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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-08-10 1; v. .. c 1111 Minutes LANSING PLANNING BOARD August 10 , 1970 : Town Hall Regular Meeting PRESENT : Mr . Peter H . Craig , Chairman ; Miss Louise Barr , Mrs . Viola Miller , Messrs . Paul Barron and Frederick Edmondson Also : Mr . Harris Dates , Chairman , County Board of Representatives ABSENT : Messrs . Sam Baughman and Steven Farkas , Jr . The meeting was called to order by the chairman at 8 : 10 p . m . Minutes of the meetings of July 10 and July 27 , 1970 , were MINUTES approved as previously distributed . REPORTS Edmondson Has been in contact with Tom Niederkorn regarding the survey PROFESSIONAL of the lake shore , which it should be possible to complete in RELATIONS two runs . Mr . Niederkorn will fly over the shoreline on Tuesday , August 11 , 1970 , for air recognizance . Mr . Edmondson • will go by boat with Mr . Niederkorn to study the offshore line . This particular technique has proved to be very successful in a survey for another town just completed by Mr . Niederkorn . The Salmon Creek access area will be combined with this survey . Craig The State has now taken over the International Salt Company BUSINESS AND property at Myers , and has great plans for developing this INDUSTRY area . Dates When the State bought this land , they promised that the dock- ing area would be removed .= from the park , but no funds or budgeting have been developed as yet for this removal . The next development which will be of interest will be Card - well ' s Point . Removal of all the cottages there has been ordered , but nothing is known of what use is to be made of this land . Miller A public meeting has been tentatively scheduled for October 12 , PUBLIC and a great deal of preliminary work will have to be done for RELATIONS this well ahead of time . It must be held where a large at - tendance can be accommodated . It is hoped that the Town Board may be interested in what the Planning Board is doing , and will attend the meeting . A survey - type questionnaire with a return envelope could be sent out to key people in the Town , the follow- • ing questions possibly being used : Have they seen a copy of the proposed Subdivision Regulations ? Are they aware that these have been seen by the Town Board ? Are they interested in other studies , Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 2 such as zoning ? This would necessitate some small preliminary • meetings . A preliminary survey is necessary in order to present ✓ o the Town Board anything regarding Subdivision Regulations , inasmuch as its members were elected on the basis of "no regula - tions . " Dates Agreed with and repeated Mrs . Miller ' s statement that any antag - onism was very minor when the Subdivision Regulations were pre - sented at public hearings sometime ago . Miller It will be necessary to present the Town Board with intelligent questions at such a public meeting , and comments from people who are well informed on the subject should be presented . A group of enthusiastic people makes a difference to an elected body . Pro - posed that a questionnaire be sent out to the entire Town , since ✓ esidents must be well informed in order to have a good public meeting . Dates Dislikes the idea of asking people questions in this manner ; he would , however , be in favor of sending out an information letter . Miller Listed some of the information which could be thus disseminated : That the Planning Board is proceeding with the 701 plan ; that we must proceed by such - and - such a date ; that Subdivision Regulations have been formulated . The question should then be asked : Would you like to have special informational meetings ? • Dates . Is not in favor of a letter which asks questions . Miller In response to Mr . Craig ' s question as to whether the purpose of the proposed letter is to get information or to disseminate it , ✓ eplied that both purposes could be served . Craig Agreed with Mr . Dates that the information return on the post - card would not be very satisfactory , and that few cards would be ✓ eturned . Miller A telephone call could be made afterwards to find out if the ✓ esidents are willing to attend such a meeting . Craig It would be possible to ascertain the general state of opinion by the number of persons who would volunteer to help in such a checkup . Barron Felt that if the notice contained a specific date for the meeting , there would be more reaction . Miller Feels strongly that there are residents who want to get into deeper study of the matter in order to be better informed and that these ✓ esidents should have the opportunity to attend such a meeting . Craig The letter must therefore go out in time to permit such a study • to be made by interested people . Barron Suggested that a digest of the Subdivision Regulations be sent out with the proposed letter . