Village of Lansing

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, February 5, 2001, in the Village Office.

PRESENT: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Lynn Leopold, Larry Fresinski, Frank Moore and Janet Beebe; Village Attorney Randy Marcus; Carol Klepack, Planning Board Member.

Mayor Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:35P.M. The Mayor opened the public comment period. Steve Halevy pointed out a misprint in the recommendation from the Planning Board. In the second paragraph he would like "accepted" be changed to "no problem with". The Mayor acknowledges the change.

Motion-To Close the Public Comment Period

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye

Next on the agenda was approval of the minutes.

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye

Next on the agenda was the consideration of status of Brown Rd. Ext./Sapsucker Road. Present for Cornell were counsel Shirley Egan, Scott Sutcliffe, Associate Director for the Ornithology Lab and John Heinz. Dennis Reinhart, Superintendent of Public Works, was present to discuss the situation. He stated that he only learned of what was happening a week ago when an engineer requested information. Not everyone has an understanding of what’s going on. When Cornell University proposed the new Ornithology Lab it was thought that Brown Road Extension would remain in Cornell’s ownership. This became unsatisfactory to the Town of Dryden. There is some commuter traffic on this road and a number of Dryden residents on the portion of road that is in Dryden. Don asked John Heinz if the proposed design follows Dryden’s specifications. John stated that the Town of Dryden has agreed to the preliminary plan. It exceeds their standards, which are oil and stone. Life safety is an issue for Dryden. They want two ways to get to their residents on Sapsucker Woods Road.

Frank was concerned because he didn’t see any pedestrian walkways on any of the proposed roads. He felt that this is the stage where we should plan for them. Scott stated that the trails start at the parking lot. There is a gate to keep dogs out. Don stated that the B&T Park has a nice trail system and it would be nice to link them together. Scott saw a problem with pedestrians crossing Rt. 13. The proposed 4-foot shoulders along the new Sapsucker Woods Road would provide pedestrian access. Scott stated that they want to get people away from the road as soon as possible and into the sanctuary to have a more enjoyable experience. The Board liked this idea. Dennis stated that NYSEG is now allowing trails under their powerlines and that would be a logical place for a trail in the future. The trails at the sanctuary are open 24 hours a day. Shirley stated that she would have to consult with NYSDOT to see if they want a sidewalk up to an unsignaled highway intersection. Frank stated that we didn’t want a sidewalk just a widened shoulder for pedestrian access.

John Heinz asked Dennis if the Village’s road specifications are for 4-ft minimum shoulder width. Dennis stated that 4-ft is the minimum shoulder width for reconstruction of existing roads, but for newly constructed roads the minimum is 5-ft shoulders. The existing roads are less because of the problem of culverts being too close to the road.

Randy was concerned with the maintenance of the road. Dryden wants the Village to own this road and they have agreed to do the snowplowing on the short Village section of Brown Road Ext. Brown Road Ext. is private now and it would be quite expensive to take the road over, especially considering that there are no Village residents on it. Larry stated that usually the reason we accept a road is because there is a value to residents and a safety issue. However, this road is out of this scenario. Frank said that access is to a business (the lab) that is mainly in the Village, so in that respect it has a value to the Village.

Shirley stated that the public would use the Ornithology Lab. If the Village didn’t take over the road Cornell would have to find some way to pay for it. It is not in the same situation as the B&T Park because businesses in the B&T Park pay rent. The possibility of the Village of Lansing and Cornell sharing the cost of maintenance was discussed. The Village will put together numbers and get them to John Heinz. At this point they will take it to their board for discussion. Don asked John to have Dryden send a letter stating that they would plow the section of the road in the Village. Don feels we are getting a value by having the Lab here, having CU share 50% of the maintenance costs and having Dryden do the plowing. All these things make accepting the road more palatable. Randy stated that we would need to spell out the definition of maintenance. He also confirmed that municipalities could contract with another municipality for a mutual benefit. Don would rather do without a legal contract and just have a mutual ongoing agreement, even if not in writing.

