MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday,
April 15, 2002, in the Village Office.
PRESENT:
Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Janet Beebe, Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold,
Frank Moore; Maria Stycos, Planning Board member; Bill Troy, Village Attorney.
Mayor
Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. Mayor Hartill opened
the public comment period. There were no 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 Janet Beebe-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion- To Open The
Budget Public Hearing
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved to open the public
hearing. Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee Janet Beebe-
Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Sorel
Gottfried was confused about the increased surcharge. The Mayor explained that
presently the water and sewer surcharges are 22% and he has proposed to raise
them to 33% to cover our expenses. The General Fund pays for the general
operations of the village such as salaries, roads and consultants. The Water
Fund only deals with water related expenses and the Sewer Fund only deals with
sewer expenses. There is not a commingling of funds. He went on to explain that
there are two ways to raise money for a fund and that is either through
surcharge on your water and sewer bill or by bonding which appears on ones tax
bill. Each year our reserves are diminishing. We’ve done short-term bonds (BAN)
in the past. This is how we funded the tank that came down today. That BAN is paid in full this budget year. There
is 1,000 feet of water main that needs to be replaced on Cayuga Heights Rd. There
are two sections, one south of Twin Glens Road and the other is south of Cedar
Lane. The water fund does not have the money to fund this project so we’ve
elected to get another BAN. Our system is aging and each year we are spending
more than we bring in. This is why an increase in surcharge is necessary. We
are still paying less than our sister municipalities pay.
The
sewer fund is in a similar situation. We are very aggressively trying to solve
the I&I problem, which will result
in additional sewer units. Each sewer unit costs $2350 and this year we had no
sewer units to sell so no additional income. If we can improve our I&I, Cayuga Heights
will give us additional units. The Village has capital reserve money to help
when the intermunicipal project commences.
The
Mayor gave a brief summary of the budget. He explained that the village has
proposed a 3% tax increase from $1.70 to $1.75 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The guidance for this is to keep the tax rate at inflation. If we didn’t do
this than it would eventually catch up with us. Our costs scale with inflation.
The Mayor feels the Village has gotten as efficient as possible. The economy
hasn’t been very good. 1/3 of our income comes from sales tax. We have the
large expense with commercial properties but we do benefit from the commercial
assessed value. Another source of revenue is gross receipts, which comes from gas,
electric and phone. NYSEG has lowered its rate by 13% therefore it decreases
our gross receipts. Interest income has also decreased. We’ve systematically
invested our money however with the decrease in interest rates this line also
is substantially decreased. We’ve
carefully prioritized our projects to be done. This year the main project is to
redo Cayuga Heights Road. Next budget year we will not be purchasing any new
equipment. This year we updated our computer systems. We are in good shape.
Sorel
asks if there was going to be any construction of sidewalks this year. Don
explained that it would be more maintenance this year. The last major project
the village did was Sheraton Drive sidewalks. That project cost us ~$100,000.
N. Triphammer sidewalks will be the next big sidewalk project. We should be
able to secure federal highway monies to pay for 80% of the N. Triphammer Rd.
sidewalk. Sidewalks are very expensive. When we’ve redone roads we’ve tried to
make sure there are wide shoulders for pedestrians. This was done on Oakcrest Road.
A resident asked if the design of the road is following NYS regulations. The Mayor stated that we must follow NYS Regulations.
This
summer the N. Triphammer Bridge deck will be redone by NYSDOT and N. Triphammer
Rd. from the Village line to Rt. 34 will also be redone. The traffic will be
rerouted down Burdick Hill Road.
There
was one proposed change to the budget. Since the audio/video project for the
conference room has not been done we need to put money in the new budget for
it. It was previously budgeted but if you don’t use it then it goes back into
appropriated cash surplus. Don proposed we move $5,000 from A0962.2, Budgetary
Provisions for Other Uses to A8020.2, Planning Equipment. The amount previously
budgeted was over $11,000 but the board doesn’t feel it will cost that much.
Resolution #3851- To Adopt The Budget with the
Modification of Moving $5,000 from A0962.2, Budgetary Provisions for Other Uses
to A8020.2, Planning Equipment.
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to adopt the budget. Trustee Frank Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Janet
Beebe-Aye Trustee
Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee
Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Next
on the agenda was the engineer’s report. Dave Putnam presented the mayor with
the plaque that was taken from water tank that came down today by the airport.
CBORD took a piece of the tank to put in their trophy case. The contractors were great to work with. It only took them one day to take down the tank.
All the steel went to Wallace Steel.
Cayuga
Heights Road bids will be here next month. There’s still a question as to
whether the culverts need to be replaced. Frank asked what provisions there
will be for a walkway along Cayuga Heights Rd. Dave stated that they will be
the same as Oakcrest. There is 28 feet between guardrails. Frank feels this is
quite different than Oakcrest. The shoulders will be 4 ft wide but Frank thinks
they should be 5-6 feet to make it easy to walk. Frank feels very strongly
about this. Dave explained that the road is presently 19-21 feet of pavement
and it will be 28-ft wide pavement. If we were to widen the road we would have
to fill over banks. The Mayor explained that widening the road causes two
problems. The average speed will increase significantly with a wider road. To
widen the road we would have to move the ditch on one side which would mean
removing trees and on the slope side you would have to add dirt because there
is a minimum requirement for guard rails to be effective. Frank did not agree
that widening the road would increase speed. Don explained that we are trying
to widen the road as much as possible without incurring a huge expense. We are
increasing the flat paved area by 4 feet. Frank would like to see a real effort
to widen Cayuga Heights Rd. The bridge width also dictates how wide the road
can be. Frank and Dave will walk the road tomorrow so Frank can see what is
being discussed. Dave will also get Frank a set of drawings to review.
