Dryden Is Home

Etna to Varna

Paul and me
Originally uploaded by dmakar

Saturday morning, after a few car related complications, my buddy Paul and I embarked on what was planned as an 8 mile canoe trip from the Town of Dryden's hamlet of Etna to the town's hamlet of Varna. To be a little more exact, our plan was to get out of the river near Flat Rock, just west of the town line in the town of Ithaca, near Cornell Plantations.

The first 23 minutes of the journey (10:14am to 10:37am) moved us swiftly and without much danger from the Etna Lane steel bridge (we launched from the muddy shore underneath the bridge) to the Pinckney Road bridge near Campbell Meadows (an 18 acre parcel perhaps soon to be acquired by the town as an open space and recreation area).

After that we had limited trouble making our way from the Pinckney Road bridge (that had graffiti in many spray paint colors written by some folks that either had limited vocabulary or limited creativity) to the route 13 underpass (where a couple fishermen fished and one asked if we were part of a race - this is probably because, as you might see in the photo, Paul and I were by coincidence both wearing orange t-shirts that we acquired when we competed against each other in 2006 at Auburn's The Great Race).

From route 13 we coasted safely to the old steel bridge that in the past delivered vehicle traffic from Monkey Run extension (near Turkey Hill Rd. and Dryden Rd.) across Fall Creek to where Hanshaw road intersects Lower Creek Road. Our trip was only delayed by a large tree that spanned 95 percent of the creek's width. We landed on shore, scouted around a peninsula, and I decided to make a go of the 5 percent gap on my own. Having safely made my way through, I paddled to shore and picked up Paul.

We passed under the old bridge and found the first place where we had to lift the canoe over a tree that was across the creek. A few hundred feet later, on the other shore, we pulled the canoe through what looked to be a swift and dangerous section of the creek that had a large tree parallel to the water.

The creek is high this time of year, compared to about 10 other months. However it is lower than it was just a few weeks ago - and a lot more rocks poke up out of the water. Some don't even have the height (or honor) to show themselves and we had to read the river to spot where they were hidden. Others were better at keeping hidden and our encounters rocked the green plastic Coleman canoe.

Just before we arrived at the fields on rt. 366 (probably a half mile from the Freese Road bridge) we rocked too far and Paul went over. The creek was only about thigh deep there and his paddle escaped his grasp. I jumped over board and pulled the canoe to shore. Seeing that Paul was easily making his way to shore I went after the black plastic paddle chasing it down the dark sandy beach. There was a couple with a dog a few hundred feet ahead watching all of the action and as I approached them they told their dog to fetch the paddle. In this section of river the width was over 30 feet and the depth ranged from ankle to neck deep. The couple and their dog were playing near a giant felled tree and I ran to the left of the tree to the shore beyond and made my way into the more shallow creek. I used the end of my paddle to hook the handle of the other paddle and a minute later I was back at the canoe that Paul was able to guide downstream with the pair of ropes attached to the bow and stern. We carried the canoe around the tree and embarked on what would be the final leg of our morning trip.

We hit a lot of shallow areas between that giant tree and the Freese Road steel bridge. Where the creek wasn't shallow it was rocky and fast moving. A short distance after the bridge we made our way to shore and started some exit planning. The creek had one major bend ahead, then some fast water near the Park Park (look it up), the Forest Home trailer park on Forest Home Drive, the foot bridge, the damn, and then flat rock.

We guided the canoe downstream and when we arrived in lower Varna we beached the canoe and headed for my car. On foot we found the river looked calm and flat and easy and from our own on the water angle, we now understood how deceptive water can be.

The trip was worth trying, but it would be dangerous to try without more water. Earlier in the year there would be more water, but the air and water would certainly be colder. This same weekend a year from now might work, but with our close to 10 days of limited rain, we would have to have more precipitation to make this journey safe.

