News and Events

The Town of Ithaca Budget for 2025 was approved at the Town of Ithaca Board meeting on 11/04/2024.

Forest Home is mentioned in the capital improvement plans, which are described in two sections, covering 5 years. Listed are paving of Forest Home Drive and Judd Falls Road in 2025-26 and sidewalk improvement for the S-curve on Forest Home Drive in 2027-2029.

For the budget document, see
* https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=356617&dbid=9&repo=TownOfIthaca
For the meeting, see
1. the agenda and packet of materials other than the budget document
* https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=356461&dbid=9&repo=TownOfIthaca
2. the recording of the meeting
* https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC9vycXkJ6klVIibjhCy7NQ

FHIA’s Annual Community Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 30 7-8:30 pm, at Forest Home Chapel (224 Forest Home Drive). The Board strongly encourages residents to attend to vote for officers for the coming year and to hear about achievements of the last year and results of the community listening sessions.
The sheets that were produced at the two listening sessions are online at https://www.fhia.org/community-listening-sessions-september-5-and-8-2024/

===== Also, a reminder about Leaf Collection (from Town of Ithaca flyer) =====

Leaf collection will begin at 7 a.m. on Monday, November 4th and will
continue throughout the week until finished.

Leaves should be at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on the first day of collection.
Leaves may be raked to the shoulder of the road or bagged in biodegradable paper leaf bags (30-gallon bags are available at many stores in the area).

Other debris such as pine needles, dead flowers, garden waste, grass clippings, etc., cannot be vacuumed and should be placed in bags. Please fill the bags and place them on the road shoulder, folding over the openings of the bags to close. Do not staple or tape openings. No plastic bags will be picked up.

The Town’s crews will go around the entire Town once with the leaf vacuum.

For the rest of the month of November, the crews will begin picking up paper-bagged leaves each Monday, which could extend through early week to encompass the entire Town.

Please note that we may send out leaf crews earlier than November 4th to test our equipment and to pick up paper-bagged leaves before they get wet.

1. Brush Pickup runs from Oct 21 until completed. Link to instructions is below.

2. “Nightsong”, a contemplative choral service sung by a choir, will be held at Forest Home Chapel, 224 Forest Home Drive, Ithaca, on Thursday October 24 at 8 pm.

Compline (“Nightsong”) will be sung by candlelight, meant to offer a time of calm and restoration. The origins and form of the service are ancient, from the monastic tradition. Chant, a hymn, and choral settings of various texts are included. This is a service of St. Luke Lutheran Church.

The service is designed for all people of any faith, or no faith at all. Come for the music, stay for calm and restoration in these tumultuous times. The sanctuary will open at 7:45 pm. Please enter through the basement door to avoid the construction work and come upstairs. Afterwards stay for light refreshments and meet the choir members.
For more information, use https://www.foresthomechapelumc.org/contact

3. FHIA’s Annual Community Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 30 7-8:30 pm, at Forest Home Chapel. Residents should watch their email for more details.

Reminder for Brush Pickup instructions:
Fall Brush and Leaf Collection 2024

The Town of Ithaca has announced the week for 2024 Fall Brush Pickup — October 21-25. Leaf collection will begin at 7 a.m. on Monday November 4.

Be sure to follow the instructions for preparing brush or leaves for collection. For generic information about the brush collection service, see https://townithacany.gov/brush-collection-drop-off/. The instructions for Fall 2024 are in the Town’s September Newsletter. For a convenient one-page document specifically for Fall 2024, see https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=355057&dbid=9&repo=TownOfIthaca.  

Remember that you can also take yard waste (brush, leaves, garden/yard debris) to the Public Works facility at 114 Seven Mile Dr., Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. year-round.

Saturday, September 14, 2024, 3PM, at the Forest Home Park.  Rain date is September 15.

WE WILL PROVIDE:
Hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, ice cream, non-alcoholic beverages, flatware, cups, and plates.

