Archive: News

Lansing Town Board Considering Tompkins County's First Sex Offender Law

On July 29, 1994 seven year old Megan Nicole Kanda, of Hamilton Township in New Jersey was raped and murdered by her neighbor, a twice-convicted sex offender who lured her into his home with the promise of a puppy.  Three months later New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed the first state "Megan's Law," which mandates active community notification of the presence of sex offenders who pose a risk to public safety.  Governor George Pataki signed it into New York law in July of 1995, and a federal law was also passed requiring states to release information to the public, but did not mandate active notification.

Last week Lansing Town Councilman Bud Shattuck proposed that Lansing enact its own sex offender law.  The new law would set limits on how close convicted sex offenders could be to schools, parks and places where Lansing children typically go.  If enacted, it will be the first such law in Tompkins County.

Funding Threatened Unless Lansing Community Council is Rejuvenated

The Tompkins County United Way funds programs in local towns by partnering with eleven area community councils.  These councils act as clearing houses for grants, forwarding requests to the United Way and distributing the money when it is granted.  In Lansing the Community Council has existed since before the United Way was here, and currently supports the Lansing Drop-in Center for toddlers and preschool children, Lansing Youth Services, the Recreation Department, Lansing Older Aldults Program (LOAP) and an emergency aid fund.  Funding must come through the Community Council, because the United Way can not grant it directly to municipalities.

As participation on Lansing's council has dwindled, this funding is in jeopardy.  "It's not hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it does make a difference," says the Town's Bookkeeper and Personnel Officer Sharon Bowman.  She says Town officials want to reinvigorate the council by getting new people interested in volunteering.  "The hope is that within the next few weeks that we can rally some people who will step up to the table.  If we can make that happen that allows the groups that want to apply for funding to do the shortened version, with a lot less paperwork and a less cumbersome process."

The Town of Lansing is getting closer to realizing its dream of developing Salt Point to its full potential as a plan develops to clean up the area, create walking trails and make it what Town Supervisor Steve Farkas calls "a quiet place" where residents can enjoy its natural beauty.  The Town has signed a lease with the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that permits Lansing to manage the area.  "The DEC has been working very closely with us," says Farkas.  "Everybody can come out looking good.  DEC didn't have the manpower and dollars to do what they envisioned doing.  We've got the volunteers and a lot of community interest, not just in Lansing, but in the surrounding areas, to make it what it can be."

While the Lansing Board of Education (BOE) has decided not to bring their Capital project resolution to the voters this Spring, the project is alive, if not well.  Superintendent of Schools Mark Lewis told the BOE that he will be meeting with the King & King Architects design team to begin planning where to go next.  Lewis said King & King were encouraging that a revised project could be ready for a December 2006 referendum, but the BOE was not anxious to speed forward again.

Board member Dan Brown said that the board needs to involve the community in redesigning the project and then take the time to mount an effective information campaign before presenting the project to the voters.  "We need a time line that reflects an appropriate amount time for each piece of that," Brown said.  "For me it's more important for that to be the case than to necessarily have a vote in December versus February."

About a half dozen Lansing residents came to Wednesday's Town board meeting to learn when the Algerine Road water district extension proposal will be put to a vote.  The $777,200 project is controversial because many Algerine Road residents have good water and can't afford the $569 per household annual debt load payment it may incur, while Lansing Station Road homeowners are in need of reliable, safe water.  Town Supervisor Steve Farkas told them, "We're getting all the answers about the election laws.  It will be no later than the fourth of April."

The Town is scrambling to make sense of election laws that are clearly laid out for elections, but not at all clear-cut for referendums.  "The election law is not particularly clear, because it is technically not an election," explained Town Attorney Guy Krogh.  He said that the law is clearly stated for elections of public officials, but he has been scrambling to get t long list of requirements clarified by State election officials.

The Village of Lansing Trustees voted unanimously Monday to give veterans a better break on their property tax assessment.  Existing levels were raised to bring the Village dollar amount into line with neighboring municipalities that have already taken advantage of raised caps allowed by State law that enables municipalities to extend the benefit.  Mayor Don Hartill noted that with rising assessments the old law provided diminishing tax relief for veterans.  He said the new law would help alleviate that.

The Alternative Veterans Real Property Tax Exemption is an optional benefit that New York municipalities may extend to area veterans.  Specific dollar amounts are subtracted from home assessments depending on a veteran's level of service.  The old law allowed a base assessment reduction of $12,000 for all wartime veterans, another $8,000 for those who had served in combat, and an additional $34,000 for those injured in battle.

