Residents’ feedback to Ulysses park proposal largely positive, with some concerns

The Ulysses Town Board hosted a public hearing on April 8, where residents chimed in on a proposal to allow the town board to accept a land donation made by residents Marvin and Allison Pritts for Ulysses to establish its first public park. 

The public hearing is set to continue at the town board’s April 22 meeting. So far, along with the comments that flowed in during the hour-long public comment section, the town has received comments via email.

“We have received eight letters of opposition, 76 letters in favor and 2 miscellaneous ones, or sent by people who live outside of Ulysses,” said Town Supervisor Katelin Olson, adding that most of them are available on the town’s website, townofulyssesny.gov.

Community input was mixed throughout the April 8 session, which went on for slightly more than an hour. Some residents said that the potential park could bring community members together and offer recreational places for residents of all ages. Some said that the Prittses’ almost-16-acre parcel at 5320 Cold Springs Rd. could be used for athletic facilities. 

Marlaine Darfler said the park is a shared community project and space. She added that that is something that is strongly needed in the area.

Other residents said they were concerned about an increase in foot traffic. Patty Porter said she is worried about the property value of her home in the area and hopes that the town can set guidelines for a potential park, such as hours of operation.

But Supervisor Olson said the town is far from being at that stage of planning. The public hearing was not mandatory, she said, but it was a great opportunity for residents to provide public input on the donation of the land. The town has an FAQ site for the donation of the land and the government process behind it. Olson directed residents to check out the page, but noted that the town wants a robust process for the public to submit its questions and concerns.

“I really want the public to share their opinions for folks who have concerns, whether you live in the neighborhood or not, to share those concerns,” Olson said. She noted that the town has already started to engage residents who live near the parcel on Cold Springs Road to hear their perspectives. 

Olson stressed that the town board is currently not considering any specific uses for the park and that it will be some time before those more advanced conversations can occur. 

“The proposal of the donation is in fact for recreation in the future, but we are not considering a particular plan,” she said. “The town board authorized the submission of an application to Cornell Design Connect Program. If the project is selected, it can give the community an opportunity to start collecting that specific feedback if the town board does decide to accept the donation. At this point, we are only considering the donation and proposed subdivision of a particular piece of land.” 

So far, Olson said, the town has shown a high level of engagement on the promise of a potential recreational facility on the Cold Springs Road parcel. 

“The process would be to engage the community in a robust opportunity to submit their thoughts and concerns of things they would want to see and how they want to see it developed,” she said. “With the energy we have seen and public engagement at this point, we would have a very engaged public in that process if the town gets to that process.”

But how far the public’s opinion can stretch was the question in the mind of some residents. The last time the town attempted to build a public park, in 2023, the town board considered purchasing a parcel elsewhere in the town. That plan was defeated at the ballot box as residents expressed concerns about foot traffic, among other worries. At the April 8 meeting, a resident asked if the town planned to also have a referendum on the usage of the Cold Springs Road parcel. 

Olson said that would not be possible due to state law constraints. 

“The way the law is written, it specifies that if the town is going to purchase and build a building, then a public vote can be triggered,” she said, adding that this process is called a “permissive referendum.” “The public has a window of 30 days to submit a petition, and that is the process we went through in 2023. We proposed using public funds to purchase property. In the situation of a donation, the state law doesn’t give us permission to hold a permissive referendum, which means the town board doesn’t have a legal mechanism to send it to the public to a vote.”

The town will revisit a Full Environmental Assessment Form (FEAF) at the first meeting in May. Other involved agencies, such as the planning board and the board of zoning appeals, Olson said, gave the town board the okay to continue the FEAF process of reviewing environmental impacts of acquiring the land. 

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

The town of Ulysses Youth Employment Program (YEP) seeks to provide first-time job seekers with positive, paid work experience and an opportunity to develop meaningful job skills. The program is geared to Trumansburg/town of Ulysses area teens aged 14 and up.

Job openings are limited to 12 positions. Each will run 10-12 hours/week for six to seven weeks this summer (72 hours total) at New York state minimum wage (currently $15.50/hour).

The application is available at https://forms.gle/Z4JqDpCZKQGMSjgt5 and is due by May 1.

Teens should complete their own job application to the best of their ability. Parents/guardians will receive an online authorization form. 

Questions can be emailed to Rachel Kennedy at rkennedy@townofulyssesny.gov.