Spencer Road Neighborhood Block Party

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The first Spencer Road neighborhood block party, jointly sponsored by INHS and the neighbors, will be held on Sunday, August 7 from noon until 4 PM. Please join us in front of the Stone Quarry Apartments, rain or shine, for an afternoon of good food and good fellowship. Everyone who lives on Spencer Road, South Meadow Street Extension, Morris Heights, and lower Stone Quarry Road is welcome!
To make the event a success, we need your help. Everyone should their bring plates, cups, and eating utensils. Please also bring a dish to share.
 
We also need volunteers to help with set up (from 11 to noon) and clean up (from 4 to 5).
The 400 block of Spencer Road will be closed from 11 to 5. Signs will be up and barriers will be in place, but we need people to stand by the barriers at each end of the block to redirect traffic. If you would be willing to spend an hour helping to keep the street traffic free for the party, please let me know! (Contact info is at the end of this message.)
Have a talent to share? If you, or a friend, would like to perform, there will be a PA/karaoke system under the tent in front of the Stone Quarry Apartments. Let us  know, and we will reserve a time for you. We also hope to have some activities for children. If you have ideas or if you would like to help. let us know!
Are you able to help with the supplies? We plan to have some grills fired up, and we hope to be able to offer burgers (including veggie burgers) and hotdogs. INHS is asking for donations from local businesses, but any help you can provide would be great!  We will need
  •                     charcoal
  •                     condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish)
  •                     vegan burgers or other vegan items to grill
  •                     Non-alcoholic drinks
  •                     paper supplies (additional paper plates, napkins, cups, paper towels)
  •                     hamburger and hotdog buns
Donations of these items can be dropped off ahead of time with Sandy Conrad in the Stone Quarry Apartment office. Please label them “For Block Party.”
Most important, COME! Please join us to enjoy a few traffic-free hours in our neighborhood. Come meet your neighbors, old and new, and help us build a sense of community.
See you on Sunday, August 7th, from noon to 4 PM!
 
For more information, please contact Claudia Georgia, 411 Spencer Road, at 277-5167

Second Annual Spencer Road Clean Up

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The second annual Spencer Road neighborhood clean-up will take place on Saturday, June 25th, starting at 9am. This is done as an entirely volunteer effort by Spencer Road area neighbors. The city will take the trash away for us, we just need to bag it up.  Please come join us in keeping our neighborhood clean!

Neighbors interested in helping to pick up trash should convene at 9am by the Spencer Road triangle (500 Spencer Road). Please bring your own gloves, if possible. Trash bags will be provided.

Meeting at TC Action About Proposed New Construction

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Tompkins Community Action is hosting a meeting for neighbors and interested city reps to show plans for two new buildings they hope to construct at the end of Spencer Road.  One will be for Head Start class rooms, approximately where the two small houses next to where TCA’s main building is now, and the other would be housing for young people. This building would be attached to 701 Spencer, by its back. It is currently designed to have 23 studio apartments and be four stories tall.
This meeting is today, from 5 to 6pm at Tompkins Community Action, 701 Spencer Rd.  Snacks will be served.

Spencer Road/South Meadow Sidewalk/Traffic Study Public Meeting

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The City of Ithaca Engineering Office has scheduled a third public meeting to review three alternative designs for the Spencer Road Sidewalk and Traffic Study project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 6pm at the Oasis Fellowship Church at 808 South Meadow Street Extension. City staff will be in attendance to present the three alternatives that were selected at a neighborhood meeting in January. The desired outcome of the meeting is to preview the drawings before they are presented to the Board of Public Works and to provide one way for residents to provide feedback. Residents are also encouraged to provide direct feedback to the Board of Public Works once the project is presented to the Board. The three alternatives include:

  1.  Constructing sidewalk on one or both sides of Spencer Road (between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension) and a sidewalk on South Meadow Street Extension.
  2. Making the block of Spencer Road between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension into a one way street (could be westbound or eastbound), or
  3. Making the block of Spencer Road between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension into a dead end street, and only allowing Stone Quarry Road traffic to go to or from the roundabout at South Albany Street.

The study area covers the portion of Spencer Road from Stone Quarry Road to South Meadow Street Extension, and the extent of South Meadow Street Extension from Spencer Road to Old Elmira Road. The proposed scope of work is to design and construct sidewalks in the project area and to study and recommend possible intersection improvements at the three intersections included in the study area.

For additional information about this meeting, please feel free to contact Tim Logue, Director of Engineering Services at (607) 274-6535 or tlogue@cityofithaca.org.

Public Outreach for 2017 Sidewalk Program

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Planned public outreach for the sidewalk program this year:

There will be a meeting for districts 4 and 5 (which includes the Spencer Road area) on Tuesday (6/7) at 5:30pm in the Borg Warner Conference Room at the Tompkins County Library.

There will also be an open house in Council Chambers at City Hall to discuss any of the sidewalk districts from 11am-1pm on Wednesday, June 15. The plan will be presented to the Disability Advisory Council and the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Council in the coming months. There will also be a separate meeting exclusively for accessibility concerns (date TBD).

These meetings are the first chance for people to provide input on our proposed 2017 work plan (being developed now), but not the only chance. The draft plan will go to the Board of Public Works for a public hearing on 8/8 and people are welcome to contact the Sidewalk Program Manager or Transportation Engineer with feedback.

Please note: John Licitra is the new sidewalk Program Manager. Eric Hathaway is now the Transportation Engineer for the City. John does not appear to have a listed email address, but Eric can be reached at: ehathaway@cityofithaca.org.

Upcoming Chain Works Events May 7th

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Neighbors are invited to the May 7, 2016 South Hill Civic Association (SHCA) meeting for a discussion on the Chain Works District project. The meeting will be from 9am to 11am at the Chain Works District project office on the Ithaca Commons (133 East State St).

Also, later in the afternoon from 1:00pm to 2:30pm, Vicki Taylor Brous will lead the Jane’s Walk to the Chain Works District project site. The Chain Works District project office on the Ithaca Commons will also be the meeting location for this interesting walk. More information at: http://janeswalk.org/united-states/ithaca/chain-works-district/

Neighborhood Meeting April 20th at 6pm

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On Wednesday April 20, 2016 there will be a Spencer Road Neighborhood Association meeting at Stone Quarry Apartments community meeting room (400 Spencer Road) at 6:00 pm.  All neighbors are invited. This will be a neighborhood meet and greet and will also have time with Officer Jamie Williamson to discuss a neighborhood watch and other community concerns. We will also discuss having a future neighborhood gathering once things warm up! There will be some refreshments provided at the meeting.  If there are any questions, please contact Claudia Georgia at: claudiajgeorgia@gmail.com.

Reminder: Chain Works Public Hearing Tonight!

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A Public Hearing will be held tonight from 4pm to 9pm at Cinemapolis to discuss the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) submitted to the City of Ithaca for the Chain Works District. The presentation will begin at 5:30pm and continue for approximately one hour. Public comments and questions will be recorded as part of this meeting. The Chain Works website has been updated to include the DGEIS and information regarding the process at: http://www.chainworksdistrict.com/geis/