Archive: News

The Town of Lansing has been working on a sewer district plan for about eight years. Town officials view the project as an environmental imperative as well as a vital part of town planning to preserve farm land in the North of town while encouraging development in the South.

With a growing population and ongoing development septic systems built over bedrock threaten Cayuga Lake water. The town predicts that the lake will become the major source of drinking water in the future, so it must be protected. At the same time a sewer system would encourage development within the proposed district. By keeping North Lansing out of the district the Town would also protect farmers from possible high fees that could partly be determined by lot size.

The most pressing issue is the location of the trunk line. Sewage has to go somewhere, and deciding on how it will get there is holding up the project. Jim Blum, of Stearns and Wheler, LLC has been working with the Town Engineer, David Herrick, on developing potential routes, technical specifications and working out possible financing plans. Mr. Blum is also maintaining a Sewer District Study Web site to keep the public abreast of progress.

The Cayuga Heights Water Treatment Plant would process Lansing Sewarge. Sewage over the plant's capacity will be routed to the city's processing plant

Lansing sewage will go to the Cayuga Heights processing plant on East Shore Drive, just South of the Cornell Lake Source Cooling station. Therefore the main trunk line for the Town will have to go through the Village of Lansing. The Town is considering three major routes:

Alternate B is the best choice for the town, because it can be constructed and maintained at the least cost. Sewage would be moved entirely by gravity so no pumping station would be needed, reducing the amount of maintenance over time. At this point the Village prefers Alternate C, the most expensive of the three, because it would mean less short term disruption to Village residents and they think it would provide better hook-up options for village residents who do not yet have sewer.

The district will encompass the town South of Buck Road

Town officials are frustrated with delays, as they have been working on the project for eight years. A municipal sewer agreement requires that the district will be formed, so the Town feels obligated to determine how and when it will happen as soon as possible. The main delay was in drafting the agreement between the towns of Lansing, Ithaca, Dryden, villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights and the city of Ithaca. The agreement was finally finalized, and signed on December 31, 2003.

$4,833,000 of Clean Water Bond Act money was allocated in 1998 and not only is it shrinking because of inflation, but there is a fear that if the project doesn't move forward it might be withdrawn. What would have been an approximately $14 million dollar project would now cost $16,332,300 as projected recently by a Clean Water State Revolving Fund report. Town officials are looking for alternative sources of funding to offset the difference.

The Town has asked Village officials to study the issue and come up with a recommendation for the trunk route, as well as determining a fair contribution by the Village for construction. Northern parts of the Village that do not have sewers now would hook up to the new trunk line. Village Trustee Frank Moore has been attending the Town Sewer Committee meetings, and Trustee Lynn Leopold, who was recently appointed to chair the Village's Sewer Committee attended the most recent meeting at the town hall last Wednesday. The Town has offered to send Mr. Blum and Mr. Herrick to the next Village committee meeting to answer any engineering questions they might have.

Meanwhile the Town's sewer committee is pressing forward not only to determine the best and most economical way to build the system, but also the most equitable way to pay for it. The committee and Town Board member Bud Shattuck in particular has urged the Village to move forward in a timely manner so the project can move from the planning stage to an eventual construction phase.

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