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 3 Craig The Subdivision Regulations are written in such a way that they • can handle all situations - - both large and small situations . Barron The way they were written , about 90 percent of the people would not be affected at all . Craig You can say in a paragraph what the Subdivision Regulations at - tempt to do , and then outline the steps that would ordinarily be ✓ equired for a small subdivision developer to take . The vital in - t erest in this matter is in the southern part of the Town . Miller It would be a good thing to have Lansing residents know that there are already some ordinances . Few persons in the Town could tell you what ordinances already exist in Lansing . Dates Agreed with this statement . Craig Since taking office , the new Town Board has held many , many execu - t ive meetings . Has attended all of the regular meetings of the Town Board , but because of the many closed meetings he knows very little of what is going on . Dates Knows of only one executive meeting of the new Town Board . Craig There has been a Town Board meeting nearly every week , but most of the business has been taken care of at the closed meetings . • Miller MOTION , seconded by Miss Barr , that a draft of a communication intended to arouse interest in a public meeting be presented at the Planning Board meeting, , on August 24 , to be sent to the res - idents of the Town for whom there are addresses . Craig There should also be a telephone campaign to all who are inter - ested , and to the Town Board , also considerable newspaper coverage both at the meeting and following it . Miller Mr . Niederkorn should be asked to make this meeting the last Monday in October rather than the first Monday . Believes that mailbox delivery would be the most satisfactory way of delivering the letters . An audible vote on the MOTION resulted in unanimous approval . Craig Assigned Mrs . Miller to obtain newspaper coverage for the meeting , with his help . Mrs . Miller is also to investigate the mechanism for the letter distribution . Dates Feels that there are two points on the positive side for the meet - ing . One of these is the subject of pollution , in which more and • more persons are becoming interested all the time . Dr . Broad and his work with the County Board of Health are on the plus side in connection with this subject . (Mr . Barron mentioned at this point that farmers are being deluged with information on pollution . ) Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 4 The second matter mentioned by Mr . Dates is that of assessment • making it necessary to have town ordinances fit in with County regulations . Craig Solitited from Mr . Dates all the help he can give in getting these points across to the Town Board . Dates The Board made a commitment of no regulations , and they are trying to live up to it ; but things are changing now , and people are more eager to know what can be done . Craig Emphasized strongly the point that it takes cooperative public officials to get things done . Craig Stated that Miss Barr , Mr . Barron and he himself should begin to talk up the meeting in their respective parts of the Town . Mr . Craig will call Mr . Baughman and suggest that he do the same . Edmondson Feels that the sense of the meeting can be decided by conferring with Tom Niederkorn . There must be good coordination from all pqrticipants . Craig This will constitute Tom Niederkorn ' s first report to the public after studying the Town for a year . There will not be time for a zoning ordinance to be written for presentation at the meeting . • Miller Reminded the members of the previous request for a treasurer ' s re - port . Miss Barr had forgotten about this request , and asked for an explanation of how to obtain such a report . She will have it for the next meeting . Miller Each member of the Planning Board should be thinking about the Town , and at the 701 meetings with Mr . Niederkorn should come prepared with questions to be presented to him . Craig On June 26 the Town Board had a special meeting on Subdivision Regulations . They presented some ideas to Mr . Williamson , who was to put them into a draft . The gist of it was that anyone wishing t o build should go before the Town Board . Mr . Williamson has done nothing about this matter so far . He has asked for informa - t ion from Mr . Craig , and this was supplied to him . There has been no further word from him . Dates Asked whether this meant that at an executive session the Town B oard had decided to make all decisions themselves and not go through the Planning Board at all . Craig Replied in the affirmative . Barron Asked if there would be any way to find out how the Town stands in regard to the ecological situation by comparison with the • nearby towns regarding stream pollution and air pollution , and how badly off Lansing is along these lines . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 5 Craig Replied that it depends on the basis for comparison - - whether . one has just come from Arizona or from New York City . Edmondson It would be very difficult to make a survey in an area as large as Lansing . Asked if it would be possible to include in the Board ' s planning any evaluation of pollutants in the Town . Dates If Peter Utro could have a class come out to Lansing and repeat in Lansing the project he had them do in Fall Creek , the pub - licity would be excellent , particularly if it came a couple of weeks ahead of the proposed meeting . Craig Tom Niederkorn has already presented some information along these lines and shown how wrong it is to put septic systems in many parts of the Town . Miller Agreed that something like the Utro study would be wonderful pub - licity . Dates Volunteered to arrange a luncheon for Utro , Craig , and himself as the time for the meeting approaches . Craig Announced that Mr . Dates had agreed to meet with the Board this evening to talk about County consolidation of the sewer and water agencies . • Dates Sewer : A formal offer has been made to the Village of Cayuga COUNTY SEWER Heights . The Town of Lansing seems to hold the key position . AND WATER The question is , how much can Lansing afford ? As each new Town AGENCIES Board member takes office he must be educated in these matters . The Town of Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights cannot sub - siduze the work . A formula will be worked out and a report made to the Boards of the Towns . The Town of Lansing apparently wants the lines run in stages along Route 34 , to be ready for use when development occurs . Water : When the water