Archive: News

With Albany leaning on local governments to consolidate services, and even, in some cases to consolidate villages with their surrounding towns, the Town and Village of Lansing and Lansing School District are among several municipalities in Tompkins County that are struggling to comply.  County Administrator Joe Mareane has been meeting with supervisors and mayors from governments within Tompkins County to work out a plan for sharing services that will satisfy Albany.  But some local officials are finding the process difficult.

"I am finding it very frustrating," said Mayor Donald Hartill at a recent Village of Lansing trustees meeting.  "I'm going along because I have to, but it certainly isn't a positive experience.  At the first meeting I argued to just tell the (state) government to go stuff it.  That didn't go over very well.  It's this continual relentless trying to manage from the top.  It doesn't work too well."

NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Senator Pam Helming introduced bills Wednesday that would allow the Lansing School District to create a Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund. In the face of draconian revenue loss from the devaluation of the Cayuga Power Plant a Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund to gradually save money now to avoid large tax rate hikes later. A year and a half ago Lansing Schools Business Administrator Mary June King proposed creating the reserve as one of many measures school officials were considering to try to stabilize school taxes. But there was a catch: the district could only establish the reserve if the state legislature enacted it into law.

"Our intention is for our advocacy group to get involved in working with our state legislators to get them -- it's got to be a legislative action -- to give us special dispensation to create a reserve relative to this power plant," King explained to the Board Of Education at a January of 2016 meeting.

The Lansing Democratic Committee announced yesterday that Joseph Wetmore and Walaa Maharem-Horan will be candidates for Lansing Town Board in the November 2017 local election. They will challenge Republican incumbents Robert Cree and Doug Dake. Cree is running for a third term, and Dake his second.

Wetmore is a resident of North Lansing, and Maharem-Horan is a resident of South Lansing. The Tompkins County Democratic Committee says they plan to advocate for transparency in all town government affairs in order to be accountable to all members of the Lansing community. If elected, both candidates plan to build on their prior volunteer experience in Lansing and the County to promote the vitality of Lansing and support increased citizen participation in advisory capacities in order to ensure that Town Board decisions represent residents’ opinions about what is important to the future of the Lansing Community.

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY) and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) are set to re-introduce the Leveraging and Energizing America's Apprentice Programs, or LEAP Act. The bill is designed to increase apprenticeships through a new federal tax credit for employers.

"We must work to help individuals get the training they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. This tax credit will serve to increase apprenticeships and get people the skills they need for good paying jobs," Reed stated.

Bill could stem loss of tax revenue from Cayuga Power Plant

New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton announced Tuesday that she has introduced legislation that would help the Lansing School District, the Town of Lansing, and Tompkins County weather the loss of tax revenue from the Cayuga Power Plant and possibly other facilities across the state experiencing diminished electrical production.  New York State Senator Pam Helming introduced a similar bill in the Senate.  The bill would make State Urban Development Corporation transition funding available to communities suffering tax revenue loss from power plants within their districts that experience a 20% or more reduction in their taxable value and at least 15% of their electricity production.  Current law only extends the aid to communities with plants that have entirely closed.

"I'm pleased to introduce this legislation, which would make an important change in the rules governing how aid is distributed to municipalities and school districts that face a loss of revenue from a struggling power plant, such as the Cayuga Power Plant in Lansing," said Lifton. "The loss of revenue from a marginally-operating plant can have a devastating impact on school district and town budgets and can put important programs and essential services on the chopping block. If enacted, this amendment would ensure that local municipalities and school districts in those scenarios are eligible for state aid that will help them weather the gap."

Legislature Approves Purchase of Trust Company Building for History Center Home
Tompkins County will purchase the Tompkins Trust Company building on the Ithaca Commons to house the History Center, along with other non-profits co-located as a heritage education center. The Legislature, by unanimous vote, approved acquisition of the building, as recommended by its Facilities and Infrastructure and budget committees. The Trust Company will vacate the building in 2018 to move to its new downtown headquarters on Seneca Street—the same year that the History Center's current County-paid lease expires. The goal is to have the building ready for History Center occupancy in January 2019.

