Archive: News

The enacted state budget was completed on time, sending a positive signal to bond markets and taxpayers, according to a preliminary report released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“The Governor and the Legislature deserve credit for once again adopting budget bills ahead of the April 1st deadline,” DiNapoli said.  “Nevertheless, New York continues to struggle to meet serious fiscal challenges. The recently passed state budget restrains spending growth, but it also contains temporary resources and revenue assumptions that may fall short. Instead of reining in the state’s reliance on backdoor borrowing, it expanded the use of public authority debt.”

Village of Lansing Trustees received a progress report on a new Village Hall Monday.  The &$700,000+ project went out for bids for the second time on April 10th.  Village officials put the project on hold last year when bids came in considerably higher than expected.  Deputy Mayor Lynn Leopold said Monday that eight bids for general contractor and five for subcontractors are currently under review.

The 2,662 square foot office building will include offices for the Village Clerk, Code Enforcement Office, and DPW, and will include a public meeting room and an office for the Trustees and Mayor.

The week after the September 11 attacks CNN had a report on an anthrax attack on news media sources and U.S. senators.  This particular report was on a victim who worked at the National Inquirer, which was located in Boca Raton, Florida.  That caught my attention, because CNN was showing a hospital that I recognized -- it is in the small city my parents live in, within walking distance of their house.  It was horrifying to think a biological attack was that close to them.

Monday the same thing happened.  I turned on the television to see a street I recognized getting blown up.  CBS News was looping a video showing bombs igniting on Boylston and Exeter Streets at the finish line of the Boston marathon.  I grew up in Boston, and I spent a lot of time downtown when I was growing up.  I still have some family in Boston, so again it was highly disturbing that the attack was centered there.

On Tax Day, Rep. Tom Reed put the spotlight on an issue he sees moving in the right direction in the House of Representatives: comprehensive tax reform.

“Each year at tax time, families and small businesses find themselves spending billions of hours and billions of dollars trying to file their taxes,” Reed said. “A simpler, fairer tax code achieved through comprehensive tax reform will help create a stronger economy – one that keeps money in the pockets of taxpayers, not a federal government with a spending problem.”

Pat PryorWithin two years most Lansing households will have access to high speed broadband internet service.  Until now about 330 homes and businesses have been unable to get service that meets the FCC minimum broadband standard.  because they did not fall within the reach of Time Warner's cable service.  In March Lansing's Tompkins County Legislator Pat Pryor announced that New York State had awarded a $2.2 million grant to extend high-speed Internet service to unserved and underserved areas of Tompkins County.

"We'll probably be starting in a very few weeks," said Lansing's Tompkins County Legislator Pat Pryor, who chairs the county Broadband Committee.  "The Town of Lansing is fully included in the $2.2 million we received.  We'll get the full buildout."

The Lansing Town Board did not vote on a resolution responding to the NY State SAFE Act Wednesday, but resident Andrew Aasen polled the Town Board on representatives' positions on the law.  Aasen is part of a group of citizens who have formed the Tompkins Liberty Coalition to lobby to repeal the SAFE Act.

"Although some of you may think the idea of a resolution is moot in light of the County's decision to support the unconstitutional New York State SAFE Act it is of great importance to those of us who value our liberty, freedom, and the safety of our loved ones and our community as to your stance on this important issue," he said.  "I'd like to have each board member state your position for the record so your constituents know where you stand."

In the wake of vandalism last October in Lansing town parks and school property Lansing Park Superintendent Steve Colt reported a bizarre crime to the Town Board Wednesday.

"Under the categories of 'You Can't Fix Stupid' and 'You Can't Make It Up' somebody went to Myers Park about a month ago and 'borrowed' 50 to 60 spigots off of everything that had a spigot ont it," quipped Colt.  "So far they haven't deemed it necessary to return them.  Probably some scrap yard has already purchased it.  The schools have had similar issues, so it probably happened around the same time."

The Lansing Sewer Committee presented the $10.8 million sewer project to the Planning Board Monday.  In addition to informing the Planning Board about the project, the presentation was a kind of dress rehearsal for the public information meeting scheduled for April 23 at 7pm in the Lansing Middle School Auditorium.  Wednesday the committee gathered for a detailed post-mortem to tighten up the presentation and cover issues that were brought up by from Planning Board members.

The presentation is split between a handful of speakers who will cover the general scope of the project, costs, benefits, and the justification for the project.  Lansing Supervisor Kathy Miller says the event is for Lansing residents to get the facts on the project, and to get a chance to ask questions about what it will mean to them.  Attendees will be asked to write questions on cards.  Miller says questions will be held until after the formal presentation, then answered.  Sewer Committee members will be joined by Town Board members, and the Town Engineer and Attorney.

Chris Pettograsso was appointed Superintendent of the Lansing Central School District Monday in a unanimous vote of the Board of Education.  Pettograsso has been serving as Acting Superintendent since Stephen Grimm resigned last summer.  The school board has put her through a rigorous evaluation process during which she met with faculty and staff as well as members of the community at large.

"I appreciate all your support," she told the board  after the 6-0 vote.  "I look forward to our future collaboration."

Following pressure from Congressman Tom Reed’s office and local stakeholders, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday announced its decision to delay closures of all 149 federal contract air traffic control towers until June 15th. The FAA previously reported the Ithaca Airport would be included in the final round of closures slated to occur the week of May 5th.

“While we hoped the announcement would be a reversal in the FAA’s decision, we are glad to see they responded to the pressure our office placed on them,” Reed said. “The delay is a step in the right direction as it provides the Administration additional time to produce an alternative plan to avoid tower closures.”

Last week Cayuga Power Plant officials announced a plan to convert the coal-powered plant to gas.  The plant, formerly AES Cayuga, is the largest taxpayer in Lansing.  It's devaluation over the past three years has been devastating to the Lansing Central School District in particular, accounting for significant tax rises for homeowners.  School officials are cautiously optimistic about how the conversion will impact the district.

"For a number of years, the power plant was subsidizing our tax rate and tax base," said Lansing School Superintendent Chris Pettograsso.  "As it has diminished it has had a greater impact on our taxpayers.  Our hope is, if this does happen, that some of the pressure to the homeowners will be diminished a little bit."

The Lansing Board Of Education approved a $26,536,000 budget Monday for the 2013-2014 school year.  That will mean an estimated tax rise of $317, a 4.26 tax rate rise, this summer for homes valued at $200,000.  While the board was unanimous on the budget as a whole, it was split on the way the money should be raised.

The board is required to vote on the budget amount, but where the money comes from is determined when the tax warrent is issued in late summer.  But board members agreed to give Business Administrator Mary June King guidance on how to break down revenue so she can present the information to taxpayers in the budget bulletin.

"The public is going to want to know where we stand when we're recommending a tax increase," said board member Tom Robinson.