Some of the projects on the agenda for 2009 in Ithaca.
The Commons is shown from above on Monday. The city will likely decide in 2009 who will oversee the project to upgrade The Commons. (ERICA THUM / Staff Photo)
Ithaca facing key decisions on water source, downtown plans
By Krisy Gashler •
kgashler@gannett.com • December 30, 2008
In 2009, the City of Ithaca is scheduled to name a new planning director, launch a dually designated State Street/Martin Luther King Jr. Street and begin $4 million worth of renovations on the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, to name a few high-profile items.
Like everyone, city leaders are watching the national recession for negative impacts like lowered sales tax revenue and higher unemployment, but they're also watching for potential positive impacts, like needed infrastructure repairs that could be funded by a federal stimulus package.
* Water. Common Council is slated in 2009 to make the “decision of the century” on where Ithacans should get their drinking water. The city has spent a decade deciding whether to re-build its current water treatment plant on Six Mile Creek or purchase water from the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission, commonly known as Bolton Point.
* Martin Luther King Jr. Street. The city is scheduled to unveil this dual designation for State Street on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 19.
* The newly re-formed city Youth Council is scheduled to meet for the first time Jan. 19. It will be composed of 14 teens, grades 9-12, living within the Ithaca City School District.
* Planning director. Thys Van Cort, outspoken city planning director for almost 35 years, retired Jan. 5, 2008. Almost a year later, a committee recommended three names to Mayor Carolyn Peterson. Peterson will name her choice, likely by February, she said.
* Collegetown. The controversial Collegetown urban plan, which calls for more students and less parking in the core of Collegetown, is under review by Common Council. The construction moratorium, established in order to create and debate the plan, is scheduled to expire in April.
* The Commons. Peterson will likely sign a contract in early 2009 with a consultant to oversee the $250,000 design phase of the controversial project that has been variously called the “Commons Re-design,” “Commons Reconstruction” and “Commons Upgrades.” Roughly half of Common Council favors going ahead with the project for infrastructure repair and economic development. Several members of Common Council have opposed the project, questioning the need and citing impact on the city budget from the recession and potential state budget cuts. Actual construction work, initially estimated at $5 million in 2010, will likely be pushed back by a year or more, Peterson said.
* Downtown. Peterson said she hopes to see completion of recent downtown development by late spring, including full occupancy of rental space under the Cayuga Green apartments and the Cayuga garage. Cinemapolis, under the now-completed Green garage, is slated to open in early 2009.
* GIAC. Construction is set to begin mid-year for the $4 million renovations at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Peterson said. This will mean relocating GIAC's host of programs, as was done in 2006, when falling brick outside the building forced an emergency closure, and in 2007, when the boiler went out.
Separate from the renovations, NYSEG's coal tar removal next door on Court Street will also require re-locating GIAC's summer basketball leagues. After a proposal to install a full court at Conway Park was defeated by neighborhood opposition, GIAC is looking at Wood Street Park to host the games.
* Markles Flats. The Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission is scheduled to decide in January the fate of the historic Markles Flats building, which sits on the same block where NYSEG is removing carcinogenic coal tar. All the other buildings on the west side of the block are being torn down so NYSEG can dig out up to 15 feet of contaminated soil.
* Ithaca Gun Factory. Demolition of the former gun factory has been delayed for several months but is now anticipated to begin in early 2009. Property owner Wally Diehl and developer Frost Travis propose to re-develop the site into 33 high-end condos.
* Smoking ban. Alderman J.R. Clairborne, D-2nd, and chair of Common Council's community and organizational issues committee, said in 2009 there should be a decision and implementation on a “limited smoking ban” in the city. A Common Council committee has been meeting for several months to examine where on public land the city should ban or limit smoking, looking at everything from The Commons to city parks to bus stops.
* Cayuga Waterfront Trail. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009 on Phase 3 of the trail, which will connect the farmers' market, Stewart Park and the Tompkins County visitors' center. Phase 2, which is proposed to connect Cass and Stewart parks, has been delayed for several years because of opposition from several property owners who do not want the trail to go on their land. Though the city has threatened using eminent domain to take the land, Peterson said she still hopes to resolve the issue with negotiation. New offers to purchase right-of-ways on those West End properties will go out in letters next month, she said.
* Planning. Work will continue and become more focused on Cornell's $20 million investment into community housing and transportation infrastructure, said Alderwoman Mary Tomlan, D-3rd and chair of Common Council's planning committee. The city will also continue work on updating its comprehensive plan to better guide “planning, zoning, development, and public improvement initiatives in the decades to come,” she said. Common Council authorized $200,000 to hire a consultant to oversee this process.
* Capital Projects. Alderwoman Maria Coles, D-1st and chair of the city administration committee, said she will push for more Common Council involvement in long-range planning of capital projects. Currently, capital projects are determined by the mayor and city staff in internal meetings and included as part of each year's budget. Coles said she wants Common Council to have a better sense of the city's infrastructure needs five to 10 years into the future, so they can make more informed decisions about which capital projects to approve.
* Dredging. Planning also continues on the city's project to dredge some or all of the lower tributaries to Cayuga Lake, and the project to turn the area between Wal-Mart, Nate's Floral Estates and the train tracks into a new, mixed-income Southwest urban neighborhood, Peterson said.