Archive: News

Lansing Central School District

Athletic Department- Various Coaching Vacancies at all levels for Winter and Spring Sports.
Qualifications: as per New York State Department of Education.
Applicants should submit a letter of interest to John Taylor, Athletic Director at 300 Ridge Road, Lansing, NY  14882.

Deadline:  October 14th, 2008

In their second night of voting on modifications to the County Administrator's recommended 2009 County Budget, Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee recommended funding to continue Sunday hours at the Tompkins County Public Library and to fund the new Lansing Library at the same level as other county rural libraries. Tonight's actions may be modified at future meetings and will need formal approval by the County Legislature to become final.

TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY:
By a vote of 8-5, Legislators called for restoration of $20,000 in target funding which would enable the county library to remain open on Sundays, as the County's portion of an anticipated three-way partnership involving the City and Town of Ithaca. Part of the County's contribution ($8,500) would be paid through utilities accounts and $11,500 as a direct contribution. Several expressed the view that it is important to keep the library open on its most heavily used day, which is most convenient for many residents. A proposed amendment that would have put the allocation into contingency until the City and Town committed to the arrangement failed by a vote of 6-7.

 

Letters to the EditorTo the editor:

Perhaps because of all the talk about economics, bailouts, etc, in recent weeks, other important
campaign issues have been receiving less attention. One of my main reasons for hoping to see incumbent Michael Arcuri reelected to Congress from the 24th CD is his statement in a letter of June, 2008, "The time has come to honor the bravery and sacrifice of our military men and women by moving forward with a responsible, tactical withdrawal out of Iraq."

 

Another is his statement in a letter of December 2007, "I feel strongly that pursuing a military option against Iran is not a prudent solution." His votes on various funding bills in recent months have been entirely consistent with these statements. The human and material costs of our misguided war in Iraq weigh heavily on my mind and conscience, and I believe that an attack on Iran would have catastrophic, cascading consequences for our country and the whole Middle East. Please help elect a man who shares these concerns and can be trusted to act on them.

 

Martha Ferger
Dryden

About 30 people turned out to the Tompkins County Public Library Thursday for the library's first local presidential debate.  County Democratic Chair Irene Stein and County Republican Chair Mike Sigler faced off for an hour and a half, finishing just an hour before the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joseph Biden was to begin. 

The debate was moderated by Assistant Director of Government and Community Relations at Cornell Gary Stewart, and Elissa Cogan, President of the board of the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation acted as time keeper.  Larry Roberts, Program Director of Finger Lakes Independence was on hand to register voters.

After years spend developing costly projects that were either voted down or killed before coming to a vote district officials are looking at a different approach.  "We've got to start working backwards to say how much we need in a capital reserve, and how much do we have?" said Superintendent Stephen Grimm at a recent school board meeting.  "How are we going to build that into our financial planning, instead of spending reactively?"

Over the past two months Grimm and Lansing's Board of Education has been finalizing plans for two capital projects that will address the district's most pressing infrastructure needs with little or no cost to the taxpayers.  "We need to build trust with our taxpayers," Grimm said.  "They need to know what they're getting.  The first thing we want to do is get what we can without any cost.  That's going to be the combination of the Excel project ($1.1 million) and the energy performance contract (over $4 million).  The idea is to combine these two on a December 8th referendum."

middleschoolthumb120.pngLast Friday Lansing School Superintendent Stephen Grimm sent a letter to the parents of all district students.  "On Wednesday, September 17, a middle school student reported to the principal that on Friday afternoon, September 12, an "older man" in a silver four-door sedan with New York plates, asked a boy and a girl from the middle school if they wanted a ride home instead of walking in the rain," he wrote.  "The pair declined and did not report it at the time.  The reporting student also indicated that the same man and car was driving slowly near students after school on Monday, September 15.  He is described as 'average size, salt and pepper hair, no glasses, wrinkles in face.'"

