Archive: Around Town

Lansing's Town Board took care of business in their first meeting of 2006 Thursday evening, and then got a status report on the sewer project. Town Supervisor Steve Farkas started off by congratulating Councilmen Bud Shattuck, who kept his seat in the last election and is beginning his seventh year on the Town board. He also congratulated Matt Besemer, who won the seat vacated by Doug McEver. It was Besemer's first meeting as a Councilman.

The board voted on a number of resolutions that will allow the Town to function this year. They ranged from approving their own salaries, to appointing the Fire Wardens, Town attorney and banks the Town uses. They voted on authorizations for representatives and liaisons to various committees, who can issue handicapped parking permits, and appointing the Tompkins County SPCA the official dog control officer.

Councilors took turns reading the barrage of resolutions, as they voted on each one. They also approved resignations and appointments from and to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.

Next the discussion went to progress on the sewer project. Farkas reported that he and Village Mayor Don Hartill will be meeting with the Acting Regional Department of Transportation (DOT) Manager next Thursday to discuss closing Route 34 for the approximately three months it will take to construct the sewer trunk line there. Completely closing the road will shave a million dollars off of the cost of running the sewer there.

This is an issue, because DOT regulations stipulate that construction can only go so long during the day on State roads, and then the equipment must be removed and the road closed. This would make the project take considerably longer to complete, and require longer hours and traffic control. Farkas told the board, "If the DOT says 'no' it will make it impossible to go down that road.

The Town is helping to lobby for closing the road because it wants to work cooperatively with the Village, which has made it clear that it prefers Route 34 to the other two routes that were proposed. Councilman Bud Shattuck said, "We're doing everything we can to make this happen for the Village and the Town."

But Farkas noted, "We have to move forward. The cost of materials is going up, the cost of labor is going up. People need to know what it's going to cost." He said that if the DOT won't go along with closing 34 that the sewer would have to go along Cayuga Heights Road. Shattuck noted that Village residents have expressed concerns about pumping station noise and smell from venting the system. "We'll look for ways to mediate, dissipate and regulate these things so they won't be a problem for the neighborhoods," he said.

The Town is looking for a quick determination from the DOT so they can choose the final route and work out the final budget for the project.

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