Archive: News

Gay Nicholson is running for Lansing Town Board.  Originally from Wisconsin and Illinois, she came to the area for graduate school.  She has lived in Ludlowville 34 years.  For seven years Nicholson served as the Executive Director of the Fingerlakes Land Trust.  In 2004 she became a founder of Sustainable Tompkins, where she serves as President, and a founder of the Green Resource Hub. 

Nicholson says her experience as a community leader on countless Ludlowville and Lansing organizations and projects, and a non-profit leader in Tompkins County will bring skills to the Town Board that will be good for the Town.  She dropped by the Lansing Star to talk about why she wants to be a Lansing Councilwoman.

Rep. Tom Reed and the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to reauthorize the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA). WRRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to facilitate waterway infrastructure improvements and environmental restoration. Priorities in the bill include strengthening water transportation networks, streamlining the environmental review process, and saving taxpayer dollars.

“Upstate New York is blessed with vital waterways that the federal government has a responsibility to strengthen and support,” Congressman Reed said. “Keeping our harbors, lakes, ports, locks and other water infrastructure up-to-date will support competitiveness and economic growth in our 21st century economy and will better position the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes to ‘make it here, sell it there.’”

More than 25 percent of real property value in New York is exempt from county, city and town property taxes, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The total value of these exempt properties is $680 billion. The value increases to $826 billion for properties exempt from more than one type of local government or school district taxes.

“In an era of limited resources, the impact of property tax exemptions complicates the financial picture of our local governments,” said DiNapoli. “In localities with higher exemptions, taxable property owners are often carrying a much higher burden. Local leaders will need to continue to find creative ways to offset these exemptions and must carefully weigh any decision to offer new exemptions. Syracuse is attempting to tackle this challenge head on and others can learn from its example."

Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee tonight recommended that the Legislature amend County Administrator Joe Mareane’s 2014 Tentative Budget and the Capital Program for the next five years.  The amended budget, to be presented to the Legislature in special session next Tuesday, would increase the County tax levy by 2.95% and the countywide average tax rate by 1.34%.  The recommended tax rate of $6.89 per thousand is 4 cents lower than in the Administrator’s budget, and an increase of 9 cents compared to 2013, representing an increase of $14.81 for the average $163,000 home.

In amendments during two voting sessions, the committee reduced the County Administrator’s budget by $260,128 in target spending.  The recommended levy increase of 2.95% compares to a 3.54% increase contained in the County Administrator’s budget.

The securities industry started strong in the first half of 2013, reporting profits of $10.1 billion, but higher interest rates, litigation costs and the uncertainty created in Washington D.C. could put a damper on earnings in the second half of the year, according to an analysis released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“The political gridlock in Washington may take a bite out of the securities industry’s profits for the fourth quarter,” DiNapoli said. “Washington’s inability to resolve budget and fiscal issues is bad for business. Wall Street has undergone substantial changes since the financial crisis yet it remains profitable, contributing to the improved finances of New York City and New York state. Failure to resolve the federal budget and debt ceiling impasse could disrupt the economy and hurt New York City and New York state."

New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio announced that he is co-sponsoring legislation (S.5953) that would allow veterans of the United States Armed Forces to add a veterans status to their current New York State driver’s license or non-drivers ID without charge.

Under a new State law, men and women who have served honorably in the United States Armed Forces are eligible to have a special veterans designation added to their driver’s license or non-drivers identification. There is no additional fee for veterans who ask for the special designation at the time of their driver's license or identification card renewal. There is, however, a $ 12.50 administrative fee for veterans who wish to add the designation before their license or identification card expire.

Twenty four people met Tuesday to band together to bring down the price of solar power.  Solarize Lansing is the town's version of Solarize Tompkins SE that last year successfully arranged for almost 300 households from three Tompkins County communities to form a solar-buying club, promising a number of orders to bring the price down for each individual.  The Lansing group hopes to go in with an expanded Solarize Tompkins group on solar electric installations this year and place its own group order for solar hydro installations.