The Village of Lansing Trustees and Mayor Don Hartill continued to express their distrust of the Town's estimated sewer construction costs.   In their regular meeting last Monday they discussed the engineering ins and outs of building a sewer.  Trustees questioned costs projected by engineer Jim Blum, who has been retained by the Town of Lansing.  Blum's figures show a $400,000 difference between the East Shore Drive route that the Trustees favor and the alternate Cayuga Heights Road route that the Town will favor if the price difference isn't equal.

The East Shore choice would have been $900,000+ because it is subject to State Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations affecting construction on State roads.  Hartill, Blum and Town Supervisor Steve Farkas petitioned the DOT a few weeks ago to relax or waive the rules in order to bring the cost difference down.  While the DOT has not made an official determination yet, Blum based the $400,000 figure on concessions DOT officials indicated they might make.  Half of that cost would be for acquiring land needed to construct a pumping station, with the other half going for traffic control.

Next Monday's Lansing School District’s regular Board of Education Meeting will have one less item on its agenda. That is whether to vote on a resolution to define the project scope and set a referendum date, which was to have been April 4th this year. Residents, teachers and faculty packed the high school library last Monday night, to listen to the results of the survey from the ad-hoc committee and the community and to find out more about why the district needs to spend up to $39 millions dollars for the schools.

After nearly two hours of reviewing feedback from the ad-hoc committee, an overhead presentation of the online survey results and listening to many residents and some teachers, each board trustee responded and agreed that any proposition on the table most likely will be voted down in the spring. The surveys showed very little support for any tax increases and the feedback from many residents was largely not in favor of supporting any of the propositions as defined.

I've heard that a lobster will squirm out of the pot if dropped into boiling water. Drop him in cold water and turn it up slowly, and supposedly he won't struggle as much. The end result is the same, however, the lobster gives up the ghost and becomes dinner.

Whether Lansing wallets are hit with a sudden $883 sewer levy, or slowly squeezed $30 at a time for a library (and what's next?), the end result will be the same if something doesn't change.

We are seeing tax increases far in excess of inflation and most folks' salary increases. This is Strike One. It is a fact that the cost of everything we purchase for shelter, clothing, food and transportation is linked to the skyrocketing cost of being a petroleum-driven economy, and combined with medical expense increases is driving a "real feel" inflation rate of about 10% according to several economists. This is Strike Two.

Strike Three is quickly approaching, whereas many among us are forced to make life-changing decisions as disposable income has evaporated.

Mike Arcuri is challenging incumbent Sherwood Boehlert (R) in the November election for US Reresentative.  Arcuri, 46, is the fourth term Oneida County District Attorney.  Last night he came to the Lansing Community Center to speak to local Democrats about his campaign.  "I think this is a great opportunity for Lansing voters to meet the person who may be their next Congressman," says Lansing Democratic Party Chairman John Cawley,  "to ask any questions they may have and in general be involved in a very important process."

The Lansing visit was Arcuri's first appearance of his campaign, and he drove down from Utica specially to talk to the approximately one dozen Lansing Democrats.  He spoke to a welcoming audience for about a half hour, then took 45 minutes to answer questions.  "If we are clear and succinct in our message," he said, "Sherry Boehlert can be beaten and we can have a Democrat representing the 24th district."

I sit on the Ad-Hoc committee for the proposed capital improvements to the Lansing Schools.  In my opinion, there is ample justification for the repairs to the bus garage, replacement of deteriorating window sills and windows, improvement of biology, chemistry, physics and art labs, improvements to the klunky and loud heating/air conditioning systems in the high school and elementary school (the latter of which did not make it into the budget), acoustic panels and a new boiler for the middle school.  
    
However, the bulk of the proposed $40 million budget, which results in approximately 60% additional square footage, will go to support choral practice rooms, an auditorium, and orchestra practice rooms. Additionally, very expensive additional parking and traffic flow changes are proposed, without addressing one of the most fundamental problems: children crossing an unmarked public road on a daily basis to get from the middle school to the high school. While responsibility for this does not rest with the school alone, making it happen should be a priority for the town and the school.

The Ad hoc Facilities Committee met for the fourth and last official time to learn more about the Lansing School District's upcoming Capital Improvement Project.  Formed by School Superintendent Mark Lewis and open to any  community member, 56 people crowded into the High School library Wednesday night.  Among them were administrators, teachers, students, the project's architects and district residents.

On the agenda was a rundown of costs and the impact on maintenance, a presentation on how the High School is utilized and a question and answer period.  Kirk Narburgh, of King & King Architects was on hand with his crew to answer questions.  The two hour session generated a lively discussion as people who are for and against the project learned more about it.