Village of Lansing
MINUTES of a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, February 15, 1999, in the Village Office.
Present: Mayor Don Hartill, Trustees Larry Fresinski, Cliff Buck and John Caren; Attorney Randall Marcus; Clerk/Treasurer Jodi Dake
Mayor Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:35 and opened up the public comment period.
Motion-To Close the Public Comment Period
Trustee John Caren motioned to close the public comment period and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Motion-To Open the Public Hearing on the Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports
Trustee John Caren motioned to open the public hearing and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
John Caren asked if this meant that all the signs would look alike. The Mayor stated that the attempt is to make a more agreeable sign plan that will remove one tall sign, establish a theme for that area and include considerable landscaping. Steve Halevy, Acting Chair for the Planning Board, added they would have matching levels and sign lettering. The Planning Board is very pleased with this proposal. Cliff reminded the Board that back when the sign law started Will Cooke had two ownership’s, Cadillac & Toyota, and they were entitled to more area. By law, an owner is entitled to 100 square feet of signage and this proposal is increasing the signage to 243 square feet. Cliff is sympathetic to having only south exposure but this is far more than is allowed. John Caren asked for the rational of the Planning Board to increase the amount of signage. Steve replied that this overall plan improves the whole area. All the new facades of the buildings match on Goldberg’s and Cooke’s properties and it is a give and take situation. The Village gains from the upgrading of the whole area. The Planning Board looked at the overall effect. At the point the Village attorney arrived and John asked him if this is passed, will it set precedence. Randy stated that the Planning Board discussed this at length. Ben had pointed out that the language of our Planned Sign Areas is broadly worded. We decide what a planned sign area is. For example, Pyramid has a planned sign area that is for a total square foot area and with this planned sign area we received a considerable amount of landscaping in exchange. Another example is the Triphammer Mall where all signs are the same size, shape and color but different letter styles. With this planned sign area there was not much trade off because of the consistency of the signage itself. The Planning Board focuses on the fact that the area of the proposal has undergone a lot of visual change and this proposal would provide an overall improvement. Almost all existing businesses in the Village are already a part of a planned sign area. Steve reiterated that this amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area was done for visual and safety reasons. All Planning Board members voted in favor of this amendment.
Motion-To Close the Public Hearing on the Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports
Trustee John Caren motioned to open the public hearing and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Next on the agenda was a presentation by Karen and Holly Beermann of the Youth Bureau. Holly stated that there were two major changes for 1999. The Joint Youth Commission has decided not to contract with the Ithaca Youth Bureau for Summer Employment because the administrative costs were too expensive. They have, however, contracted with Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Learning Web. Their focus is more on Job Training. They already have five workshop programs set up; one of which will be offered here at the Village Board Room on March 6th. The 14-15 year old youth will still be getting paid ~$300 for their training. The Joint Youth Commission feels that more training is important not just a paycheck. The other major change is the County Youth Bureau has suggested that to simplify the contracting process that one municipality be responsible for the contracts. The Town of Ithaca has agreed to be that municipality. The Village of Lansing is being requested to transfer State, County and Village Tax allocated for youth Development Programs to the Town of Ithaca. This will not effect programming for our youth in any way. Next Karen explained the Budget and this switching to a single contracting. This means there will be no contracts and the transfer of funds to the Town of Ithaca will be earmarked for these programs. Presently, the contract from the county goes directly to the Youth Bureau and they would like to transfer it to the Town of Ithaca. The Mayor told Holly and Karen that this will be executed at budget time.
Next the board went back to complete the SEQR short form EAF for the Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports.
Motion-The Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports would have no significant adverse environmental affects
Trustee John Caren motioned the proposed amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports would have no significant adverse environmental affects and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
The Mayor proposed that the Board accept the amendment to the planned sign area. Cliff stated that he was in favor of granting the proposal and just wanted everyone to be aware of the situation. Randy stated the Planning Board felt that the sign coming down, the consistency and the landscaping included enough benefit to accept the proposal. The Mayor was also concerned with the size of the sign but the trade of two signs for one and the landscape were a plus.
Resolution# 3520 -To accept the Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustee’s accepts the Proposed Amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports.
