Village of Lansing

 

 

MINUTES of a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Wednesday, February 16, 2000, in the Village Office.

 

Present: Mayor Donald Hartill: Trustees Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold, Frank Moore; Jodi Dake, Carol Willard, Benjamin Curtis, Rick Beckwith and Dennis Reinhart.

 

Mayor Hartill called the meeting to order at 12:15pm. Lynn reported that the watershed meeting was canceled due to weather. She also asked about the unplowed sidewalks on Brown Road.

 

Frank went looking for the Greenway on Leifs Way, which we talked about at our last meeting, and couldn’t find it. The Mayor agreed that we needed more signage and now that we have a Village logo we could put up signs in the spring.

 

Carol stated that we received a response from the Census Bureau today. The letter, which was addressed to the Census Address List Appeals Office, stated that they received our appeal. The Census Bureau has conducted two field operations in attempts to improve its Census 2000 address list. In early 1999, the Census Staff canvassed every census block in the Village that was eligible for the LUCA 1998-style program to validate the existence of each housing unit. To reconcile unmatched records, the Census Bureau then performed a second field check to verify whether the unmatched housing unit addresses actually existed. Even though we sent along 911 address information and copies of our tax roll, the Bureau of Census still says that they were unable to verify these addresses. The Mayor asked Carol to drive by all the apartment complexes and see if they had street addresses on their signs. He doesn’t know why they could find some of the apartments but not all of them. Finally, Carol stated that requests have gone out for newsletter articles and that the newsletter is scheduled to go out the end of March.

 

Don stated that the water business is getting closer. There have been two Resource Sharing Meetings so far and another meeting on Friday. The Mayor asked if someone would volunteer to go because he will be out of town. Larry stated he would if his schedule permits.

 

If census is correct, The City of Ithaca will be as well off on a per capita basis. Reassessments are currently taking place and it is not positive for the large landowners. The value of vacant land has increased by about 30%, which he fears will cause urban sprawl. The assessments arrive on March 7th and we should expect many appeals.

 

Don attended the Board of Representatives meeting last night. When he arrived the doors were locked and when getting into the meeting he found that the agenda had been changed and it was a rushed affair. He e-mailed Barbara Blanchard to let her know how he felt about the meeting.

 

The Mayor appointed Larry Fresinski as Deputy Mayor. Don will be out of town for the next Board of Trustees’ meeting so he would like Larry to run the meeting on the 28th. The Mayor is working on the preliminary budget so he may distribute pieces to each trustee so that they may work on details.

 

Jodi met with Nelson Carr from Williamson Law Book yesterday to view the Tax Collection Software. The Town of Lansing has the software and is very pleased with it. She gave the Board an enthusiastic overview of what the program can do for the Village. Larry stated that this would bring us up to speed with technology as they had discussed previously. The Board agreed that we should purchase the software to do what we currently do manually.

 

Resolution #3640- To Purchase the Tax Collection Software from Williamson Law Book for $1,800 Which will Come Out of Account A1410.4.

 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Village of Lansing Board of Trustees authorizes the clerk to purchase the Tax Collection Software from Williamson Law Book for $1,800 which will come out of account A1410.4.

 

Trustee Larry Fresinski moved that this resolution be adopted and Trustee Lynn Leopold 

            seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                               Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye

            Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye                             Trustee Frank Moore-Aye

 

Don asked Dennis the question about the Brown Road sidewalk, which was brought up earlier. The Mayor thought that we had paid the County to take over Brown Road so they should be responsible for maintaining the sidewalks. Dennis agreed we have no ownership and it is the County’s responsibility. Dennis will write a letter to the County with our concerns regarding the lack of maintenance on the Brown Road sidewalks.

 

Dennis stated that his new computer is up and running. Dennis and the OGS State Inspector went around to inspect the crack seal that was done around the Village by Patch ‘N Seal. His report confirms what Dennis said and they’re working to come up with a solution to resolve the issue of payment. To date we have not paid the bill.

 

Dennis checked into getting a Chevy truck for Rick but we can’t specify so we either have to get a Ford or a Dodge. The Mayor told Dennis to go ahead and order a Dodge.  Dennis explained to the trustees that we roll over our vehicles every two years and the average cost for our vehicles has been $81 per year. He will put this into written form for the new trustees so they may better understand.

 

There was a complaint from a Highgate Circle resident that the snowplow hit the decorative railroad ties they had placed by the road. Dennis has researched the State Law and will do an article in the next newsletter explaining the right-of-way issue. Dennis asked if the Board should adopt a policy in addition. Ben thinks it is already in the Zoning Law.

 

There was a water main break on Highgate Circle. This is typically not a problem area; this is just a bad year for breaks. The hot water heater in the bathroom is leaking and needs to be replaced. Dennis suggested a demand hot water heater. It would cost about $78 more than a regular hot water heater but it would use less electricity and cost less in the long run. The Board was very supportive of the demand hot water heater. Replacing the water heater will include tearing out the cabinet and running the electric and we can do it in-house.

 

Finally Dennis stated that we have purchased voice activated, 14 channel, handsfree, 9.2-ounce walkie-talkie headsets. These headsets cover a 1-mile distance.

 

Dave Herrick presented the Board with an infrastructure schedule for the next five years.  The Mayor informed Dave of the deteriorating Twin Glens patch job. Dave will look into it. Dennis reported that Uptown Road is also deteriorating.

 

Next the mayor proposed a motion to approve the vouchers.

 

Resolution #3641- Abstracts of Audited Vouchers

 

Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the General Fund, in the amount of $25,713.28, is hereby approved for payment, and 

 

Be it further RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the Water Fund, in the amount of  $95,314.59, is hereby approved for payment, and 

 

Be it further RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 9 for the Sewer Fund, in the amount of  $97, is hereby approved for payment, and 

 

            Trustee Lynn Leopold moved that this resolution be adopted and Trustee Larry Fresinski 

            seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye                               Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye

            Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye                             Trustee Frank Moore-Aye

 

Ben stated that things have been pretty quiet in the Village. Monroe Muffler has opened. Cable negotiations started last week to work on the 11-municipality franchise agreement. The permit program is up and running. Tops is proposing a bus shelter next to its property.

 

The Greenspace Advisory Council came to the last Planning Board meeting. Their two main issues were wanting seedlings and the GIS Archview software. Lynn feels that if we are going to plant seedlings we need to protect them from the deer. Don thinks fence around each seedling would be a good investment.

 

The price for the GIS Archview software, with training, is $1195. An 11x17 printer would also be needed and that would be $499. Dave stated that TG Millers has Archview and we could use theirs. Don supported the shared way of doing it. Graphic mapping software is used intermittently and maintenance is another issue.

 

Ben asked which trustee would be the liaison for the employees. Don hasn’t officially spoken with him but would like to appoint John Bailey to this area.

 

Motion-To Adjourn 

 

Trustee Lynn Leopold motioned to adjourn and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

Mayor Donald Hartill- Absent                           Trustee Lynn Leopold- Aye

      Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye                                         Trustee Frank Moore-Aye

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:05pm.

 

                                                                                                            Jodi Dake

                                                                                                Village Clerk/Treasurer