Dave
informed the board that there is a flow meter communication problem. The old analog
phones won’t transmit data. We can communicate with the flow meter that is hard
wired. Don will look into getting a $500 used IBM compatible laptop computer
for Dennis to use to go collect data. This will save us money on phone lines.
Cayuga
Landscape will be planting the trees on Cinema Dr. this week. The trees will be
diagramed so we can see how the bare root trees do compared to the bag &
burlap trees.
Lynn
asks if the repairs on Uptown Rd. would happen soon. Bill Troy stated that the motion
will be heard next week in bankruptcy court and after that is resolved we will
be able to proceed.
Don
asks when we were scheduled to do the I&I repair to the sewer. Dave will
get with Dennis to discuss.
The
next topic of discussion was Greenway. The board feels the Greenway needs to be
rejuvenated. In the past we’ve had committees which haven’t seemed to work. One
committee that did work was the ad hoc committee chaired by Carol Klepack,
which developed the Greenway Plan. Frank has volunteered to reenergize this
project again.
One
project that can be done is the trail across the Edelman property that was
given to the village. This trail would serve Northwood Apartments and The Strand
and would go to Graham Road. Last year we mowed this path that follows our
sewer line. This year we plan to build a bridge. Don suggested the new
committee walk this property.
Frank
has written a mission statement. He would like to look at the Greenway Plan
that is already in place not only for feasibility but to see what we are trying
to create. He feels it would be nice to see a theme of how various focus points
of the village will be connected. This would include trails, sidewalks and parks.
The
committee would consist of two trustees and two planning board members so that
it would be a government committee and therefore powers don’t enter the
picture. The reason to formalize this committee is to give a sense of responsibility
for that which we might otherwise miss. Bill Troy warned Frank to keep in mind
the open meetings law. The committee can not have more than 2 trustees or 2
planning board members. If there are more than that it constitutes a majority
and then one must follow the open meeting law. Don ask Frank how he would envision
interacting with the design process. Frank stated that this would be done by
studying it. This committee would make recommendations to the trustees and be
involved with a project from the beginning to the end.
Another
opportunity is the trail scheduled to be constructed across Viola Miller’s
property. It’s being held up by a 9-inch strip, which Ivar Jonson owns. This
problem was not detected 20 years ago when the road was put in. Randy has
gotten the easement from Ivar Jonson to construct the trail but we haven’t
heard back from Viola yet. Once she says it’s ok we can proceed with the
construction of that trail which would connect Janivar Drive to Bush Lane. Also
the pond on Dart Drive would be a nice area for a pedestrian walkway over Rt.
13. The Mayor feels this is an idea worth exploring.
An
ad hoc committee will be formed to look into the projects suggested. Frank
Moore, Lynn Leopold, Ned Hickey and Carol Klepack will be on this committee.
Larry
is ready to select an engineering firm for the N. Triphammer Rd. Project.
Dennis will get the documentation from John Lampman for Larry and his committee
to review. The list consists of 15 pre-qualified local design firms for Region
3. The Mayor ask Larry to remember that one of the main concerns the village
has is how will the firm deal with traffic during construction. Don expressed
the need to get the contract in place. Soon Don, Larry and Jodi will need to
take a trip up to Syracuse to discuss the accounting procedures that are
necessary for this project.
Next
on the agenda was Mayor’s comments. At the last sewer joint meeting there was
serious consideration to let the consultant go. However, they finally decided
against it because they would not be able to meet their time line. Each
representative will go through their municipality and get their information to
Mr. Chazen. They hope to have all the documentation to DOT by mid May. For the
management of the joint sewer group they are pushing for a system similar to
that which we currently have with Bolton Point. The City of Ithaca would be the employer of record
for sewer. The Town of Ithaca is the employer of record for water. The sewer
meetings will continue to be every Thursday from 9:30-12pm.
On
the good water, Cornell University will not be turning over its water plant.
They see no advantage to doing so. The City water plant is on its last leg and
has no choice but to join Bolton Point.
SCLIWC is also in negotiations with Cayuga County. Currently the Bolton
Point plant is pumping 2 million gallons of water a day and it is capable of 6
million. With a minor addition they could pump 9 million gallons a day. Cornell
uses 2 million gallons a day. Bolton has a supplemental agreement to supply CU
if needed and visa versa.
There
was an electrical accident with the contractors doing an installation at Bolton
Point last week. The plant was off line for one day. CU stood ready to supply
water if needed. Fortunately no one was fatally hurt. This was a good lesson in
emergency response. Bolton Point is 70% automated and their costs are mainly
electricity.
Don
asked Jodi to send Steve Whicher of Tompkins County a sewer permit.
Larry
asked where we were with the codification. Carol is presently moving the dollar
amounts from the text to an appendix. This way when amounts are changed only
the appendix will need to be updated. The board agreed that the appendix of the
codification should be at the end of the publication. The Codification should
be back to the board in time to set a public hearing in June.
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee Frank
Moore seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee Larry
Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 9:45.
Jodi Dake
Village Clerk