Archive: News

To the anointed who know about Salt Point, it's a great place.  It's on the lake, there is plenty of space to hike or picnic.  And it is unsupervised, which, on the down side, attracts crime and loud parties.  And litter.  Saturday a small group of people who love the area came to clean it up.  "It's a place where people get access to the lake, where it's not currently supervised, says Cayuga Lake Watershed Network's Sharon Anderson.  "There's a lot of bonfires and parties and picnicking in a little more uncontrolled way than places like Myers Park or Stewart Park."

"It's a nation-wide effort through the Coastal America program, and locally through the American Littoral Society," Anderson says.  People all over America come to local beaches to pick up litter.  "The American Littoral Society wants us to record what we pick up," Anderson says.  "They have a data sheet with a list of different items.  The hope in doing this is that instead of just picking up trash they can educate people so there isn't as much trash in the future."

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP-125th AD) announced Monday that the governor had signed into law a bill she authored that would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to notify property owners within 30 days of the results of certain environmental testing. The bill was prompted by TCE contamination of Ithaca’s South Hill by the former Morse Chain, now Emerson Power Transmission, and residents’ subsequent fears for their own health and safety. George Winner sponsored the bill in the State Senate.

Such environmental testing has become more common, as contamination of indoor air by volatile chemicals that seep or vaporize from contaminated soil or groundwater enters homes and businesses and threatens public health.

Wednesday afternoon Democrats filled a building on Elmira Road in Ithaca to launch the new Tompkins County Democratic Headquarters for the 2006 election.  With primaries behind us, the candidates are making the final sprint to gain support before the November election. 

Starting with next week's issue we will be running interviews with candidates Lansing residents will be voting for in November, including new interviews with Arcuri and Lifton.

With a strong ticket starting at the top with Hillary Clinton and Elliot Spitzer, the room was buzzing with enthusiastic confidence as Tompkins party chair Irene Stein introduced the candidates.  "We must take back Congress," she told the crowd.  "We will take back Congress with Michael Acuri leading the way and with the help of all of you folks."

Lansing has a good deal in its volunteer fire department.  The current tax rate is $1.02 per $1000 of assessed property value (Ithacans pay $3.74), and that is not going to change in 2007.  In fact it may not change for three to five years.  Though assessments do keep going up, the fire district asks comparatively little of taxpayers when you compare it to County and School taxes, for instance.  And District Treasurer George Gesslein says the tax rate will stay the same for as long as possible.  "We're not going to provide fewer services," Gesslein  says.  We can't.  It's a matter of how far we can stretch it before it goes up.  We're good for a few years."

Now that the public information portion of Lansing's sewer project is in full swing, the sewer committee is working on answering questions that have been asked at the first session and the August Town Board meeting.  Wednesday the committee met to strategize on how best to answer concerns about how growth due to the sewer will affect Lansing's schools, neighborhood density, the environment,  and the character of the community.  

A standing room only crowd filled the Town Hall Wednesday to learn about the proposed Lansing sewer district and how it will affect their taxes and properties.  This was the first of many informational sessions, part of the Lansing Sewer Committee's public outreach initiative.  Members of the committee, the Town Board, and the two chief engineers involved with the project were on hand to hear comments and answer questions from more than a hundred residents who showed up.

Wednesday the Lansing school Facilities Group continued their work to try to come up with a passable capital project.  In what Superintendent Mark Lewis says was likely to be their second to last meeting, the group considered alternate plans drafted by King & King Architects.  The plans depict different ways of solving the problems and issues identified by the committee and school administrators.  High School Principal Michelle Stone went over one set of plans, explaining program needs and how new and renovated rooms will help her schedule classes and programs in the over crowded building.

The Village of Lansing Trustees passed two new laws Monday that give discretion to the planning board.  "This is to primarily create some greater flexibility in the discretion of the planning board," said Village Attorney David Dubow.  Local Law D allows the board to be more flexible about telecommunications facilities in the Village, and Local Law E allows them more flexibility in defining buffer strips between commercial and residential property.  

The Trustees were prompted to consider these laws because of two current cases.  The first concerns a small cell tower in the McDonald's parking lot on Triphammer Road, and the other has to do with the expansion of Colonial Veterinary Clinic. 

The Lansing Sewer Committee met a major milestone last week when they presented their engineer's report to the Lansing Town Board.  The 1/2" thick document defines the project scope, goals, environmental impact, benefits and costs of bringing sewer to the Town of Lansing.  This official transfer of the project from the committee to the Town Board will set in motion public information meetings and further action by the Board that could make the sewer a reality.  "We are delivering a draft engineers' report that lays the basis of understanding for how a sewer benefit district could unfold in the greater South Lansing Area," said Town Engineer David Herrick as he and engineer Jim Blum explained the document to the Board.

Ray MeierState Senator Ray Meier was in the Village of Lansing Friday afternoon to meet with business owner Julie Crowley.  Republican Meier, who is running for US Congress against Democrat Michael Arcuri, spent the day meeting with local people to learn about jobs in Tompkins County and the economy here.  Stops included Crowley's Ithaca Coffee Company and Triphammer Wines and Spirits at the Triphammer Mall, Dryden officials, a tour of Gun Hill Residences and a house party and fund raiser at the Cayuga Heights home of Melissa Bucknavage.  "I'm trying to get a feel for the communities that I hope to represent in Congress," Meier said.

See the candidate comparison chart on the Elections page.

Although it is still early in the race for retiring Congressman Sherwood Boehlert's seat, the campaign has been hot with the National Democratic Committee accusing him of voting against raising the minimum wage.  But Meier says they have distorted his positions.  "A higher than the rest of the nation minimum wage in New York is one more self-inflicted wound in this state," he said.  "We seem to go out of our way to make ourselves uncompetitive.  I said it was a Federal issue and if the bill was right I would vote for a rise in the Federal minimum wage in Washington.  But it would be preferable if it was coupled with some relief for small business."  That seemed to resonate with Crowley.

With the August Town Board meeting coming next week, the Lansing Sewer Committee went over all the items that need to be covered one last time before they present the sewer project to the Board.  Three key items that were discussed at length were the engineer's report, a 'sewer facts' mailing that is to be sent to all property owners in the proposed district, and a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Town and Village of Lansing.

The MOU seemed to present the most obstacles, mainly because of scheduling.  Village Mayor Don Hartill had promised to present the committee with a draft of the agreement before their Wednesday meeting.  Two items require further negotiation, and, with Hartill scheduled to leave town on business for two weeks, committee members were concerned that they might not be able to present the project to the Town for another month.  With rising construction costs and State pressure to build the project or lose bond act money, the committee is loath to hold the process up.

Wednesday's school capital project Facilities Committee meeting seemed to put the process back on track when facilitator Marc Stammer took charge from the beginning.  In stark contrast to last week's dysfunctional meeting, Stammer began with a thoughtful and detailed description of the process, a summary of what the group had accomplished and what his expectations for the evening were.  Participants kept their emotions -- and barbed comments -- in check as they reviewed 14 problems in the physical plant that affect school programs.