On Feb. 1, Common Council awarded Kenneth Glover, the residence hall director in the Schuyler House and former Ujamaa housing director, this year’s J. Diann Sams Award, for his “outstanding leadership, courage against unspeakable odds and an unwavering vision” in the City of Ithaca, according to a resolution passed by the council.

This January, five new Common Council members and a new mayor will join five veteran representatives on the City of Ithaca Common Council. The 50-percent shift in personnel represents the largest since 2003, when eight of the 10 representatives were new to the council, according to Alderperson Ellen McCollister ’78 (D-3rd Ward).

This year, no students ran for a seat in the Fourth Ward on the Ithaca Common Council. In a district that is composed of 95 percent Cornellians, its residents deserve a student representative.  

The Common Council's new building plan for Collegetown promises new benefits to the area; however, it is important that they work out a few major details before this plan is approved.

The Ithaca Common Council is now considering a proposal that would ban smoking in some public areas throughout the city, including public parks and most of the Commons.

Nearing the end of a 10-year long process, Ithaca Common Council last night came one step closer to making a final decision about the future of the city’s drinking water source.

After hearing two hours of public comments from students and community members, the Ithaca Common Council voted six to four in favor of the proposed R-3c zoning in Collegetown during its meeting in the City Hall last night. However, despite the majority vote, the zoning proposal will not pass until a petition submitted by R-3c residents is reviewed.

The R-3c was proposed for a neighborhood in east Collegetown. During the meeting, a petition signed by eight residents owning 21 out of 34 pieces of property within the proposed bounds of R3-c opposing the creation of the new district was introduced to the Council. As a result, a super-majority vote of 75 percent of Council members is needed for the adoption of the R-3c proposal.

The Collegetown Neighborhood Council met in the basement of St. Luke’s Church yesterday to discuss future designs for Collegetown in light of the impending expiration of the moratorium on new Collegetown construction that lasted over a year. The moratorium is set to expire on April 12, and there is pressure on the Ithaca Common Council to adopt the urban plan before this date.

The meeting was led by Mary Tomlan ’71 (D-3rd ward), co-chair of the CNC, with major input from city planner Megan Gilbert ’07, Jennifer Dotson (G-1st ward) and Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th ward).

Gilbert began by outlining the latest changes to the Collegetown urban plan, the proposed amendment to the comprehensive plan for the city of Ithaca.