Archive: News

As Governor Cuomo pushes to lift the ban on hydraulic fracking local municipalities have become active in putting laws and policies into place that will best protect residents and lands.  While the towns of Dryden and Ithaca and others have been proactive in redefining zoning and other regulations that could potentially ban fracking within their borders, Lansing has been behind in dealing with the issue.  At just about every meeting this year the Lansing Town Board has been asked what they are doing about it, and this month was no exception.

"I think it is very time critical, particularly since we have this 60 day consultation period," said resident Rachel Bean.  "Conceivably gas drilling could go ahead as early as 2012.  So there's not much of a time window to make changes or clarifications in the regulations that are within the Town Of Lansing's control before you have to start dealing with requests for gas drilling."

Most of the 40 people who attended a joint Village of Lansing Planning Board and Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday were neighbors or their representatives who oppose the proposed Lansing Reserve project.  Village officials were accused of pandering to developer interests, of having hidden agendas, contemplating exercise of eminent domain to provide access to the project, and making decisions based on flawed data.  Officials insisted they are simply following the law in considering the project, are in an information gathering stage, and are far from any final decision on whether or not the project will go forward in its current form.

"This is really an information gathering session," said Village Mayor Donald Hartill. "It is the earliest part of the process.  We still have more information to receive as our own traffic consultants evaluate (the developer's) traffic study.  There certainly are issues with respect to access."

The Tompkins County Council of Governments ial Gas Drilling Impact(TCCOG), by unanimous vote of those present, agreed to commission a land use analysis and impact assessment project, examining the effects horizontal gas drilling could have on Tompkins County.

The analysis, entitled “Community Impact Assessment:  The Potential Impact of Hydrofracking on Land Use, Community Character, and the Economy in Tompkins County,” will be based on a similar land use study for Middlefield, NY, conducted by the firm GREENPLAN, Inc., and was recommended by TCCOG’s Gas Drilling Task Force.

Kathy Miller was voted the Democratic candidate for Lansing Town Supervisor Thursday when Lansing Democrats held a caucus to elect candidates for this November's Democratic slate.  Miller defeated sitting Supervisor Scott Pinney and Deputy Supervisor Connie Wilcox for the nomination.

"I want to thank everybody for coming out," she said.  "This has been an interesting experience to say the least.  I want to thank everybody for their support of me, and we'll see what happens in the Fall."

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the Lansing Star.  On July 22, 2005 the first issue was published, featuring a series of articles about the Rogue's Harbor Inn, an update on the Searles Road cell tower, a proposed domestic partner policy for town employees, a report on the beginnings of the triphammer Road reconstruction project, and something we were most proud of, an editorial by Matthew Shulman, the editor of the Lansing Community News that kept residents in touch with the town from 1996 until 2000.

Like the Lansing Star, the Lansing Community News was a mom and pop operation published by Matthew and his wife Aline with contributions from local writers.  The paper was tabloid in format, a free paper available at popular local spots.  I always made sure to pick up my copy, and looked forward to learning what was going on around town.

Sheriff's Deputies responded to a complaint of inappropriate touching at Myers Park Saturday.  The incident allegedly took place in the swimming area.  A life guard was notified that a man had inappropriately touched a 12 year old boy.  At the time of the incident there was not enough evidence to charge the man, but Wednesday Town Supervisor Scott Pinney reported to the Town Board that he has taken action to prevent another such incident on Town property.

"After talking to the Sheriff's deputies (Park Superintendent) Steve Colt and I decided to write a letter to be served to the person who was involved, even though he was not charged," Pinney told the board.  "He was served papers saying he is not allowed in town parks indefinitely."

Lansing Town Clerk Debbie Crandall presented a newly designed tax bill to the Lansing Town Board Wednesday.  The simplified bill may save taxpayers money when they pay Town and County taxes after January, and will save the Town as well by diverting some service fees from the County to the Town.

"I wanted to make it simpler," Crandall told the board.  "My main reason for changing it was to make all the payment options available on the front of the bill."

The Legislature’s Government Operations Committee today took a careful look at a proposal that would relocate the County Office for the Aging to soon-to-be-vacated space at the County Health Department, and the Community Justice Center from the Old County Library to the Human Services Annex (formerly the Carpet Bazaar Building) downtown.  The committee, however, failed to recommend the proposal to the full Legislature by a tie vote of 2-2 (Chair Mike Lane and Legislator Pat Pryor voting in favor, and Legislators Dooley Kiefer and Dave McKenna voting no).  Legislator Peter Stein, who had to leave before the vote, had also expressed concern about the proposal.

Legislature Extends Authorization on Military Pay
The Legislature extended the County’s authorization regarding pay for County employees called up for military duty.  (The vote was 12-3, with Legislators Carol Chock, Will Burbank, and Peter Stein voting no.) The action authorizes the County, during the 2011 calendar year, to pay the difference between base County salary and military pay for up to 90 work days per calendar year when the employee is called to active military duty.  No payment will be made if military pay is equal to or greater than County base salary. 

The Legislature first authorized such supplemental benefits in 2002, covering those employees called to service following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and passed similar measures in 2004, 2007, and 2009.  Legislator Chock said she could not support the authorization as a matter of conscience, that she cannot support the principle of spending local dollars as a result of federal defense policy over which the County has no control.

A ballot draw was held on July 21 at the Tompkins County Board of Elections to determine the ballot position of candidates for the September 13 Primary Election.

For the Democratic City of Ithaca Mayoral race, the order will be Svante L. Myrick, Pam Mackesey, J.R. Clairborne. For the Democratic City of Ithaca Alderperson Ward 1 race, the order will be Cynthia L. Brock, George A. McGonigal.

Taxpayers across the state could save tens of millions of dollars a year if more local governments shared the administration of their highway operations, according to a report released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.  DiNapoli released the report at a press conference in Kingston, where he was joined by Ulster County Executive Mike Hein.

“There are more than 1,000 local government highway departments across New York State,” DiNapoli said. “Those departments spent $2.6 billion in 2009. There’s a great opportunity to save money, and with the enactment of the property tax cap, local governments need to look even harder at shared services."

Members of the county’s new Independent Redistricting Commission, charged with preparing a plan for reapportioning County legislative districts, took a first look yesterday at how population documented in the 2010 Census affects current legislative districts.  At the Commission’s second meeting Tuesday, County Information Technology Services Director Greg Potter, whose department will support the commission, cautioned that keeping districts as they are is not an option—that population shifts that have occurred over the past ten years place district population beyond the 10% variance among districts (5% above or 5% below the ideal) allowed by law.

Among the population shifts in the 2010 Census are a loss of population in the City’s Fall Creek area (about which some commission members expressed surprise and that Potter said he will investigate) and increases on West Hill in the Town of Ithaca and in the Town of Dryden.  Potter suggested that the Commission start with a set number of legislative districts—such as the current 15—and begin to review adjustment scenarios from there to assess potential ways to balance out the discrepancies.