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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-04 September 4, 2019 1 TOWN BOARD WORK SESSION MEETING LANSING TOWN HALL BOARD ROOM 29 AUBURN RD., LANSING, NY September 4, 2019 PLEASE NOTE: The primary purpose of the Town Board Work Session is to be informational/educational for the benefit of the Board Members. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Edward LaVigne, Supervisor, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Roll call by Deborah K. Munson, Town Clerk, showed the following to be PRESENT: Katrina Binkewicz, Councilperson Doug Dake, Councilperson Joseph Wetmore, Councilperson Edward LaVigne, Supervisor ABSENT: Andra Benson, Councilperson ALSO PRESENT: Guy Krogh, Town Counsel, C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, Ted Laux, Andrew Sullivan, The Ithaca Times/Lansing Ledger, Wayne Straw, Mike Koplinka-Loehr, Judy Drake, Bob Munson, Jeannine Kirby, Mitch Quine, CS Energy, and a few other attendees. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – GUIDELINES Available as a handout. The public shall be allowed to speak only during the Public Comment / Privilege of the Floor period of the meeting, or during public hearings, or when they have reserved and been granted time upon the Agenda. Speakers must be recognized by the presiding officer (or his or her designee) and step to the front of the room. Speakers must give their name and state whether they are speaking as a resident, a member of the public, or for any other person or organization. Speakers must limit their remarks to 3 minutes, and comments unrelated to the subject matter of the public hearing are not allowed. Speakers may not yield any remaining time they may have to another speaker. With the permission of the presiding officer a Board or committee member may interrupt a speaker for the purpose of clarification or information (and not for any other reason or to debate or disagree). Such time shall not be counted against the speaker’s 3 minute limit. All remarks shall be addressed to the Board or committee as a body and not to any member thereof, nor to any member of the public whether present at such public hearing or not. Speakers shall observe the commonly accepted rules of courtesy, decorum, dignity and good taste. Interested parties or their representatives may address the Board by written communications. Written documents and evidence may be submitted as part of the record of the public hearing. Persons who exceed 3 minutes, violate rules of courtesy, decorum, dignity or good taste, or deliberately or by their behavior interfere with other person’s right to comment or September 4, 2019 2 participate in the public hearing, or who deliberately or by their behavior interfere with governmental administration will be cut off, removed, or have non-recognized comments removed from the record, or any combination of the above. Before a comments or statements will be excised from the record, the speaker will be verbally warned that they are in violation of the rules for this public hearing. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – COMMENTS Proposed Solar and Wind Law Representatives from CS Energy, stated the following regarding Solar:  Would like to partner with Town of Lansing  Does not encourage housing / development / business parks  Finite and predictable impact on agriculture – once capacity is reached, no additional solar projects can connect  Quiet, no additional traffic, lights, smells  Compatible with agricultural on same parcel – sheep grazing  Soil is only removed for roads - top soil stripped, stock piled and saved to put back when project is decommissioned  Lasts about 25 - 35 years – then decommissioned – can restore land back to agriculture  Department of Ag and Markets engaged in siting and permitting for solar projects  100 - 150 megawatts – 700 – 1200 acres – consolidate as much as can – 100 - 150 acres together  Efficiency of panels – average above 20%  Not planning to use batteries in Town of Lansing  Battery backup – limited by capacity on lines  Payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) – revenue split between school, county and town  Sell power at wholesale – large scale solar  Article 10 – siting board makes final decision – siting board takes local law very literally  2 megawatts – 10 acres – CS Energy is not interested in small acres  About three (3) years out before solar will be here  Vegetation still there – run off the same or better than it is now  SEQRA reviews everything – critical environmental areas, wetlands, etc. One resident spoke about the Proposed Solar and Wind Law:  Version 08292019 - page 7 – would like the restriction of installing solar in front yards removed  Supports removal of ten (10) acres limitation for large scale systems The following topics were discussed: PROPOSED SOLAR AND WIND LAW C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, reported the following:  Article 10 – 2011 public service law – electric generating facility, larger than 25 megawatts, is sited by state siting board  Small scale solar system exempt from Planning Board approval  Once it is 25 megawatts, it is not a Town of Lansing decision  Nexamp has Planning Board approval for five (5) megawatts – 25 acres o Planning Board overrode the County 239 recommendation to lower the acreage to ten (10)  SEQRA o No critical environmental areas designated in Town of Lansing Guy Krogh, Town Counsel, stated:  Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has jurisdiction in three (3) areas: o Zoning interpretation appeals September 4, 2019 3 o Area variance o Use variance  Land could go from solar back to agricultural o Will not know for sure for 30 years  Referring to New York State Town of Lansing Soils Map - if prime soil is ruled out, no solar will come to Lansing Edward LaVigne, Supervisor, asked the two (2) farmers in attendance for their opinions and they stated:  When stop farming will want to put whole farm (200 acres) in solar – not ten (10) acres  Farmers need money o Already selling land for houses to pay taxes C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, continued:  Possible to farm under 20 foot panels o Some crops like to be under panels for some shade o Sheep do well under panels o Top soil is not removed o Current law is maximum height of 18 feet  Does Town want one (1) or two (2) large solar areas or several small ones  Anticipated recommendation from County is a limit of ten (10) acres Katrina Binkewicz, Councilperson, stated:  Land sold for houses – never goes back to agricultural, large burden on schools  Investing in large scale solar worldwide is important  Does not want to designate large or small Doug Dake, Councilperson, stated:  The draft overall is good o The Town is trying to limit and control a situation and someone is always on the “other side”  Likes one (1) to two (2) large solar areas Joseph Wetmore, Councilperson, stated:  Different market for large and small solar areas  Wants to eliminate prime soil from solar use C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, stated she is attending a meeting tomorrow regarding Article 10 and will report back after the meeting. The draft of the proposed Solar and Wind Law is on the Town of Lansing website: Front page – Lansing Town Announcements and Town Board current meeting documents. TOMPKINS COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY – LANSING TOWN CENTER INCENTIVE ZONE PROGRAM REVISIONS C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, reviewed current map:  Confusing where Town Center is  Town Board could change map for abatement area  Abatement requests need to be approved by Town Board  Based on discussions, CJ will make changes and come back to the Board PROPOSED 2020 BUDGET Edward LaVigne, Supervisor, stated all Town Board members have the budget spreadsheet. The Town Clerk will present the Tentative 2020 Budget to the Town Board at the September 18, 2019 meeting. September 4, 2019 4 Ed noted, he has contacted all department heads regarding large items (for five (5) year plan) and no one has given him any information. C.J. Randall, Director of Planning, stated she is working on a capital improvement plan and will send it to the Town Board prior to the September 18, 2019 meeting. ADJOURN MEETING Meeting adjourned at the call of the Supervisor at 8:50 p.m. Minutes taken and executed by the Town Clerk. Respectfully submitted, Deborah K. Munson Town Clerk