Archive: News

Two months after the New York State Senate and Assembly both unanimously passed the legislation to stop toxic incinerators in the Finger Lakes, Governor Cuomo has officially signed the Finger Lakes Community Preservation Act into law, showing how committed the Governor is to protecting the environment and local businesses of the region.

"We are thankful to the bill sponsors and co-sponsors for championing this bill. With the Finger Lakes Community Preservation Act becoming law, communities should now be able to refocus their energies on growing the Finger Lakes economy without the looming fear of an environmental or economic disruption," said Seneca Lake Guardian President Joseph Campbell. "While we are relieved that this polluting incinerator will not be built in Romulus, we believe it should not be built anywhere. Seneca Lake Guardian stands ready to assist any other community that may be facing a similar threat of an incinerator proposal from Circular enerG or any other incinerator company."

The two school districts that serve Lansing students both had successful budgets in votes May 21 (Lansing Central School District) and 22 (Ithaca City School District.  In Lansing the $30,794,650 budget passed with 83% of the vote, and Ithaca's $131,954,987 budget passed with an 82.32% lead.  In addition Lansing's bus acquisition proposition passed, and Ithaca's two propositions for appropriation and expenditure of capital funds and a capital improvement bond also passed.  Both districts elected three school board members.

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed announced last week a bill to make it easier for families to save for retirement and reduce the tax burden on Gold Star families has passed the House.

"We care about making it easier for families to save for their retirement and their children's education," Reed said. "Our economy is booming after tax cuts. It only makes sense to make it easier for folks to save now that they have more money in their pocket."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that green policies at state agencies have saved New York taxpayers nearly $29.2 million in the first seven years of his administration, while substantially reducing paper use and waste. A new report released today by the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of General Services found that state agencies tripled their generation of solar energy in the past two years and doubled their composting of organic waste in the last five years. Agencies have also taken notable measures to eliminate the purchase of bottled water, buy recycled content products, protect pollinators and reduce hazardous chemical exposures through green cleaning.

"New York is leading the nation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing clean energy sources," Cuomo said. "We are bringing these sustainable practices into our state agencies by making their operations more eco-friendly, reducing waste and increasing recycling - saving taxpayer dollars in the process."

After a public hearing, the Legislature, by unanimous vote, approved the addition of 525 Acres of land to Tompkins County Agricultural District 1, as recommended by the Tompkins County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board.  The property, formerly known as Kingdom Farm, isowned by Dale Mattoon and located at 317 Auburn Road in Lansing.

The AFPB found that the parcel consists of predominantly "viable agricultural land," as defined in State Agriculture and Markets Law, and that inclusion of the parcel would serve the public interest by assisting in maintaining a viable agricultural industry within the district.

Additional Support Approved for Community Outreach Worker Program
The Legislature, by unanimous vote, appropriated $25,000 from the County's Contingent Fund to provide additional support for the Community Outreach Worker Program. The program, operated through Family and Children's Service of Ithaca and jointly funded by the County, City of Ithaca, and Downtown Ithaca Alliance, with additional support from Cayuga Medical Center, was established four years ago to address potential conflicts in the downtown Ithaca area—engaging people with a kind attitude and supporting a welcoming and inclusive downtown environment. Since the program's inception in 2015, the County has allocated $20,000 each year as its share of support for one community outreach worker to respond to and address potential issues.

Asked to support expansion of the program to two outreach workers to meet an increased case management need, the Legislature during the 2019 County Budget process set aside the $25,000 in contingency, to be released after a review of program operations, which has occurred over the past several months. F&CS proposed hiring a second outreach worker to stabilize the current workload in the downtown corridor. The Legislature's action increases the County's total 2019 appropriation to $45,000 which, along with a $45,000 contribution from the City and $30,000 from the Downtown Alliance, will underwrite a second community outreach worker for the remainder of 2019. County Administrator Jason Molino cautions, however, that an additional $15,000 from the County (to a total appropriation of $60,000) would be required from the County to fully fund the second position during 2020. That issue will be part of the 2020 budget discussion.

Over the past decade strong opinions have clashed over the fate of the coal-burning Cayuga Power Plant.  Tax revenue from the plant plummeted as its taxable value was negotiated down from a high of $160 million to its current $20 million.  Some in Lansing passionately argued for conversion to natural gas while the rest of the county and others in Lansing did their darndest to oppose any use of fossil fuels.  Two years ago the plant owners, Cayuga Operating Company, a subsidiary of Heorot Power, proposed an 18 megawatt solar array, as well as a gas conversion, but despite widespread support of the solar piece, the owners have been unable to move forward.  Now they are proposing another kind of conversion, from an electric power provider to a major consumer of electricity when they convert their business to what may become one of the largest data centers in New York State.

