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The Lansing Town Board considered a draft agreement Wednesday that would lease seven acres of town land to RER Energy Group.  The lease calls for seven acres of land on which to locate a 1.5 megawatt solar array that would power the Lansing Central School District (LCSD) campus.  An annual lease fee of $500 per acre would be paid to the Town, amounting to $3,500 per year.  The lease would be renewable in 20 years, and it includes two other five year options.

The Town bought 153 acres of land across the street from the Lansing Town Hall and ball fields in 1993 from New York State for about $100,000.  That deal carried deed restrictions that only allowed recreational use.  In 2012 Lansing paid the State an additional $294,800 to lift the deed restrictions, paving the way for a town center.  Three developers were interested in building on the property, loosely adhering to a town center concept developed by a town committee in 2012.  NRP was prepared to pay $11,000 per acre for their project, and Calimar $1,400 per acre for a mufti-storied senior housing project.

The developers agreed to go in on the cost of a package sewage plant for the town center that could have a small retail and professional center in a later phase of development if the first phase generated enough population to support it.  But the deals seemed to fade away as town officials have not agreed on how or whether to proceed.

The Town has reportedly received an offer recently on at east part of the land, plus the proposal to locate the solar array there.  If the Town agrees, it could solve a big challenge the solar project has been faced with, namely a viable location near enough and accessible to the school campus.  RER had negotiated with the Cayuga Power Plant for a parcel hat plant officials were reportedly willing to lease.  But the lay of that land was such that it would be too expensive to build transmission lines to serve the project.  The company then explored land owned by Cargill Salt Mine and other privately owned land possibilities.  If a usable location can not be found the school district stands to loose about $1 million and a half over time. 

This comes at a time when LCSD has been doing everything it can to save taxpayer money.  Faced with the reduction in power plant value and the possibility that the plant may be closed entirely, school officials are anxious to save as much cash on non-instructional expenses in order to preserve educational programs.  If the Town does agree to lease the land RER would require easements from private property owners to convey the electricity to the schools.

The solar array is estimated to save the school district $45,000 in the first year.   RER Energy Group Solar Project Developer Mike Roach presented the project to the Town Board in October to explore whether the Town wanted to get in on the savings.  Town officials submitted electricity usage information and bills to be analyzed, but had not decided whether or not to sign onto the project.


"When they took all of our information to see if we could piggy-back onto the project they found we don't use enough electricity to do that," Lansing Supervisor Kathy Miller said.  "The Library would like to participate.  I don't know if the Library would add enough to our usage to bump us into the range where it would be of value or not.  It still may not be enough for us to do this."

Board members did not appear enthusiastic about leasing the land.  Miller referenced a 'different direction' that next year's board is considering, though what that direction might be was not expanded upon in Wednesday's meeting.  Supervisor-elect Ed LaVigne suggested that they explore a possibility that Woodsedge Apartments provide land for the project.  Board members were not clear on how much acreage the subsidized apartment complex has, but LaVigne said that there is land available that was going to be used to build a second apartment building of about the same size as the existing one.  That plan was tabled this year after a study showed there is not enough demand for that tier of the apartment market, which opens the possibility that it could be used for another purpose and provide income that could help keep the rents low.

"It's big, because they were going to build a second building," LaVigne said.  "They own a lot of land.  They also have a need for funding there."

Miller told board members that they will have to decide what they want to do with the land.  It was appraised in the past, but the land value will change if it is used for a different purpose than a town center.  Miller herself was a strong advocate for building a town center there, having previously chaired the Town Center Committee.  But when she leaves the Board at the end of this year, LaVigne has said he would like to take the property in a different direction.  Miller warned the board that they have to resolve a lot of issues, including the value per acre before making any decisions on selling or leasing part or all of the property.

"I think you have to decide first what you want to do across the street," Miller said.  "We were give a quote from Midland Appraisal Associates of between $8,000 and $11,500 to appraise the land across the street.  That needs to go back to you.  You need to decide whether you want to have another assessment done.  Do you want to use the land across the street for solar?  You need a plan for across the street, and realizing these stumbling blocks before you go forward."

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