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Lansing Supervisor Kathy Miller, Andy Sciarabba, and David Herrick met with top New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) officials in Albany Tuesday.  They were there to talk about obtaining a loan and favorable interest rates to help bring down the cost of a proposed town sewer system.

"What was exciting about yesterday's meeting is that the executive staff was there, the upper crust of that group," Herrick said.  "We've got faces and names and phone numbers and I think that's going to help in keeping this project fresh in their minds."

The town Sewer Committee has been working on a stand-alone sewer project that would include a town-owned treatment plant located near Cargill that would serve an area of town where officials hope to encourage development, both to attract new businesses and homes to help mitigate rising taxes, and to preserve farm lands in the north of town.

"The reality is that a lot of what had been available to the Town has dried up, in large part because that's why this has been a 15+ year process," Herrick says.

Much of a $4.2 million of NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grant dried up in 2008 when a larger, more expensive and controversial sewer project failed.  DEC allowed some of that money to be diverted to the Warren Road sewer project, which went on line last year.  But the rest was withdrawn.

The proposed district as it is currently drawn starts at the Lansing schools and includes Myers Park, and Ladoga Park, runs along 34B to include the town center area, and up 34 to provide service to the state juvenile detention centers and Kingdom Farm.  The committee is considering changes to the boundaries of the district to serve more existing residents along and east of Triphammer Road south to Triphammer Terrace.

If Lansing can secure a loan from EFC the interest rate could be half or less of market rate.  Miller said that several factor could help Lansing obtain a favorable loan.

"They're very concerned about environmental factors," she said.  "That's probably number one on their hit list, and that would include Ladoga Park.  They were very interested in the fact that the schools need three new septic tanks that are limping along right now."

She said that a note from the Tompkins County Health Department saying that they are allowing the schools to keep their septic systems in service until municipal sewer becomes available will also help make Lansing's case.  Another plus in Lansing's favor is that facilities like the two juvenile detention centers and Cargill that have NY State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits to run their own sewage treatment plants could connect to a municipal sewer, reducing the number of individual treatment plants.

Sciarabba explained that municipal projects are subjected by EFC to a scoring system.  Projects that qualify for financing start at market rate, but those with higher scores can receive a subsidized rate between zero interest and half off the market rate.

To qualify 50 percent of Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDU) in the proposed district must be residential.  Sciarabba noted that EDUs in developments that have been proposed for the town center land across the street from the town hall will count only if signed contracts are in place insuring they will be built.

The Tuesday meeting was arranged by NYS Senator Michael Nozollio, who has been helping town officials navigate the state labyrinth for the more than a decade and a half that sewer has been on the table.

"I think this is our best shot at getting sewer here," Miller said.  "We've got somebody pulling for us, which is certainly Senator Nozollio.  I think that makes a difference."

Sciarabba says that while the committee has to present the 'worst case scenario' to the public, meaning the most dollars per EDU that sewer could cost, it is looking for ways to reduce the cost per EDU significantly to make the project attractive and affordable.  The committee will pursue grants available for infrastructure projects.  Committee members talked about the possibility of hiring professionals to write successful grant proposals.

"You find a million, it costs you ten thousand," said Councilman Ed LaVigne.  "We can attack this on multiple fronts at the same time."

The purchase of the town center land and the prospect of sewer also means that contractors could begin building there as early as next year if all the pieces fall into place.  That will add more EDUs to the district, lowering the cost for each property owner.

"We will probably know on an informal basis in an April/May time frame," Sciarabba said.  "Our funding will probably be next year, but we want to know now or as soon as possible if we're going to be able to get the loan in the first place and what interest rate we'll have.  That's why we've got to hustle to get them this information to them as soon as possible.  We need a list of everything we want to accomplish and put some time frames on them."

Miller says a favorable EFC loan will go a long way toward making sewer happen in the town.

"The bottom line is to get everything done, and done right," Miller said.  "We're going to get what we need to go forward with the project."

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