Complete set of photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157617061944400/

Dryden's Surplus

The Town of Dryden has been fortunate to conservatively budget (often underestimating income from state sales tax and overestimating expenditure). At the end of each year there is a little bit of money left over. Some of that money is used to fund the next year's appropriation, which reduces the amount that the town needs to collect as property tax.

The Town of Dryden is also lucky to have increased coverage by Tompkins County's only daily newspaper these last six months. As much as we have done to share information on the town website, in press releases, and in talking to neighbors - nothing connects to our 14,000 residents as much as an article in the Ithaca Journal.

Here's the article from yesterday's Ithaca Journal, available online here: http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903190317

March 19, 2009

Dryden debates use for $3.5M in excess funds

Money may go into emergency fund, long-term capital projects

By Stacey Shackford
Correspondent
DRYDEN - While many municipalities are struggling to make ends meet, the Town of Dryden faces an enviable decision - what to do with its excess funds.
Conservative budgets and thrifty staff spending have resulted in end-of-the-year surpluses for the town throughout the past 15 years and an unexpended fund balance that has grown to nearly $9 million.
A portion of the fund balance has been used each year to stabilize or reduce the tax rate, with the amount ranging from 11 percent of appropriations in 1993 to 35 percent in 2008. At the end of 2008, the surplus was $8.7 million, and $1.8 million of that was put into this year's budget.
Even allowing for a generous 50 percent of appropriations to be used from the projected $6,850,721 fund balance at the end of 2009, the town will have close to $3.5 million available, and Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner believes this should be specifically earmarked for emergencies and long-range planning.
In a letter to Town Board members, she has outlined a draft proposal on behalf of the board's finance committee to commit $1 million from the fund balance to establish reserve funds and to establish a policy for regular investment into these funds.
"For many years, a portion of the surplus was transferred to the capital reserve fund. But in the past four years, as plans for the new town hall were finalized and construction was undertaken, no transfers were made," Sumner wrote. "It's time to consider a policy to set fund balance targets and establish reserve funds for future needs."
Of the proposed initial $1 million investment, $300,000 would be set aside for emergencies in a contingency fund, $100,000 would be dedicated to as-of-yet undetermined capital projects and $100,000 would be reserved for recreation infrastructure, in anticipation of a Recreation Masterplan recommending the development of several neighborhood parks and a centralized facility.
An additional $500,000 would be used to cover large-ticket equipment purchases by the Department of Public Works.
"Currently highway and DPW equipment is budgeted in operating funds and often drives the fluctuation in the amount of fund balance used to keep the tax rate stable," Sumner wrote in her letter.
"When we need to make preliminary budget cuts, the first person we ask is the highway/DPW superintendent. Jack (Bush) has developed a well thought-out equipment replacement plan. Based on the plan, and on items we asked him to defer this year, we anticipate budgeting $382,000 for equipment replacement in 2010."
The establishment of reserve funds has been at the top of the Finance Committee's agenda for more than a year, and Sumner said they are finally ready to start to formalize proposals.
"It would be a good step in the right direction," she told board members at their March 11 meeting.
The board is not required to consult the public in order to start a reserve fund, but the public would be given the opportunity to weigh in on how its money is spent. The board would have to publicize its spending intentions, hold a public hearing and give residents the chance to ask for a vote.
Sumner said she will prepare a more specific proposal for the board's consideration, possibly at its next meeting on April 8.

Month 25: Dryden Town Board

The Dryden Town Board met this evening for the annual organizational meeting. This is the meeting where we set (officially) the rules of procedure, official advertising (Ithaca Journal), advance payment of utilities and about 30 other resolutions that form the government of the Town of Dryden.

We discussed having a second town board meeting once a quarter - to plan long range strategy. I've found that the town board does a good job at our monthly meetings, but we (the five board members) never get together to really discuss issues and brainstorm solutions. I wouldn't mind if this was held in public - I think that might add to the discussion. However, monthly meetings are often filled with reports from various staff and committees (we are asked to limit committee reports to 3 minutes). There isn't much room for debate in 3 minutes. 

