Village of Lansing

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, December 19, 2005, in the Village Office.

Present: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees, Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold, Frank Moore and John O’Neill; Clerk/Treasurer Jodi Dake; TG Miller Engineer David Putnam.

Mayor Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:40P.M.and opened the public comment period. There were many people attending the meeting because of the sewer discussion scheduled for later in the meeting, but no comments.

Motion-To Close the Public Comment Period

Trustee Fresinski moved to close the public comment period. Trustee O’Neill seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

Next on the agenda was approval of minutes.

Motion - To Approve the Minutes from December 5, 2005

Trustee Fresinski moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Clerk/Treasurer and the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

Frank suggested that the end of the fourth paragraph of the 12/15/05 minutes should read: “Regarding an analysis by the Town’s attorney of how the Town’s rights of eminent domain would apply within the Village, the Mayor commented that the legal situation is more complicated than the analysis indicates.” The Board agreed to this change.

Motion - To Approve the Minutes from December 15, 2005

Trustee Moore moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Clerk/Treasurer and the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Abstain

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

The next agenda item was to consider changes to the Employee Handbook. Don stated that the change was to allow for overtime for hourly employees that work over 40 hours at the request of a supervisor. Jodi clarified that all hourly employees are paid time and a half for hours worked over 40 per week, but the issue occurs when PTBA time comes into play. Currently, if a hourly employee uses PTBA time and then is called in to work overtime, he is not allowed to use PTBA time to get overtime. John Courtney has requested that this be changed because there is no incentive for hourly employees to come in when this situation occurs. John O’Neill stated that Rick came to him informally a few weeks ago and spoke of this. The following paragraph was presented to be added to the Compensatory Time section of the Employee Handbook: “If a hourly employee is called in for an emergency on a prearranged day off or weekend, they will be able to use their PTBA time and still be eligible for time and a half for hours over 40.” Don suggested that after emergency we add “by immediate supervisor”. In the case of the highway department, the “immediate supervisor” would mean the Supt. of DPW, then if he wasn’t available, the Mayor, then Deputy Mayor, and so on.

Resolution # 5204- To Update the Employee Manual, Compensatory Time to

Include the Following Paragraph:

If an hourly employee is called in for an emergency by an immediate supervisor on a prearranged day off or weekend, they will be able to use their PTBA time and still be eligible for time and a half for hours over 40.

Trustee O’Neill moved this resolution. Trustee Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

The next item on the agenda was to continue the discussion on the proposed intermunicipal sewer route. Mayor Hartill stated that he had 7-8 responses from residents after the last sewer discussion. In summary, the majority of the people preferred Route 34. Two suggested the railroad bed, and Cayuga Heights Road was the second choice for those. Don told the audience that he appreciated the response and tonight the Board must come up with a preferred route to recommend to the Town of Lansing. The Board felt that Route 34 is the best route, but acknowledged that it hinges on the affordability question. The hope is that the Town of Lansing Supervisor and Mayor Hartill can convince NYSDOT to close Route 34 for three months during construction, which would save approximately $900,000. If they can’t close the road, the added cost would be hard to sustain. The impact of closing Route 34 during construction would be minimal. Don stated that the project would not go forward for another 2-3 years because there is still a lot of planning to do. Don is prepared to recommend Route 34 to the Town with the understanding that he and Steve Farkas will then try to convince NYSDOT to close the road during construction. There will be technical issues, but none of which it was agreed are insurmountable.

Larry stated that the railroad bed route did not include the cost of acquiring property along that route, which added cost would be significant and would very likely close the gap in cost between the alternative routes. Don stated that the estimate for the railroad bed route also didn’t include realistic streambed crossing costs. Frank feels that the cost issue is not a Village issue. Don stated that we are all in this together and he would be very reluctant to say that cost is not a factor. Frank feels we should be assured that the costs are realistic. Larry doesn’t feel that price should be what we are focusing on, but rather what is best for all the people. It was acknowledged that unexpected things will undoubtedly come up. John O’Neill summarized by quoting one resident who said, “Route 34 is the smallest negative impact”. Don also stated that it will be a long-term positive impact to the currently unsewered parts of the Village.

Lynn stated that when the sewer committee was charged with finding the least problematic route for the transmission line, it seemed easy at first, but it was a very complicated issue. Having looked at the pros and cons, it still seems ludicrous to her to pump sewage 7 miles south. She doesn’t feel that any decision is the right one. We want to be friendly and cooperative. We’ve all dealt with detours and we can deal with this one. John also feels that coming to the south end of the lake with the sewage is nonsense, but our hands are tied based upon the State’s position and the previously funded work. Don stated that he and Steve have not forgotten this. Lynn feels the right thing to do is to not transmit it south. Frank stated that we are at the end of a political issue and it makes it difficult because of costs. Money is already spent from the bond act funding and the money would have to be paid back if the Town were to go with it’s own package plant, which would probably be the best solution.

Lynn asked what had been spent out of Bond Act funding so far. Don stated that there has been a transmission line in the City and 2 upgrades for phosphorous removal to the Village of Cayuga Heights Plant and to the Ithaca City Plant. Each of these three improvements cost approximately $1 million. The Village has also paid for the Kline Road Bypass, which will eventually be paid back to us by the Town of Lansing once sewer districts are established.

The initial service area will extend to Ludlowville and Myers, and then to the east to the Kingdom Farms area. The cost of the collector is about $100 a foot. The customer base will be approximately 400 units in the initial service area. It could potentially be as high as 800, so it’s a rather small base. Meyers and Ludlowville are in direr need of sewer. The system is being sized for a long-term capacity of 1 million gallons per day.

Don explained that a Village doesn’t have districts so they can’t define a benefit area. In Town’s, however, it is the opposite -- everything is by district. The Town will need to go through a cost estimate, go to the State Government for approval and then have a referendum of need. After all of that, they must get bond funding to pay for costs not covered by the Bond Act Funding. The Village’s participation cost for the transmission line will be at the 20% level. Our ultimate exposure will be $300,000, and to utilize this it would cost another $300,000 for collectors.

The next step in the process is for Don to call Steve Farkas at the Town to relay our vote. They will then go to NYSDOT. Lynn had a number of questions for the Cayuga Heights Road route if Route 34 falls through. Don stated that we will pursue the Route 34 choice, and then if it fails we will worry about that then. Lynn is bothered by the fact that so much is hypothetical with all three routes.

Don thanked the people that sat on the sewer committee. Lynn gave a special thanks to Frank for all his work. She also stated that Dave Putnam was also very helpful.

Resolution # 5205- To Accept the Recommendation of Route 34, with the Proposed Road Closing and Detour During Construction, as the Preferred Sewer Route for the Transmission Line Through the Village of Lansing.

Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

There were no comments during the Mayor or General comment periods.

Motion- To Adjourn

Trustee Fresinski moved for adjournment. Trustee O’Neill seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

The meeting adjourned at 8:28 PM.

Jodi Dake Clerk/Treasurer