Village of Lansing

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, July 24, 2000, in the Village Office.

Mayor Don Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:35P.M.

The Mayor opened the public comment period. Don King and other residents from the Kensington development were present to address the road issue again. They understood from previous conversations and the minutes of March 20,2000 that there would be a follow up. Mayor Hartill met with the Colberts last Friday and has met with Ned Hickey, Planning Board Chairman. The Colberts are concerned with traffic generation. They advertise their complex as a quiet no traffic area. If Leif’s Way is connected there would be more traffic. Ned has promised a document outlining traffic counts. At this point the decision is up to the Colberts because it is private property. The Colberts seem very receptive to dedication. The residents are concerned because this discussion started last November then again in March and as far as they are concerned that subdivision should have never happened. Mayor Hartill stated that, nevertheless, we now have a situation which needs to be rectified and we are all in this together. Another problem with this is we have no sewer units. The Mayor is also sensitive to the sidewalk issue and their concerns are being addressed as quickly as possible. Mr. King stated that there is also an emergency concern as well. There was a fire this year and the residents could not get in to their development. The Mayor once again assured them that we are doing the best we can and he will get a letter to them as soon as he hears back from the Colberts. Another resident wanted to know why more pressure is being put on the Colberts than the Edelman’s. The Mayor explained that we can’t do that because it makes a cul-de-sac that is too long. Another question was what if the Edelman’s decide to stop plowing their road. The Mayor stated that the Edelman’s own the road and by law must maintain it. If something would happen to the Edelman’s we could take the property and build a road but we hope it doesn’t come to that. The residents wanted an answer because it affects them and their property value. Mayor Hartill assured them that he is working as hard as he can on this situation and that in 60 days they will have a response from the Board of the likelihood that the road will go through.

Mayor Donald Hartill - Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold –Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Next Greg Bronson was present to discuss the Audio/Visual Plan he presented to the Village. His proposal had three different scenarios, good, better and best. The Mayor explained that the middle or "better" category is what the Board was looking at. Don was concerned because the VHS VCRs are poor in resolution and asked if we could go digital or High 8. Greg was thinking SVHS. Higher quality is possible and a High 8 or digital would be in the $600 range. It was asked if Carol has a problem seeing and understanding the videos of the Planning Board meetings. The Board explained to Greg that another problem is there only being one view and that was of the Planning Board. When someone speaks from the audience we would like to be able to see them also. As far as audio, the Board doesn’t like area mics, it would prefer wall microphones. This would reduce our overall cost. Greg thought 2 wall mics and two digital cameras with a voice activated camera switcher with a manual override might be what the Board was looking for.

Larry asked if we needed broadcast ability. He doesn’t feel that we do. Are we trying to set the stage for this? Ned thinks that this is for training purposes. Randy stated that there was one case that the tape from a meeting was used for evidence. There are no legal requirements to notify people that they are being taped at a public meeting. Larry added that Ben would like to have convenience of taping, not having to set it up every time. We would need instructions that any person could understand. Greg will rework his proposal now that he better understands what the Village is looking for.

Geoffrey Wright was present to give the Board a presentation on Long-term disability(LTD). The cost to get LTD Plan 1 with Guardian was approximately $113 per month. This plan paid benefits after a 90-day waiting period to a maximum monthly amount of $2,000. At the end of the presentation no decision was made as to get the coverage or not. Geoffrey was to call Guardian to see how many other municipalities offer LTD.

Next on the agenda was the engineer’s report. United Asphalt has scheduled a start date for Uptown Road of August 14^th. Dennis Reinhart is notifying the neighborhood. Randy Marcus, Dennis and Dave Putnam are working on securing the necessary easements to install the signal. Bill Cooke is all set for sidewalk easement. The County should complete the Warren Road improvements (except for the top course of paving) this week in preparation of the Uptown Road contract starting.

There has been no contact by the Lake Source Cooling people in the last month concerning the agreement to allow the emergency sewer connection to the Village sewer transmission main. The plant started working 10 days ago. Legal issues are still in Shirley Egan’s office.

There have been no bids back on the water tank removal. Dave Putnam will get it out this week so we can get the tank down this year.

Next the Board discussed eliminating sales tax. Effective March 1,2000, New York State eliminated its four- percent sales tax on clothing and shoe sales up to $110. Counties and Cities were given the option of also eliminating their local sales tax on the same items. There is a 50/50 support throughout Tompkins County. Dooley Keifer, T.C. Board representative for District 10, asked the Village to pass a resolution stating how we felt about eliminating sales tax.

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Next on the agenda was consideration of what amount we should use to keep track of fixed assets. Back in 1976 there were items over $100 listed. However, Jodi could not find where it was written what amount was appropriate. She called the accountant and he said there is no set amount and that it was up to each municipality to set their own policy. The accountant suggested $500. The Board wanted to check and see what our insurance deductible is before setting an amount. The Mayor feels that doing an inventory and putting stickers on all our equipment would be a good winter project.

When calling the Comptroller’s Office, it was discovered that the wrong revenue account was used when recording the multimodal money for Sheraton Dr. Mike from the Comptroller’s Office recommended moving the $85,000 on our budget from A5031-C, Transfer From Capital Projects to A3505 State Aid Multi Modal.

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Since Frank was not present the Board was unable to approve the minutes from May 10^th or June 5^th.

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Next on the agenda was Mayor’s comments. He has a sewer meeting on Friday. The DEC is the lead agency for the EIS. There was a meeting here July 13^th, which the City of Ithaca didn’t attend. At the meeting they tried to understand costs. Susan Blumenthal from the City of Ithaca feels that controlling sewer is a way to control building. There is suppose to be another meeting Thursday however, it may be canceled because once again the City of Ithaca is not coming. Still the hold up is that the current partners can’t figure out what it costs to run the plant. Don also spoke with Ron Anderson from the Village of Cayuga Heights and they are up against their flow units. The Mayor feels that sewer is at least a year out. Don stated that he is willing to go ahead and do the Kline Road Bypass.

Don had a nice conversation with the Colbert’s. They were concerned with the traffic, specifically, that if the connection is made it is more likely that the apartments would go that way to the mall. Dennis is putting a traffic counter on the road.

Ned informed the Board that the Planning Board had let EDR go and they were looking to hire someone else. There is a public hearing on the mall expansion tomorrow. CFCU will be going to the BZA in August. Ornithology Lab will be submitting plans the end of August. Ned has met with the Chairman for the Town of Lansing Planning Board and exchanged agendas.

Larry asked Randy when we could expect to see the codification. Randy thinks it will be completed in early September.

The surveys for North Triphammer Rd properties are in. Don will do cover letters for Randy.

Randy gave the Board an update on the Homik Property. Ed Hooks got a copy of the Ramada’s appraisal. As we knew, the square footage differed from the map so Ken Gardner did an addendum to the appraisal. Randy expects he will hear from Ed Hooks in the next week. Homik has until August 11^th to accept our offer.

After our last meeting, Randy did some research on ADA compliance for paths and there are some well-defined guidelines. He has the references and sources when the Board is ready.

Lynn asked if we had officially appointed John Dennis as our EMC representative.

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Jodi will have Carol send a copy of this resolution to the County.

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Motion- To Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

Jodi Dake

Village Clerk