Our committee assignments are close to the 2008 assignments. They are as follows:

Bookkeeper to Supervisor: Dawn Bogdan

Deputy Supervisor: Cl David Makar

Finance Comm: Cl David Makar, Cl Jason Leifer, Supv Mary Ann Sumner

Fire Depts & Emergency Services: Cl Makar, Cl Solomon

Infrastructure Comm: Cl Joseph Solomon, Cl Steve Stelick

Technology Comm: Cl Makar, Cl Leifer

Human Resources Comm: Cl Leifer, Cl Stelick

Recreation & Youth Services Comm: Cl Stelick, Cl Leifer

Loans and Grants Comm: Cl Makar, Cl Leifer

Assessment Review Committee: Cl Stelick, Cl Leifer

Insurance Committee: Cl Stelick, Cl Leifer

Representative to Conservation Board: Cl Makar    

Representative to Cayuga Lake Watershed IO: Dan Kwasnowski

Representatives to Planning Board: Cl Solomon

Representatives to Zoning Board of Appeals: Cl Solomon

Representatives to IAWTF: Supv Sumner, Cl Leifer      

Liason Officer to Bolton Point (SCLIWC): Supv Sumner & Steve Lipinski

Next time I'll try to give a description of each of the committees. Our meetings in 2009 will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, starting January 14th, at the Dryden Town Hall (93 East Main Street).

Our trip to Ikea

Arjan and I are now in Portland, Maine. Yesterday we drove from Dryden to Cumberland, RI to see my college roommate Joe and his wife Sandy. This is Thanksgiving week, so Arjan and I hit the road to visit with friends all over New England. This afternoon we drove from RI (little Rhody) to Ikea (in Stoughton, MA).

After two hours, $200, and 6 swedish meatballs we were back on the road.

Although Ikea has a STRICT no camera policy in the store - I did manage to take this picture in the Ikea loo.

It gave me the idea that the Town of Dryden should commission some signs like these to explain to the new town hall - to give an overview of the technology and how it works to save money and save the environment. Maybe I'll get to work on that when I get home.

Stay tuned!

WHCU Interview

I was on the radio this morning at crazy:15* talking with WHCU's Dave Vieser. He called me at the end of his workday yesterday (2pm EST) inquiring about doing the interview. I accepted. When I was last on the radio, I had the 6:15am time slot, the crazy:15* was much better!

We touched on 3 subjects in the six minutes we talked. Quick re-cap now, longer re-cap later (perhaps):

1. iPhone & AT&T tower and cell service at TC3, featuring prior town board member Marty Christofferson. TC3 is going to work with AT&T to put up a cell phone tower to improve communication with their students, faculty and staff. The primary services are emergency, security, and academic/educational. This all started just 2 weeks ago (the talks with AT&T), but the technology of messaging has been an award winning program at TC3 for years. Class cancelled? Snow emergency? Security incident? - all will be communicated via text messaging, for instant information delivery. Also GPS! Because of the location - - we can hope for much increased cell phone coverage (AT&T initially) for the village of Dryden, Lee Road, and parts of the Town of Dryden.

2. Trail from TC3 to the village of Dryden (Neptune Drive - near Dunkin' Donuts). Initial talks to put in a nature trail to connect students (and their money?) to the businesses of Dryden Village (Clarke's grocery, Dryden Community Center Cafe, Todi's, Dryden Hotel, Dunkin' Donuts, and more!) and to connect village residents to TC3 (classes, athletic facility, special events) to bridge the town and village to the college. It looks to be a great trail project that may also lead to a spur to the Town Hall. Encouraging the TC3 students to spend money in the village helps local businesses, county sales tax revenue, and walking lowers the number of cars on Rt. 13 which helps with traffic, polution, and use of non-renewable energy resources. Making a better connection to TC3 from the town hall and village can make better use of the asset that is TC3. Perhaps with the trail Dean Marty Christofferson could walk across the street to the town hall from his house and then use trails to walk to his job at the TC3 campus.