The Cornell representatives stepped aside to discuss the Village’sproposal for shared maintenance among themselves. They returned and stated that they would like to explore the cost sharing agreement. They need to understand the costs. Don will have our engineer consultants do an analysis. Dennis will get traffic counts from Dave Herrick. John Heinz stated that there is already a traffic study as part of the Special Permit application, which Ben Curtis has. The Village will communicate a rough proposal, will give Cornell costs and some agreed upon formula. Shirley and Randy can communicate, then it will be the usual road dedication process. Shirley also stated that they see no problem with the 4-ft. shoulders.

Next on the agenda was budget discussion. The request has gone out to all department heads to have proposed budget numbers back by March 1^st. Once again this year, Don will divide up the different sections of the budget for the Trustees to work on. The Trustee meetings in March will be mainly for budget work. If all goes well, the Mayor would like to schedule the public hearing for April 2^nd. Don would like to keep the tax increase to the current rate of inflation. This year we are faced with the reconstruction of N. Triphammer Rd. We are not counting on Marchiselli Funding, and the Fed’s will pay 80% of the engineering design and materials. They will not pay the cost for property acquisition for right of way. We would be in good shape if we did get Marchiselli Funding. They would pay 15% of remainder. The total cost for N. Triphammer is approximately $3 million total cost. 20% would be $600,000. Our first expense will be the engineering consultants, which will be $300-400,000. The next expense would be the project management firm. Don doesn’t expect any other large expenses. He would like to bury the utilities.

During the Mayor’s comments he asked his colleagues what they thought of a cell tower in the Bomax Dr. region. Don has been approached by NEXTEL. Lynn stated that this was a little exposed area. The tower would be low enough that it didn’t need lights on it. The Village has an ordinance of conditions and we would encourage co-location. We would want to have an escrow account set up in case we had to remove the tower. Randy stated that the law appropriately addresses this as well as other of our concerns with cell towers.

Frank and Don attended a sewer meeting a week ago. The Village of Cayuga Heights presented their ideas of being a partner. They also discussed the question of a x2 or x1 buy in rate and what the actual costs are. Don will draft a letter. Don asked the Trustees if they attended the sewer meeting that Alan Cohen held at the Ramada on Sat. They all attended. Don stated that we now have 14 more sewer units, 9 of which Cornell has already acquired. Jodi had not gotten notice from the Village of Cayuga Heights so she will call Brent Cross. Another 16 units will come when I&I is completed in the Town of Ithaca. The Mayor asked Dennis or Dave Putnam to have Yaw’s do a survey to determine where our best opportunities are to save on I&I.

Randy Marcus said that at some point Dave Putnam would be speaking of United Asphalt. United Asphalt has not paid Suite Kote for the asphalt used on Uptown Rd. He also stated that there has been a delay with the survey map for the Edelman’s property but it should move ahead. Don is also trying to set up a meeting with the Colbert’s to discuss taking over their section of the road.

Don had asked Randy what perimeters or fees could go to new connections to the sewer system. Randy stated that it is clear you can impose substantial fees. You can peg fees to actual costs as long as you view new owners and don’t unfairly burden others. All expenses can be bonded to the new users. Basically it must stand on it’s own.

Lynn proposed that we cancel the Feb. 19^th meeting in Observance of President’s Day. Both she and Attorney Marcus will not be available that evening.

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye

Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye

Randy stated that he was meeting with Carol tomorrow to work on the codification.

Frank volunteered to oversee the Greenway Committee. Ned Hickey and Steve Halevy both feel it is not a function of the Planning Board. Lynn stated that there had been a problem with communicating. Most of the projects that would involve this committee would fall under Dennis'’ budget items. It made the most sense to Frank to have them go to Dennis. There is lots of frustration; no clear chain of command and Frank volunteered to take this over. The board agreed that this was a good idea.

Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye

The meeting adjourned at 10:15P.M.

Jodi Dake

Village Clerk