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The first of many public information sessions on a proposed sewer district in Lansing attracted about 55 residents to the Town Hall Tuesday.  Members of the Sewer Committee gave a presentation on the proposal, and attempted to answer questions from the public.  Town Supervisor Kathy Miller began the meeting by explaining why sewer is vital to the Town, saying that school revenues in particular ar at risk because of the plummeting value of the district's largest taxpayer, the AES Cayuga power plant.

"Although the town collects taxes from AES, it is the schools that have relied on the taxes paid by this business to cover a large part of their budget costs every year," Miller said.  "No one is sure what the future holds for AES, but it is time for the Town and the schools to stop depending on AES.  Unless we can attract business and light industry to Lansing residential payers like you and I will have to make up the lost revenues due to the decline and possible demise of AES Cayuga.  In order to attract business to Lansing we need municipal sewer."

Miller noted that the meeting was for disseminating information, and not an official public hearing.  Committee member Noel Desch explained how the Warren Road sewer has benefited the town, making it possible for Transonic Systems to keep their headquarters and 100 jobs in Lansing and giving the company the ability to more than double its workforce here over time.

Committee member Andy Sciarabba then presented a PowerPoint explaining the boundaries and details of the proposed district.  Sciarabba explained that the proposed Town Center project is tied to the sewer, with two proposed projects, an 80 unit affordable cottage-style housing and a 110 unit market rate senior housing project, being vital to making a sewer affordable.

"Those 190 units will bring the cost down to about $676 per EDU (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) per year," he said. 

But he noted that future expansions to the district and a possible grant could bring that annual cost down more. 

Residents expressed concern about who votes to create a sewer district, who pays for a district, and the impact to the character of the town and the capacity of the schools. 

"We're down probably 250 kids from about 15 years ago," said School Superintendent Stephen Grimm.  "We can handle the growth with the capacity of the buildings.  In terms of new growth that would come in, especially with the types of housing that is proposed, we don't think we're going to exceed that building level capacity at all.  In terms of financing it's an investment that will pay off ten, twenty, thirty-fold, because all we would need would be around $3 million of assessment growth to cover $50,000 per year payment.

"$3 million assessment growth is going to be easy," he continued.  "We are looking and hoping for some of those businesses coming in.  One is a thirty or forty million dollar operation.  That alone would almost take care of what we risk losing from AES Cayuga as it drops from about $86 million down to sixty.  And in another three years we're going to know whether or not they are going to go away.  You have to have economic growth.  The time for investing and planning for it is not when you need it.  It's when you anticipate needing it.  We could look back five years from now if AES goes under, and say 'What were we thinking?  We saw that it was going to happen.'"

Opponents criticized the committee and the plan, challenging estimates of hook-up charges they said could go as high as $15,000 for some residents.  Committee members were still waiting for estimates from three contractors they asked to predict the average hook-up cost.  Half way through Wednesday's Sewer Committee meeting the first estimate came in, predicting between $2500 and $3500 depending on where existing pipes are located on a property.

Betty Hegarty, probably the most vocal opponent of a Lansing sewer, asked many questions about the project, including just how long it will be before forming the district comes to a vote.  She said her annual septic maintenance costs are quite low so sewer would not be cost-effective if her property were included in a sewer district.

Opponents, all of whom live outside the proposed district, brought up a number of issues, including the cost to the Town.  Steve Smith challenged Town Attorney Guy Krogh's explanation of who bears the cost for the sewer.  Krogh explained that only those within the district pay for the sewer, and that the risk of default could be mitigated by dealing with reputable and successful developers, especially in the Town Center project.

There was confusion over the idea that the good financial standing of the Town being used to obtain favorable project loans would mean the Town would be on the hook for the tab if residents defaulted.  In Wednesday's meeting committee members tried to clarify that defaulting on sewer payments would be like defaulting on a mortgage -- the district residents would be on the hook, not the Town as a whole.

A few residents whose homes are included in the proposed district spoke in favor of the project.

"She (Hegarty) is one of the exceptions, maybe," said a Ladoga park resident.  "We've been here for 50 years.  Our old septic system is about ready to go.  We've been waiting for the sewer."

The committee critiqued their own session the next day, discussing ways to provide answers more understandably, additions to a list of Frequently Asked Questions, and better ways to conduct future informational meetings.

The Sewer Committee will have a booth at Lansing Harbor Festival tomorrow (Saturday, August 11th, 10am to 6pm), and plans to do the same at some of the Saturday Lansing Farmer's Market mornings.  The next public information meeting is scheduled for September 18th at 7pm.

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