MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday,
April 2, 2001, in the Village Office.
PRESENT:
Mayor Don Hartill; Trustees Frank Moore, Lynn Leopold, Larry Fresinski, and
Janet Beebe; Planning Board Member Doris Brown; Village Attorney Randy Marcus.
Mayor
Don Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:40P.M. He opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Motion- To Close Public Comment Period
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to close the public
comment period.
Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was
taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill - Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Representatives
from the Ornithology Lab were present to further discuss the Village accepting
Brown Road Extension as a public road. Mayor Hartill had sent Cornell’s
attorney a cost estimate of $60,000 to rebuild the road. The last time we met
the Village had asked that in exchange for accepting the dedication of Brown
Road Extension Cornell pay for one half of the maintenance or some arrangement
of that nature. After discussing this with Cornell’s senior administration, Cornell
has agreed to pay the Village of Lansing a one time $30,000. A memo of
agreement will be drawn up by Cornell’s attorney and delivered to the Village’s
attorney for comment.. The road, which runs by the new Ornithology Lab, will be
Sapsucker Woods Road. Only a 1200 foot section of this road is in the Village
and it will be built to Village specifications. The Town of Dryden will require
and accept dedication of the balance of the road. The Village of Lansing will
be responsible for road maintenance and signage of only the part of the road in
the Village. The Town of Dryden will do the snowplowing on the entire road,
including the part in the Village. Frank Moore was concerned that this arrangement
was supposed to be a shared cost. The Mayor explained that if Cornell give’s us
$30,000 now for a rebuild that will not occur for 20-30 years then the interest
from this deposit will more than cover the cost of yearly maintenance. It
should be noted that $30,000 in the capital reserve fund is to maintain Brown Rd.
Extension. Don entertained a motion to accept Cornell’s offer for the
dedication of Brown Road Extension.
Resolution #3746- To Accept Cornell’s Offer for the Dedication
of Brown Road Extension to Become a
Part of Sapsucker Woods Road (the remainder of which will become a Town of
Dryden Road), Conditioned Upon Receipt and Satisfactory Review by the Village’s
Attorney of All Necessary or Appropriate Documentation.
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to accept this
resolution and Trustee Frank Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Don
is very happy with the municipal cooperation and isn’t worried about the Town
of Dryden not doing the snowplowing. This road benefits the Town of Dryden.
Mark Varvayanis, the Supervisor from the Town of Dryden, had no problem
confirming this arrangement for plowing in writing. Randy stated that there was
no need to do a SEQR for the road itself because the Planning Board did one for
the whole Ornithology Lab project overall, which contemplated this road being constructed
and dedicated as a public road. The Village’s accepting an offer of dedication
is an action classified as an administrative act. It would be redundant to perform
a SEQR review again.
Next
on the agenda was the approval of minutes.
Motion-Approval of Minutes for March 14, 2001
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion-Approval of Minutes for March 19, 2001
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved that the draft meeting
notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official
minutes. Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Abstain
Next
on the agenda was Budget discussion. Don handed out the second round of the proposed
budget for the Board to work on. The Mayor explained that he had sat down with
the Clerk and they figured out why there was such a large appropriated cash
surplus this year. This all started back in 1998-99 when the Village budgeted $932,000
and only spent $129,000 and similarly last year when we did not spend as much
as budgeted in the A5112.2 line (Capital Improvements for roads). This has
resulted in a $1,193,596 appropriated cash surplus. To offset this the Mayor
has increased A5112.2 to cover Churchill Drive improvements and the Cayuga
Heights Road overlay project ($62,000 and $350,000 respectively) which should be
done this year but will probably spill into the 2001 budget.
For
our interest income, the Mayor assumed that we will get 5% from our long-term
investment funds giving an increase of 10% over past years. For conservative
estimate, the Mayor assumed that the sales tax revenue remains at $500,000,
which is slightly better than we did in 2000.
On
the appropriation side of the general fund, the Mayor fully funded everything
requested.
The
following were additional changes made since the last meeting.
A1130-Gross
Utilities Receipts was lowered $10,000 to reflect what we collected this
year.
A2350-Youth
Services now goes directly to the County so this is now $0.
A2590-Permits,
has decreased back down to the historical $22,000 because last year’s
increase was a one-shot deal
because of Top’s new construction.
As
far as the increase in the tax rate, the Village has not exceeded inflation for
this year.
In
appropriations the biggest change is in the highway contractual.
A5110.4-Highway
Contractual-Routine maintenance decreased from $80,000 to $50,000
based on past years.
A1920.4
Municipal Dues, was increased to allow for the Village to contribute $900 again
this year to the Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal
Organization
A5680.4-Public
Transportation was increased to$5,000 to reflect what Gadabout
requested.
