Trumansburg Village Plans Second Water Plant

The Village of Trumansburg Board of Trustees approved the suggestion of John Hrubos, deputy mayor, to have C.T. Male Associates create an engineering proposal for a potential water filtration facility that would draw water from Cayuga Lake.

The filtration plant looks like the most likely option for the village’s second water source, something that has been mandated by the county health department. The proposal will cost the village $10,800 and the overall project would likely cost between $500,000 and $1 million, Hrubos said.

Writers’ Group Enlivens Library

On Sunday afternoon at the Ulysses Philomathic Library a boy was “bitten” by a couch cushion while retrieving a baseball, a man got his fortune told with complete accuracy and another man had his foot amputated after an accident in a train yard.

Three members of the Ulysses Writers’ Group read from their short stories at the library’s first Sunday Afternoon Speaker Series of 2009. The group’s other three members will read on Sunday, January 25.

Mary Blake formed the writers group when she moved to the area about four and a half years ago. At one point the group had eight members but has since settled down to six writers.

TCSD Foundation to Make Teaching Grants

The Trumansburg Central School District (TCSD) Foundation has sent students to Street Survival Driving School, sponsored special speakers for both students and parents and brought a brain gym program to Trumansburg. After reaching the $10,000 mark during the summer, the foundation is back to fundraising and is soliciting grant proposals for its 2009 winter awards schedule.

Lindsay Hart, foundation board member and public relations chair, said the foundation gives out three types of grant throughout the year: teaching grants, blue and gold grants and new technology initiative grants. A grants committee awards the money during each cycle. The committee decided to focus on teaching grants this time around.

“That’s open to anybody in the area that teaches or instructs, so it doesn’t have to be a teacher per se,” Hart said. “It can be a dance instructor or a blacksmith who wants to do a class on blacksmithing.”

Cayuga, Seneca Wine Trail Host Winter Party

Events where people can hop from one winery on the Cayuga Wine Trail to the next for a day or weekend aren’t out of the ordinary. But an event that doesn’t require a ticket and includes wineries on the Cayuga Trail, the Seneca Wine Trail and vineyards not affiliated with either trail only happens once a year. The seventh annual Between the Lakes Winter Wine Party will be held from 11 am until 5 pm on January 10.

The party is partly the brainchild of Kip Kalfs, manager of the tasting room at Sheldrake Point Vineyard, and isn’t an official Cayuga Wine Trail event.

“It started about seven years ago when me and the former manager at Knapp Winery were talking and saying that there’s nothing [in the winter] to let the people know that we’re still open and the wineries still exist,” he said.

The party now features 31 wineries along Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Kalfs said every winery between Ventosa Vineyards and Atwater Estate Vineyards on the Seneca Trail and between Montezuma Winery and Americana Vineyards on Cayuga is participating this year.

An Eye for the Camera

Photos of flames, sunsets and trees; close ups of spiderwebs on a fence corner; dramatic lighting hitting martini glasses and crystal balls give patients in the Trumansburg Optical waiting room something to look at. Like most art displayed in local shops, the 11 photographs on the wall are for sale and three have already been claimed. Unlike most local artists though, this photographer is only in high school.

Sara Oros, a junior at Charles O. Dickerson High School, began taking photographs three years ago but said things really took off in the past year. Oros opened her first show in early December in Trumansburg Optical on Main Street.

“I’ve really been enjoying photography and thought it’d be fun to share [it],” she said.

It’s Not the 7-11

Bright yellow signs on the door and front desk of the Ulysses Philomathic Library hint at the library’s recent misfortunes. “No cash kept on the premise overnight” is a new policy after two separate burglaries cost the library $100 in cash and more in damages.

On November 1, following a library function, somebody walked through the unlocked door and took about $70 from the late fees box, said William McAneny, president of the library board of trustees.

“Our annual library diner was being held across the street and there were a lot of people going back and for and somebody failed to lock up,” he said. “It was a crime of opportunity.”

Student Drivers Learn Street Survival

A teenage driver speeds down the road, going 60 miles an hour. She suddenly switches from the left lane to the far right; overshooting the lane she takes out four or five bright orange cones, sending some flying and dragging others under the car. Luckily, this time instead of hitting cars or construction equipment, people laugh, put the cones back and she gets another chance. Thirty young drivers, ranging from the just-licensed to 21-year-olds, attended a Street Survival driving school on November 8 at Watkins Glen International.

Street Survival was founded by the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) Foundation to teach kids how to handle their own cars in high-pressure situations, said Seth Berlfein, of the Genesee Valley Chapter.

“Basically it’s a car control clinic,” he said. “Whereas drivers ed teaches students how to drive a car, we teach them how to handle a car and avoid accidents.”

Village Approves Fire Truck Buy

The Village of Trumansburg Board of Trustees approved two major purchases for the fire department and emergency medical services (EMS) at its meeting on Monday, November 10. The board approved the use of $474,000 from the fire department’s reserve fund for a new truck. It also gave the department approval to purchase a brand new defibulator, monitor and charger.

The fire department will be replacing a 24-year old truck. The new truck, to be delivered in the fall, would cost $499,712 with all the optional features but Jason Fulton, fire chief, said $451,895 is a more likely figure. Because this truck is overdue for replacement, the department’s schedule is off and another truck is due to be replaced in 2010. Fulton asked bidding companies to also include price quotes for the second truck if both are replaced at the same time, but the board opted to purchase only the original truck at this time.

The village’s EMS is also in need of replacement equipment as its monitor, defibulator and charging unit will no longer be upgradeable after next year. The village opted to purchase a brand new unit, costing $19,598. The new batteries are lighter and will last for 20 hours compared to the two-hour life of the current batteries.

Stilwell Makes Skateboard History

Nick Stilwell saw the Guinness World Record for longest stationary manual on a skateboard set at only 49.09 seconds and knew he could do better. On Saturday, Stillwell broke the world record and his personal best by balancing on a skateboard on two wheels for 34 minutes and two seconds.

Stilwell, a senior at Charles O. Dickerson High School, said he didn’t grow up planning on setting a world record, but a series of events led him to the high school gym this past weekend.

“[My English teacher Neil Clifford] had us do a paper about goals we wanted to accomplish and one of my goals was to break a world record,” he said. “So that really got me going.”

Trumansburg’s Capital Project Needs Slimming

After preliminary estimates by Beardsley Design Associates, Trumansburg Central School District will have to remove $690,000 worth of alternate projects from the capital project plan. The district received approval of its architectural review last week and expects to hear about the mechanical review within the month. Once all reviews are approved the district can put contracts out to bid, likely in December.

No decisions will be made until contract bids are received. The only thing board of education members need to decide at the moment is which projects are necessary and which projects can be turned into “alternates.” Contractors put in bid prices on alternate projects but the district is under no obligation to proceed with them.

Associates from Beardsley broke down construction numbers for the board at its November 5 meeting. A public referendum dedicated $9,645,000 to the capital project, $7,400,000 of which is being budgeted for general construction. Another $740,000 has been set aside for inevitable change orders. At the moment the estimated cost of all alternative projects is $1,470,000.