PLEASE BRING IF YOU CAN:
A side dish, salad, or pie; chairs; croquet, balls, outdoor toys. Please no alcohol.

VOLUNTEER TO:
Be a cooker or a server, set up, clean up, or help with garbage and recycling. We are hoping for 10 volunteers. Send email to foresthomenews@gmail.com to volunteer.

Thanks for your help. We look forward to seeing you!
Forest Home Fall Picnic Committee

TO OUR NEW NEIGHBORS:
Residents who would like to be added to the Forest Home Improvement Association e-mail list, please write to us at: foresthomenews@gmail.com

[Last update: 9/10/2024 7:30pm] Replacement of the gas main on Pleasant Grove Rd in Cayuga Heights is complete; new sidewalks are being installed in the same area. Town of Ithaca work on the sewer main pump station upgrade continues in the triangle by the Forest Home Park. When needed, flaggers will be operating. The project is close to completion.
Of the Town of Ithaca planned repairs for sections of road in Forest Home, the 1xx block of Forest Home Dr is still due for crack-filling. The City of Ithaca has finished reconstruction of the asphalt surface of a section of Route 366 near Belle Sherman. Check the Emergencies and Alerts page under the Forest Home tab on this website for information about signing up for SIREN to get alerts for construction projects and emergencies. See https://www.fhia.org/emergencies-and-alerts/
For details and updates on road work on the Cornell campus, check https://cuinfo.cornell.edu/alerts/

MORE DETAILS FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS

Tompkins County milled the surface of the section of Pleasant Grove Road in Forest Home on Monday June 17. They resurfaced the road on June 26 and added center line and shoulder markings on July 3. Milling took most of a day after rush hour, closing sections of one lane at a time, with flaggers. For some pictures of the work at the bottom of Pleasant Grove Road, see https://photos.app.goo.gl/SyXMzBFUN4WXARNYA. Re-paving started early on June 26 and asphalt spreading was completed by 4pm the same day. For pictures, see https://photos.app.goo.gl/RuBJu6G8HnhVxawU8. Repair to a culvert under Pleasant Grove Road part way up the steep section was completed on July 31; this involved lining the existing culvert, done without digging up the road.

Also on Pleasant Grove Road, but only within Cayuga Heights, NYSEG is replacing a gas main. The work started on June 24 at the line between the Town of Ithaca and Cayuga Heights (in the northbound lane towards Community Corners). Expect single-lane closure with flaggers. As of early September, the gas main work appears complete.  New sidewalks are now being built along the same section of Pleasant Grove Road.

The Town of Ithaca planned the following work this summer:
* Crack Sealing (June) 1xx section of Forest Home Drive, from City of Ithaca line to intersection with Pleasant Grove Road (including over Downstream Bridge).
* Crack Sealing (June) 3xx section of Forest Home Drive, and on to Dryden line. This work was done during the week ending June 14.
* Micro Sealing (June) Caldwell Road from 366 to the intersection with Forest Home Drive. This was completed except for new lane markings on June 27.

Additional Town of Ithaca work has been obvious in the triangle by the Forest Home Park. This is the continuation of the sewer main pump station replacement. See pictures with narrative from last Fall at https://photos.app.goo.gl/mE58KXXVX6m6JEEa6. Pictures (without narrative) for July 9 are at https://photos.app.goo.gl/LhVABJAqpZM2XpaV9 and for July 10 are at https://photos.app.goo.gl/1ecmVECumKermA2i9.  A third album covers miscellaneous further activity:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/mCKFNSGCfdyRY36o6.  A fourth album, for early September, is at https://photos.app.goo.gl/gBT7jpgKg4KCsxya8.

Starting June 17 and continuing for about 5 weeks, the City of Ithaca performed asphalt pavement reconstruction on sections of Route 366 between the “Five Corners” intersection involving Dryden Rd, Maple Ave, and Oak Ave and route 79.

