Village of Lansing
MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing
held on Monday, December 4, 2006, in the Village Office.
Present: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees, Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold,
John O’Neill and Frank Moore; Clerk/Treasurer Jodi Dake; Attorney David Dubow
Mayor
Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. and opened the public comment
period. Dan Veaner, editor of the Lansing Star Online Newspaper, presented Lynn
Leopold with the Star Award for December. Each month the paper chooses an
outstanding citizen as the Star of the Month. Lynn was totally caught by
surprise and thankful for the award.
Trustee Fresinski moved to close the public comment
period. Trustee O’Neill seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee-Larry Fresinski -Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Aye Trustee John
O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Lynn Leopold-Aye
The next item was a public hearing on Proposed Local Law F. Mayor Hartill
stated that there was a small glitch in the public notice so the public hearing
will need to be rescheduled for the next Board of Trustees meeting. Dubow
explained that there is no urgency with this issue.
Resolution #5289- Set a Public Hearing on the 18th day of December, 2006, at 7:35 p.m. on Proposed Local Law F (2006) to Consider Amending the Village Codification-Village of Lansing Elderly Persons’ Real Property Partial Tax Exemption Law
Trustee Fresinski moved this resolution. Trustee
Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski -Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye Trustee
John O’Neill-Aye
Next on the agenda was approval of minutes from November 16th &
20th, 2006.
Motion - To
Approve the Minutes from November 16, 2006
Trustee O’Neill 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 Larry Fresinski -Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Abstain Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee John
O’Neill-Aye
Motion - To
Approve the Minutes from November 20, 2006
Trustee Leopold 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 O’Neill seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski -Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold-Aye Trustee
John O’Neill-Aye
Mayor Hartill asked Jodi if a letter had gone out to Greg Potter at Tompkins County informing him of the Village’s support for the upgrade for the fly-over photos. Jodi stated that she sent a letter to Greg along with a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the Board at its last meeting. She also sent certified resolutions to Darby at the Town of Lansing on the Village’s support of the new deicing storage facility and one to Joan Jurkowich regarding the Village adopting the local Waterfront Revitalization Program: Cayuga Lake Waterfront Plan.
The Mayor stated that some of the new North Triphammer Road streetlights are on. They look very nice. The cobra heads on the bridge and the lights on the south side of the bridge have not been energized yet. It was asked if we will keep the cobra heads energized since we have the new lights. Larry stated that they are at the intersections and he feels they are good for identifying the intersections.
Last Tuesday a punchlist was created for the N. Triphammer Rd. Project. There is around $400,000 of work to go. The Board questioned why this amount was so high. Don explained that the stone walls and intersection treatments still had to be done in the spring. Larry has observed that the bench at Graham Rd. is not level. Jodi had voiced this same concern to Byron.
Frank stated that he had a striping complaint for the area in front of the Mobil Station. With the current stripping he questioned how one traveling south gets into the Mobil Station without violation. Don has also complained of this situation and it is being researched. The problem is that the Mobil Station and Cayuga Mall entrances are very close together. The solution would be to shorten the yellow striping in the spring and replace it with a more sensible solution. Don also stated that we are close to closing a deal with the Mobil Station to have a sidewalk down the side of their property.
John O’Neill commented that people are relating well to the two left turn lanes going into Pyramid Drive. Don stated that on Black Friday there was not the usual stacking out to Route 13. The new traffic configuration is working. Don added that once N. Triphammer is finished the Village would start to negotiate with Pyramid on Graham Road and Pyramid Drive for sidewalks. This will resolve the problem of the sidewalk by TOPS that ends without connecting to the Pyramid parking area.
Larry stated that he has heard very favorable comments. Residents love the new streetlights. Drivers are adopting the new traffic patterns.
Lynn reported that she spoke with Chrys Gardner and they will be sending Jodi documentation so that they can release the grant money reserved from the room tax revenue for the Village’s use for plantings along the newly completed North Triphammer Road. The amount is approximately $3,500. Chrys feels the trees have made a great difference. Any future grants that are issued will be for volunteers to do work. This is for plantings that are easily seen from the road. Chrys also gave Lynn some good suggestions on how to deal with the circle garden at the corner of the Tompkins Trust Company. We need to replant the whole garden. Chrys also brought up the dead trees on the ramps off Route 13. Don would like to make a deal with the State to have them allow us to remove the dead trees. Basically we would need a work release. Don has an MPO meeting this month so he will talk with them about this issue.
