After the City’s annual budget presentation was postponed to next week’s meeting, Common Council voted on two certified local government grants to establish two capital projects — the DeWitt Park Historic District Resurvey and Boundary Reevaluation Project and the Statewide LGBTQ Historic Context Statement Feasibility Study on Tuesday.
The presentation of the budget, during which the Council would discuss the City’s budget for the next fiscal year, was canceled because City Manager Deb Mohlenhoff could not attend the meeting. The budget will instead be presented at the next meeting on Oct. 9.
Alderperson Phoebe Brown (D-Second Ward), alderperson David Shapiro (D-Third Ward) and alderperson Tiffany Kumar ’24 (D-Fourth Ward) were not in attendance.
A $17,000 grant funding the DeWitt Park Historic District Resurvey and Boundary Reevaluation Project will prompt the City to evaluate redistricting the Dewit Park Historic District, ensuring that all historic sites that qualify for historic building protections are included. The motion to accept the grant was passed in a unanimous vote after a failed tabling motion.
The initiative was scrutinized by several members of the Council, and Alderperson Patrick Kuehl ’24 (D- Fourth Ward) was concerned about the impact of the possibility of redrawing the historic district on housing availability in the City.
“There are, of course, resources that deserve to be preserved in the City, but I also think that we need to make sure that that does not stand at odds with our stated goals of increasing density and increasing housing supplies and lower rental costs,” Kuehl said.
Bryan McCracken, the City’s historic preservation planner, responded by saying there would be no redistricting immediately enforced in the proposal, but that a recommendation to the Common Council would follow after the assessment finished. The project would take two and a half years, according to McCracken.
The program would also open internships for the City and Regional Planning Department at Cornell, to which the University would provide the funding for intern stipends.
“I think it’s pretty awesome whenever we have students who are in our professional academic program doing something of relevance to something that we need in the city,” said Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio (D-Fifth Ward).
Kuehl motioned to table the proposal until the next meeting, but ultimately the tabling motion failed 2 – 6.
Mayor Robert Cantelmo grad opposed the tabling motion and voiced his support for the motion, arguing that the City should use the funding.
“I am viewing this particular resolution very instrumentally, asking whether or not we want to accept $17,000 to do work that at present is the established city policy,” Cantelmo said.
Common Council also approved the acceptance of the Statewide LGBTQ Historic Context Statement Feasibility Study grant. This study is expected to “explore the feasibility and effectivity of the listing of LGBTQ historic context statement documenting the contributions of
New York’s LBGTQ community to local, state or national history.”
Additionally, a capital project to accept a $65,000 grant for Ithaca Green New Deal’s outreach and engagement strategies was approved in an unanimous 8-0 vote. Director of Sustainability Rebecca Evans proposed the capital project as part of the goals of the engagement strategies to involve community members in the decision-making process.
Funding for the capital project was initially provided by the Park Foundation in 2022. The funds have not been used since.
The council extended the appointment of current Ithaca Housing Authority commissioner, Valerie Wilson, in a unanimous vote. Wilson will now serve as commissioner until Oct. 17, 2028. Additionally, Prof. Emeritus Max Pfeffer, global development, was appointed in a unanimous vote to the Ithaca Planning Board for a four-year term starting Oct. 4.