The Town of Ithaca has announced the date for Brush Pickup — April 15-19. Although the procedure for preparing brush is the same in the Spring as in the Fall, don’t expect leaves to be vacuumed up in the Spring. However, bagged leaves will be picked up.

Be sure to follow the instructions for preparing brush for collection.

Remember that you can also take yard waste (brush, leaves, garden/yard debris) to the Public Works facility at 114 Seven Mile Dr., Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. year-round.

Thanks to all the folks who volunteered for the new Adopt-A-Street approach to Spring roadside cleanup. All the road segments have been signed up for. Send questions to Herb Engman or foresthomenews@gmail.com.

This is also the time to keep an eye out for invasive plants in your yard and to enjoy the flowers that are protected from the deer in the Mundy Wildflower Garden. See the post from this time last year for links to resources to help you identify and control Hairy Bittercress and Garlic Mustard. The same post has beautiful photos by Connie Stirling-Engman of Spring Ephemerals that you will soon find in the Mundy Wildflower Garden.

Instead of a roadside cleanup on a particular date in April as in the past, we are proposing an Adopt-A-Street program. The idea is for individuals or families to clean up a section of the neighborhood sometime in April and then keep it clean for the rest of the year. At the bottom of the list of streets are some tasks that do not require physical cleanup. Please volunteer for one of the following tasks by contacting Herb Engman or sending email with the subject line Cleanup Volunteer to foresthomenews@gmail.com. Here’s looking forward to an even cleaner neighborhood!

  1. Warren Road from the entrance feature to Forest Home Drive
  2. Fairway Drive, Crest Lane, and Halcyon Hill
  3. Forest Home Drive between the bridges (FHD 2xx block)
  4. Forest Home Drive from the pedestrian bridge at Flat Rock to Caldwell (FHD 3xx block)
  5. Forest Home Drive from the downstream bridge to the entrance feature near McIntyre Place
  6. Caldwell Road from the upstream bridge up to the first stop sign
  7. Pleasant Grove Road from Forest Home Drive to the entrance feature
  8. Judd Falls Road from Forest Home Drive to the Botanic Gardens headquarters, plus The Byway
  9. McIntyre Place
  10. Holder of the equipment (picker-uppers, bags, gloves – provided by FHIA) where others can pick what they need up and return them later
  11. Keeper of the list – making changes when new adopters come on board
  12. Disposal of bags (Herb Engman has already agreed to pick up and dispose of bags)

If you have questions or suggestions, contact Herb Engman or send email to foresthomenews@gmail.com with the subject line Cleanup Question or Cleanup Suggestion.

The Annual Meeting of FHIA was well-attended, both in person and via Zoom. Thanks to all who participated. The new President is Charlie Trautmann (currently Vice President). Valerie Hans and Connie Stirling Engman were re-elected as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. The new Vice President is Valerie McAllister, who moved into the neighborhood with her three children in August. She is serving as bookkeeper for the Forest Home Chapel and as administrative assistant to the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell.

See https://www.fhia.org/minutes/ for the Agenda, President’s Report, and Treasurer’s Report. Minutes will be online once they are ready.

All Forest Home residents are encouraged to attend, either in person at the Forest Home Chapel or via ZOOM. As old-timers know, the annual meeting includes reports from current officers, election of officers for the coming year, and, sometimes, decisions on important issues facing the neighborhood. Rod Howe, Town of Ithaca Supervisor, will provide an update on various issues affecting Forest Home:

  1. Cradit Lane/Pleasant Grove Intersection
  2. RaNic Golf Course
  3. Forest Home Pump Station Upgrade
  4. Vehicle Length
  5. Pedestrian Count on Walkway
  6. Lighting
  7. Joint application through ITCTC for walkway/bike path improvements

The ZOOM link has been distributed to residents by foresthomenews@gmail.com.

See https://www.fhia.org/minutes/ for the Agenda and President’s Report.