- By Dan Veaner
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But while the project continues to evolve in response to community input, the cost of the project may still be the main stumbling block. The original plan limited the initial service area based on keeping the cost down. The projected annual cost for a resident who is in that area and hooked up was around $850, but may be more with the new neighborhoods included. But committee members continue to explore other funding and more favorable loans to try to bring that cost down to what committee member Andy Sciarabba says will be palatable for most people.
The committee also discussed how negative public perception could overwhelm the facts of the project when it comes to a vote. That the official engineer's report must present the 'worst case scenario' makes it more difficult to convince the public that the cost of the project is worth the benefits. With continued growth in the town the cost per resident will go down as more properties are built within the proposed district. "We've got to convince the public that this is not only a viable project in year one, but that it's going to become more viable each succeeding year," said committee member Noel Desch, who is also a former supervisor of the Town of Ithaca. He advocated including a projection of lowered costs based on the last decade of growth in the final engineer's report.
Sciarabba reported that he and Desch had met with a half dozen businesses last week at Transonic Systems in the business park off of Warren Road where UPS is located. The company's COO Bruce Kilmartin told the committee last April that his company will be forced to leave Lansing if a sewer isn't available to service the company's growing employee base. "They made it very clear to all of us that they desperately need an expansion of their facilities to create jobs," Sciarabba said. "We explained to them that we have two processes so far for providing sewer to that area, one through the Village of Lansing, and the other through the Hillcrest area, and that we are exploring a third area." He said that one option might be to find grants that these businesses are eligible for to help pay for the cost of bringing sewer to that area.
Sciarabba also brought up a novel plan to sell Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) in advance to developers anticipating the need for sewer on land that is currently vacant. That would provide developers with assurance of the service, raising the value of those properties while providing additional funding to lower the cost per resident. But most committee members feared that there is no legal way to sell the prospective units.
Desch reported on negotiations with the Village of Lansing to finalize a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) that sets out who will own the portion of the trunk sewer line that connects the Town sewer to the Cayuga Heights treatment plant through the Village. Village officials have stated that they want ownership because the trunk sewer will be within their boundaries and ownership will give them the authority to deal with issues raised by their residents. But financial consultants to the project say that if the Village owns that portion of the project the Town won't be eligible to obtain financing for it.
Desch said that the options discussed with Mayor Donald Hartill included joint ownership between the Town and the Village, or the Village obtaining financing that part of the project. He said that it appears likely that the Mayor will agree to the joint ownership option.
Farkas invited consultant Kim Farrell to sit in on the meeting. Farrell has 20 years of experience consulting on municipal projects. Farkas said she could have a role in the public information phase, as a disinterested third party who can knowledgeably talk about the benefits of a sewer project. "When an outside person comes in who really has no vested interest," she said, "my role is to start generating thought about the long term benefits. Sometimes it may not benefit them in an immediate sense, but they can understand the broader public interest."
"Usually when a government is proposing something there is a noble reason," she said. But she noted that the public must feel that the process has been transparent and beneficial before it will accept a project. "There might be services and conveniences (that come with sewer)," she said. "People want those things. And they want them to be done right. If a project is to go in, needs to be done right the first time."
The committee scheduled its next meeting for July 11.
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