Archive: News

Tompkins County Legislature Acting Chairman Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) told the Lansing Town Board Wednesday that sales tax revenue is up for last year.  That is good for all the municipalities in the county, including Lansing, which received $1,501,534.56 last year through the end of November.

"We're doing great," Sigler said. "We're up 6.4% compared to a year earlier. People are clearly buying things. We're up 4% for the whole year over 2018 so that's kinda nice. That should help us with our budget next year."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Thursday an additional $2 billion in energy efficiency and building electrification initiatives to combat climate change. The New York State Public Service Commission has approved an ambitious set of energy efficiency and electric heat pump targets to dramatically reduce energy consumption in New York. The new targets for investor-owned utilities will bring nearly $2 billion in market-enabling investments to help transform the way New York residents and businesses heat and cool their homes and offices and move towards cleaner and healthier buildings and communities throughout the state. Together with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the New York Power Authority, the Long Island Power Authority and a previous PSC order on efficiency, New York State is now investing over $6.8 billion in energy efficiency and clean heat investments from 2020 through 2025. This historic investment supports New York's Green New Deal strategy and nation-leading mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state by 85 percent by 2050 and achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality.

"Climate change is a real and growing threat to New York's environment and economy and to the health of our people, and we're already experiencing the negative impacts in the form of increased weather related emergencies," Cuomo said. "This historic investment shows we are aggressively pursuing clean energy alternatives to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, growing jobs in clean energy industries and protecting our environment for current and future generations."

Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his State of the State address in Albany Wednesday, outlining more than 30 initiatives he wants to accomplish in 2020 to make New York the 'progressive capital of the nation'.  Proposals include instituting a domestic terrorism law; 'restore mother nature' bond act; legalizing cannabis; expanded excelsior free college tuition; paid sick leave & fighting child poverty; achieving 100% statewide cell phone service; protecting gig economy workers; addressing veteran homelessness & suicides; 'nothing to hide' tax returns disclosure; empire station complex; and reimagining the erie canal, among other goals.

"Our ship of state is stronger than it has been in decades, but the ocean we navigate is as tempest tossed as we have seen. Waves of anxiety, injustice and frustration are being fanned by winds of anger and division, creating a political and social superstorm, but these are the times when New York is called upon to show leadership and set a course for a troubled nation," Cuomo said.

Washington, DC - Congressmen Tom Reed (NY-23), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Darrin LaHood (IL-18), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), David Schweikert (AZ-6) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) introduced the Energy Sector Innovation Credit Act Wednesday to encourage U.S. energy market innovation and ensure future generations have clean air to breath and clean water to drink.

"Our climate is changing. There is no denying this," Reed said. "We must unleash the greatest asset we have available to prevent this pending crisis – the power of American ingenuity and innovation. This tactic has proven time and time again to solve world problems – and this situation will be no different. By offering a tax incentive for new energy technologies we will increase energy on the grid, ensure unneeded energy is not financially rewarded and thus unnecessarily produced, help cutting-edge technologies break into the market, incentive older energy sources to innovate and slash global emissions."

Audience members at State of the State address Wednesday
At Sunday's 'No Hate. No Fear' Solidarity March in New York City, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced an additional $45 million in funding is available to help protect New York's religious-based institutions, including non-public schools and cultural centers, against hate crimes. Funding is being made available through Requests for Applications under New York's Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Grant Program. The Governor also announced the creation of a new tip line. Additionally, the Governor announced that State Police will continue increased patrols and security in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods across the state.

"The recent rash of anti-Semitic and other hate-fueled attacks in New York and across the nation are understandably causing anxiety, but we will not be intimidated," Cuomo said. "In New York we stand up to those who try to sow division and fear, and this new funding will provide religious and cultural institutions the support they need to help protect themselves and keep people safe. We will not let the cancer of hate and intolerance weaken us - we will continue to stand up and denounce it every time it rears its ugly head."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo directed state public safety and emergency response agencies to increase security at critical infrastructure points amid mounting tensions in the Middle East last Friday, including deploying the National Guard to New York City airports.