The
bottom line is that ~$1,000,000 will be transferred to the capital reserve
fund.
The
4% salary increase will be discussed in executive session. Another issue that
is still up in the air is the employee benefit package. The employees have
expressed an interest in joining the NYS Retirement System. Health care
expenses have increased by approximately 20% in the last two years, which is
another issue to discuss in executive session this evening.
Frank
was concerned that there wasn’t enough money in the budget for the Kensington
property. Don explained that the committee which will decide what happens in
that area hasn’t met yet and he doesn’t see much being done this year. The $7,000
for Greenway is for the resurfacing and signage on trails on Viola Miller’s
property, Janivar and starting Kensington.
The
problem with the water fund is that after we transfer the $112, 000, which was
supposed to have been transferred previously for the water tank painting, we
still have a $20,000 cash deficit. The actual painting of the tank was
~$130,000. With this in mind, the Mayor would like the Board to consider
increasing the surcharge by a % to compensate for increased costs due to an aging
system. This is our last year for a BAN and we should project what capital
projects will be necessary for the next 5 years and BAN for that. We should be
spending approximately $100,000 a year on capital projects and this year there is
nothing in our budget. If we drop the BAN we would basically have to double our
surcharge.
In
the sewer fund we are in pretty good shape since we have connection fees. Now
to get more sewer units we have to spend money on I&I. Assuming the
intermunicipal agreement goes through, we will have to do the Kline Road
Bypass. There will also be the initial buy-in costs. The capital reserve fund is
in good shape for this. We may also adjust the connection fees to help cover
costs of making these new connections available. We will continue to do sewer
inspections in years to come.
The
Mayor entertained a motion to set a budget public hearing.
Resolution #3747- To Set a Public Hearing on the
Proposed Budget for April 16, 2001 at 7:35pm
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved to set a public hearing
and Trustee Frank Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Next
on the agenda was the Mayor’s comments. He announced that the next sewer meeting
is April 13 at 9am at Ithaca Town Hall. At this meeting they will hopefully
agree that the draft scope of the EIS is appropriate. The $54,000, which is the
amount the Village will contribute, is in this year’s budget. Don gave an
overview of issues. Once the scope is in line then DEC will get involved. Lynn
was concerned that the plan was for the sewer line to go down the old railroad bed,
which goes through a unique natural area. The Mayor thought the other
possibility could be down Rt. 34 as part of the water main. If all this falls
through there is still the Kline Rd. bypass.
On
the good water side, Don is having Randy do some research on minimal
maintenance roads. Once Bolton Point has gotten the upper part of Bolton Point
Rd. up to standard we could accept that as a road then the lower section of the
road would be a minimal maintenance road. We can’t use Poison Ivy Point because
we can’t build a road to go over the railroad tracks. It’s too bad because it
would be a nice park on the lake. Bolton Point is holding a meeting here
Thursday to iron out little issues. Basically the 3 plants (Bolton, Ithaca
& Cornell) will become one managed by Bolton Point. Newfield, Jacksonville
and Genoa have all approached the group in hopes of possibly purchasing water.
An agreement should be in place in the next couple of months for the principal
partners.
Sy
Smidt is in the process of publishing a book that his wife Rita wrote on the
history of the Village of Lansing. The board is thinking of naming something
after her.
Verizon
has made a request to establish a legal address for the NYSEG substation on Graham
Road. NYSEG would like to name the section of the existing road from Sheraton
Drive north to the end of the substation as “Substation Road”. However, the Planning
Board does not feel this name is acceptable. They discussed several alternate names
but could not agree on a name. The Planning Board feels that naming the road is
a matter of public safety and suggested that the Trustees select an appropriate
name. Don asked the Trustees to think about it and we would discuss it further
at our next meeting.
Motion- To Go Into Executive Session to Discuss
Personnel Issues
Trustee Janet Beebe moved to go into executive
session and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee
Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Motion- To Come Out of Executive Session
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved to come out of
executive session and Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was
taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee
Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
In
executive session the Board discussed the proposed employee salary, wages and
benefits. They agreed to a salary increase of 4.5% and an increase in the Village’s
contribution to health insurance. The Village will now contribute $1550 per
full time employee annually plus 55% of additional cost above that amount for
individual or family insurance coverage to either the flex plan or, if less,
the cost of family coverage through a spouse’s health plan, plus the life plan
offered under the Flex Plan.
Motion- To Approve the Tentative Budget
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved to approve the tentative
budget and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee Janet
Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor
Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee Janet Beebe- Aye
Trustee
Larry Fresinski- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 10:27P.M.
Jodi Dake
Village Clerk