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The topic of municipal sewer came up at Wednesday's Town Board meeting, but this was a different sewer project from the $18.2 million project recently tabled by the board.  Tompkins County Area Development's (TCAD) Heather Filiberto spoke in support of a limited sewer project along Warren Road, which would bring sewer service north from the Village of Lansing to the Warren Road Business Park.  "I want to reiterate that TCAD thinks that this is a very needed and worthwhile project," Filiberto, who also spoke in support of the project last month, said.  "We would really like to see it happen."


The Warren Road Business Park is home to seven growing businesses, and is part of the Tompkins County Empire Zone.  Empire Zones have been formed around the state to encourage businesses to grow and to create jobs in localities around New York State.  This will be the first full year since the zone was created, and Filiberto says that two businesses in the park, Global Phoenix and Momentum Media, have already been certified to participate.  A third, Transonic Systems, was approved by the local Empire Zone board last week, and will be certified soon if the State approves.  "So three out of seven businesses this year isn't too bad," Filiberto says.  "We have one more that I've been talking to that might be certified by the end of the year as well."

Transonic Systems Chief Operating Officer Bruce Kilmartin was also on hand to observe the proceedings, though he did not actively participate in the discussion.  He originally attended the March Town Board meeting to plead for sewer for his company.  Transonic Systems has grown into a multi-national corporation specializing in medical equipment such as blood flow meters.  It has grown to 100 employees since it was founded in 1983, and is planning further expansion in the near future.  "It's going to be very tough to grow and add to the building or more people, because we don't have a sewer," he said in March.  "We're going to be stymied, so we're very interested in the progress of the sewer.  We're going to have to make a decision as to whether we will stay or move."

With the Lansing Sewer Project functionally dead, Transonic has taken matters into its own hands by offering to pay for the feasibility study of a much smaller project that would service the businesses in the Warren Road park.  "Transonics has offered to pay the engineering costs of a feasibility study of moving the sewer line from the Village of Lansing to the Warren Road Business Park," explained Deputy Supervisor Bud Shattuck.  "I want to make sure that everyone's clear that this isn't the Lansing Sewer Project.  The Lansing Sewer Project is off the table and not being discussed.  This is just a straight line from the Village along Warren Road to address the issues at the Warren Road Business Park."

When the larger project fell through, Town Supervisor Steve Farkas said he hoped the Town could still find a way to bring sewer to Transonic Systems and its neighboring businesses, to keep those jobs in the Town.  "The only thing we are hoping for now," he said, "is that we can still work with the Village to connect into their system for the area north of the airport, the industrial park there."

"There is an understanding at least with the Village Mayor that doing so would seam feasible," reported Town Engineer Dave Herrick, who will likely be compiling the feasibility study.  "There would not be capacity issues within the Village system for accommodating the business park."

Sewer at the Warren Road facility would virtually insure the success of the Empire Zone there, and Filiberto said that TCAD was doing whatever it can to find funding that will make the project which as been estimated at about $2 million possible.  "TCAD would very much like to see this project happen in the near term," she said.  "We would like to offer our services in any way that we can to help move this project forward.  We are certainly out there right now looking for funding sources to help pay for this project, and we will continue to do that.  We're here if there is anything else that we can do to help move this along."

"We are prepared to pass that resolution authorizing a developers agreement with Transonics, related to a potential sewer extension to do the engineering work," Shattuck said.  Christopher moved that the agreement be approved up to a cost of $10,000, and it passed unanimously.

"Just so everybody fully understands, the developer is paying," said Councilwoman Connie Wilcox.  "This is not a cost to the Town."

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