ITHACA ROAD TO CLOSE FOR REHABILITATION

Beginning on Monday June 11, 2012 the City crews will be performing road work on the stretch of Ithaca Road between Mitchell Street and Dryden Road.

A signed detour will be posted for northbound traffic coming from East State Street to turn left into Mitchell Street and continue all the way to the Cornell Road intersection. Motorists should turn left onto Cornell Road and continue up to Route 366. 

For southbound traffic, the detour will follow a right turn onto Dryden Road continuing down to College Avenue intersection. Traffic should turn left onto College Avenue and head down to Mitchell Street and connect on to East State Street.

No Parking Signs will be set up on College Avenue and at the Mitchell/Cornell Street intersection taking out parking locations to accommodate our detour route. Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes to avoid the area. Pedestrians commuting through Ithaca Road will be accommodated within the work zone. The project duration is scheduled to begin June 11 and last through the month of July.

NOTE: residents on Mitchell and Cornell Streets and Dryden Road, take note. We will see a good deal of traffic through the month of July. 

Pedestrians should use caution when crossing streets and PLEASE report dangerous drivers to the Ithaca Police Department at (607)272-3245.

Special Meeting of Common Council to Discuss Redistricting

Ellen McCollister sent this message to the listserv. Thanks, Ellen!
 

Dear 3rd Ward Neighbors,
 

Common Council will soon be making some important decisions about redistricting. At the risk of causing your eyes to glaze over, I'd like to summarize what's happening.
 

As most of you know, the County and the City must redraw the legislative boundaries every ten years to reflect population changes from the most recent U.S. Census.

Ward populations, by law, cannot deviate by more than 10 percent. An ad hoc City Redistricting Committee, chaired by the 3rd Ward's Tom Frank, met throughout the fall and winter and held numerous public hearings. They have sent a "preferred" map and an "alternative" map to Common Council for consideration. If adopted, either one of these scenarios would have to go to referendum in the fall because they reduce the total number of Council seats from 10 to 8. 

Under the first scenario, called 4-5a, the City would go from 5 wards, 2 representatives per ward, to 4 wards, 2 reps per ward. The alternative scenario calls for 8 wards, 1 rep per ward. Under the 4-ward scenario (4-5a) the current 3rd Ward boundaries would expand to include the south side of upper State St but wouldn't be all that different from what they are now. (The 4-ward scenario also addresses a long-standing oddity in the City's Ward 1 boundaries, which currently stretch from West Hill, through part of the Flats, and over to South Hill.)
 

Under the 8-ward scenario, Belle Sherman/Bryant Park would be split. This second alternative, 8-3a, did not gain a lot of traction at our May 16 Government Performance and Accountability (GPA) committee. Most committee members felt that it's advantageous to have two representatives per ward with staggered terms. In addition, some of us felt that we didn't want to "balkanize" City neighborhoods. See both maps here.
 

In addition to the two recommended scenarios, Mayor Myrick has asked Common Council to revisit a scenario called 4-6. See that map here. This scenario would create the biggest change for Belle Sherman/Bryant Park (and our work load) because South Hill would be added to the current 3rd Ward. 

Finally, there is interest from some citizens in bringing forward a 12-Ward scenario. This has already been considered and rejected by the Redistricting Committee. I have already gone on record that I do not support this proposal. Among other things, in order to carve out balanced populations in 12 wards, this scenario would create a separate ward for Cornell's north campus freshman dorms (currently District 1 in Ward 3). Since you have to be freshman to live there, it's not clear how a candidate could be recruited who would be around to fulfill a 2-or 4-year Council term. 

Common Council will be reviewing these scenarios at a special meeting on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m. I hope you'll take the time to review the maps. Please call me if you have any questions, 272-5936, or write to Common Council <council@cityofithaca.org> if you'd like to weigh in.
 

Ellen McCollister, Alderperson
City of Ithaca Third Ward
emccollister@cityofithaca.org
221 Bryant Ave
272-5936
(sent from gmail due to problems with City server. Please send mail to City address.)

More Road Construction

The 700 block of East State Street/Martin Luther King Jr. Street between Quarry and Eddy Streets will be reduced to one alternating travel lane during working hours 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., starting Monday, June 4th through Monday, June 15.

Traffic will be controlled by flaggers and no on-street parking will be permitted until the project is completed.

No official detour will be in place, but motorists are advised to seek alternative routes.

Playground Community Build

The Belle Sherman Annex playground has reached the end of its lifespan and a new playground is planned for installation in two weeks. There will be a community build on June 15th and June 16th. Can you lend a hand for a few hours?

There will be three volunteer shifts:

• Friday, June 15th from 3pm-6pm to sort parts and prepare the footing sites. (10-15 volunteers are needed for this shift)
• Saturday, June 16th from 8am-12:30pm (30-35 volunteers are needed for this shift)
• Saturday, June 16th from 1pm-7pm (30-35 volunteers are needed for this shift)

Childcare and food will be provided on Saturday.

You can sign up to help on our electronic signup sheet at:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgT3MAfH-Hi7dG9tVy1tNjFzdE1OSHB2QVFqdTlsdkE#gid=0

Of course, if you prefer to call or email to sign up that will work as well.
Contact Beth Gerrard at bethgerr@mac.com

Want to know what it will look like? Plans and drawings of the new playground are available on the Belle Sherman website at: bspta.org