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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Packet 2026-07-27 MEETING OF THE ITHACA TOWN BOARD July 27, 2026, 4:30 p.m. Town Hall, 215 N Tioga St AGENDA 1. Ithaca Fire Department—Chief Moody 2. Committee Reports a. Budget b. Personnel and Organization/ERC c. Public Works d. Planning e. Codes & Ordinances f. Other a. Cornell/Town Meeting b. TCCOG 3. Consent Agenda a. Approval of Town Board Minutes b. Approval of the Town of Ithaca Abstract c. Approval of 2027 Wage Scale 4. Review of Correspondence/Reports of Officials Links to the meeting materials are available at https://townithacanygov/meeting-calendar- agendas/. Board Member(s)may attend via the videoconferencing platform ZOOM when necessary. The public can access ZOOM by the links provided or by going to www.zoom.com/join or calling (929) 436-2866 and entering the Meeting ID# 98910958241. Public comments where applicable can be made at the meeting in person or via ZOOM; by mail to the address above, or via email to Clerksgtownithacm.gov until 3pm the day of the meeting. All comments become a public record and are distributed to Board Members and the Applicant(s)prior to the meeting. The meeting is also broadcast and saved as a courtesy on Youtube.com/(ctownofithacavideo ITHACA FIRE DEPARTMENT H1 2026 vs. H1 2025 — Incident Response Comparative Report January —June 2026 compared to January —June 2025 1 Includes Jurisdiction Breakdown 1 . Executive Summary The Ithaca Fire Department responded to 2,906 incidents in the first half of 2026 (January—June), compared to 2,780 in the same period of 2025 —an increase of 126 incidents (+4.5%). Q1 2026 (1,405) and Q2 2026 (1,501) both exceeded their 2025 counterparts, with 02 showing stronger growth (+8.1% vs. +1.0% for Q1). June 2026 was the single highest-volume month in the comparison period. with 531 incidents — 105 more than June 2025 (+24.6%). Medical incidents grew significantly (+25.6%) and remain the largest single category in 2026. Hazardous Situation calls also increased sharply (+41.1%), while Fire incidents rose modestly (+10.2%). The apparent decline in No Emergency calls (-45.9%) and the Public Service variance reflect differences between the NFIRS reporting system used in 2025 and the NERIS system used in 2026. see Section 3 for methodology notes. Note. 2025 incident type data is sourced from the NFIRS CAD export, which uses a different classification schema than the NERIS system used in 2026 A crosswalk mapping has been applied to enable year-over-year comparison, see Section 3 for details. Jurisdiction (City vs. Town vs Out of District) data is available for H1 2026 onh;— fire zone data was not consistently recorded in the 2025 source files. 2025 In idents H1 2026 Incidents Change Q2 2026 vs Q2 2025 2,780 f 2,906 +126 +4.5% +112 +8.1% 2. Monthly Incident Volume The first quarter of 2026 tracked closely with 2025. while Q2 diverged significantly. June 2026 was the standout month, with 531 incidents —the highest single month in the comparison period and a 24.6% increase over June 2025. February also showed notable growth (+13.9%). January and May 2026 were slightly below 2025 levels. Month12026 Change %Change Quarter January 474 442 -32 (-6.8%) -8.8% Q1 February 395 450 +55 (+13.9%) +13.9% Q1 March 522 513 -9 -1.7% -1.7% Q1 April 472 480 +8 (+1.7%) +1.7% Q2 May 491 490 -1 -0.2% -0.2% Q2 June 1 426 531 +105 (+24.6%) +24.6% 02 Q1 Subtotal 1 1,391 1,405 1 +14 +1.0% Q1 Q2 Subtotal 1 1,389 1 1,501 1 +112 +8.1% Q2 TOTALr 2,906 3. Incident Type Overview (NFIRS — NERIS Crosswalk) Ithaca Fire Department transitioned from the NFIRS reporting system (used in 2025)to the NERIS system (used in 2026). The two systems use different incident classification schemas. To