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Village of Lansing trustees voted to reduce sewer hookup fees by more than half in a unanimous vote Monday.  Village law required that each dwelling unit be charged a connection fee of $2,350.  The new law reduces that to $1,000 for a single residential permit, plus $500 for each additional residential unit that is part of the same structure.  Deputy Mayor Gerry Monaghan noted the Village sewer hook-up fee had been the highest in Tompkins County.  

"It was clearly the highest in the whole county," said Monaghan after the vote.  "I'm glad we're not the lowest and I'm glad we're not the highest."

The Village of Lansing sewer system is serviced by the Village of Cayuga Heights treatment facility on East Shore Drive. The plant's daily capacity is about 1.3 million gallons and it has a permit to process 2 million gallons a day.  When Town sewer plans raised concerns that the capacity would be exceeded a moratorium was placed on Village hookups.  The Kline Road Bypass project changed that.  The bypass enabled additional sewage from the Town of Ithaca, and the Villages of Cayuga Heights and Lansing to be conveyed the Ithaca Plant for treatment.  With the completion of the bypass, the moratorium was lifted.

Monday's change was precipitated by a request to waive the sewer connection fee for mixed use development. A proposal for hooking up 59 units of senior housing would have cost the developer $138,650 just for the sewer connection fees.  Trustees began discussions about changing the fee structure in March, leading to the new law Monday.  Village Attorney David Dubow said the high fee was precipitated about 20 years ago when there were no permits.  He said that drove up the rates.

"It was precipitated by some discussion as to the Village's $2300 charge," said Dubow.  "It's now down to $1,000 and in some cases an additional $500."

Trustees voted 3/0 for the new rates.

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