"We've been hosting a series of meetings for getting community owned renewable energy going in Lansing," said Sustainable Tompkins President Gay Nicholson.  This week's meeting was the third in a series she has hosted in Lansing.  "Last year Caroline, Danby, and Dryden pooled their efforts and signed up close to 300 households signed up for solar hot water or solar electric or both.  I know that at least 100 of those households have sites that are good for solar and are under contract and moving forward."

New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb today joined with Finger Lakes Community College President Dr. Barbara Risser as well as other County and local community leaders in the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Finger Lakes Viticulture Center in Geneva. The Center will be located on the campus of the Cornell Ag-Tech Park in Geneva, adjacent to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.

“After years of planning and hard work, I am pleased to announce that the construction of the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center will begin this fall. As the art of winemaking continues to gain in popularity, we are witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of wineries here in the Finger Lakes region and the construction of the Viticulture Center will support the continued growth of this important, job-producing industry. The new Viticulture Center will enable our State’s future winemakers to study at the same site where some of the most innovative agricultural research in the Nation is taking place every day,” said Nozzolio.

As the Village of Lansing works on updating its comprehensive plan, Trustees discussed surveying local businesses to supplement the information gathered in a phone survey of residents last month.  With a large retail and business component, the Village wants to know what managers and business owners think.  Discussion of a new survey focussed on traffic, signage and shopping carts, and the form a business survey would take.

"My thought is that we would send them a written survey," said trustee Julie Baker.  "We can try to figure out if there is anything from the phone survey that is appropriate for the businesses."

	Last week we interviewed County Legislature candidates, this week Town Board incumbents, and next week Town Board Challengers.  Click here for all 2013 interviews publiched to date.

Katrina Binkewicz is completing the term vacated by Andra Benson in October 2012.  Binkewicz was appointed to the position, then ran and won the seat for the rest of Benson't term.  Previously she had been elected to the board in 2000 and served a full term at that time. She has lived in Lansing in 1990, and lives here with her husband Matthew.  Her son graduated from Lansing high School this year and currently attends college in Massachusetts.

Binkewicz has an art degree from Hamilton College, and has a MS in horticulture and an MA in teaching science from Cornell University.  She is certified to teach 7-12 science with an emphasis on biology, as well as art.  She currently teaches art to special education students at TST BOCES.  She has been a leader on the board in transforming Salt Point to conform to the management plan that is part of the lease agreement with the state. She spoke to the Lansing Star two weeks ago about what she wants to do if elected to a new term.

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	Last week we interviewed County Legislature candidates, this week Town Board incumbents, and next week Town Board Challengers.  Click here for all 2013 interviews publiched to date.

Robert Cree is running for a second term on the Lansing Town Board.  He has lived in Lansing with his wife Elizabeth for 20 years.  They have two children , a son in college in Ohio and a daughter at Lansing High School.  He is Associate Vice President for Business and Finance at Ithaca College.

The Town Board position is Cree's first elected office.  He ran four years ago because he felt the board didn't have financial expertise among the members then.  Since taking office he has been conducting the annual audit, saving the Town about $10,000 per year.  He also vets monthly expenses.  The Lansing Star spoke to him in his office Tuesday.

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The federal government shutdown ended yesterday (Thursday) morning when President Barack Obama signed legislation, passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, to raise the nation's borrowing limit before the United States would have been unable to pay its bills.  Of Lansing representatives both Senators Gillibrand (D) and Charles Schumer (D) voted Wednesday night to reopen the government.  But in the House Congressman Tom Reed voted against the bill.

"The 23rd district of New York did not send me to Washington to support the status quo of government by crisis," Reed said. "This country needs a long-term solution that stops the endless cycle of crises and kicking the can down the road. Enough is enough. We cannot keep borrowing to cover uncontrolled spending without jeopardizing our children and grandchildren’s future. No one wants a default but that is exactly what will happen sooner or later if we do not deal with this problem."