enable year-over-year comparison, 2025 NFIRS categories have been mapped to their NERIS equivalents using the following crosswalk: 2025 NFIRS Category Rescue&EMS Medical All EMS calls•incl.cancelled- on-scene False Alarm &False Call Public Service Alarm activations —alarms category in NERIS Service Call -a Public Service Citizen assistance and service requests Severe Weather/Natural Disaster — Public Service Weather-related service calls Good Intent(cancelled en route) — No Emergency Dispatched but cancelled before contact Hazardous Condition — Hazardous Situation Direct equivalent Fire — Fire Direct equivalent Rupture/Explosion — Hazardous Situation Grouped with hazardous in NERIS Special Incident No Emergency No equivalent NERIS category Note.NERIS introduced two categories not present in NFIRS—Rescue and Law Enforcement Support These appear in 2026 data only. The apparent 45.9% drop in 'No Emergency'is a classification artifact:NERIS routes some cancelled EMS contacts to 'Medical'rather than 'No Emergency,' while some NFIRS Good Intent calls include agency cancellations (Bangs Ambulance. CU EH&S) that NERIS classifies differently. Incident Type Comparison: H1 2025 vs. H1 2026 GroupIncident r2026 Change %Change Note Medical 1,179 1,481 +302 +25.6% Real growth in EMS volume Public Service 915 890 -25 -2.7% Alarm+ service calls, similar ran e No Emergency 510 276 -234 -45.9% Partly classification artifactt Hazardous Situation 95 134 +39 +41.1% Notable increase Fire 59 65 +6 +10.2% Modest increase Rescue — 23 N/A N/A New NERIS category (no 2025 equiv.) Law Enforcement Support — 12 N/A N/A New NERIS category (no 2025 equiv.) Unclassified / Other 22 25 — — Records missing incident arouQ TOTALHI :0 2,906 2025 totals mapped from NFIRS using crosswalk above t In NFIRS, 'Good Intent'(cancelled calls) =505 for H1 NERIS'No Emergency'=276 The 229 difference reflects NERIS reclassifying many cancelled EMS calls as 'Medical' 4. Day-of-Week Distribution Tuesday saw the largest single-day increase in 2026 (+91 incidents, +24.2%), while Thursday was the only weekday to decline (-52, -11.8%). Weekend call volume was essentially flat. Overall, the 2026 distribution skews slightly more toward mid-week compared to 2025. Day H1 2025 H1 2026 Change % Change 2026% Share Monday 382 402 +20 +5.2% 13.8% Tuesday 376 467 +91 +24.2% 16.1% Wednesday 404 437 +33 +8.2% 15.0% Thursday 441 389 -52 -11.8% 13.4% Frid ay 408 455 +47 +11.5% 15.7% Saturday 400 392 -8 1 -2.0% 13.5% Sunday 369 364 -5 1 -1.4% 12.5% TOTAL :0 2,906 00 5. Response Zone (Neighborhood) Downtown saw the largest absolute volume increase in H1 2026 (+197), reflecting growth concentrated in the city's central zone. South Hill declined notably (-61, -19.2%), while West Hill grew by 29.0%. East Hill volume fell slightly (-7.3%). Neighborhoods are derived from the Response Zone field: Zone 99 = East Hill, Zones 95/951 = South Hill, Zones 96/961 = West Hill, all others = Downtown. Neighborhood HI 2025 H1 2026 Change % Change 2026 % Share Downtown 1,484 1,681 +197 +13.3 0 57.8 0 East Hill 810 751 -59 -7.3% 25.8% South Hill 317 256 -61 -19.2% 8.8% West Hill 169 218 +49 +29.0% 7.5% TOTAL :0 2,906 00 6. High-Volume Addresses The S Plain St corridor remained the highest-volume location in both years. 1 Bella Vista Dr (Town of Ithaca) ranked second overall in 2025 and remains in the top tier in 2026 despite a small decline. 