Lynn stated that the newly planted trees need to be protected. Deer are already rubbing on them. She informed the Board of a product called Deer Fortress. Basically it is bloodmeal in compact containers on a stake. Cayuga Landscape also has some black mesh to wrap the trees. Jodi stated that John Courtney is also working on this issue.
Don announced that the annual Christmas Party at his home would be December 20th at 5:30 pm. Jodi will send out invitations.
The Board discussed the deer problem. This is a regional issue that we can’t solve by ourselves. Frank distributed a copy of a resolution that the Village of Cayuga Heights passed. He feels this resolution is a push on the County, and he would like to see the Village pass a similar resolution. Don asked Frank to draft a resolution to present at the next Monday night meeting. Frank also handed out an article from the New York Times that showed how one community is going after deer reduction and encouraging hunting.
Don stated that the dump truck bids were opened today. The Village received the following bids:
$35,060. Robert Green Truck Division
PO Box 8002
Rock Hill NY 12775
800-598-8785
$35,197 2008 Ford F350
$35,390 2007 Chevy 3500
West Herr Ford-Hamburg
S-5025 Camp Road
Hamburg, NY 14075
716-649-5640
$34,163.74 Ford
Bison Truck Center, Inc.
Rick Muck
2370 Walden Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14225
716-684-0010
After reviewing the truck bids, John Courtney sent a memo to the Trustees recommending that we purchase the truck from Robert Greene Truck Division. His memo explained as follows: The truck from Bison Truck Center only has a 115-amp alternator, and this stands ground to reject this bid. When the Village spreads salt and plows the road a large amount of amps is consumed. With the small alternator the recovery time is slow and could result in electrical failures, especially with super sensitive ignition systems. John made a call to Rick Muck and he states that's the only option for that engine (5.4 Liter). John also pointed out that all the dealers except Robert Greene Truck Division are not authorized dealers for the equipment which could result in time delays in warranty repairs and actual out of pocket expense until warranty reimbursement. This was another specification not met by some bidders. The one dealer would have two other dealers install some of the equipment. With this in mind, and based upon John’s recommendation, the Mayor suggested that since the lowest bidder did not meet the required specifications, the Village should accept the bid from Robert Green Truck Division. Lynn agreed that John knows what he needs and it’s a good argument.
Resolution# 5290- To Reject the Lowest Bid From Bison Truck Center, Inc.of $34,163.74 Because it Does Not Meet the Bid Specifications and Accept the Second Lowest Bid of $35,060 from Robert Green Truck Division
Trustee O’Neill moved this resolution. Trustee
Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye
Jodi stated that Carol Mallison, our Ombudsperson, had called and asked if her services were still needed. She hasn’t done anything for the Village in several years. The Board felt that since there are different mechanisms to deal with disputes, it was no longer necessary to have an ombudsman. Ithaca has a Community Dispute Resolution Service that is very good. Jodi will call Carol and thank her for all she has done and tell her that we no longer need her services. This line item will be removed from next year’s budget.
Larry stated that we should look into new computers for the office. Larry will ask Ben to look and see what he needs. Jodi will call Williamson Law Book to find out what she needs to switch her accounting to a Windows based system. The issue of being networked came up. Don feels that it is not necessary for our small office to be networked. For security purposes he doesn’t want the treasurer’s computer networked to anyone.
On the sewer issue, Frank stated that the next sewer meeting is an Open House at the Town of Lansing on Saturday, December 9th from 10am -1pm. Don still has not given up on the idea of a stand-alone plant in Lansing. Once he finds out who the new DEC Commissioner will be he will make a trip to Albany to discuss this issue further.
Larry reported that the next TCCOG meeting is December 28th.
John O’Neill ran into George Gesslein and he stated that the architect that designed the new firehouse drawings didn’t understand where the buildings should go so he is reworking that and will get back to the Village.
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Fresinski moved for adjournment. Trustee
O’Neill seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee John O’Neill-Aye
The meeting adjourned at 8:58 PM.
Jodi Dake
Clerk/Treasurer