Village of Lansing

 

MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Thursday November 16, 2006, in the Village Office.

 

PRESENT: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Lynn Leopold, Larry Fresinski, John O’Neill; Superintendent of Public Works John Courtney; Code & Zoning Officer, Benjamin Curtis; Clerk/Treasurer Jodi Dake; Clerk, part-time Carol Willard.

 

Mayor Hartill called the meeting to order at 12:25P.M.

 

Carol had nothing to report

 

John Oneill stated that two weeks ago there was traffic stacked up from the north bound Route 13 ramp to the bridge. He suggested that with the holidays coming we might need to fine tune the traffic signals there. One problem is that the State will not allow us to have two left turn lanes there. The hope was that the two left turn lanes onto Pyramid Drive would elevate this. John Courtney stated that he hasn’t seen the accident debris on the bridge like he use to. He has noticed that there is a back up off the south bound ramp because people aren’t using the two right turn lanes. It was suggested that a sign be installed at the side of ramp to show that there are two right turn lanes. This is a new configuration. The State also mandates that we can no longer allow a right on red at this location. Don also stated that we have a problem with the Brown Road intersection. John Courtney recommended that people use an alternate route or contact the Mayor.

 

John O’Neill suggested installing red light cameras at Pyramid. A private company would be contracted to do this. It would cost offenders $300 plus points on their license is convicted of turning when the light was red. The Mayor was hesitant to do anything like this because it would create ill willed people. Larry stated that people are concerned about cameras.

 

Lynn stated that David Hernandez is worried about our new trees. He feels they need protection from the deer for the first few winters. There are some trees that have already been rubbed by deer. There are no stakes or supports on the trees. John brought this point up to Ellen and she in turn will take it to Trowbridge & Wolf because it is not called for in the specs. D&L Landscaping is the company that installed the trees and we have had good success with them in the past.

 

Lynn stated that at the last Stormwater meeting they worked on the law. It was a long and boring meeting. Ben, Ned, David and Brent will figure out places where we have gaps in our codification. Lynn also attended the Natural Features Focus meeting that Tompkins County is doing. In her group most of the discussion was about sewer.

 

Larry asked if anyone recalled discussion of reinstalling a mailbox in from of HSBC. Mailboxes there are a traffic hazard and no one could recall the history as to why we had them at all. The Board felt there was no need to put mailboxes in front of HSBC because both Pyramid and Cayuga Malls have them and the new post office has drive up boxes on Warren Road.

 

Don stated that he spoke with Tom, the former commissioner of DEC, when he was working on one of his other projects. They discussed the sewer situation in our area and Tom suggested going to Albany to talk about a local plant.

 

Tomorrow is the ribbon cutting for the N. Triphammer Road Project. NYSEG will probably not have the streetlights turned on until around Christmas. Currently they are buttoning up relays and waiting for an underwriter’s inspection. There will be on one photocell master eye for many lights.

 

Jodi asked the Board to authorize her to send the delinquent taxes to Tompkins County Finance. She stated that this year the total for the seventeen parcels that did not pay their taxes was $6,300.14. If Village residents do not pay their taxes within 6 months they are forwarded to the County and the County pays us. It then becomes the County’s problem and these delinquent amounts appear on the taxpayer’s County tax bill.

 

                        Resolution #5282-To Authorize the Clerk/Treasurer to Forward the

                                                       Delinquent Taxes to the County

 

Trustee O’Neill moved this motion and Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:

 

Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                 Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye                           Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye               Trustee John O’Neill-Aye

 

The Board signed the return of delinquent taxes.

 

Don informed the Board that Byron Hall, N. Triphammer Road Project Engineer, has submitted Order on Contract #10. New items are being added and quantities for existing contract items are being decreased. Mainly it has to do with the change in material being used for our pedestrian crossings. John Courtney added that this is the best solution out there.

 

Resolution #5283–Approve Order on Contract #10 for the N. Triphammer Road Project

 

Trustee Fresinski moved that this resolution be adopted and Trustee Leopold seconded the motion.

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                 Trustee Larry Fresinski -Aye             

Trustee John O’Neill-Aye                   Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye

 

Jodi asked if she could hand out paychecks on Wednesday since payday falls the day after Thanksgiving and the office is closed. The Mayor and Board agreed that this was ok. The schedule for the holidays is the office will be closed Thanksgiving and the day after, Dec 22nd, 25th. 29th and January 1st. Jodi also informed the trustees that the agenda and their packets for Monday nights meeting are in their folders.

 

Mayor Hartill entertained the following resolution:

 

Resolution #5284– Abstract of Audited Vouchers

 

Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 6 for the General Fund, in the amount of $119,593.03 is hereby approved for payment, and

 

Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 6 for the Water Fund, in the amount of $106,752.08, is hereby approved for payment, and

 

Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 6 for the Sewer Fund, in the amount of $460.11, is hereby approved for payment, and

 

Be it RESOLVED, that Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 6 for the Capital Projects Fund, in the amount of $409,659.60 is hereby approved for payment.

 

Trustee Leopold moved that this resolution be adopted and Trustee Fresinski seconded the motion.

 

                        Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye                 Trustee John O’Neill-Aye                                           Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye                 Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

 

At this point Don had to leave the meeting.

 

John Courtney stated that the highway department has done a lot of cosmetic work this month. They did some sidewalk restoration on Graham Road and replaced the Village Office sidewalk. He has specs for a new truck so that we may advertise it in the paper.

 

Ben stated that a fly over could be done for the Village of Lansing for approximately $4,000. Larry thinks we should look to see how user friendly they are. Ben stated that the value to us is the mapping from the County.  They have a GIS person on staff.  It will also go to state map so the value will be widespread over the years. Ben has spoken with Brent Cross of the Village of Cayuga Heights is in support of this. Ned Hickey also supports having the fly over done. This topic will be discussed again at Monday’s meeting. The money to do this won’t be due until February 2008 so it will be in next year’s budget.

 

The T-Mobile antenna is going up. They have a problem because the pole is supposed to be painted. If the pole is not painted then a request for a temporary certificate of occupancy will come before the Board on Monday evening.

 

The road by Homewood Suites is open again. In the Hamlet subdivision Cardamone has 3 certificates of occupancy, 2 foundations in and 1 he is finishing up right now. They are very nice upscale townhouses. There is also still a short piece of Wedgewood that is not a Village road yet. Cardamone will be responsible for plowing his area.

 

John Courtney stated that cul de sac’s are hard to plow and would like to see us get away from them.  John would also like to purchase a sander/spreader to be able to sand the sidewalks as we plow them. Last year he had tried to buy a push salt spreader but it broke on the first day. The board thought this would be a smart investment. John would also like to purchase a used bucket for the backhoe. It would cost approximately $8-9,000.

 

The traffic signal at Graham Road has been rewired and fixed. Lynn told John that the deer netting could now come down.

 

Motion- To Adjourn

 

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

 

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

                        Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye

 

The meeting adjourned at 1:20 PM.                                       

                                                                                                                                                            Jodi Dake                                                                                                                           Clerk/Treasurer