118 E Green St moved up significantly in 2026. Addresses with no 2025 count were not in the top-10 for H1 2025. Address H1 2025 HI 2026 800 S Plain St 102 109 +7 (+7%) City—high-density residential 118 E Green St 77 87 +10 (+13%) City — downtown corridor 798 S Plain St 58 75 +17 (+29%) City — same complex as 800 S Plain 1 Bella Vista Dr 86 69 -17 (-20%) Town— residential complex 1028 Ellis Hollow Rd 78 57 -21 -27% Town — residential 130 Cherry St 21 49 +28 (+133%) City — residential 103 Bundy Rd 28 48 +20 +71% Town — residential 227 Cher St — 29 N/A City — residential 401 Cayuga Park Ln — 27 N/A City — residential complex 320 W Buffalo St 30 18 -12 (-40%) City — commercial/mixed 654 Elmira Rd — 21 N/A Town — commercial/mixed 108 Aster Ln — 21 N/A Town — residential 200 Conifer Dr 20 20 +0 (+0%) Town— residential complex 7. Jurisdiction Breakdown (H1 2026) Incidents are classified as City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, or Out of District based on the Fire Zone field: zones in #-# format are City; zones in ITH-# format are Town; zones containing 'OOD' are Out of District. H1 2025 fire zone data is not available (only 19 of 2,780 records contain zone information in the source files), so this section presents H1 2026 only. The City of Ithaca accounts for 75.6% of all H1 2026 responses and the Town for 23.6%. Both jurisdictions saw 02 outpace Q1: City +6.3% from Q1 to Q2, Town +7.9%. Overall Totals by Jurisdiction — H1 2026 JurisdictionQ1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q1 • City of Ithaca I _2_,T9T_1 75.6% 1 1,065 1 1,132 +67 1 +6.3% Town of Ithaca 686 23.6% 330 356 +26 +7.9% Out of District 23 0.8% 10 13 +3 +30.0% TOTAL • i . 100.0% i Monthly Responses by Jurisdiction — H1 2026 Jurisdiction Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun H1 Total City of Ithaca 328 335 402 370 361 401 21197 Town of Ithaca 110 113 107 108 127 121 686 Out of District 4 2 4 2 2 9 23 TOTAL : • 490 531 2,906 Incident Types by Jurisdiction — H1 2026 Medical calls account for the largest share in both jurisdictions: 48.7% of City and 59.5% of Town responses. The City recorded all 12 Law Enforcement Support calls and the majority of Rescue incidentsIncident Group city City% Town Town% OOD I Total Medical 1,071 48.7% 408 59.5% 2 1781 Public Service 691 31.50/6 186 27.1% 13 890 No Emergency 225 10.2% 47 6.9% 4 276 Hazardous Situation 109 5.0% 24 3.5% 1 134 Fire 50 2.3% 12 1.7% 3 65 Rescue 22 1.0% 1 0.1% 1 0 23 Law Enforcement Support 1 12 0.5% 0 0.0% 0 12 Unclassified 17 — 8 — 0 25 TOTALHI • i. Top Fire Zones by Jurisdiction — H1 2026 City Zone 1-2 led all zones with 494 incidents. For the Town, ITH-3 was the highest-volume zone (147 incidents). Each zone represents a geographic response district. City Zone Incidents Town Zone Incidents 1-2 494 ITH-3 147 2-3 298 ITH-4 117 4-1 289 ITH-10 112 2-2 178 ITH-11 88 1-4 164 ITH-2 74 5-2 149 ITH-1 71 1-1 135 ITH-12 40 1-3 117 ITH-13 19 3-2 103 ITH-5 18 5-1 77 3-1 74 2-1 63 1-5 56 High-Volume Addresses by Jurisdiction — H1 2026 800 S Plain St 109 High-density residential — highest volume in City 118 E Green St 87 Downtown mixed-use corridor 798 S Plain St 75 Adjacent to 800 S Plain(same complex; combined = 184) 130 Cherry St 49 Residential 227 Cherry St 29 Residential 401 Cayuga Park Ln 27 Residential complex 210 S Cayuga St 20 Downtown 150 VV Village PI 20 Residential 320 W Buffalo St 18 Commercial/mixed 740 S Meadow St 18 Commercial corridor Town of Ithaca —Address H1 2026 Notes 1 Bella Vista Dr 69 Residential apartment complex — highest Town volume 1028 Ellis Hollow Rd 57 Residential 103 Bundy Rd 48 Residential 654 Elmira Rd 21 Commercial/mixed 108 Aster Ln 21 Residential 200 Conifer Dr 20 Residential complex 1229 Trumansburg Rd 10 Residential 906 Danby Rd 7 Residential Data Notes 0 H1 2026 source NERIS CAD export—IFD Q1 & Q2 file(January 1 -June 30,2026). Total. 