Archive: News

The Lansing Town Board declaring a public safety emergency at 25 Sperry Lane during a special meeting on June 26th.  After our story on the unanimous decision to authorize Lansing Code Enforcement Officer Lynn Day to take measures to demolish the wreck of a house at 25 Sperry Lane and restore the property to a safe condition, readers commented on the Lansing Star Facebook page, asking questions about what it will cost, when the work will be done, and who will pay for the demolition.

"We, as tax payers, need to know who is paying this bill," said one Facebook user.  "It better not be the tax payers!"

The simple answer is that the homeowner will pay, and the work will be done within a few weeks.

That may be an over-simplification.

The New York State Legislature has approved legislation to add a third County Judge for Tompkins County. Passed by both houses of the Legislature at the end of the legislative session  The legislation was signed Tuesday by Governor Cuomo.

Creation of a third Tompkins County judgeship was first recommended in 2016 by the County's Municipal Courts Task Force and has been urged by County legislative leaders since that time. The bill to create the third Tompkins County Judge position, along with three additional Supreme Court justices in New York City, was sponsored in the Assembly by local Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton.

The power went out at around 7:30am Sunday morning in parts of Lansing.  According to Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne 8893 customers were affected, and there were reports of power outages in Freeville, Groton, and Dryden later Sunday.  Power flickered back on an hour later as New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) crews were dispatched and corrected the problem.  The outage came on the heels of LaVigne's June 12th trip to Albany where he, Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill, Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler, and Lansing planning consultant Michael Long lobbied for inexpensive, reliable, consistent electric power to compensate for the natural gas moratorium that singles out the Lansings.

"Inexpensive,  reliable and consistent power is what I am advocating for Lansing," LaVigne said in a Facebook post Monday afternoon. "So far 0 for 3."

The Legislature's Public Safety Committee advanced a recommendation supporting in-depth study to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a joint City-County public safety facility.

The action comes three weeks after the Committee met in joint session with the City's Planning and Economic Development Committee to review findings of a preliminary study by Kingsbury Architecture which examined potential opportunities to co-locate the Ithaca Police Department and Tompkins County Sheriff's Office (Road Patrol and Civil Division) on a site located within the City of Ithaca.

Senator Pam Helming announced Monday that she has sent a letter to Governor Cuomo opposing parole for murderers Richard LaBarbera and Robert McCain and urging the Governor to join the opposition to their early release. Both men were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting and then murdering 16-year-old Paula Bohovesky, of Pearl River in Rockland County. In May, the New York State Parole Board announced that LaBarbera will be released from prison in July. McCain is scheduled to appear before the Parole Board later this month. Neither man has taken responsibility for the crime they were convicted of.

"Like any teenager, Paula Bohovesky was a young woman in the prime of her life with hopes, dreams, and aspirations for her future. Yet, she was denied the opportunity to live out her life and achieve any of her goals. She didn't get to graduate high school, attend college, start a career, marry, have children, or do any of the things that young people think about. Paula was not allowed the chance to reach the full potential of her life, so why should Richard LaBarbera and Robert McCain be given the same opportunity? They brutally snuffed out this young life, devastating Paula's family and everyone Paula touched during her short time on this earth, and they remain without remorse or regret for their reckless actions. Both men have attempted to place the blame on each other, and neither has taken full accountability for their actions. They do not deserve the chance to live outside of prison walls. I urge Governor Cuomo to join me in efforts to reform the Parole Board and prevent the release of vicious killers," Senator Helming said.

After Lansing Town Board authorized up to $5,000 last March for lead testing in and around Salmon Creek from Ludlowville to the creek outflow area Councilwomen Katrina Binkewicz and Andra Benson collected samples to be analyzed by a local laboratory.  In mid-June Binkewicz reported on the results of the testing, and the Town Board discussed the results at its June 19th meeting.

"There was no measurable lead contamination in the sampling data that I found," Binkewicz said. "If we have questions from the public we could have an information meeting, but if everybody is comfortable with the data and the report as it stands, we did our due diligence."

