Archive: News

The County Legislature's Public Safety Committee viewed first-step preliminary concept drawings Wednesday of how interior space might be repurposed in a renovated County Public Safety Building. The preliminary drawings, prepared by LaBella Associates, showed one way in which interior space might be reconfigured to create more jail program space, responding to the County's desire to investigate improvements to non-jail bed facilities and systems.

The scenario presented would envision a two-phase project—the first constructing a new adjoining facility to house the Sheriff's Road Patrol and Civil Divisions (projected cost close to $4 million); the second performing interior renovation of the space currently occupied by Road Patrol and Civil, remaining within the existing building footprint (estimated cost of those renovations nearly $2.8 million. Mark Kukuvka, of LaBella, stressed that the concept presented represents only a very preliminary first step, presented for committee review.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday an extreme risk protection order law that would prevent individuals determined by a court to be likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to themselves or others from purchasing, possessing, or attempting to purchase or possess any type of firearm, including hand guns, rifles, or shotguns. Building on New York's already strongest in the nation gun laws, this legislation, which builds on prior legislative efforts, would make New York the first state in the nation to empower its teachers and school administrators to prevent school shootings by pursuing court intervention.

"While the conservative leadership in Washington remains immobilized by the NRA, in New York we refuse to be intimidated by the gun lobby and will continue to take action to protect the people of our state," Cuomo said. "Across the nation, students and communities are taking to the streets to demand change, and we are once again picking up the mantle of leadership from Washington with common sense measures to target the roots of school shootings, and prevent gun violence, tragedies and heartbreak."

The Lansing Town Board unanimously approved Sewer District #1 Wednesday at a working meeting in the Village of Lansing.  After at least two decades of trying to pass a municipal sewer projects in the middle of the Town of Lansing, a three-municipality agreement that makes the new project viable is being lauded as a big win-win-win for the Town and Village of Lansing and Village of Cayuga Heights.

"This is a pretty good day for everyone," said Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne.

One of the arguments for passing the Comprehensive Plan revision by the beginning of May was that Lansing would become eligible for a half-million dollar grant to make improvements to Myers Park.  They noted that the project was rated the full 20 points last year, the highest number of points the Southern Tier region assigns to projects that best meet regional goals for development.  But it was knocked out of the running because the official Town plan was a dozen years old.  Not having the Comprehensive Plan revision passed may have disqualified the project.

"I don't know if it disqualified us," says Lansing Planning Consultant Michael long. "It made it very difficult to get over the hump, in terms of projects.  Regional looks at certain things, but a comprehensive plan is a benchmark project that they would like to see, especially because of how out of date our old plan was.  A large grant was given to the Village of Union Springs for a project there.  We were competing with them."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday that the State Board of Elections, in concert with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will host a first-of-its-kind series of tabletop exercises focused on protecting the integrity of New York's electoral systems against cyber-attacks. Partnering with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, State Police, and State Intelligence Center, the tabletop exercises will identify areas for improvement in cyber incident planning, preparedness, and response through simulation of realistic scenarios attempting to undermine voter confidence, interfere with voting operations, and affect the integrity of elections.

"We have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences a compromised election has had on our nation and New York will not stand idle and allow our democracy to be infiltrated once again," Governor Cuomo said. "The people of New York deserve an open, transparent election process they can trust, and these exercises are an integral part of restoring voter confidence and the integrity of our election infrastructure."

Senator Pam Helming announced Wednesday that the New York State Senate recently passed a package of legislation, which includes two bills that she co-sponsors. These measures would help ensure taxpayer money is invested wisely, prevent conflicts of interest, enhance transparency, and increase the accountability of public officials.

"Our government is meant to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, but it cannot be so if the people cannot trust in their government. New York State has unfortunately become known for corruption and wasting the people's money while stifling honest, fair economic development and job creation. This package of legislation will end those practices and give the people a reason to believe in our government. Additionally, it would stimulate private investment and development by creating a level playing field for all who want to participate. I am grateful to my Senate colleagues for supporting these critical measures, and I am hopeful that the Assembly and the Governor will see the need for this much-needed reform," Helming said.