2.906 records • H1 2025 source: NFIRS CAD export—full year 2025 file filtered to January 1 -June 30,2025 Total:2,780 records • 2025 incidenttypes mapped from NFIRSto NERIS groups using the crosswalk in Section 3.22 of2,780 H1 2025 records could not be classified and are shown as'Unclassified' • 25 of 2,906 H 1 2026 records had no Primary Incident Group assigned they are counted in overall totals but excluded from incident-type breakdowns. • Jurisdiction (Section 7)is derived from the Fire Zone field in the 2026 NERIS data H 1 2025 fire zone data is essentially absent(19 of 2.780 records),so no 2025 jurisdiction comparison is available. • Some H 12026 Fire Zone values were corrupted by Excel date auto-formatting(e.g.,'2-1'--.'2-Jan') These were corrected automatically during data processing. • Neighborhood mapping from Response Zone:99=East Hill; 95/951 =South Hill;96/961 =West Hill,all other numeric zones= Downtown. • Report generated July 2026 Ye f6)cn 1 ITHACA FIRE DEPARTMENT H1 2026 vs. H1 2025 — Incident Response Comparative Report January—June 2026 compared to January —June 2025 1 Includes Jurisdiction Breakdown 1 . Executive Summary The Ithaca Fire Department responded to 2,906 incidents in the first half of 2026 (January—June), compared to 2,780 in the same period of 2025 —an increase of 126 incidents (+4.5%). Q2 2026 (1,501) outpaced Q1 2026 (1,405) and drove the majority of the year-over-year growth. June 2026 was the highest-volume month in the period with 531 incidents, 105 more than June 2025 (+24.6%). Medical incidents saw the strongest growth (+26.7%) and remain the largest single category. Hazardous Situation calls rose notably (+43.2%). Fire incidents increased modestly (+11.9%). The apparent decline in No Emergency calls reflects a classification difference between the NFIRS system used in 2025 and the NERIS system used in 2026.' TotalHI 2025 . . . • C12 2026 vs Q2 2025 2,780 2,906 1 +126 +4.5% +112 +8.1% 2. Monthly Incident Volume Both Q1 and Q2 2026 exceeded their 2025 counterparts, with Q2 showing significantly stronger growth. January was the only month to see a notable decline (-6.8%), while June saw the largest single-month increase in the period (+24.6%). ChangeMonth H1 2025 H1 2026 Quarter January 474 442 -32 -6.8% -6.8% Q1 15.2% February 395 450 +55 +13.9% +13.9% Q1 15.5% March 522 513 -9 -1.7% -1.7% Q1 17.7% April 472 480 +$ +1.7% +1.7% Q2 16.5% May 491 490 -1 -0.2% -0.2% Q2 16.9% June 426 531 +105 +24.6% +24.6% Q2 18.3% Q1 Subtotal 1,391 1,405 +14 +1.0% +1.0% Q1 48.3% Q2 Subtotal 1,389 1,501 +112 +8.1% +8.1% Q2 1 51.7% TOTALHI :0 2,906 00 3. Incident Type Comparison The table below compares H1 2026 NERIS incident groups to mapped H1 2025 NFIRS equivalents. Medical calls drive the overall volume increase. Incident Group HI 2025* H1 2026 Change % Change 2026 Share Medical 1,179 1,496 +317 +26.9% +26.9% 51.5% Public Service 915 896 -19 -2.1% -2.1% 30.8% No Emergency 510 276 -234 -45.9% -45.9% 9.5% Hazardous Situation 95 136 +41 +43.2% +43.2% 4.7% Fire 59 66 +7 +11.9% +11.9% 2.3% Rescue — 24 N/A N/A 0.8 0 Law Enforcement Support — 12 N/A N/A 0.4% Unclassified 1 22 1 0 1 — — H1 TOTAL 2,780 2,906 00 4. High-Volume Addresses The S Plain St corridor remained the highest-volume location in both years. 800 S Plain St and 798 S Plain St (the same complex) combined for 184 calls in H1 2026 vs. 160 in H1 2025. Several Town addresses declined modestly year-over-year. Address 800 S Plain St 102 109 +7(+6.9%) City—high-density residential 118 E Green St 98 87 -11 (-11.2%) City—downtown corridor 798 S Plain St 59 75 +16 (+27.1%) City—same complex as 800 S Plain 1 Bella Vista Dr 89 71 -18 (-20.2%) Town—residential complex 1028 Ellis Hollow Rd 80 58 -22 -27.5% Town—residential 130 Cherry St 22 49 +27 +122.7% City—residential 103 Bundy Rd 28 48 +20 +71.4% Town—residential 227 Cher St — 29 N/A City—residential 401 Cayuga Park Ln — 27 N/A City—residential complex 320 W Buffalo St 30 18 -12 (40.0%) City— commercial/mixed 200 Conifer Dr 20 20 +0 (+0.0%) Town—residential complex 654 Elmira