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Although Lansing Town Supervisor Kathy Miller stated last month that the municipal sewer project is dead, residents spoke out at Wednesday's town board meeting exhorting board members to insure it is finished.  A $1.8 million town-wide sewer project was rejected by the board last month.

"To all intents and purposes the sewer initiative is over with," Miller said Wednesday.  "12-A and 12-C are no longer on the table.  Those are the two things that would affect the town.  If some developer comes in here and says they are going to build a sewer at their cost then we have to consider that and we should hear them out.  But as far as a town-wide sewer, that's over with."

Originally the town sewer committee considered a 12-A (section 12-A of NYS town law) project that would have created a sewer district in South Lansing stretching from the Lansing public school campus, south to Ladoga Park, and east as far as the New York State juvenile detention facilities on Auburn Road that would have serviced a proposed Town center and existing homes and businesses along the route.  When that proved too expensive for landowners within the proposed district, a 12-C town-wide proposal was floated.  That proposal proposed two tiers -- Tier 1 properties would pay 60% of the project's debt plus operation & maintenance and service fees because they would be located in the initial service area.  Tier 2 property owners would pay $23 per $100,000 of assessed taxable property value to make up the remaining 40% of the project debt.  The Town had obtained a $2.537 million state grant to help pay for the project and lower costs for taxpayers.

But in the wake of strong opposition including the results of a telephone poll conducted by Councilwomen Ruth Hopkins and Katrina Binkewicz that found that the majority of property taxpayers in Tier 1 did not want sewer, the board killed the project at last month's meeting.

A few weeks ago Sewer Committee member Andy Sciarabba asked the board to consider a new proposal that would create a micro-sewer district in the Town Center area that would include businesses located at the corner of Triphammer and Peruville Roads.  He proposed building a package plant, a kind of mini-sewer treatment plant, that would service the area that would be paid for by businesses and developers, but not homeowners (unless a homeowner wanted to opt in).

That plan addresses many townspeople's objections to sewer, but Councilman Ed LaVigne said that he is not in favor of the Town fronting the money for the project (and paying sewer fees for town-owned land within the district) when he is not certain that projected development would actually happen.  He said he  does not want to risk taxpayer money on uncertainties.

The new proposal alarmed many townspeople who fear another municipal sewer proposal is about to replace the quashed project.

Town resident Roger Hagin read a statement from resident Dewey Ray, who could not make it himself to the board meeting.

"Why do you make people think that the sewer project is over when it isn't?" Ray wrote.  "Drop it completely along with the sewer committee and their self-interests.  Drop it, or the November 5th elections will anyway."

"I think we should be spending more time supporting our existing businesses in the Town of Lansing rather than expanding our tax base," Hagin added.  "These people need your support to keep going as they are."

Resident Mary Sullivan agreed with Hagin.

"We need to support the businesses that we have," said Mary Sullivan.  "When they came here they paid for their sewer.  They paid for their right to have their business established here.  We need to look after the businesses that are here and we also need to look after the taxpayers that are here."

Miller said that the board would have to listen if developers bring a plan like Sciarabba's proposal that is wholly paid for by developers and business owners, but any form of municipal project is dead.  Councilman Robert Cree asked whether, under the circumstances, it would make sense to disband the sewer committee.

Councilman Ruth Hopkins agreed that the committee should be disbanded, but asked the board to first charge committee members with documenting their deliberations so their work will not be duplicated in the future.

"Rather than no more meetings can we get a closure report from them on lessons learned, recommendations, options they didn't consider... just to have that on record so we don't repeat everything?" she said.

Binkewicz agreed that it is time to disband the sewer committee, but said the Town Center committee should be ressurected.

The board voted 5/0 to ask for the summary and disband the committee no later than September 15th.  They agreed that a list of 17 comments and questions submitted by resident and engineer James Sullivan be made a part of the summary.

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