Senator Pam Helming announced Tuesday that the New York State Senate recently passed two bills – one that she sponsored and one that she co-sponsored – that will protect veterans memorials and ensure the maintenance of state veterans cemeteries. The measures are part of a package of legislation geared toward honoring the service and sacrifice of New York's veterans.

"As the daughter of a U.S. Air Force veteran and the mother-in-law of a current U.S. Army soldier, I will always make it one of my foremost priorities to serve those who have sacrificed so much for us. The Wayne-Finger Lakes region is home to Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery, which pays tribute to our fallen heroes. We can never thank our veterans enough for their commitment and dedication to our country and our community, and we should not limit our show of appreciation to special occasions such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Such remembrances should take place every day. My Senate colleagues and I put on display the utmost respect and admiration that we have for our military men and women by passing this important legislation for our veterans," Helming said.

Tompkins County Sheriff Ken Lansing and former Undersheriff Dereck Osborne both announced they will run for Sheriff this year. Osbourne served as Undersheriff under Lansing until a bitter split over the handling of a shooting incident on Hornbrook Road in 2015, when he was replaced as Undersheriff with Brian Robison.

"The last eight years have been filled with lots of hard work, determination, and progress by the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office team that we've put together," Lansing said in his video announcement. "We have been able to put many programs and plans into motion. I would like to see those committments follow through to the end."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced nearly $38 million is now available through the Farmland Protection Implementation Grant program to help farmers across New York protect valuable and at-risk farmland. Since Governor Cuomo took office, the state has reinvigorated the program and committed historic investments, including doubling the funding in this latest round from last year - marking the highest level of ever offered through the program.

"By investing in the sustainability and growth of New York's farmland, we are protecting an important economic driver for communities across the state while providing opportunities for our agriculture industry to grow," Governor Cuomo said. "This unprecedented $38 million commitment to land preservation will ensure New York's vast farmland is used for agricultural purposes and remains protected for generations."

In April of 2010, after much discussion and public input,  Lansing's the Town Center Committee presented a vision of what a possible town center could look like.  The parts that current residents would enjoy are the business and recreational portions, neither of which are likely to materialize unless residential density can be increased.

Will Lansing ever get something like the own center so many residents said they wanted?  While adherence to that concept has become looser, Lansing Planning Consultant Michael Long says that it guided the most recent RFP (Request For Proposals) that, so far, has resulted in two projects that look likely to be constructed.  Long says many of the elements of the Committee's concept are still on the table, including an eventual retail/professional building piece.

"We took the old town center plans that were developed years ago, and tried to keep those components," he says. "We used the original RFP with some modifications.  When we proposed the original subdivision concept was to try to use the same types of development so there would be road frontage -- that's the D parcel."

Senator Pam Helming and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb announced yesterday that they are sponsoring legislation that would reform the process through which the State Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates and removes judges. Specifically, the bill (S.8593/A.10112-A) requires Commission hearings to be made public and provides that judges who are suspended do not receive their salaries.

"We are all familiar with the local case of a judge who was suspended from the bench following her conviction for driving while intoxicated and has not been working for more than 800 days. Yet, she continues to receive her six-figure salary while under investigation by the Commission and despite being involved in several incidents since her initial arrest. This is a disgusting affront to justice and a tremendous outrage to the hardworking taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet while making an honest living. This is a symptom of a broken system that must be fixed in order to restore integrity in the judiciary. I thank Assemblyman Kolb for his support on this measure, and I am hopeful that our colleagues will agree with this much-needed reform," Helming said.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday that 2,439 solar projects have been installed or are in development in communities throughout New York. These projects are part of locally-organized campaigns supported through the NY-Sun Solarize Initiative. Solarize is a vital component of Cuomo's Clean Energy Standard, which requires that half of New York's electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.

"New York leads the nation in advancing aggressive clean energy policies and by supporting local projects across the state, our communities are realizing the benefits," Cuomo said. "Solarize campaigns are bringing renewable energy to residents and businesses at an affordable price while providing resiliency to the electric grid to ensure a cleaner, greener New York for all."