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Village Mayor Donald Hartill updated Village Trustees on sewer negotiations with the Town of Lansing Monday, telling Trustees that Town and Village attorneys had met to discuss the ownership issue, one that must be resolved before the parties sign the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) .  "We're waiting for our legal counsel to decide whether joint ownership is possible.  Once that is settled the financial side is agreed to," Hartill said.  "I'm quite insistent that we have some ownership."

As the Town attempts to get its ducks in a row before a September sewer vote, one of the key elements that officials say must be in place is a signed MOU between the Town and Village of Lansing.  This MOU would address a portion of the trunk sewer line that would go through the Village to join the Town sewers with the Cayuga Heights treatment plant.  Part of the MOU has to do with how much the Village will pay, but the other issue it addresses is ownership of the part that goes through the Village and who will say when repairs and maintenance must be effected.

Village Attorney David Dubow explained that because the Town is borrowing money to build the sewer the State may not allow them to borrow for a part they don't own.  As a result he and Hartill are exploring an option by which the Village would own a percentage of the pipe that is equivalent to the amount they are paying relative to what the Town will pay.  "The issue will be the ownership percentages," Dubow explained.  "I think it may be correct, but we're going to have to talk to the (NY State) Comptroller's office particularly because they are borrowing funds -- that there has to be a sense of equity between ownership percentages and the actual investment in the infrastructure.  So it can't be 50/50."

Dubow had discussed the issue with Town Attorney Guy Krogh, suggesting that if ownership in the pipe is not 50/50 that governance of it could be.  He suggested a commission made up of two Village representatives and two from the Town.  Part of the agreement would be that a third party would remediate when the two sides can't agree.

But Trustee Frank Moore, who represents the Village on the Town sewer committee, challenged the compromise.  "Take the question of odor," Moore said.  "The people in the Village decide there is an odor problem on Cedar Lane.  Now I don't trust the Town to agree that some horribly expensive remediation needs to be done.  I don't trust them.  I certainly wouldn't trust them if it's a prorated voting situation, and I wouldn't trust them if it required consensus either."

Moore said that if the Village owns the line it can make all the decisions.  "Take the point of odor," he said.  "If we did own the part that's in the Village there would be no problem for us.  It would be our decision."

But Dubow noted that the issue of trust cuts both ways.  "They would probably be as uncomfortable as you are in having a third party own a line that carries their sewage to a further location," he said.  "They could argue what happens if the Village fails to do what they want to do?  The equities on this are difficult to balance, but certainly they could make the same argument."

"Are we getting hung up on the word 'ownership?'" asked Deputy Mayor Larry Fresinski.  "Why can't we see it like the wires on telephone poles?  There's a contract in place where we get to say how things are maintained.  The Town could have the trunk line go through, but we would tell them how to go about the maintenance process."

Dubow said that a sewer commission could be structured just that way.  The issue of ownership first arose in a public information meeting hosted by the Village last year in which some residents expressed concern about who they would call in the event of a problem.  They said at that time that they want to call their own government officials in the Village.

Hartill seemed satisfied that uneven joint ownership but even governance addresses that issue.  "Am I going in the wrong direction?" he asked Moore.

"I think these are important questions for the Village," Moore replied.  "You've changed direction, and now we need to accept the change in direction."

Hartill said that before an MOU can be finalized the legal issues affecting joint ownership will have to be resolved.  He said when that happens he will draft a new MOU to submit to Town and Village officials before signing.

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