Nine years, at least as many plans, changes, and negotiations will finally lead to construction of the Lansing Meadows senior rental housing project next week.  In a 4-0 vote, with one abstention, the Village of Lansing Planning Board declared Tuesday that a new plan for six triplexes containing 18 rental units to be rented to tenants 55 years old and older, updated from a plan for four triplexes that seemed doomed two weeks ago, is a 'minor change' from the approved site plan.  That clears the way for construction to begin next week, and for the developer to meet the completion deadline, imposed last year, of July 31, 2020.  Well, sort of.

"Phase 2 would start after the completion of the first 12 units," said the project's builder Jim Bold. "We'd like to add a year for the completion of the two additional buildings.  We have a date-certain obligation (for the first four buildings).  I'm saying a year because it relies on the availability of labor and subcontractors.  Right now we have absolute certainty in what we can deliver by July of 2020.  We have contractual obligations for that right now."

The Lansing Town Hall was packed Wednesday evening with local residents who came to learn about the newest plan to transition the Cayuga and Somerset Power Plants to data centers the owners are calling the 'Empire State Data Hub'.  Heorot Power Vice President of Development Jerry Goodenough and John Mirabella, Environmental Director for the two plants, gave a comprehensive presentation that included answering a plethora of questions submitted by community members and asked at the meeting.  Immediately following the informational meeting the Lansing Town Board unanimously approved a resolution that supports the project.

"The data center is dependent on state support," Goodenough said. "We're looking for a NYPA (New York Power Authority) allocation, and we're looking for Empire State Development funding.  We qualify for all the pieces we need to qualify for it.   We're working hard to try to get their attention so they will throw their support at these two projects.  When communities show support for these, that helps them make their decision."

The Lansing Town Board unanimously declared a public emergency Wednesday that calls for the immediate removal of a home at 25 Sperry Lane that suffered a crippling fire over a year ago, but has been left to deteriorate since that time.  The home was under construction at the time of the May 13, 2018 fire that took 25 Lansing firefighters, joined by 40 more from neighboring fire departments, four hours to put out.  The board passed a resolution authorizing the immediate removal of the building and remediation of the dangerous site conditions and soil stabilization.

Town officials expected the house would be demolished once insurance claims had been settled, but say the insurance company demolished parts of the building and left a pile of debris adjacent to it, removing safety fencing.  That exposed the site, including an open foundation more than eight feet deep, plus building materials.  Officials say they have tried to get the owner to remove the building and dangerous materials for months, but no action has been taken.  Weather has further deteriorated the site, causing more building collapse.

Tompkins County announced last Friday that it will take part in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA) Home Energy Ratings Pilot – a pilot initiative designed to help owners of one- to four-family homes who are ready to invest in their homes and are looking for independent trustworthy energy performance information. Tompkins County is leading local efforts to encourage interested homeowners to attend the homeowner information event and learn about the benefits of a home energy rating.

"Many Tompkins County residents would like to invest in making their homes more energy efficient, but they don't know where to start," according to Martha Robertson, Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature. "We're excited to be able to offer this opportunity, which will help folks make smart investments with confidence they're getting independent, expert advice."

Contract Awarded for Airport Customs Facility
The Legislature awarded the bid for the new General Aviation Customs Facility at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, the third phase of the Airport expansion project, funded in part through New York State's Upstate Airport Initiative grant program. The contract was awarded to Streeter Associates, of Elmira, NY, for its bid of $5,234000, submitted June 13th. The award was approved without dissent, with Legislators Amanda Champion and Mike Sigler excused. The project will be funded through the Governor's Upstate Airport Initiative Grant and a portion of the Airport Fund Balance.

Other airport bids awarded, with anticipated receipt and acceptance of associated Federal Aviation Administration grants:

• An award to Tracey Road Equipment, Inc., of East Syracuse, NY, for its bid of $815,526.00 for Multi-Tasking Equipment snow removal equipment (anticipated local Airport share $41,272); and
• Award to Suit-Kote Corporation, Cortland, NY, for its lowest responsible bid of$740,987.50for rehabilitation of Taxiways A&C (anticipated Airport local share $44,919.50.)

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