Rd — 21 N/A Town — commercial/mixed 108 Aster Ln — 21 N/A Town—residential 5. Jurisdiction Breakdown (H1 2026) Incidents are classified as City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, or Out of District(OOD). H1 2025 fire zone data is unavailable in the source system, so this section covers H1 2026 only. Both the City and Town saw Q2 outpace Q1. Overall Totals Jurisdiction City of Ithaca 1 2,197 75.6% 1 1,065 1 1,132 +67 +6.3% Town of Ithaca 686 23.6% 330 356 +26 +7.9% Out of District 23 0.8% 1 10 13 +3 +30.0% TOTAL0. • • Monthly Volume by Jurisdiction Jurisdiction Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun H1 Total City of Ithaca 328 335 402 1 370 1 361 401 2,197 Town of Ithaca 110 113 107 1 108 1 127 121 686 Out of District 4 2 4 2 2 9 23 TOTAL :0 490 531 2,906 Incident Types by Jurisdiction Medical calls make up 49.2% of City responses and 60.1% of Town responses. The City handles all Law Enforcement Support calls and the great majority of Rescue incidents. Incident Group City City% Town Town OOD OOD Total Medical 1,082 49.2% 1 412 1 60.1% 1 8.7% 1,496 Public Service 694 31.6% 189 1 27.6% 13 56.5% 896 No Emergency 225 10.2% 47 6.9% 4 17.4% 276 Hazardous Situation 111 5.1% 24 3.5% 1 4.3% 136 Fire 51 2.3% 12 1.7% 3 13.0% 66 Rescue 22 1.0% 2 0.3% 0 0.0% 24 Law Enforcement Support 12 0.5% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 12 Unclassified 0 - 0 1 - 0 - 0 High-Volume Addresses by Jurisdiction City of Ithaca Address Calls 800 S Plain St 109 Highest volume-high-density residential 118 E Green St 87 Downtown corridor 798 S Plain St 75 Same complex as 800 S Plain combined = 184 130 Cherry St 49 Residential 227 Cherry St 29 Residential 401 Cayuga Park Ln 27 Residential complex 210 S Ca u a St 20 1 Downtown 150 W Village PI 20 Residential 320 W Buffalo St 18 Commercial/mixed 740 S Meadow St 18 Commercial corridor Town of Ithaca Address H1 2026 Notes Calls 1 Bella Vista Dr 69 Highest volume—residential apartment complex 1028 Ellis Hollow Rd 57 Residential 103 Bundy Rd 48 Residential 654 Elmira Rd 21 Commercial/mixed 108 Aster Ln 21 Residential 200 Conifer Dr 20 Residential complex 1229 Trumansburg Rd 10 Residential 906 Danby Rd 7 Residential Data Notes • H1 2026 source: NERIS CAD export— IFD Q1 & 02 file (January 1 —June 30, 2026). Total: 2.906 records. • H1 2025 source: NFIRS CAD export—full year 2025 file,filtered to January 1 —June 30,2025. Total: 2,780 records. • *NFIRS­NERIS crosswalk: Rescue& EMS— Medical. False Alarm& False Call --• Public Service: Service Call Public Service, Good Intent (cancelled en route) --• No Emergency; Hazardous Condition/Rupture& Explosion — Hazardous Situation, Fire Fire. 22 H1 2025 records could not be mapped and are counted as Unclassified. NERIS adds Rescue and Law Enforcement Support categories with no 2025 equivalent. • Report generated: July 2026. MEETING OF THE ITHACA TOWN BOARD July 27, 2026 TB Resolution 2026 - : Adopt Consent Agenda a. Approval of Town Board Minutes b. Approval of the Town of Ithaca Abstract c. Consider approval of 2027 Wage Scale Moved: Seconded: Vote: ayes - TB Resolution 2026 - a: Approval of Minutes Resolved that the Town Board accepts the draft minutes of July 13th as final with any non- substantive changes made. TB Resolution 2026 - b: Town of Ithaca Abstract 14 for FY-2026 Resolved that the Town Board authorizes payment of the audited vouchers for the amounts listed: VOUCHER NOS. 2026 705 - 747 General Fund Town Wide 234,143.60 General Fund Part-Town 9,890.37 Highway Fund Town Wide DA 324.42 Highway Fund Part Town DB 7,183.03 Water Fund 54,755.19 Sewer Fund 523,021.82 TOTAL 829,318.43 TB Resolution 2026 - c: Approval of 2027 Wage Scales Resolved that the Town Board approves and adopts the 2027 Wage Scales as submitted. 1