Village of Lansing

 

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, October 1, 2001, in the Village Office.

 

PRESENT: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Larry Fresinski, Janet Beebe, Frank Moore and Lynn Leopold; Ned Hickey, Planning Board Chairman; Randy Marcus and Bill Troy, Village Attorney’s.

 

Mayor Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:35P.M. He opened the public comment period. There were no public comments.

 

Motion-To Close the Public Comment Period

 

Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to close the public comment period. Trustee Frank Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

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

                        Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye

 

Jeff Geiger sent a letter to the Board requesting permission to hunt deer with bow on the Murray Estates again this year. The Village has allowed him to hunt on the Murray Estates for the last eight years to help to control the deer population. This year DEC Region 7 has given special permits that can be used during hunting season to help thin out the doe population. Don explained that this ordinance is renewed on an annual request. He also explained to the new Board members the strict requirements that the Mr. Geiger and the hunters must follow. This is a controlled bow hunt.

 

RESOLUTION #3809-To Continue the Arrangement the Village Has With Murray Estates to Allow Them to Have a Controlled Bow Hunt for Deer Herd Management While Following all Conditions Stated in the Village Local Law of 1993 During the 2001 Bow Hunting Season.

 

Be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees renews the request of Murray Estates to have a controlled bow hunt under the terms of the1993 law.

 

Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to adopt this resolution and Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion.

 

Frank asked if there have been any unhappy incidences that have occurred because of this. Don stated that the only unhappy incidence occurred before the Board instituted this policy. Don reemphasized how strict the requirements are.

A vote was taken:

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                   Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye

            Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye                Trustee Frank Moore-Aye

            Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye

 

Tim Buhl was present to give us an engineer’s opinion of probable costs for putting the Village of Lansing-N. Triphammer Road utilities underground. This preliminary report was based on Dryden and Auburn’s similar projects. The total project cost was $310,182. He feels that this number is conservative. He has not verified the NYSEG & Verizon labor and material charges but he will do that before the next Board meeting. Don questioned what fraction of this would be necessary to just move the utilities. Tim figured it would be ~$75-100,000. In his experience, the Federal Highway Program has an allowance for relocation of utilities. Tim has also figured in an extra conduit in the ground for future use. Some members of the Board were concerned with the aesthetics of the large transformer boxes. Lynn feels it is less visually jumbled than the wires. Landscaping can also help to hide the transformer boxes. Tim will have a finalized report next Board meeting.

 

Steve White and George Gesslein of the Lansing Fire Commissioners and Lansing Fire Chief Dale Oplinger and Tom Dorwood were present to give the board an update on what is going on in the Village. Dale gave an update on a trial EMS project between Bangs Ambulance and the Lansing Fire Department. One of the biggest problems is getting volunteers. The fire department spent several months analyzing data and came up with a couple of plans. They tried to address the EMS issue. A short-term plan that has been in effect since July 5th allows Bangs Ambulance to use Station #5 on Oakcrest Road in the Village. They are there Mon.-Fri. from 8am-4pm. This enables a quicker response in the Village. After 3 months, this is working out well. It is on a non-committal bases and costs nothing. However, in the three month period the ambulance was not present on only one day. The fire department has trouble getting personnel during this period of the day so it has been a huge help. One problem is that it doesn’t pay for Bang’s to have someone stationed up in the Village. Bangs wants to continue but is worried about the cost.  This is a short-term arrangement and in the future we may need a long-term contractual agreement.

 

Frank asked typically for one year, how many calls are there. Dale stated that last year there were ~750 calls.

            -380 for EMS

            -120 for Motor Vehicle accidents

            -400 fire calls

            -512 calls for Bangs Ambulance to come to Lansing

Approximately 84% of these calls are in the Village and the Town of Lansing to Peruville Road.

 

George Gesslein discussed a plan to expand Oakcrest Rd. Station #5 since this is a major area for calls. They want to improve the bunking facilities and expand so additional vehicles may be located there. He estimates that it will cost approximately $400-500,000 to improve the building and bring it up to code. He thinks it would be a good idea to relocate the fire department on N. Triphammer Rd. Right now not a lot of people know that the Oakcrest fire station exists. He wanted to open up the lines of communication on this and asked for any input the Village might have. They haven’t got into details yet for the expansion or relocation but it’s in their plans to do next year.

