Archive: News

The Town of Lansing Planning Board considered a draft policy designed to insure that the Lansing Center Trail remains a part of the landscape no matter what development occurs on the 152 acre town land across the street from the Lansing Town ball fields.  Town Planning Consultant Michael Long said that preserving the trail is a consideration in negotiations with Rochester's Cornerstone Group, the first developer that will be building on the town land.  The policy retains a 20 foot right of way for the Town, while providing the flexibility to relocate it to accommodate future development.

"We're trying to come up with a mechanism for insuring that there will continue to be a trail on the town lands as they are sold the trail may change, depending on where the developments are," planning board member Deborah Trumbull summarized. "But this will give us some flexibility to continue the use of the town land.  Most of the trail sections are at the perimeter of the town land."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood submitted comments yesterday to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and demanded that the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council repeal and replace the unfair state-by-state allocation of the annual commercial quota for summer flounder, also known as fluke. The need for equitable distribution of fluke is critically important to New York's fishing industry and the state's overall ocean economy.

"New York's commercial fishing industry has been constrained by unfair federal regulations, limiting the amount of fish commercial fishermen and women can catch and damaging our state's economy," Governor Cuomo said. "It's far past time for these inequities to be addressed, and our petition is clear: New York must be put on equitable footing with other East Coast states in order for this valuable industry to reach its full potential."

At Tuesday's caucus of registered Democrats in the Town of Dryden, residents unanimously selected Jules Ravo as their nominee for Town Justice and Alice Green as their nominee for Town Board.

Ravo was first elected in 2014 after serving briefly as interim Town Justice. He came to the court with 34 years of legal and trial experience in local courts as well as in trial and appellate courts at the state and federal levels.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Tuesday announced new agricultural trade partnerships between New York and Puerto Rico to strengthen both the Puerto Rican economy and the ties between the two communities as Puerto Rico continues to recover and rebuild. The Governor pledged to help Puerto Rico rebuild their agriculture and food supply systems, and work with local farmers, the University of Puerto Rico, and other partners to provide technical assistance and expertise to rebuild the industry. Ten months after the devastation of Hurricane Maria, agricultural trade between New York and Puerto Rico is rapidly growing with the expansion of New York-grown apples, cabbages, and onions into Puerto Rico and watermelon, mangoes, and pumpkins grown in Puerto Rico becoming available in New York. Conservative estimates say these agricultural trade opportunities will exceed well over $1 million in economic benefit to both New York and Puerto Rico.

The Governor made the announcement while in Puerto Rico leading a delegation of SUNY and CUNY presidents and students, as well as nonprofit partners, labor leaders, and elected officials, to support the ongoing efforts on the island. This trip marks the Governor's fifth trip to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, and part of the third deployment of SUNY and CUNY student volunteers since the initiative began.

The plan is to build five rental 'micro-houses' on a small triangle of land at the top of Hillcrest Road.  They would provide income for the owners, who live across the street, as well as serving a desire expressed in Lansing's comprehensive plan to focus denser development south of Peruville Road in order to preserve farm land in the north of the town.  But Lansing's land use ordinance has tied the town Planning board's hands unless the owners can get a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).  And even then there may not be a way to get the project approved, even though planning board members appeared to favor the idea at a Monday meeting.

"The issue is they arbitrarily drew lines for the IR zone," said Planning Board Chairman Tom Ellis. "This little corner at the top of the hill was included in that.  IR does not have any designation for housing -- it's not permitted.  Ergo it doesn't have any density requirement, because it's not permitted.  So there are a couple of issues at play here.  Number one, it's not allowed, so you need a ZBA use variance.  We have to come up with a density if they grant the variance.  We do not have any zoning designations that allow for that density, even with water and sewer."

When the first phase of Milton Meadows is completed next summer a new road will form a four way intersection with Auburn Road (34B) and Woodsedge Drive.  If the new road were to be placed exactly across from Woodsedge Drive it would have to go through a private residence.  As the homeowner might take exception to that, town officials plan to move the north end of Woodsedge Drive a few feet to the west.  That won't happen until the land sale is final, and a grant will pay for most of the cost.

The Town Board approved a permit for the developer, Cornerstone Group, to access land that will remain under town ownership in order to build the new road north of Auburn road.  The developer will build the road and accompanying infrastructure to town specifications, and then dedicate the new road to the Town when it is completed. 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued an update Wednesday on heavy rain that has impacted the state since Saturday, swelling small streams and rivers and causing minor flooding issues in flood prone urban and low lying areas. The greatest impact has been in the Southern Tier, Southern Mohawk Valley, the Catskills in the Mid-Hudson Valley Region, and south of Albany in the Capital Region where a flash flood watch is in effect through tonight. Three to 9 inches of rain have fallen across parts of the warned areas since Saturday night. At the Governor's direction, 800 filled sandbags from the state's regional stockpiles have been deployed to the Town of Nichols in Tioga County with officials from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and regional Office of Emergency Management, Department of Transportation, and Department of Environmental Conservation personnel onsite to monitor and assist impacted localities with flooding issues that may arise.
 
