Delaney has provided a fee schedule model. Renegotiate aged franchise agreements with NYSEG and Spectrum. Seeking recommendations on academic and institutional permitting. These institutions are usually covered by an MOU or PILOT agreement of which the records management officer has been enlisted to locate any such documents. Private encroachments are also subject to fees. Receiving guidance on insurance requirements. City of Ithaca Floral Avenue project: Mr. Slater – The city is pursuing a grant for traffic calming on Floral Ave due to accident data. This is a big thoroughfare for the town to get to the northeast and east hill with plow trucks and other heavy equipment. This presents a concern for efficiency for the town as well as the county. We will have to see what solutions the planning firm comes up with. The fire department will have some say so if they can get their apparatus through recommended traffic calming devices then we should be ok. Mr. McCune heard that the city may already be in receipt of funding and suggested communication with neighboring DPW’s for input and concerns. Mr. Slater - Travis, Becca, and Max will be attending the OpenGov conference in Chicago this spring, utilizing two free tickets plus a discounted ticket. Mr. Howe commented on the presence of graffiti at town hall property that maintenance will have to work on removing. Mr. Slater – Buttoning up quantity data for the pavement marking contract to be posted on Bidnet and advertised in the paper. Our large excavator had a break down with an emissions device, and the cost of repair is upwards of $20k. Adjourn 9:52 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Submitted by, Becky Jordan