- By Dan Veaner
- News
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After years of talking about a Lansing Town Center the idea seemed to pick up a lot of traction in 2010. A location was selected, progress was made on removing deed restrictions from town land, a Pathways committee and a Town Center committee started producing tangible plans and results. One developer wasn't content to wait for a town center. He knew townspeople yearned for a supermarket closer by, and got local investors involved and his plan approved by the town. If all goes well the store will open in June.
Will BJ's Come to the Village of Lansing?
Who'd have thought this project would become so controversial? The Shops At Ithaca Mall managers proposed a combination commercial/residential project that would include a BJ's Discount Club, 12 rental senior housing units, wetlands and a bird sanctuary. This was exactly what Village officials wanted, but the developers said they couldn't afford to build the senior housing component without a tax abatement from the County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). Last month the Village said yes, the Town said yes, the County Legislature said yes, but the IDA said no. Saying no to the project meant saying no to considerable tax revenues for those three municipalities as well as the Ithaca City School District.
A New Playground in Myers Park
They said it couldn't be done. How would it be possible to raise $130,000 in only six months in a rotten economy for something that is not a necessity of life? Happily a cadre of volunteers said it could be done, and they set about to do it. Then they did do it! With a lot of help from their friends the playground was completed in late June.
Sure, the big playground got a lot of attention, and some folks were sad to see the playground replaced. They had fond memories of the pieces they and their children gre up playing on. While some were worn beyond use, others were moved to the small playground closer to the park entrance, and some of the most beloved pieces got a face lift.
School Budget Cuts Result in Layoffs...
What could the school board cut without directly impacting teachers? Debate raged over what that might be, while Superintendent Stephen Grimm said from the start of the budget process that it was unavoidable with over a million dollars of cuts on the table. When all was said and done the carnage wasn't as bad as it could have been, but was still very difficult.
...And More Layoffs Are Probable in 2011
The problem is threefold: 1) Federal stimulus money is done. 2) New York continues to cut aid to schools, and the incoming governor will reportedly continue that trend. 3) Lansing's biggest taxpayer has allegedly fallen on hard times. AES Cayuga power plant renegotiated it's tax agreement downward last year, and is currently in negotiations again. The outlook seems bleak for local taxing authorities. Town Councilwoman Kathy Miller has been attending the negotiations. "It's not pretty," she says.
That tax agreement has the biggest impact on the school district and the prospects for the 2011-2012 budget are grim. Last year some federal monies came to the rescue, but the coming school year is the one in which that Superintendent Grimm has said that districts across New York State will be falling off of the 'funding cliff.' The school board will have to whittle away at an estimated $2.8 million revenue gap.
Meeting Mrs. Obama
It's not every day that Lansing people get to visit the White House. As President of the National Christmas Tree Association, Richard Moore and his wife Kay were part of the presentation of the Christmas Tree that was installed in the Blue Room last November. They got to talk to Michelle Obama and her two daughters, and learned the President watched the arrival of the tree from an upstairs window while nursing an injury sustained in a basketball game.
A Piece of Lansing History Is Preserved
Before the playground, a smaller fundraising miracle occurred, and from what threatened to be a pile of rotting 200+ year old logs rose the oldest existing log cabin in Tompkins and Cayuga Counties. With private donations and volunteers chipping in, the cabin was reassembled in Myers Park only about two and a half miles from its original location. Built by Thomas North, whose sons moved to Michigan and named their new home there after their hometown here in New York, the cabin returned to Lansing almost three years ago after spending 50 years at the Cayuga Museum in Auburn. The project was made even sweeter when some of North's descendants from Lansing, Michigan showed up for the official dedication ceremony in August.
Lansing is a sports town, and for the past 12 years has been honoring its own as it brings former Lansing High School Athletes home to be honored for their achievements. This was your top story from the January 21st issue.
School administrators dropped a bit of a bombshell in December when they reported that the district has not been meeting it's legal obligation to special education students, and further that at least $100,000 of state reimbursements had not been -- and could no longer be -- claimed. A bit of a flap over whether an independent consultant should be hired to assess the situation and recommend changes, especially when a new Director of Special Education was about to be hired.
You loved this story and so did I. Refuse from the Tompkins County Jail was cyclically clogging the village sewer, and causing backups in neighboring properties. After the Lansing Star and WHCU reported on this story, Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill reported that the Sheriff's office has agreed to install a grinder between the outlet from the Public Safety Building on Warren Road and the village sewer system.
And Speaking of Sewers...
In 2007 an $18 million sewer proposal was killed before it even went to a vote: it was just too expensive. Town officials had worked heroically to come up with a sewer plan that would meet DEC restrictions that included a requirement that Lansing sewage be transported via a trunk line through the Village of Lansing to the Cayuga Heights Treatment Plant, but it couldn't be done inexpensively enough. Making things worse, people in the sewer district would pay for sewer even if they couldn't be given service. Last July Town Supervisor Scott Pinney reported that the DEC has dropped its insistence on a shared treatment solution. A new plan involving a new standalone treatment plant could bring sewer from the Lansing Schools down through the town center area, and up to the Fingerlakes Center on Auburn Road. At early glance this one seems to have a much better chance of succeeding.