Trustee John Caren motioned to accept the proposed amendment to the Small Mall Planned Sign Area to Include Will Cooke Imports and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Next on the agenda was the engineer’s report. Dennis and Dave met with the Lake Source Cooling (LSC) engineer’s on 2/9 concerning the emergency connection to the Village sewer to drain the containment area of the plant. Dave told them that he would present and support a proposal to the Village Board allowing an emergency connection without a connection charge. The agreement would reserve the emergency capacity in the sewer and contain provisions for LSC to share in the cost of future sewer upgrades necessary to maintain this capacity. Dave suggested that they install the force main into the VCHSTP to eliminate any future financial contributions for sewer upgrades and they are investigating the possibility. They will negotiate with the VCH on the acceptance of the discharge at the STP. The Board stated that if they wanted to connect they would have to pay a connection fee, like any other residents, of $2,350 and when we upsize sewer they have to contribute. Another meeting was held on 2/10 to discuss the details of relocating a portion of the Village’s Sanitary Sewer Transmission Main to accommodate the chilled water piping. The details of the pipe crossing have been corrected to our satisfaction and the new section of sewer main will retain a flow capacity of approximately 11 MGD.
Dave stated that the Sheraton Drive sidewalk project easements and land acquisition issues remain to be resolved. The mayor is still trying to arrange a meeting.
Next was an update on the ISCO Sewer Metering Equipment. The 1998 report is complete with the exception of fourth quarter water use data coming from Bolton Point. Water use record/billing software is being upgraded and Bolton Point is having difficulty creating reports. Dave has asked them to generate the fourth quarter data after their problems are corrected.
Lastly was an update on the Kline Road By-Pass. Construction drawings are nearly complete for the piping and metering manhole work. Closer evaluation of other by-pass options prompted more study of LSC/sewer main interaction in the Lake Street area and could result in regional planning of larger diameter sewer transmission mains. Dave is in negotiations with NYSEG to move a gas line. Mayor Hartill went to the Town of Lansing Board meeting Wednesday. Mayor Cohen invited him since he was speaking. Sometime in late spring we should have an intermunicipal agreement for sharing sewer capacity. The Town of Lansing will be presenting a package to the City of Ithaca Common Council. Mayor Cohen wants a statement as to whether we want to be customers or partners. This is why Don would like to have a joint meeting with the Town of Lansing. The Board felt that March 10th would be a good date. Don feels that a partnership would have significant advantages in control and financially.
At 9:10 the Board began their discussion on the Comprehensive Plan. The Board reviewed the few simple changes from the Planning Board and felt that the document just needed to be checked grammatically once again. A Full Environmental Assessment Form was completed and it was determined that the project will not result in any large and important impacts and, therefore, is one which will not have a significant impact on the environment, therefore a negative declaration will be prepared.
Motion-That the project will not result in any large and important impacts and, therefore, is one which will not have a significant impact on the environment, therefore a negative declaration will be prepared.
Trustee John Caren motioned that the project will not result in any large and important impacts and a negative declaration should be prepared and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Resolution # 3521 -To Adopt the Comprehensive Plan with the Planning Board’s suggestions incorporated, with a final typographical and a grammatical review with no substantive changes completed and copies available for public presentation on March 16th.
Trustee John Caren motioned to adopt the Comprehensive Plan as stated above and Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Don Hartill wanted the minutes to reflect that Audrey Kahin was voting in spirit for the approval of the Comprehensive Plan. John Caren stated that the Board of Trustees would like to sincerely thank the Planning Board for the time, energy and commitment they put into the Comprehensive Plan.
Next the Mayor asked the board for their reaction to his appointing Lynn Leopold to Audrey Kahn’s position on the Board until the election takes place in April. All were in favor.
Cliff stated that we are still looking for members for the Greenspace Advisory Council. Steve Halevy would like to invite potential members to the 2/23/99 meeting to meet the Planning Board.
Resolution #3522 - Abstracts of Audited Vouchers
Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the General Fund, in the amount of $24,281.48, is hereby approved for payment, and
Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the Water Fund, in the amount of $105,747.92, is hereby approved for payment, and
Be it further RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the Sewer Fund, in the amount of $4,836.83, is hereby approved for payment, and
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved that this resolution with the correction to Voucher #315 in the General Fund that lowers the amount paid to Donald Edwards to $75.00 is adopted and Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye Trustee John Caren- Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Motion-To Go To Executive Sessions for Matters Affecting the Village’s Prospective Acquisition of Property
Trustee John Caren motioned to go into executive session and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Motion-To Come Out of Executive Session
Trustee John Caren motioned to come out of executive session and Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Motion-To Adjourn
Trustee Larry Fresinski motioned to adjourn and Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Clifford Buck- Aye
Trustee John Caren-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
The Board adjourned at 10:05.
Jodi Dake Village Clerk/Treasurer