3. Brief discussion on SPCA. The ad hoc SPCA committee (Town Supervisor Sumner, Town Clerk Hollenbeck) discussed the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) request for proposal (RFP) for countywide dog control services. The SPCA contract for the town of Dryden for 2007 was about $18,000. The projected cost for 2009 is between $45,000 and $65,000. While it is important for the SPCA to be stable and balance their books, a 100% to 200% increase in any contract has to be looked at closely. We are required by state mandate to have "dog control" and then are limited by the state for how much we can charge for a dog license (fees would only cover about 50% or $20K). We like the SPCA and are happy to have them in Dryden, but we would be doing the tax payers a disservice if we didn't seek out other solutions to see if the cost is reasonable and to protect ourselves from future 100% to 200% increases. The SPCA topic came up last year and we had guests from the SPCA, volunteers, and staff come before the town board. We are very supportive of the job they do, but if we allowed every part of the budget to increase at their rate - we would be out of business as a municipality very quickly.

As I said, I hope to recap both the entire meeting in full, as well as the key points that if I had more than 6 minutes I would have told the radio audience about.

*crazy:15 = 7:15am - which isn't too bad for most people, but last night's town board meeting ended at 11:25pm, I talked to Supervisor Sumner for a few minutes and arrived back at my house around 12:10am, and then talked with Arjan for about 25 minutes doing a recap of the day and the meeting. So I slept from about 12:45 to 6:30 or so, then recapped the meeting in my head, on paper in my office, and then quickly on the phone with Dave Vieser . Dave V. gets up at "insane o'clock", which I believe is 3am, 5 days a week (ouch!).

Wireless Broadband Internet in Dryden

Last Tuesday morning I was fortunate to hear that Dryden was selected by the state of New York to move ahead with a program that could bring broadband internet, via wireless towers, to up to 95% of the houses in the town of Dryden.

The grant awards $430,000 to the public-private partnership of Clarity Connect (of Cayuga Heights), The Town of Dryden, and Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3). The grant is then matched by the public-private partnership at a ratio of $1 of grant money to every $1.59 of public-private partnership funds. These funds can and are mostly planned to be in-kind goods and services. This means that there is no out-of-pocket or cash expense to the Town of Dryden to be a partner. Chuck Bartosch, from Clarity Connect, Jason Leifer, from the town board, and Dryden Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner played key roles in writing the grant application and developing creative in-kind donations for all three partners. They worked nights and days in the short period of time from the grant announcement to the due date getting the application together and ready for show. I believe I heard there were over 100 applicants, and we were picked for almost 20% of the $2.5M grant fund. A fortunate day for the people of Dryden, who found some people who were willing to give a little bit extra time to find a great return on.

While there is a lot to do and there is no launch date for going live with the first tower, we do have forward progress. I was quoted in the Ithaca Journal article announcing the grant, including:

David Makar, Town of Dryden deputy supervisor, said Bartosch presented the Dryden Technology Committee with the possibility of the grant after he made bringing better Internet and cell phone infrastructure one of the cornerstones of his 2006 campaign for town board. He said the committee has been trying to bring infrastructure for wireless for some time, but that upfront costs were the biggest barrier. Jason Leifer, a town board member, helped Bartosch draft the grant proposal.

“The grant provides a way to build some of that infrastructure with lower out-of-pocket expenses,” Makar said. “The primary reason we wanted to make sure we had broadband Internet access was to help encourage people to do more economic development, whether you are working from home on the weekend or you telecommute. Telecommuting jobs just don't exist if there's no broadband access.”

Makar also noted that access to high-speed Internet will improve education as students currently have limited access in many areas. He said some school assignments require high-speed Internet or picking up assignments online.

He also said that high-speed access will improve the housing market.

The full article from the Ithaca Journal is online here:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/NEWS01/803200337/1002

Good News

Kathy and the votes
Originally uploaded by dmakar

Last night I was re-elected to a seat on the Dryden Town Board. A full four year term in office. A chance to carry forward the work I've started and to continue to represent all the people in Dryden from my neighbors in Besemer Flats to McLean and everyone in our 94 square mile community.