"Recent international events are understandably causing some anxiety, and while New York has not received any direct threats, out of an abundance of caution I am directing National Guard and state agencies to increase security and step up patrols at our most critical facilities," Cuomo said. "We have the best emergency response personnel in the country. We are prepared for any situation that's thrown our way and will continue to communicate any pertinent information to local governments and to the general public to ensure everyone is safe."

There were roughly 200 people in attendance at Wednesday night's Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at the new Ithaca Tompkins International Airport. The evening was highlighted by the unveiling of a new plaque that recognizes the many people responsible for completion of this project. From left to right: Mike Hall, Airport Director; Jennifer Tavares, President of the Chamber of Commerce; Mike Sigler, Temporary Chair of the County Legislature; Martha Robertson, Immediate Past Chair of the County Legislature; and Larry Baum, Chair of the Air Services Board.

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Village of Lansing Trustees appointed the first two members of its Climate Smart Communities Task Force Monday,  Deputy Mayor will serve as Task Force Chairman and Climate Smart Communities Coordinator, and Trustee Randy Smith will be the trustee member. 

As municipalities deal with a changing environment, 282 communities have registered as Climate Smart Communities across New York State. 34 of those have become certified for making progress on goals that are aimed at helping the municipalities mitigate such things as extreme weather, flooding, and other impacts of more extreme weather we seem to be experiencing. The Village Trustees voted in November to become a Climate Smart Community when they unanimously passed a stripped down resolution that affirmed the ten required pledge goals, but removed the reasons for joining the program.

Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) is serving as temporary Legislature Chair for at least two weeks, following the Legislature's failure to elect a Chair and Vice Chair for 2020 Tuesday. The Legislature split 7-7 between candidates Mike Lane (D-Dryden) and Anna Kelles (D-Ithaca). The positions of Chair and Vice Chair are filled each year by majority vote of members of the Legislature.  A motion to move ahead with the vote of the Vice Chair did not pass, and the meeting was adjourned with Sigler remaining Temporary Chair until the next meeting.

"This is how democracy is," says Sigler, "Sometimes it's messy.  We have excellent department heads, staff, and administration.   Our services will not be affected at all by this and any major policy shifts still have to go through the entire legislature.  This is not a presidency, it's the legislature and all the norms that were in place yesterday, are in place today. The business of the county will continue to get done.  You’ll see no change in the day to day operations and we’ll continue to address those issues that confront the county and those living in Tompkins County."

Construction on the Lansing Meadows development has been progressing through the winter.  The senior (55 and up) housing project, a condition of the Planned Development Area (PDA) that Village of Lansing officials stipulated when they approved the construction of BJ's Wholesale Club, will include 18 townhouses in six buildings.  Arrowhead Ventures Developer Eric Goetzmann and Construction Manager Jim Bold were at the Village trustees meeting Monday to request what they characterized as a minor adjustment to the PDA that would subdivide the property into 18 lots that would enable them to sell the townhouses, rather than rent them as originally planned.

"We're here to request an amendment to the Lansing Meadows PDA allows us to subdivide the parcel and sell off individual townhouses," Bold said.  "We feel that selling the properties would be beneficial to both the village and to the developer in terms of a longer term strategy for home ownership here in the Village of Lansing.  The modification that we're requesting is basically lot size and frontage on a private road. Those are the only two things that would be changed, frontage and lot size.  It's still senior housing.  A certain percentage has to be rented to people 55 and over. So nothing would be different."

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Legislature Votes to Limit Purchases of Single-Use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene Foam Items in County Government
Legislators approved unanimously a resolution to limit the purchase of Single-use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene Foam items in Tompkins County Government. These items include dishes, utensils, straws, cups and water bottles, etc. Legislator Deborah Dawson says it's important for County government to reduce purchasing these items in the first place, and lead by example in its efforts toward becoming more sustainable. County Administration will develop an environmental procurement policy to implement the resolution no later than April 30th.

Barbara Eckstrom, the County Director of Recycling and Materials Management, told the Legislature product stewardship – or holding manufacturers responsible for their products' end of life - will continue to be a focus at the state level.

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