As soon as students reported the incident school officials jumped into action.  The Sheriff was brought in, and Middle School Principal Jamie Thomas made an announcement to put all his students and faculty on alert.  "As difficult as it can be for students to hear an announcement about this, I think it's critical to let everyone know," Thomas  says.  "We don't know whether this is a problem, we don't know whether this person is being inappropriate or not, but we're going to be safe.  We're going to make sure that we don't take any chances."

aescayuga_plant120.jpgIn the last Lansing Board of Education meeting Superintendent Stephen Grimm told the school board about a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) program that could bring $300,000 new dollars to the school district every year starting next year.  The agreement was negotiated with AES Cayuga, the Lansing electrical power plant.  Tompkins County Administrator Stephen Wicher headed up a negotiating team that included legislators Martha Robinson, Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Dooley Kiefer, and Paula Younger.  Last Monday Whicher came to the school board meeting to answer questions about the agreement.

"At the last meeting we talked about the AES Cayuga power plant," Grimm explained.  "The county was in negotiations with the power plant about the assessed value of their property and business.  They came to an agreement, a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreement that increases their assessed value over time.  It benefits the district in that we will receive more money from them as a revenue source."

Citizens had a chance Monday to learn about the proposed 2009 Tompkins County Budget and to voice their opinions to county legislators.  Nearly 30 people attended the forum, held at the Tompkins County Public Library, among them representatives of County departments and agencies.  Ten citizens addressed legislators, nearly all of them asking legislators to preserve funding for valuable services - including those provided by the Tompkins County Public Library, county mental health services and youth programs. 

One young woman, Samantha Liddick, speaking through her sign language interpreter, told legislators of the tremendous positive impact that the Youth Employment Service “Learn to Earn” program has had on her life, and Diane Bradac, of Workforce Development’s One Stop Resource Center, conveyed messages from employees and customers on the many reasons why the Workforce Investment Board and the One Stop Center, which could lose funding if the tentative budget passes without change, should continue its unique services to individuals, employers and the community.  The county library was praised as “a lifeline” for a young mother; something that has “saved (the) sanity” of a widowed retiree; and as “a great resource” which must be open seven days a week.

2009 Budget Hearing Scheduled
The Legislature, by unanimous vote, scheduled the formal public hearing on the 2009 Tompkins County Tentative Budget and the 2009-2013 Capital Program. (Legislator Tyke Randall was absent.)  The hearing will take place Monday, November 10, 2008, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at County Legislative Chambers, 320 N. Tioga Street in Ithaca.  The Legislature will take public comment prior to the budget adoption vote, expected on November 18. 

Prior to the formal hearing, citizens are invited to comment on the proposed County budget and capital plan at the County’s Annual Community Budget Forum, which will take place next Monday, September 22nd beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Borg Warner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green Street, Ithaca.

UTICA, N.Y. - (Sept. 16, 2008) Three days after Richard Hanna called for Congressman Charles Rangel to step down as chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, a number of newspapers did the same including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Albany Times Union.
 
When will Congressman Michael Arcuri join the calls for Rangel's resignation and return the $4,000 he's received in campaign contributions?  The public is waiting, but Mr. Arcuri remains silent on the issue.  Hanna is running against Arcuri for U.S. Congressman.

WASHINGTON, DC – To make America energy independent and bring gas prices down for local families, U.S. Representative Michael A. Arcuri (D-Utica) voted yesterday for comprehensive energy legislation which includes the largest opening of land off-shore for oil and gas development in our nation’s history, and invests in renewable energy sources to further lower energy prices and create more “green” jobs in Upstate New York.

To bring short-term relief to local middle-class families, the Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act (H.R.6899), passed by the House of Representatives, would:

In their third night of review, County Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee reviewed seven more 2009 budget requests.  Taken up were proposals from the Probation Department, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, the Tompkins County Public Library, Workforce Development, the Office of Employment and Training, Cooperative Extension, and the Soil and Water Conservation District.

County Administration advised legislators that an adjustment in unallocated revenues based on recent calculations reduces the projected tax levy increase contained in Administrator Steve Whicher’s recommended budget from 2.77 to 2.55 percent, meaning that the Legislature, if it desires, could add about $150,000 in spending and still meet its 3 percent tax levy increase target for 2009.  The tax levy is the total amount of property tax revenue that must be collected to balance the budget.