Joe Solomon was also elected to join me on the board for the next four years.

And Mary Ann Sumner made history in Dryden by being elected to be the first female town supervisor in our town's history.

Pictures and posts from all around here:
Simon reports in: http://livingindryden.org/2007/11/democrats_win_town_board_claus.html
Kathy's take: http://drydendailykaz.blogspot.com/2007/11/wow.html
Board of Elections: http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/boe/2007/Results_Index_GE07.htm
My election day pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmakar/sets/72157602975472616/

Vote Makar 2007

Vote Makar 2007
Originally uploaded by dmakar

Two of my supporters (and first time parents) sent me this picture this morning. I then spent the day going door-to-door in Bethel Grove, Etna, Freeville, Peruville Road, Freeville (again) and Varna.

The election is just 9 days away. Here's a letter to the editor I wrote on my own behalf:

Dear Editor,
I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel across this great country and see many places beyond the small town in which I was raised. While I’ve lived in a small town and a big city, neither seemed like home, until I came to Dryden.

My passion for this special place inspired me to run for Dryden Town Board last year. I wanted to contribute to this community that has so much going for it -- and so much potential! I campaigned to enhance our community centers, advance economic development, and improve our communication infrastructure. These remain my focus and I am eager to continue to fight for them. I am grateful and humbled to be elected to serve Dryden and honestly, I enjoy the work immensely.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the hundreds of Dryden residents who opened their doors to me over the last three months, welcomed me, told me their own Dryden story, and explained their hopes for Dryden’s future. I also thank all the people who came to our "meet the candidate" forums, and all the people who helped me get to know Dryden’s issues.

I hope in the next four years we can continue to make Dryden a leader – in economic development, in handling climate change, and in improvement to our communities, our communication, and our democracy. How we act, react, and interact is important for all the people in Dryden. Please support my re-election on Tuesday, November 6th.

Dave Makar
Town of Dryden

If you'd like to know more about the campaign please see http://www.davidmakar.com or http://drydendems.org

Helping Out

Reviewing who has voted and who to call
Originally uploaded by dmakar

I need your help. From today, until election day (November 6th, 2007) there is work to do on the campaign. Can you help out at all? Here are some things that would help to contribute to my re-election, as well as help fellow candidates Mary Ann Sumner (supervisor), Joe Solomon (the other open town board seat), and Jason Liefer (town justice).

-Put a sign up in your yard. Let me know where you live and I'll drop off a sign for you.
-Drive door-to-door with me or one of the other candidates to keep us company and to see parts of Dryden that you might have otherwise not had a chance to visit
-Host a meet the candidate(s) party, BBQ or garden tour. You bring the neighbors and we'll show up to answer questions.
-Join us on election day for phone banking to help get out the vote.
-If you live in Dryden, make a donation to the Dryden Democratic Party.
-If you live outside of Dryden, make a donation to the Dryden Democratic Party or the Tompkins County Democratic Party.
-Invite me or the other candidates to speak at your work during lunch or breaktime.
-Volunteer to help with our postcard campaign.
-Add the Dryden Democrats website to your blog roll.
-Tell your friends about the campaign, hand out flyers.
-Vote on November 6th

Call or email me if you want to start helping out today, there is a lot to do and I can't do it without your help.

dave@davidmakar.com

The Next Four Years

Fall Creek through Monkey Run
Originally uploaded by dmakar

When I looked back over the first six months of 2007 and thought about what I had been able to do and what I wanted to do about a reelection I realized that still had a lot more work that I wanted to do for the town of Dryden. I thought a lot about why I would want to be re-elected and why I would want to continue to serve. On the day of the democratic caucus in July I had put together the framework of notes of a plan. Here's my first public look at where I'd like to see Dryden in four years.