Donunts Come to Lansing
They say the corner of Triphammer and Peruville Roads is the second busiest intersection in Tompkins County. If you've been watching the traffic at the new Xtramart that is easy to believe. With the opening of the Crossroads Restaurant and Bar at the end of 2009, the new Xtramart and Dunkin' Donuts in May, and the upcoming supermarket just north of the Xtramart next summer, that corner is one of the most happening places in Lansing.
Last June the mother of a state swimming champion charged that the LCATs, the swimming club team that had gotten considerable free use of the high school swimming pool for years, were not meeting school requirements for outside groups using school facilities. This all blew up not long after severe cuts to the school district budget threatened to close the pool altogether. The accusations brought out LCATs parents and swimmers in droves to defend the club and its coaches at a July school board meeting.
When town board members learned that their support of worthy local programs including the Lansing Older Adults Program (LOAP) may be an improper disbursement of public funds nobody was more shocked than they were. It turned out that they could continue to support these programs if certain requirements were met, and that required that representatives from each program show how the public good was served, and that a contract between the organization and the Town be drawn up. After this story was published all the threatened programs except LOAP did apply for the funding, and those that applied received it.
A New Sheriff in Tompkins County
2011 will bring a new Sheriff to Tompkins County, one with the same name as the Town of Lansing (no, his first name is Ken, not Town...). Ken Lansing said change was needed in the Sheriff's Department, and as the former Cayuga Heights police chief he was qualified to bring it. When he lost the primary to incumbent Peter Meskill, Lansing said he would run on an independent line in the general election. He ran, and he won. He talked to the Lansing Star shortly before the primary. Here is that interview.
Do Village Residents Pay For Services They Don't Get?
In November Village of Lansing Mayor accused the Town of Lansing of 'double-dipping' -- charging for services the Village already provides. While Hartill acknowledged this tax arrangement is the rule of thumb across the state, he said that Villagers pay the Town of Lansing $700,000 per year, but only receive $100,000 worth of services. Hartill and Town Supervisor Scott Pinney each had an extreme solution: Pinney said the Village should merge with the Town, while Hartill said it should secede. Meanwhile Hartill is waiting for Town Board members Robert Cree and Kathy Miller to review his figures and make recommendations to the whole Town Board.
In November Village of Lansing Mayor accused the Town of Lansing of 'double-dipping' -- charging for services the Village already provides. While Hartill acknowledged this tax arrangement is the rule of thumb across the state, he said that Villagers pay the Town of Lansing $700,000 per year, but only receive $100,000 worth of services. Hartill and Town Supervisor Scott Pinney each had an extreme solution: Pinney said the Village should merge with the Town, while Hartill said it should secede. Meanwhile Hartill is waiting for Town Board members Robert Cree and Kathy Miller to review his figures and make recommendations to the whole Town Board.
Will Lansing's Eyesore Ever Be Cleaned Up?
This story struck a chord with a lot of readers, getting a large number of hits. When it was opened the Chris and Greens restaurant was never a hallmark of architectural excellence. But over the years it deteriorated to the point where just about everyone in town wants it to go away. That could be problematic for the current owner, so in May Town officials talked about reaching out with some concessions that would to make it reasonable and possible for the owner to develop the property attractively. Some called the location 'people's first impression of Lansing,' noting that it is currently a bad one. At a time when the Town is trying to attract new business to build up a town center, officials hope to break the inertia that has plagued any chance of something attractive going there in the past.
This story struck a chord with a lot of readers, getting a large number of hits. When it was opened the Chris and Greens restaurant was never a hallmark of architectural excellence. But over the years it deteriorated to the point where just about everyone in town wants it to go away. That could be problematic for the current owner, so in May Town officials talked about reaching out with some concessions that would to make it reasonable and possible for the owner to develop the property attractively. Some called the location 'people's first impression of Lansing,' noting that it is currently a bad one. At a time when the Town is trying to attract new business to build up a town center, officials hope to break the inertia that has plagued any chance of something attractive going there in the past.
Frank Discussion Among Democrats
Love her or hate her, Barbara Lifton just won her fifth term as State Assemblywoman. She is very aggressive on a number of issues, including hydrofracking, legislative reform, and voting machines. An October 'town meeting' in the Lansing Town Hall attracted fewer than a half dozen people, but as it turned out Lansing's County Legislator Pat Pryor and Town Councilwoman Kathy Miller were among them. The discussion provided a fascinating look within the local democratic party, and while virtually nobody turned out for the meeting, it was our top read story of the October 15th issue.
'Cats' Triumphs at Lansing High School
It's a musical about cats in a junk yard. And one of the most beloved Broadway shows in history. Last March Lansing High School students took the challenge and mounted a production. The auditorium was filled, and Star readers made it one of the top features of the year.
Jeffrey Neil Colt Promoted to Brigadier General
It's not often that one of Lansing's own becomes a U.S. Army General. So readers loved the story we published last April celebrating Jeffrey Colt's promotion. It was the top story in the April 30th issue.
Oh Dear, Too Many Deer!
There is hardly a day when you don't see a dead deer on the shoulder of Triphammer Road or East Shore Drive, Auburn Road, or any number of roads in Lansing. Over the past few years the Village of Lansing, which is being devastated by hoards of hungry deer, has instituted a population culling program. Last year it started to pay off, and we will have a report on this year's result in next week's issue. But if you just can't wait, here's our report from a year ago, which was the top story in our first issue of 2010.