Village
of Lansing
MINUTES of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing
held on Monday, February 4, 2008, in the Village Office.
Present: Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees, Larry Fresinski, John O’Neill,
Frank Moore and Lynn Leopold; 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. There were 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
Larry Fresinski -Aye
Trustee John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold –Aye
The next item on the agenda was to consider the Cold War Veterans
Exemption. Dubow had prepared Proposed Local Law B which Jodi sent to Jay Franklin
at the Tompkins County Assessment Office so that he could review it. Jay
suggested some revisions that reflected the very recent amendments to the NYS
enabling legislation for this tax exemption signed by Governor Spitzer on
January 28th. It was
explained that this tax exemption can be implemented only if local taxing authorities
take appropriate action to authorize it. It was reported that the only other
municipality in Tompkins County that has implemented this new exemption is the
Town of Lansing.
Tompkins
County and the Town of Ithaca did not and Groton
is the only other municipality that is still considering it at this time. Dubow
indicated that he did not have any legislative history on this Cold War
Veterans Exemption and the manner in which the State decided to authorize it. He explained that if someone claims any other
permitted veterans exemption, that individual is not entitled to this new exemption.
After further discussion, the Board
tabled this until they could look into it a little further. It was acknowledged
that there is currently no rush to get this done because unless a special
meeting was called, a public hearing could not be completed by the March 1st
deadline to have it apply to this next year’s taxes. It was questioned whether
this exemption was more symbolic than substantive. The Mayor indicated that he assumes
so because there is not much of an effect in the Village. Although, if it was
15% of school taxes then it would have a much bigger impact. It was suggested
that this subject be talked about in the next newsletter.
The next item for discussion was the proposal for a local law to control
solicitors in the Village
of Lansing. It was acknowledged that in a previous
meeting John O’Neill had brought up the issue of creating such a law. He has had 4-5 residents in his neighborhood
complain about people coming to their doors to sell things. Jodi had previously
distributed a copy of the Village of Cayuga Heights’s Peddler Law to the Board
for their review. Don’s main concern was
with licensing and creating more work for Ben to solve an issue that really
isn’t that big of a problem. It was suggested that John tell residents that
these solicitors are actually trespassing on private property and they have the
right to tell them to go away. Lynn
suggested that these residents put up a sign that says “no soliciting”. Frank
feels this is more like a solution in search of a problem. Don feels there is
an enforcement issue, and David explained the enforcement duty and obligation
that may arise out of this type of local regulation. He also observed that the
Village may want to evaluate whether this is one of those instances where only
a few problems may have arisen, but a local law will then have a much broader
application that could raise other and questions and issues. John suggested it
may be best to take no action on this matter.
Originally it was thought that Don could not attend the February 14th
meeting. He has checked his schedule and will be able to attend, so it is not
necessary to try to reschedule that meeting. John O’Neill will be the only one
not able to attend that meeting.
The Board discussed how to proceed with future newsletters. It was explained that the Town of Lansing has gone to electronic
newsletters. They sent cards out to all of their residents stating that the
newsletter is now online and that if they wanted to receive it in paper copy,
they should call the Town Office. Currently the Town of Lansing only sends out about 50 paper copies.
This seems to be a very cost effective way to stay in touch with the public. It
may even allow the Village to do newsletters more frequently. Frank asked about
having a blog whereby the Village and its residents can communicate. The
problem with that is that individuals participate anonymously and the Village
wouldn’t know if the person is actually from the Village or not. Also, someone would have to constantly monitor
this.
Jodi suggested that a postcard be sent out that gives the residents a
place to go online to request that they receive a paper version of the
newsletter or be notified of the availability of a newsletter. We currently have the Yahoo group set up to
inform residents of special events if they chose to sign up. Dan Veanor of the
Lansing Star stated that he uses Constantcontact.com to notify Lansing
Star readers every Friday when a new edition comes out. Dan stated that it
costs about $300 a year. Larry will look into this. Jodi will create a few
versions of a postcard to submit to the Board at their next meeting for final
approval.
Mayor Hartill entertained the
following motion:
Motion - To Approve the Minutes from January
7, 2008.
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 John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Motion - To Approve the Minutes from January
16, 2008
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-Abstain Trustee
Larry Fresinski-Aye
Trustee John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The next item on the agenda was
Mayor’s Comments. Mayor Hartill stated
that about two months ago there was an incident where a Town of Lansing resident had a
stray slug hit the window frame of his house. This residence is located about a
mile from the Tompkins County Fish and Game Club that is located partly in the
Village but mostly in the Town of Lansing. The slug was allegedly a 9mm. Everyone is
guessing that this was not from the Gun Club. There are a lot of questions
associated with this event. One concern the Mayor had was that we have recently
passed a law that says there is no discharge of firearms in the Village of Lansing. Dubow has researched this and there is an
Environmental Conservation Law exemption from the otherwise applicable firearm
discharge regulations for membership corporations that provide shooting ranges
and similar activities. It was explained
that the Village cannot supersede the State exemption and cannot prohibit them
from shooting as permitted under the State exemption. It was also explained
that the only discharge of firearms on the portion of the Fish and Game Club
located in the Village is the skeet shooting range which could not have been
the source for the incident reported. There is a barrier around the pistol
range so it is also very unlikely that the slug came from the range. It was
suggested that Dan run an article on this in the Lansing Star. Dan indicated
that he already ran an article two weeks ago.
On February 11th Don
will be meeting with Scott Pinney, the new Town of Lansing
Supervisor, and Walter Lynn, Mayor of Village of Cayuga Heights, to talk about
extending sewer to the commercial park on Warren Road in the Town of Lansing and possibly the
apartments just past that location. Don has already verbally agreed to let them
hook in through the Village
of Lansing. The
phosphorous removal design for the Village
of Cayuga Heights Sewer Plant
is complete and should go out to bid soon. The Town of Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights are
still negotiating over the flow through the Kline Road Bypass.
Don attended the TCCOG meeting
where they discussed Countywide Health Benefits. Don wonders if it is worth the
trouble because it will actually only save us about 10%. Don is unsure of the effectiveness
of this group.
It is budget time again. Jodi
has sent out requests for budget information. The plan is to begin discussion
at the March 3rd meeting and have the public hearing on April 7th.
The heavy construction is
complete on N. Triphammer road Project. We are still waiting for forms so that
we can pay Suit Kote and close out this project.
John O’Neill asked the Mayor if he had had a chance to look
at the Flood Insurance model law. Ben Curtis has looked at it and given John
comments. Don has not had a chance to review it but we are still moving
forward.
Larry has sent an email to all the Trustees informing them
that Danica Computing will no longer be providing internet service in the area
of the Village office. They have found that it is not cost efficient for them.
They have agreed to continue to be our service provider. Larry has contacted Time
Warner regarding their Roadrunner service, but hasn’t heard back yet on how
much it will cost. Larry will soon have a recommendation for the Board.
Mayor Hartill requested an executive session.
Motion- To Go Into Executive
Session to Discuss Personnel Issues Permitted To Be Discussed In Executive
Session Under The Open Meetings Law
Trustee Fresinski moved to go into
executive session and Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Larry Fresinski -Aye
Trustee John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold –Aye
The board went into executive session at 8:48 pm.
Motion- To Come
out of Executive Session
Trustee Fresinski moved to come
out of executive session and Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was
taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee
Larry Fresinski -Aye
Trustee John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold –Aye
The Board came out of executive session at 9:20 pm.
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 John O’Neill-Aye Trustee
Frank Moore-Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold –Aye
The meeting adjourned at 9:21 PM.
Jodi Dake
Clerk/Treasurer