agency was set up it was not bound with the sewer agency . Mr . Dates is aware that secret meetings are being held between towns to ascertain whether the towns can do the work more economically than the County can . He has no objection to this attempt . The boundary lines should be just about the way they already exist for the sewer districts . The Town of Lansing cannot go to Bolton Point for more water unless it has cooperation from the Town of Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights . What is good for the entire area is what is good for the Town of Lansing ; all the towns and villages are part of Tompkins County . The water is needed , in the most economical way and with the best engineering . The separate town commitments can be worked out on a cooperative basis . The City of Ithaca has not been ap - proached , because when they were approached previously by a com- • mittee concerned with sewer lines the committee was turned down . Experts have been invited to come in and present information to the Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 6 County Board . The final report should take about a year to pre - pare . While it is possible for some to make a resolution to go to Bolton Point now , Mr . Dates feels it is better to wait until more information can be gathered . The Town of Lansing needs the sewer agency and cooperation with the other towns . It takes a while to educate new boards . Miller Inquired whether any consideration is being given to where the lines will go and whether they will take care of logical develop - ment . Mr . Niederkorn seems to feel that the development will take place in the south end . Dates Mr . Tom Miller is doing a feasibility study for the Town Board to determine where the sewer lines should go . Sewer District #2 has already been formed to take care of the Talandis development , which would connect into lines already there , by about a 1100 - foot line . The addition of this line would permit further development . Be - lieves the cost of sewers for Lansing can be worked out . The hang - up seems to be the unit hookup charge of $ 200 . Craig Suggestions have been made that the sewer line will be brought to the Lansing Town line and stopped . The other suggestion is to extend the interceptor lines on Route 34 . Dates The information on this should be returned from the study by August 27 . • Miller Our own people who were working on it seem to have very little understanding about what is going on . Craig At a joint meeting with the Town Board it was decided that the interceptor sewer idea was the best . Miller More people in the Town would know what is going on if the facts are available by the time of the meeting . Dates Agreed with Mrs . Miller . Craig A strong complaint is that the taxes have doubled , not because taxes themselves have been raised but because of the water district tax . The increase in services has been very small , if any at all . There is a great deal of resistance to getting involved in a sewer district , for that very reason . Dates Does not know how one answers these objections . It is the develop - ers who are putting the pressure on the Town Board to put in sewer services . The commercial places will have to help finance the services . Without Lansing West and Howard Johnson ' s , Dart Road would not have sewer services . Miller Mentioned the anomalous situation in which the developers put • pressure on the towns for the services , but resist regulations which the towns wish to impose on them . Minutes , LANSING PLANNING BOARD , August 10 , 1970 , Town Hall , Regular Meeting , page 7 Craig The only justification for havingasa large sewer or a large water 1111 district is to prevent the formation of a number of small districts . Dates The County Board hopes to accomplish this by having a County Water Agency and a County Sewer Agency . This year a new Town Board will need help in preparing its new budget . Heretofore the Supervisor put it together and only two or three members understood it . Now all of the members of the Town Board will have to unU.erstand it . Edmondson Believes it is heartening to know that the County Agency is taking over water and sewer services . Dates The Federal and State aid will be the key to how far the lines can extend . Edmondson No one will really know how good it is until a firm commitment is presented . Dates We are trying to develop the philosophy that we all need each other . In other words , the city needs the county and the county:needsthe city , and the towns need both . The normal course of events on the part of the sewer agency is to present the findings and see whethey they accept them or reject them . If they are rejected , the agency is dismissed . If they are accepted , a sewer authority should be formed . This is subject to a public hearing . A report will be made to the Board of Repre - sentatives this fall when the details as to fair and equitable distribution have been worked out . Craig Thanked Mr . Dates for having met with the Planning Board , and assured him of the Board ' s support for what he is trying to do . Mr . Craig emphasized the discontent of Lansing residents because of increased taxes due to water and sewer agencies . Dates Asserted that he will be glad to meet with the Planning Board again when he has some definite information to present . Craig Believes that , in line with the sentiment that one receives only what he pays for , good government cannot be cheap government . On the other hand , the tax base in Lansing is adequate to provide for good Town government . Barron Called attention to the August issue of Reader ' s Digest , in which there is an excellent article on planning . The meeting adjourned at 9 : 40 p . m . , on MOTION of Miss Barr . •