MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday,
April 3, 2000, in the Village Office.
PRESENT:
Mayor Don Hartill; Trustees Lynn Leopold, Larry Fresinski, Frank Moore and John
Bailey; Planning Board Member Carol Klepack; Village Attorney Randy Marcus.
Mayor
Don Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:38P.M.
Pledge
of Allegiance.
The
Mayor opened the public comment period. There were no comments.
Motion- To Close Public Comment Period
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to close the public
comment period.
Trustee John Bailey seconded the motion. A vote was
taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill - Aye Trustee
John Bailey- Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold
–Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion-Approval of Minutes for March 15 & 20,
2000
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved that the amended meeting notes are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee John Bailey-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Next
on the agenda was N. Triphammer Rd Property acquisition but the Mayor decided
to postpone this issue until a later date.
The
next item was to appoint a Trustee to the Regional Planning Group and to
endorse the process. The Regional Planning Group was formed to address the
growth inducing impact of new sewers in the Town & Village of Lansing and
Town of Dryden, outside the existing planning area, relative to the preparation
of an Environmental Impact Statement under the provision of SEQR. Since the
meetings will involve a considerable commitment of time and staff resources,
Steve Farkas, Chairman, has requested that each Board pass appropriate resolutions
endorsing this process and appointing a representative to serve on the
committee. The Mayor proposed such a motion.
Frank
asked if John would have interaction with the Village Planning Board. There
will be continuous feedback between John, the Planning Board and Board of
Trustees. This planning group has no legal authority. It’s a forum to
communicate. The Mayor will also attend the meetings periodically. John will
consult with the boards and engineer. It will be a cooperative effort.
Resolution#3650-The Village of Lansing’s Board of
Trustee endorses the process and further supports appointing John Bailey as the
Village representative for the Regional Planning Group.
Trustee Frank Moore moved to accept this resolution.
Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Next on the agenda was Budget discussion. The Mayor
had made changes that were discussed at the last meeting. Jodi put the
information into the budget program and distributed copies to all the board
members.
Don
stated that you will see an increase in salary for both the trustees and the
Mayor. There is no item in the budget for the audiovisual package, which Ben
proposed, and the mayor would like to talk about that this evening. Some of
what we do depends on what we end up with the Internet provider. The Mayor is
thinking of doing the least expensive option to get started then add on as the
years go on. The middle number proposed has a large piece, which depends on the
Internet connection aspect. Larry stated that we have considered doing the
Internet ourselves. The Mayor suggested adding $8-9,000 to the budget. One of
the major concerns the mayor had was maintenance. He also felt that audio was
more important than video and that we need more than a VHS camera. The Board
didn’t want to spend a lot of time discussing details this evening but agreed
that $9,000 should be added to A8020.2 for audio visual bring this line item up
to $12,500.
Employee
benefits were put in as last year’s figures since the Board needs to further
discuss this in executive session. They will be corrected for the proposed
budget.
This
year the Mayor would like to see us actually spend the money set aside for
Community Beautification. We haven’t done well at this in the past couple of
years.
$6,000
was added for Cable Franchise Fee Income A1170.
Snow
Removal was increased to reflect our $25,000 snow removal contract with the
Town of Lansing and $500 for miscellaneous items. If we receive money back from
the Town then that will go under Refund of Prior Year’s Expenditures.
Youth
A7310.4-This $30,000 is what we pay for Village residents to be able to
participate in the Ithaca programs. Part of this is funded back by the State
under A2350.
A7630.4-Adult
recreation- $2,000 is for the Northeast Seniors Program.
A5680.4-Public
transportation-$5,000 for Gadabout.
The
Mayor proposed a 4% tax increase from $1.57 to $1.64 per $1,000 of assessed
value. The following is a tax rate comparison of other villages:
Village of Freeville-$2.74
Village of Dryden-$5.15
Village of Groton-$7.44
Village of Cayuga Heights-$5.51
Village of Trumansburg-$4.48
This
year when the Mayor was figuring the budget he ignored the cash surplus to see
if the Village was breaking even and we aren’t. The Village needs
$500,000-550,000 each year for ongoing street maintenance. This is a different
approach then previous boards had. Our attitude is a “pay as you go budget”.
Each year we extract the interest income from the capital reserve account to
use for capital projects. It can be used for ongoing maintenance if it is
labeled to rebuild road “X”. Any time capital reserve money is spent it is
subject to permissive referendum. This year we will do a large transfer to the
Capital Reserve Fund due to a large income fluctuation that resulted from
mortgage tax collected in connection with the sale of the former Howard
Johnson’s property.
John
asked if there was a recommended amount that a municipality should have in
reserve. The Mayor commented that any business should have at least 10% but
there is no recommendation.
A
board member asked how to deal with the public when they are upset with the
increase. Larry stated that for a $200,000 assessed value we are only talking
about an increase of $14. People complain about the shape of the roads and we
need to take care of them. If you don’t maintain your infrastructure now you
end up paying more for it later.
F8340.2-Transmission
& Distribution Equipment-$75,000 reflects the Highgate Valve
F8340.4-
Transmission & Distribution Contractual-$25,000 reflects previous year’s
experience.
The
Mayor recommends we raise the water surcharge to 33% starting with the July
billing to maintain a cash flow to operate. The two ways the water fund gets
income are from surcharges on the water bill or Bond Anticipation Notes, which
show up on your taxes.
G8110.4-Sewer
administration is for pertinent expenditures of the legislative board, legal
services, accounting and billing, insurance, association dues, taxes and any
other expenditure if a separate account has not been provided. We have
engineering expense, which we have broken down to G1440.4
Resolution#3651-Set a Public Hearing on the Proposed
Budget for Fiscal Year 2000-2001 on Monday, April 17, 2000, at 7:35p.m in the
Village Office, 2405 N. Triphammer Road.
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to set a public
hearing on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2000-2001 and Trustee Lynn
Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
The
Mayor commented that the new assessments have hit two vacant land property
owners very hard. The first is Mr. Crossmore who owns the land around Bolton
Point and the other is Roy Park. Both are grossly unfair. The other large
vacant landowners in the Village are pretty even with the previous assessed
value. Don will be meeting with Steve Whicher of Tompkins County Assessment
Department tomorrow. The mayor supports the resolution that Steve is proposing
to do an adjustment on certain vacant land. Any municipality that is trying to
preserve open space is doomed.
Lastly,
Lynn proposed that the Village write a letter to the supervisor of the Town of
Ledyard to show our support of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Management Plan
Intermunicipal Organization (IO) members for NYS Department of State (DOS)
quality communities demonstration program.
Resolution#3652-The Village of Lansing is Committed
to Continuing Participation as a member of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Management
Plan Intermunicipal Organization with the Understanding That There is a
Monetary Commitment as well.
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved to accept this resolution
and Trustee John Bailey seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion- To Go To Executive Session to Discuss
Matters of Employment of the Village’s Staff and the Proposed Acquisition of
Real Property.
Trustee John Bailey moved to go to executive
session. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion- To Come Out of Executive Session at 10:10pm
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to come out of
executive session. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
The
Board passed a proposed salary and benefits package for the Village employees:
A salary increment of 4% and added a long term disability item to the fringe
benefit package with the other fringes remaining the same as last year. Long
term disability was added as a separate line item, A 9055.83 for $3,000.
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee
Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee John Bailey-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 10:15 P.M.
Jodi
Dake
Village
Clerk