Ecovillage at Ithaca
Ithaca, New York
EcoVillage at Ithaca is a three neighborhood co-housing community where residents strive to live simply and sustainably. The community includes an organic CSA vegetable farm, an organic CSA/U-Pick berry farm, office spaces for cottage industry, community gardens and varied natural areas. Over 80% of the 175 acre site is planned to remain green space, including 55 acres in a conservation easement held by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
TREE, the third neighborhood, was designed to include people with diverse needs and abilities, creating the first fully ADA accessible neighborhood at EcoVillage.
The site includes 40 new homes, a community center, parking, a swimming pond and stormwater management. These are integrated into the already existing EcoVillage community and share the newly improved access drive with traffic calming.
Palmer was responsible for the final site layout, locating the homes and community center and preparing the grading plan. The project was completed in 2015.
Project Team: Michele Palmer (Landscape Architect), Jerry Weisburd (Architect), T.G. Miller PC (Civil Engineers), and Rick Manning (Landscape Architect)
The Fulmer Creek GreenPlain
Mohawk and German Flatts, New York
The overall Fulmer GreenPlain is a design and construction project to restore the natural floodplain and floodplain processes along approximately 1.3 miles of the Fulmer Creek corridor from West Main Street in the Village of Mohawk upstream to the former Leatherstocking Mobile Home Park within the Town of German Flatts. The project is designed to reduce flood damage to multiple communities, the downtown Main Street area, downstream residences, and public infrastructure. Homes repeatedly damaged due to flooding have been purchased and demolished through the FEMA Buy-out Program. The project will also enhance water quality and support State Resiliency and Recovery functions including recreation, tourism, public education, and economic development using open space and green infrastructure as a primary means. Templeton has been involved with the project through multiple phases from grant writing through design. In particular, the firm developed the recreational overlay that will take the project from being solely a floodplain restoration to becoming a public amenity. In 2019, a major section of the stream restoration was constructed in the Village of Mohawk, for which Templeton also provided on-site construction observation services.
Project Phases To Date:
1. FEMA and DHSES 2014-2020. Total funding $2 million. Templeton handled the administration of the program for both the Village of Mohawk and the Town of German Flatts.
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2. New York State Department of State LWRP 2014 grant to develop a detailed design for the entire 1.7-mile Fulmer Creek corridor floodplain restoration. Design, SEQR, and permitting by MMI/SLR. Grant administration by Templeton.
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3. NYSDEC Hurricane Irene Recovery Funding 2014-2020. This funding implemented the stabilization of a high bank failure causing sedimentation of the stream. Funding was provided by the Mohawk RiverBasin Grant program and a State Aid to Municipality grant. Total funding $1.7 million. Design and construction management by MMI/SLR. Grant administration and project management by Templeton.
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4. Green Innovation Grant Program, Environmental Facilities Corporation 2014 2018. Project phase included the construction of the floodplain restoration at the Leatherstocking Mobile Home Park/FulmerField. Total funding $520,000. Design and construction management by MMI/SLR. Grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
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5. Empire State Development, Emrich Site 2014 2018. Project phase included the construction of the floodplain restoration adjacent to the Leatherstocking MobileHome Park/Fulmer Field on private property. Total funding $400,000. Design and construction management by MMI/SLR. Grant administration and project management by Templeton.
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6. OPRHP New York State Environmental Protection Fund 2015-2020. This project phase includes the design and implementation of park amenities at the Leatherstocking Mobile Home Park/Fulmer Field, a public park at the upper end of the Fulmer GreenPlain. Total funding $370,000. Design and construction management, grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
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7. OPRHP New York State Environmental Protection Fund 2015-2020 Fulmer Green Plain North/Mohican Wetland Park. This phase included a grant to design and implement park amenities at Mohican Wetland Park, a public park at the northern terminus of the Fulmer GreenPlain. Total project funding $657,000. Design and construction management, grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
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8. OPRHP New York State Environmental Protection Fund 2016-2017 and 2017-2020. Grants were prepared to acquire flood-damaged properties not eligible for State or Federal buy-out programs. These properties are dedicated to the future Main St. Park. Total project funding $370,000. Grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
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9. Green Innovation Grant Program, Environmental Facilities Corporation 2018-2020. Project phase included the construction of the floodplain restoration of the Fulmer Creek Floodplain Restoration in a portion of the Village of Mohawk. Total funding $2.2 million. Design and construction management byMMI/SLR. Grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
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10. Climate Smart Communities grant, NYSDEC, 2018-2020. Project phase included the relocation of a water main and aligned with the construction of the floodplain restoration of the Fulmer Creek FloodplainRestoration in a portion of the Village of Mohawk. Total funding $310,000. Design and construction management by MMI/SLR. Grant writing, administration, and project management by Templeton.
Future Phases
The following are future phases that are planned over the next three to four years. No budgets have yet been established and due to the cancelation of the Consolidated Funding Applications for 2020, no funding is in place.
• Upstream High Bank Failure: this project phase entails the stabilization of another area of slipped bank contributing to the sedimentation of the creek.
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• Fulmer Creek at Minnowbrook Construction: a section of the floodplain restoration where the tributary Minnowbrook meets Fulmer Creek requires completion.
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• Trail construction: a 1.7-mile-long linear trail is planned.
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• Main Street Park construction: once the floodplain restoration is complete, the Village of Mohawk intends to install park amenities including trailhead parking, a farmers market pavilion, a restroom, an amphitheater, and an outdoor classroom for use by the adjacent middle school.
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Project Roles: Grant Writing (* grants above written by Templeton), Grant Administration, Landscape Architect/Site Design, Construction observation
Project Team: Templeton Landscape Architecture & Planning (Landscape Architect), Milone & MacBroom/SLR Inc. (Project Engineer)