"You'd have good-paying job creation, probably about 30 of them at the $40,000 to $60,000 range," says Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne. "You'd have an opportunity to create a business park up there if you wanted to.  At some point if this is the direction that New York State wants to go in, it looks like this company is a willing participant.  We'll find out through Albany's actions how serious they are."

The Tompkins County Legislature's Public Safety Committee and the City of Ithaca's Planning and Economic Development Committee, meeting in joint session, tonight reviewed preliminary findings of a Law Enforcement Co-Location Study.

The consultant team led by Kingsbury Architecture, of Ithaca, was asked to perform the preliminary examination of potential opportunities to co-locate the Ithaca Police Department and the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office (Road Patrol and Civil Division) on a site to be identified somewhere within the City of Ithaca. The study, commissioned last fall and jointly funded by the City and Tompkins County, examines feasibility of a joint public safety facility, including development of programmatic space needs and examination of possible sites that would meet program requirements.

Washington, DC - Congressman Tom Reed announced Wednesday that he has joined with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) to co-sponsor two bills to improve school bus safety following a horrific school bus crash in New Jersey last year.

The Miranda Vargas School Bus Driver Red Flag Act – or Miranda's Law – ensures real-time background checks, so that when a school bus driver has any driving infraction beyond a parking ticket, the school or school bus company will receive an alert about that infraction from the Department of Transportation within 24 hours.

Senator Pam Helming announced Wednesday that she is sponsoring legislation (S.5564) that would provide a state income tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and other volunteer first responders. The bill would eliminate state income taxes for volunteer firefighters, volunteer ambulance workers, and volunteer emergency medical services personnel. To qualify, the volunteer must be a member in good standing of a volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance service for at least one year, have completed all required training courses as mandated for New York State, be certified by the chief emergency services coordinator of the county the volunteer serves in, and have attended at least 55 percent of the activities of the department or service the volunteer is a member of.

"Our volunteer firefighters and first responders do an absolutely outstanding job of serving and protecting our communities during emergencies and crises. They perform their tremendous responsibilities at minimal cost to the taxpayers and without expecting much in return. I have had the privilege of recognizing many of these remarkable volunteers during their annual banquets, but I also have heard from them about their need to recruit more volunteers to fill their ranks and their need to cover ever-increasing operating expenses. Exempting volunteer first responders from state income taxes will accomplish two things – it will offer an incentive for people to consider joining their local fire department or ambulance service, and it will honor current volunteers for their years of service to their community. I will be working hard with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact this important legislation, and in the meantime, I will be fighting to restore budget funding that helps fire departments and ambulance services upgrade their equipment," Helming said.

From left: Andra Benson, Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Bronwyn Losey
Democratic Party candidates Andra Benson, Bronwyn Losey and Michael Koplinka-Loehr were pleased and honored by the overwhelmingly positive response they received in their visits to over 500 Town of Lansing households, as they gathered signatures for inclusion on the Lansing Lighthouse Party independent ballot line. Benson and Losey are running as the Democratic candidates for the Lansing Town Board, while Democrat Koplinka-Loehr is running for Lansing Town Supervisor.

Incumbent Benson has served for two terms on the Lansing Town Board (most recently 2016 - 2019) and is now running for her third term. According to Benson, "I'm proud of the work I've done for my community and look forward to four more years of service to the town." Benson also served on the Lansing Central School Board for 10 years and was a trustee of the Lansing Community Library for 12 years. She is a co-founder of the Lansing Drop In Center, Lansing Youth Commission and Lansing Youth Mission.

Earlier this month a dozen or more emails prompted the Lansing Town Board to consider updating its flood plane law.  Supervisor Ed LaVigne said he would like to move forward with an update, but only if the intent is to strengthen flood plain restrictions on a general town-wide basis, and not just to target the Lansing Rod & Gun Club, which has suffered a great deal of community opposition to moving shooting ranges on its property in response to an EPA consent order that seeks, in part, to address concerns about shooting lead in a flood plain area.  The emails led to a discussion at the May Town Board meeting about whether and how a flood plain law should be addressed, and whether flood plain contamination should best be addressed by a flood plain law or changes in the zoning law.

"If the intent is to stop the Lansing Rod & Gun Club's project stopped, I don't think that is appropriate," LaVigne said. "But if this is about in general what people are concerned about the flood plain law I'll open it up to the rest of the board members and share their concerns."