Tick-Born Infection Prevention
00:15At the May Environmental Committee meeting, Matt Hanggi, Communicable Disease Control Coordinator for Ontario County Public Health, and Councilmember Doug Merrill presented data on the increasing number of tick-born infections occurring within the County, and recommended that the Environmental Committee return with recommendations to City Council to mitigate those risks. Mr. Hanggi and Councilmembers Merrill and Dittmar will present their findings and offer recommendations for future action.
Waterchase Subdivision
45:16The City Council was clear, when reviewing the Waterchase subdivision, that it wanted sidewalks on both sides of the streets. The developer has presented the site plan with some gaps in the sidewalks. The largest gap is in the center of the development along the large drainage ditch. Adding a sidewalk here would require a guard rail to be added and the developer would like to avoid that cost and aesthetic. The sidewalk would also be adjacent to proposed City property and we don’t want to add sidewalk plowing to our responsibilities. The Planning Commission does not have authority to override the City Council regarding sidewalks on both sides of the streets within the proposed residential development. City Council should weigh in on the sidewalk issue.
Flood Mitigation Project Updates
01:07:26The Mayor requested a brief informational update regarding the status of flood mitigation projects: a. Sucker Brook Flood Mitigation – City Corporation Counsel working on drafting model easement language for the portions of the project that would require them. The grant was submitted and, as previously reported, we don’t anticipate learning the funding decision by the State until November/December. The Capital Plan for 2026 includes $500,000 in City funding, $200,000 from the School District, $430,000 from Private donations and $4,750,000 in grant funding to complete this project if the grant is awarded. b. Woodlawn Flood Mitigation Project – This project involves FEMA funding made available to us after the July 9, 2023 federally declared disaster event. The project involves removing some trees and the installation of a new, larger drainage system. The tree removal and the land disturbance required a federal review for endangered bat species protection and because the cemetery is historic, a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) review for indigenous resources (burials, artifact, et al) was also required. We were hopeful there would not be further delays on SHPO’s sign-off but unfortunately, they are now requiring a Department of the Interior certified archeologist to be retained by the City for project reporting and oversight. We remain hopeful that we can complete this project this year and are working to retain an archeologist. The 2025 Capital Budget includes $150,000 of FEMA funding and $41,000 of City funding (Note – City already expended $9,000 for the required engineering design). c. Baker Drive Area – We have designed, in-house, plans to intercept some drainage and redirect it. We have requested a quote from Colliers to review our plan before implementing it. The implementation would utilize the flood mitigation funding in the capital budget.