- By Dan Veaner
- News
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Engineering is in progress for bringing the trunk line from the Cayuga Heights treatment plant along Cayuga Heights Road to the Town. There is still a chance that the State Department of Transportation (DOT) will relax regulations to make Route 34, the Village of Lansing's choice for the route, affordable. Village Mayor Don Hartill has presented a traffic study to the DOT recommending that trucks detour along Triphammer Road and cars along Cayuga Heights Road.
Lansing's Sewer Committee
The DOT has not made a decision, and local officials are concerned that it will not be forthcoming before the Town must commit to a route. Committee Chairman Bud Shattuck said the only factor affecting the route choice at this point is cost. He asked engineer Jim Blum when the engineering would be at the point where it could not be changed to Route 34 if the DOT drops their requirements. Blum replied there are only two weeks to a month before this phase of the engineering is completed. He said the "drop dead" time that a DOT decision could change the route is the June 1.
Another factor that will affect the project cost are fees that Cayuga Heights is setting not just for Lansing, but for all the municipalities that use the plant. Exponentially rising construction costs have already affected the total cost. Finally, private donations will influence the impact to residents within the proposed sewer district.
Committee members Andy Sciarabba and Noel Desch have been soliciting funds from big private donors who have a stake in the project or have already benefited from the sewer project as it stands within the "Group of Six" municipalities that signed the cooperative sewer agreement. They are hoping to raise around $7 million to bring down the projected cost per Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDU) from over $800 per year to around $375. Sciarabba said he is optimistic that they can achieve this. The Town formally approached Tompkins County to contribute $3 million.
At first glance that looks like a remote possibility. Why would the County contribute to one municipality's sewer project when it didn't contribute to others? But building the sewer in Lansing will help the County meet its goals, particularly in the area of affordable housing. Tompkins County is becoming a place where people can work but not live. Sciarabba said that the County needs 1000 new housing units now, and that will rise to between 3,000 and 3,500 over the next ten years. With a sewer in the Town of Lansing along with adjustments to planning and zoning to encourage growth in the Town. He estimated that such growth could add $4.7 million dollars to the County's coffers over the next 15 years.
Town officials were receptive to the idea of making the changes, which would raise allowed building heights in the business district of the Town and, with sewer, allow smaller lots for new homes. The conventional wisdom has been that this new growth would take place in the southern portion of the Town, but Sciarabba said that wouldn't encourage businesses like a grocery store or laundromat, doctors' offices and other businesses to locate here. "To me it seems like we ought to put the density as close as possible to the Town Center. Then you have people who live there who can walk to recreation, shopping and everything else."
Sciarabba and Shattuck said the County is considering the proposal. "I was not disappointed," said Sciarabba. "We have to refine our numbers." He added that density would reduce the costs to individual homeowners faster. He also suggested a scheme where private donors could reduce their share if growth caused the per-household cost to reach the target level. "If we do go down the road of adjusting our planning and zoning requirements," Sciarabba said, "then we can show these contributors that we may not need to have their amount over the entire life of this thing." He noted that the County made a similar deal to attract Northwest Airlines to the airport. They guaranteed a subsidy until Northwest met a target profit level. As it turned out the Ithaca routes were profitable enough that the County doesn't have to pay.
Meanwhile Blum presented an updated projection of the number of EDUs within the proposed district. Costs of the project will be split among the EDUs, so the more EDUs are in the district, the less expensive the annual cost of paying for the project will be. Blum reported that the numbers have risen since the issue was visited about two years ago.
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