The FHIA board is planning for our usual potluck event in the Forest Home Park. We hope that residents will hold the date of Saturday Sept. 9 (with Sunday Sept. 10 as a rain date) for a dish-to-pass gathering in the Forest Home Park. Usually, we meet around 3:00 PM.
Look for a more detailed announcement later. If you can lend a grill, will help set up or clean up, are prepared to take a shift grilling, or can help with garbage or recycling, please let us know by emailing foresthomenews@gmail.com.
Our proposed date for the FHIA Annual Meeting, when officers for the next year are elected, is the evening of Tuesday October 24. Please consider volunteering to be an officer.
Forest Home relies on Tompkins County for a number of services, including maintenance of Warren Road and Pleasant Grove; recycling; property maps; managing elections; public safety through the Sheriff’s Office; and the SIREN system for distributing alerts about emergencies and service interruptions.
Updates have been made recently to several of the web pages related to health:
Tompkins County COVID-19 Data Dashboard https://tompkinscountyny.gov/health/covid19dashboard With the end of the federal health emergency on May 11, 2023, changes have been made to align with the revised CDC data reporting practice.
Adopted Legislative Districts based on 2020 census Interactive map (with address search) [Note: Forest Home will be split between Legislative Districts 6 & 7 when the new districts take effect for 2026.]
SIREN (Safety & Incident Real-Time Emergency Notifications) https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/siren [Note: you can sign up and choose to receive alerts issued by the County, by the Town of Ithaca, by the City of Ithaca, and by other municipalities. Alerts can be received by phone-call, text, or email.]
The Town of Ithaca April newsletter provides a link to material from a March 8 FEMA Consultation Coordination Officer Meeting for Tompkins County municipalities. As stated in the newsletter, the changes in the Flood Insurance Risk Maps (FIRMs) do not greatly impact Town of Ithaca properties. However, there are changes that may affect properties alongside Fall Creek in Forest Home. If you see from the maps below that your property may be affected, you may want to consider attending one of the public information sessions.
Wednesday April 26, 2023 — Ithaca High School Cafeteria (1401 N Cayuga St) Thursday April 27, 2023 — Tompkins County Whole Health Building (55 Brown Rd, near airport)
Both sessions are open houses, running from 4:30pm to 8:30pm, where you can address your questions individually to FEMA representatives. More information is available from the Town of Ithaca at Flood Risk Open House Meetings.
The FIRM maps consist of rectangular panels. The section of Fall Creek in Forest Home is divided between two panels. The western section, closer to Beebe Lake is in panel 36109C0203D and the eastern section, including the 3xx block of Forest Home Drive is in panel 36109C0204D. For your convenience, we have extracted the relevant sections from the two high-resolution images and show them below. The top three color blocks in the legend for the full panels indicate the areas of concern. The area with red striping is the normal path of Fall Creek. The blue areas indicate a higher chance of flooding than the brown areas; the blue areas have a 1% annual chance of flooding. Consult the FEMA Glossary for full definitions of terms.
The western part of Fall Creek in Forest Home is shown first [full resolution]
Extract of Flood Insurance Risk Map for western part of Forest Home. From panel 36109C0203D (Preliminary 1/18/2023)
The eastern section of Fall Creek in Forest Home is shown below [full resolution]
Extract of Flood Insurance Risk Map for eastern part of Forest Home. From panel 36109C0204D (Preliminary 1/18/2023)
FEMA has not provided direct visual comparisons with the current Flood Insurance Risk Maps, which date from 1985. An extract from the 1985 map is below, shown in the window of FEMA’s FIRMette viewer [Full resolution].
The Town’s April newsletter provides contact information for questions, comments, and/or concerns: Thomas Song, Acting Regional Flood Insurance Liaison [Thomas.song@fema.dhs.gov] or Laura Shepherd, ARC Project Manager [lshepherd@moffattnichol.com].
FHIA’s Spring Roadside Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 15 at 10:00 a.m. Sunday, April 16 will be the backup rain date. Volunteers should meet in the park to choose which road they will work on. As usual, the FHIA will provide and collect garbage bags and dispose of them. We also have three “picker-uppers” for loan. These handy gadgets make the task much easier. Bring your own gloves and consider dressing to avoid getting bitten by a tick. Ticks often emerge in the second half of March. See https://tompkinscountyny.gov/health/vector/ticks#prevent for advice.
If you would like to help with cleanup but the date or time is not convenient, pick a stretch of road and send a message to foresthomenews@gmail.com to let the organizers know.
Stirrings of Spring can be felt and seen throughout Forest Home. Take a short walk to the Mundy Wildflower Garden, where you can see our native woodland ephemeral flowers. Local resident Connie Engman has created a slideshow to help you learn about and identify these delicate and fleeting gems, which bloom for only a few weeks. The presentation is embedded below. You can also download it to view on your own computer.
In addition, two links are available to help neighbors identify and control two of our most invasive plants. Getting an early start is recommended to remove them. Follow these links for more information:
Thanks go to the Town of Ithaca Public Works Department for several new enhancements to the Forest Home Walkway following the major project managed by the Engineering Department over the Summer. Last week, twenty-five new deciduous trees, including sugar maples and tulip trees, were planted alongside the walkway. The saplings are protected from deer by metal fencing and are poking through cardboard. FHIA will be hoping that community members will make sure that they are watered adequately; if you are prepared to help, send email to foresthomenews@gmail.com.
Connie Stirling-Engman took these three photos of the trees to the right of the Walkway coming down: near the top; looking back; and looking down
There are more trees further down, near the flat section. At the base of the Walkway, the crosswalk has been re-painted and the Stop sign has been moved to improve the sightline for vehicles wanting to turn left across the bridge. Last week, the Town brought some topsoil to put on the slope between the Stop sign and the path. Some of the day-lilies that have been near this intersection for decades have been rescued and planted in this triangular patch. Let’s hope for some rain to help them get re-established.
Photos near the base of the Walkway by Caroline Arms
If you see any of the Town of Ithaca staff working in the area, please let them know how much the community appreciates their efforts to keep the Walkway safe and attractive. It has been in use for over a hundred years [see The Path] and we hope it will serve generations to come.
If anyone is interested in helping with some trail improvement work in the area across Flat Rock Bridge, Charlie Trautmann is organizing a work party on Sunday November 6 from 9am to 3pm — come any time, leave any time. [Reminder: that’s the day that clocks change at 2am.]. Lunch and snacks will be provided. Bring gloves and good shoes (plus shovel, wheelbarrow if you have them). The location is shown at https://goo.gl/maps/vmfRHDDdA8TGXreC7. And here’s a photo of the bridge that might help you find the location on Forest Home Drive between Caldwell Road and Varna.
Suspension bridge across Fall Creek by Flat Rock. [photo by Connie Stirling Engman]
All Forest Home residents are welcome to join the Annual Meeting either in person at the Forest Home Chapel or via Zoom. The Zoom link has been provided in an email message. As old-timers know, our annual meeting includes election of officers, reports from current officers, and, sometimes decisions on important issues facing the neighborhood. Opinions on all of the above are welcome!
Please contact Herb Engman directly at herbengman@cornell.edu.
Please save the date for the annual meeting of the Forest Home Improvement Association. As old-timers know, the annual meeting includes election of officers, reports from current officers, and, sometimes decisions on important issues facing the the neighborhood. Whether the meeting will be in-person at the Forest Home Chapel or virtual will depend on the virus situation closer to the date. Opinions on all the above welcome! Please contact Herb Engman directly at herbengman@cornell.edu.
