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The Lansing Sewer Committee is getting closer to presenting the a $9.75 million sewer project to the Town Planning Board, and then to the public.  In their Wednesday meeting they discussed a possible district extension that would potentially not cost the district more dollars, but add units that would share the cost, lowering the annual fees for all units within the district.  They also discussed progress on getting public support for the project.

Town officials are negotiating with the developers of Cayuga Farms, a 138 town house condominium project that is planned along Triphammer Road south of Asbury Road.  The developers have expressed an interest in bringing sewer down Triphammer Road from Peruville Road at their own expense.  If an agreement is reached that would also bring homes along the northern section of Triphammer Road into the district.  Lansing Supervisor Kathy Miller says she has recieved four calls from residents along that strip with aging septic systems who have expressed an interest in hooking up to sewer if it is available.

Developer John Young attended Wednesday's meeting.  Young is proposing a smaller development of 20 homes west of Cayuga Farms, just behind the RINK in a village green configuration, with a possible buildout of two more circles of 20 homes each arranged around common green space.  About 85% of the project would be green space, protected by a conservation easement.  Young said he is ready to move forward on this project as soon as a sewer district is approved.

"We've had this idea for a while," Young said.  "But until sewer comes there is no way to move ahead with it.  I had originally expected to wait longer, but if sewer came along I would speed the project up and do the first phase straightaway."

These developments add significantly to the capacity needed for a standalone eatment plant that is proposed for land that Cargill has offered to donate to the town.  Until now the committee has considered a 150,000 gallon per day But Lansing Engineering and Planning Coordinator Jeff Overstrom questioned whether that capacity would handle the originally planned district built out over 20 years, let alone those units plus the Cayuga Farms/Triphammer Road units. 

"That seems very low," he said.  "You may be looking at anywhere from an 500,000 up to one and a half million gallon a day treatment plan -- I don't know.  We need to really hammer out that number.  You have to come up with an EDU calculation.  Based on how many gallons per day per EDU, that would be the capacity of the treatment plant."

Town officials are asking engineering firm Stearns and Wheeler to price a treatment plant based on the number of units.  Committee member Andy Sciarabba pushed to get a firm estimate soon so the committee can bring solid numbers to the public, probably next month.

The Town has been approached by individuals interested in building a biomass generator using sewer gas from the plant.  Overstrom said the proposed treatment plant will not be capable of producing materials needed for a biomass plant, but he noted that the location of the plant is favorable for a wind turbine to help reduce the Town's cost to powerthe treatment plant.

Additionally he reported that Ithaca has expressed an interest in using sludge from the Lansing plant, which would present an opportunity to dispose of the material at little or no cost, including trucking, because Ithaca is so close.

The committee is also trying to solicit as much support for the project as possible.  Sciarabba said the School Superintendent Stephen Grimm is composing a letter of support (click here to read letter), and committee member Noel Desch presented a draft of a letter he plans to distribute.  Desch hopes potential district residents who want sewer will sign the letter.  And County Assessment Director Jay Franklin  has written a letter that says property values will not be directly affected.  While he says it is not the Assessment Department's policy to predict the effects it will have, it will not in of itself raise the property assessment.

"If, in fact, the sewer does go in, we will not make any changes to value -- either negative or positive -- to the existing residential properties until the real estate market shows an effect on value," he wrote.

Sciarabba talked about two issues he hopes the Lansing Planning Board will handle.  First he said that Town Attorney Guy Krogh has suggested a 'Town Center Zone' that will allow for the density and kinds of residential and business development planned for the to153 acres of town land across the street from the Town Hall and ballfields.  He also advocated strict planning guidelines for the commercial/retail portion of the plan.

"This is a planned community," Sciarabba said.  "You want to have a nice look to it all the way through.  If the Planning Board isn't on top of the requirements in that zone you're going to have trouble.  We have guidelines in other communities all around us, so it's easy to come up with them."

Sciarabba also presented a rough outline of issues to present to the Planning Board later this month.  He asked other committee members to review it and add any other issues they think of.  Committee members hope some planning board members will be able to attend next week's sewer meeting to help identify issues the Planning Board is likely to raise.

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