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Still waiting for Village Trustees' preference of a sewer trunk line route through the Village of Lansing to the Cayuga Heights Treatment Plant, the Town's Sewer Committee concentrated on funding options for the multi-million dollar project in their regular meeting Wednesday. Tension seems to be mounting between the Town and Village as the deadline draws near, with both sides trying to second-guess the other. The trunk line must go through the Village to reach the Town, and the choice of which route to use is hotly contested. The Village will communicate its choice to the Town before the end of this year, at which time the final scope of the project can be calculated.
Both sides recognize it is in their interest to cooperate. But it is difficult, because the Town's first choice is the Village's last choice and vice versa. While some Sewer Committee members wanted to plan for the inevitable, the focus of this month's meeting was on reducing the cost to residents in the proposed district. The current estimate for the project is about $16.6 million, which includes the trunk line through the village plus a collection system. That does not include individual hook-ups.Last month the committee determined how the cost will be split among residents and businesses within the proposed district. This month they discussed possible tweaks to that distribution, noting that the School District, for example, uses a percentage of their water for irrigating the ball fields, and that usage can fluctuate around 40% in different weather conditions. Water usage was high for irrigation this year during the drought. David Allardice and Mary Chappell, of Allardice & Associates, a firm specializing in capital project funding, told the committee about rules that affect State funding that could reduce the loan needed to build the project to 3% or even 0%. Ms. Chappell noted that the project may have to be split into two to qualify for favorable State loans. She presented a breakdown of how the different loan configurations could affect individual resident's annual cost. Andy Sciarabba and Noel Desch reported on their efforts to raise private donations to help offset the cost. They have already had some success in interesting potential donors by explaining the benefits a sewer district will bring to them. Meanwhile members are exploring whether State legislators can help reduce the cost in some way. Once a route for the trunk line is chosen later this month the specific scope and cost of the project will be determined. The committee planned to deal with that at their December 14 meeting. ----
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