The action authorizes the County Administrator to negotiate acquisition of the building for a cost not to exceed $2 million ($400,000 below market value) and to amend the County's five-year Capital Improvement Plan to include Building acquisition and improvements, at a total cost of $2.9 million—reflecting approximately $900,000 in needed improvements needed to make it code-compliant and ready for tenant-funded renovations. The building and improvements will be paid for in cash, using unbudgeted revenue from the region's two casinos, with potential cost reductions of $450,000 from the project's private Capital Campaign and as much as $100,000 which could come from a Strategic Tourism Capital Grant.

Senator Pamela A. Helming (R,C,I-Canandaigua) as part of the Legislature's Animal Advocacy Day, helped pass a package of bills that bolster protections for animals and their owners from harm and abuse. These measures will help strengthen our current animal abuse laws, crack down on animal fighting, and improve oversight for animal shelters, among other measures.

The Lansing Fire Commissioners delayed acting on a bid to extend the equipment bay and replace the roof at Station 3 in Lansingville when the only bid received came in $96,000 higher than expected.  Station 3 is the only one of the district's four fire stations that has yet to be updated.  The bay extension would allow modern fire turcks to fit inside the fire station and provide storage space.

"It's basically a masonry and a roofing job," said Architect George Breuhaus.  "We want to take out the back wall and extend the apparatus bay another 22 feet.  That will extend the overall length to 60 feet.  It gives you the ability to put in a ladder truck if you want to, and provide some space behind.  The roof is now 18 years old.  With the new energy code we have to add an additional two inches.  So we might as well do the whole roof and get it up to the current code."

Current Village of Lansing zoning law has two short sentences defining a 'household'.  Village Trustees considered an expanded version Monday they hope will remedy code violations in which too many people occupy a dwelling unit.  The new section, over two pages long, mirrors a similar law in the Town of Ithaca that lays out a more specific definition.

"There's at least one single family house in the Village that has more people than you'd expect in a single family home," said Mayor Donald Hartill.  "There are probably another couple of cases that I've heard rumors about.  One of the things that we've been doing is to try to understand how we can address this problem."

Congressman Tom Reed announces that Cornell University is the recipient of a $270,227 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant will benefit the Upward Bound program which aids high school students from low-income backgrounds and students from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor's degree.

"We care about making sure that all students who want to, can attend college regardless of their background. This grant will help make higher education a reality for many people looking to go to college," Reed stated.

The Tompkins County Legislature's Budget, Capital, and Personnel Committee, meeting in special session, acted in strong support of the Tompkins Cortland Community College's proposed budgetary initiatives, and also joined in recommending that the Legislature approve acquisition of the current Tompkins Trust building to become the home of the History Center and other complementary non-profits.

By unanimous 4-0 votes (Legislator Mike Sigler was excused), the Committee called for adoption of the College's 2017-2018 budget, which includes a 1% increase in support from Tompkins and Cortland County sponsors; recommended that the College be authorized to appropriate $100,000 in surplus funds to replace lost tuition-based revenue for the current budget year; and recommended a one-time $83,200 discretionary supplemental appropriation from the Contingent Fund, outside of the budget process, to implement a Service Management Modernization Program during the coming academic year.

New York State Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan announced the appointment of Senator Pam Helming (R-C-I, Canandaigua) to the Senate Task Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases. The Task Force is charged with improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of these diseases to better protect the health of New Yorkers and their families.

Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan said, “It’s an honor to appoint Senator Helming to this vital Senate Task Force - - her contributions will help to better identify issues and resources to help the Finger Lakes region prevent Lyme’s spread. From the start in 2013, the Task Force has worked determinedly on enhancing research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment for harmful tick-borne illnesses.”