"We continue to monitor the heavy rain that has battered communities across New York and have deployed sandbags and personnel to impacted areas in the Southern Tier to prepare for possible flooding," Cuomo said. "We are ready to provide resources to help ensure New Yorkers are fully prepared and ready to respond if conditions worsen."
 

Washington - This past weekend, Representatives Tom Reed (R-NY) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) joined the Faith and Politics Institute (FPI) on a first-ever pilgrimage to explore the confluence of two significant freedom movements with deep roots in New York State: the abolition movement and women's suffrage. The 2018 American Experience Pilgrimage took place July 20 through July 22, with the group visiting Auburn, Peterboro, Seneca Falls, Canandaigua and Rochester.

"This weekend allowed me to reflect, grow and take into account our history while simultaneously encouraging me to think about bipartisan ways to make a true difference for the people in New York and our nation as a whole," said Rep. Reed. "I would like to thank Rep. Maloney for joining me on this trip and FPI for coordinating this journey."

Senator Pam Helming announced last Friday that the New York State Senate passed a bill that she sponsors to include hop yards in the definition of agricultural land. The legislation (S.8841) would give hops farmers the same opportunities as orchard and vineyard owners to apply for agricultural tax exemptions. This measure will support the continued growth of New York's hops industry so that it can meet the demands of the many new breweries opening across our region.

"At my Farm Brewery Roundtable, I heard from various stakeholders who agreed that it is vital to support our hops farmers who supply the New York-grown ingredients to our brewers. We brought people together across party lines to get this important legislation passed. My legislation, coupled with the additional $100,000 in funding for Cornell's hops and barley research, which I secured in this year's budget, are important steps forward. It is exciting to see the growth of hops farming and brewing throughout the Finger Lakes region and New York State at large. As Senate Chair of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, I will continue to work with local farmers and brewers to support the continued growth of the job-producing hops industry," Helming said.

Senator Pam Helming announced last week that the New York State Senate recently passed a bill that she sponsors to increase the speed at which a slow moving vehicle may travel on roadways. This legislation (S.6746) would require a slow moving vehicle emblem to be displayed on all farm machinery, whether self-propelled or towed, but would allow farmers to drive their vehicles at 35 mph instead of the current 25 mph limit. Increasing the speed at which farm machinery can operate on roadways improves the overall safety of farmers and motorists. That is why the New York State Farm Bureau has been a strong supporter of this legislation.

"With agriculture being the top industry in our region and a major economic driver throughout New York State, it is important that we continue to support our hardworking, job-creating farmers in any way that we can. This bill to increase the speed limit at which farmers can operate their machinery on roadways is a critical part of that support. This measure improves safety for our farmers and motorists alike. As technologies change, we must update our regulations to reflect those improvements and this is a perfect example of a commonsense regulatory fix. To accomplish this goal, I worked with the New York State Farm Bureau, and I thank them for their continued support and assistance," Helming said.

Lisa Holmes and Amie Hendrix Appointed Deputy County Administrators
Tompkins County Administrator Jason Molino has tapped two experienced department administrators to serve in the position of Deputy County Administrator, announcing his appointment of Office for the Aging Director Lisa Holmes and Youth Services Director Amie Hendrix to fill critical leadership roles in the Department of County Administration and County government. Both positions provide executive level assistance for County Administration's many budget, administrative, planning, and coordination functions—involving Administration staff, and administrative and fiscal management of departments, programs, and agencies.

Hendrix and Holmes were selected as the result of an extensive national search.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a comprehensive initiative Tuesday with the State Board of Elections to further secure New York State's elections infrastructure and protect against foreign interference. The initiative will help County Boards of Elections strengthen their election cyber security in the face of foreign threats after the Department of Justice released an indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking during the 2016 elections, which also alleged that Russian intelligence officers hacked into the website of a yet-unidentified state board of elections.

In the FY 2019 budget, Cuomo secured $5 million to expand and further support statewide election cyber security infrastructure. The State will solicit contracts in the next few days for three independent services for County Boards of Elections, including: 1) cyber security risk assessments; 2) enhanced intrusion detection devices; and 3) managed security services. The State's Secure Election Center, managed by the State Board of Elections, will also provide statewide, uniform cyber security training to all state and county election officials and staff prior to the Midterm Elections.