                       

Next on the agenda was the approval of minutes.

 

Motion-Approval of Minutes for September 24, 2001

 

Trustee Lynn Leopold moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Janet Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

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

Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye

 

Tompkins County had sent a letter to the Village asking if they would like to move their Election Day to the same day as the general election to save on expenses. It was not possible for the Village Election Day to be the same as the general because the Village districts boundaries were not coterminous with Election District lines. Now, since the redistricting, the Village is wholly contained in Lansing 6 & 7. The Board of Election feels that it would be a savings and our percentage of voters that actually vote would be higher. The Board was not inclined to change. The two values that they see with the present election date is that the media focus and press is only on the Village of Lansing and that the Village has already approved the budget. It’s hard to canvass in February; March is better weather wise. The other question was if it was even legally possible given our fiscal year being June1-May 31.The Board felt there was no real benefit to changing to General election time.

 

The Board received a copy of the letter, which Brent Cross sent to Neil McLain regarding Pembroke Lane. The McLains had requested that their escrow deposit be returned so our village engineer went out to inspect the road.  Brent found that the stop sign at the intersection with Cayuga Heights Rd. was mounted too low and needed to be moved to meet the specifications of the NYS Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The stone sign/landscaping need to be relocated outside of the Village Right of way. The row of mailboxes along Cayuga Heights Rd. interferes with the sight distance for motorists who intend to turn north out of Pembroke Lane and need to be moved back 4 feet. Lastly, the Village Subdivision Regulations Appendix D section 5 requires that the permanent survey monument be set in the boundary of the ROW. Once these terms are completed, Brent will make a final inspection and report such to the village Trustees for their consideration in releasing the security deposit. The Mayor stated that the McLains have been very cooperative in the past.

 

Next on the agenda was Mayor’s comments. Don introduced Bill Troy who will be taking over for Randy. Don thanked Randy for all his efforts, the Board has enjoyed working with him and we’ll miss him. Bill Troy is part of the same law firm and has represented us on court cases. Bill has a background in trial law.

 

Don had no updates since last Monday’s meeting. There is a sewer meeting this week. Wed. morning he will be meeting with Mark Varvayanis on water issues. Don will also get ahold of the NYSDOT this week to discuss the N. Triphammer Rd. project.

 

Ned asked if there was anything new with regards to the Kensington property. Don has four people for the committee and is looking for a couple more. Randy explained that there has been a hold up because they just received dedication of the road. Don added that sometime before the end of the year he would do a public recognition. Our engineers are making progress with the road design in front of Northwood Apartments that would be amendable to the Colbert’s.

 

There was some further discussion among the Board regarding fire and EMS service. Don will write a letter of thanks to Bangs.

 

Randy gave an update on N. Triphammer Rd. property acquisitions.

Exxon-has spoken with them, it will get done it just takes time to get through their 

            company

Homik- Randy spoke with Homik’s attorney and he will add to the document that

             Homik is not happy with the price and retains he’s right to protest

Thin Ice- Neil Tarallo-Randy hasn’t gotten around to him

            Village Office Campus-Randy expects it back this week

 

Randy stated that he would be attending one more meeting then Bill Troy would be taking over. He has enjoyed working with the Village and feels he is leaving us in good hands with Bill Troy. Randy will finish the codification for the Village.

 

Lynn had a copy of the completed the Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration & Protection Plan which she will leave in the office if anyone wants to look at it. The IO will now be based out of Dryden.

 

Ned announced that the Tompkins County Planning Department would be at the Planning Boards October 30th meeting to present a slide show on Vital Community.

 

Motion- To Adjourn

 

Trustee Larry Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee Janet Beebe seconded the motion.

 

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                    Trustee Frank Moore- Aye

                        Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye                   Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye

                        Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

 

                                                                                                            Jodi Dake

                                                                                                            Village Clerk