On Trumansburg Conservatory improvements, potential federal funds

The Town of Ulysses is faced with a choice elected leaders and town residents hope will be transformative: How to spend the remaining $196,000 left from the Town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation approved by Congress in 2021?

The Town Board held a public hearing Jan. 23 for residents to chime in on the types of projects they would like to see supported with federal funds. Ulysses had originally been granted $321,947 through ARPA, and has used up some of those funds on items that meet the following criteria:

• Responding to the public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic;  
• Providing premium pay to essential workers;
• Providing government services to the extent of revenue loss due to the pandemic;  
• Making necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure; 
• Disaster relief;
• Transportation;
• Support the federal Community Development Block Grant program.

As per program guidelines, the Town will have until Dec. 31 to make decisions on the remaining funds. Once funds are earmarked, they will have to be spent by 2026.

At the meeting, residents discussed projects they said would fit the criteria of the federal program, and also be of significance to the town. A favorite that had several residents’ support throughout the 40-minute-long public hearing was a renovation project for the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts (TCFA). 

The nonprofit behind the nationally recognized historic building, 5 McLallen St., Trumansburg, is looking to spend an estimated $75,000 in ARPA funds to help with a project that would improve the building’s front door and portico, replace fiber boards, restore original windows, upgrade the structure’s lighting and electrical distribution, and address other structural repairs as needed. The project would also tackle a new drainage, and a much-requested pathway that is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) to travel from the exterior to the stage, while an ADA compliant restroom that would be built off the lobby. 

The funds would go toward matching a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). The TCFA board previously received a NYSCA grant of $279,000 to both restore and improve the building.

“If the Town approves $75,000 in funding, that would be 12 percent of the project costs that we already raised,” said George Cook, TCFA’s Board President. “We already raised them through grant awards and other donations. The ARP funding would allow the project to proceed in the fiscal year 2024 and that means we can get started earlier and bring these services to the community.”

Cook also stressed that providing ARPA fundings to help with the projects would not increase the tax burden on the community.

“The design drawings are complete so we can bid very quickly. We are shovel ready,” he added, noting that the renovation project also addresses items found in Ulysses’ comprehensive plan. 

These include supporting a diverse economy, maintaining and expanding recreational facilities, promoting cultural and historical resources, and enhancing assets that make Ulysses a unique and desirable place to live.

Marlaine Darfler, a Village of Trumansburg resident, spoke in support of spending ARP funds on the TCFA’s restoration.

“We have a treasure here we need to support and protect,” she said. “It offers programming and entertainment for every age group in the community. For a segment of the elders, it has become a hub for us to participate in the arts of every flavor as students, participants and audience members.

“Some of us want to or can’t venture to the city to take in the arts – especially in the winter,” Darfler added.  “With the TCFA we don’t have to do that.”

Other residents said they would support the use of ARPA funds that would go toward better environmental stewardship in the town.

“One of the main functions of [ARPA] is to support the health and economic recovery of our town,” said Vivien Rose, a resident who spoke at the meeting. “If the birds are not healthy, if the water is not healthy, if the pollinators are not healthy, how do we have health?

“I suggest we fund one full-time position in the town to monitor our environmental health indicators, and provide guidance and resources to residents so that we can know how to take care of our [environment].”

Town of Ulysses Supervisor Katelin Olsen said the next phase in this process would require sending public feedback to the Town’s finance committee for review.

“We will go through a review process, this is how we decide on projects of all kinds and different amounts,” Olsen said. “We go through a rating matrix with objectifiable ways of comparing the projects. It is a very common way for public institutions to make decisions. Decisions are hard.”

The plan is to come back to the Board with some firm decisions for consideration by the start of March. 

In brief:

The Ulysses Philomathic Library’s list of special programs for February has been announced, descriptions below, all events at the library, 74 E. Main Street, Trumansburg.

• Read Local Book Club – Feb. 5, 3:30-4:30 p.m. 

Meet authors, get free stuff, and publish your own book, all at our new book club for teens aged 13 and up.

• Dancing with Stories – Feb. 10, 11:15 a.m.-noon.
  TCFA Elite Competition Team Dancers read dance-related books, teach basic dance steps and movements, and play dance games. The class is free and open to the public. Best for kids aged 3 and up and their caregivers.
  
• Kids’ Free Farmers Market – Feb. 12, 3:30- 4:45 p.m.

Trumansburg Harvest provides free fresh produce to all youth and their caregivers.

• CSA Sampler – Feb. 13, 3 p.m.- 5 p.m. 

Trumansburg Harvest offers fresh local produce, free for everyone!

Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.