I would like to help make Dryden a leader. A leader in Tompkins County, a leader in the Fingerlakes region, and a leader in upstate New York. Specifically, I would like to use our skills as a town to show others around us that we can implement economic development plans, handle climate change and building the local community all with the help of a strong local democracy.

Economic Development
The commercial and industrial tax base, both property tax and sales tax, will need to maintain a steady growth to keep residential property tax from an increase. The town board can't do anything to directly impact the local school taxes, however we can work to improve the economic landscape for new businesses. These new businesses can provide a larger assessed base for all property taxes and keep our tax rates from climbing.

We will be a leader in showing towns how to develop new businesses in upstate New York.
-A grants and microlending program for small business (1 to 25 employees) of $500 - $2500. This money will be drawn from HUD economic developments funds already on hand - reprogrammed to help small business.
-A larger business loan program through Tompkins County Area Development that allows larger employers in Dryden to make use of low interest loans. This money will also be drawn from HUD economic developments funds (primarily from the Cayuga Press HUD Loan)
-Complete Broadband and cell phone coverage will allow businesses to be operated from all parts of town from homes and then as these businesses grow, they could move into the town's commerical zones or office parks. Work with private businesses to make use of new and existing technology that will provide access.
-Sewer plant replacement coordinated with the villages to serve the needs of new development properties in town. A large project with the cooperation of multiple municipalities.
-Economic Development staff position in the Town of Dryden to help businesses (new and existing) with development and growth in the town.

Climate Change
I want to protect our environment. I want to make sure the land in and around Dryden is as good in 50 years as it is today. In early August, Arjan and I hiked around Monkey Run for over an hour. We were close to rt. 13 and rt. 366 and Hanshaw, but within the protected environment we could have been anywhere in upstate New York. I would like Dryden to be a leader in protecting what exists and in tracking what we are doing to the environment, as well as making smart, economical changes that serve both nature and the bottom line.
-Tracking and measuring "Town of Dryden" municipal carbon footprint each year for the next decade. How much is the municipal government effecting the environment through energy usage. What can we do about it?
-Continue Conservation: insulation, lighting, power saving
-Start responsible transition to alternatives fuels: biodiesel, vegetable diesel for town vehicles
-Clean, money saving power generation on town property for town buildings including solar or wind (funded by a NYSERDA grant or by donations to the town). The town of Caroline is already a leader in this, let's see what they are doing with regards to climate change and see if any of it translates north to Dryden. Can the town be energy independent? Can we work on that? Together we can.
-Use the town's examples to educate the people of Dryden on how they can do the same.
-Work with the planning, conservation and zoning boards to protect open space and to develop a plan for zoning to follow the comprehensive plan.
-Spend our time wisely in the next four years to prepare Dryden for the next century.

Finally, I would like to continue the work of making the large town of Dryden (94 square miles and over 13,400 residents) a community that understands thier local government and their local neighborhood. Our communities have been changing, I think we need to and can help build community and local democracy. In the next four years:
-We will have a plan to financially support our local community centers
-We will have created and started to implement a recreation master plan that serves all members of the Dryden community
-We will have more town hall style meetings in the town’s community centers and fire departments. My proposal is for 4 to 6 of these meetings each year.
-We will have an updated town website for day to day news and events. This is a must have to help communicate what is going on in our town and how we can meet, eat, interact, work and play together.
-We will publish a bi-monthly or quarterly town newsletter with month to month news and events, perhaps funded by advertising to keep the costs down.
-We will distribute a town annual report with financial report of the previous year and the plan for the next year, along with reports from all town departments. I grew up in a town where we were able to see the town budget each year, not by downloading a copy or by going to the town hall, but by walking to our mailbox. Once a year we had a complete public accounting of the town's finances. This helped people understand where their taxes were going as well as what other revenues the town collects each year (state aid, sales tax, interest income, etc.)

There is a lot of work to do, but in doing so we can provide an environment for growing the local economy, for handling climate change, and for growing our town as a community. We can be a leader, Dryden can be looked at as a place where ideas come into fruition. Join me in this exciting journey.