Archive: News

	Key 2008 Village Stories Village Election: Julia Ann Kilgore Baker Village Replaces Water Tank Village May Amend Law to Permit Church Too Many Deer Strip Village Bare Village Snow Removal Costs Double Village Tries Facebook

The Village of Lansing seems to chug along, getting the job done at low cost to its taxpayers.  This year taxes were lower now that the Triphammer Road project is finished.  Trustees and the Planning Board have been working on smaller projects, including one on Dart Drive that is in the planning phase.

With a diverse population, many of whom are renters, the Village has struggled with the best way to communicate.  Village officials have embraced the Internet, switching from a paper newsletter to an electronic one, using an e-mailing list, and a month and a half ago they launched the Village of Lansing Facebook page.

Plans are going ahead to build a new 900,000 gallon water tank near Burdick Hill Road to act as a backup while the 1.5 million gallon tank there is painted.  That tank feeds the entire Bolton Point water system.  The new tank will also replace the 500,000 gallon tank next to the Village Office, which will eventually be demolished.

The deer population continued to be a problem this year, eating its way through woods, fields, and gardens.  Village officials continued to negotiate for a bow hunt with the owners of Murray Estates, but could not come to an agreement.  A smaller, more limited hunt is not expected to make much of a dent in the problem, but officials are hopeful that a larger, more effective hunt will be possible in future years.

Last summer the Vineyard Church hoped to move into the building that used to house Bishop's Hardware Store in the Bishop's Small Mall.  It turned out that to do so Village Trustees would have to make changes to the zoning law.  They did, but the wheels of government turn slowly.  The church is now working to meet Planning Board requirements.

The Planning Board has been considering workforce housing and what the Village should do, if anything, to encourage it.  With about half its population in apartments, the Village is already abundantly affordable, but the Planning Board intends to continue exploring what it can do into 2009.

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