Archive: News

Unofficial results from Tuesday's election in the Village of Lansing saw Randy Smith and Simon Moll elected to the Board of Trustees. The unofficial vote results (official results are posted after absentee ballots are counted) showed Moll with 54.39% (62) of the votes, and Smith with 44.74% (51). There was one write-in. 71 ballots were cast.  Voters cast one vote for each of the two available Trustee positions.

In May of 2019 Smith was appointed to fill the remaining half of Gerry Monaghan's term after Monaghan retired from the Board of Trustees. At that point Mayor Donald hartill said Smith's experience and interest in business would be important because of the Village's large business area that includes the Shops at Ithaca Mall. He has a particular interest in preventing uncontrolled sprawl in the Village, and is currently serving on the Village's Climate Smart Task force.With this win Smith will begin serving his first full term.

Monday was Lansing's first day of school.  At the Board of Education meeting Monday evening school administrators reported that months of planning seemed to be paying off, and that students were adapting to COVID-19 social distancing, face masks and other safety rules, but, above all, were happy to be back in school.  Superintendent Christine Pettograsso said administrators had some anxiety about whether students would be able to keep masks on during the school day, but she and other administrators remarked on how naturally students handled it.

"You can see kids smiling right through their masks, which is awesome," High School Principal Patrick Hornbrook. "At the high school level I was pleasantly surprised with how, just how excited kids were to be around one another and back in the building. And they all seem to be excited, but not nervous. I thought there would be a lot of anxiety and it seemed very natural given the circumstances."

Natural gas availability and pressure in Lansing has been a hot topic for many years.  A pipeline proposed in 2014 never materialized, a moratorium was placed on new natural gas customers in the Town and Village of Lansing, and a plan to install a compressor to increase pressure to serve the Lansing schools (the end of NYSEG's Lansing natural gas service area) was deemed unnecessary by NYSEG.  A Non-Pipe Alternatives RFP (Request For Proposals) was distributed last year in which NYSEG said it plans to invest $10.7 million in Lansing.

On September 1st Tompkins County Legislator (Lansing Town) Mike Sigler wrote to NYSEG and Avangrid with questions about the Non-Pipe Alternative, and whether it would mean the moratorium would be lifted, an issue he has doggedly pursued since the moratorium began.  On Tuesday NYSEG sent a 'Construction Notification' that a new 5,600 pipeline will be laid from a locaqtion near Boynton Middle School to the top of Esty Hill in the Village of Lansing between September 14th and the end of October to address the pressure issue.  The notice advised the new pipeline would not provide enough capacity to lift the moratorium.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that four additional states—Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia—meet the metrics to qualify for New York State's COVID-19 travel advisory. Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands have been removed. The advisory requires individuals who have traveled to New York from areas with significant community spread to quarantine for 14 days. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from an area with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or an area with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

New York State's COVID-19 infection rate has been below 1 percent for 32 straight days.

The Tompkins County Health Department announced last Friday that it received notification of a second employee at The Boatyard Grill (525 Old Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850) who has tested positive for COVID-19. Based on the Health Department's contact investigation, this individual is connected to the previously identified positive case reported on September 2, 2020.

Potential public exposures may have occurred at The Boatyard Grill during the following dates and times, including the previously reported dates:

• Friday, August 28: 4pm-11:00pm
• Saturday, August 29: 4pm-11:00pm
• Sunday, August 30: 4pm-11:00pm
• Monday, August 31: 4pm-11:00pm
• Tuesday, September 1: 4pm-11:00pm
• Wednesday, September 2: 4pm-11:00pm

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced casinos and video lottery terminal facilities will be allowed to reopen starting Wednesday (September 9) with a 25 percent occupancy limit. All venues that choose to reopen will be subject to strict safety protocols, including strict enforcement of face coverings except when eating or drinking, social distancing, additional staff to control occupancy, traffic flow and seating to avoid crowding, and enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols. Casinos must also have enhanced air filtration, ventilation and purification standards in place in order to open.

"New Yorkers have done an extraordinary job - we flattened the curve in a way that no expert thought was possible," Cuomo said. "We've made the determination that we can safely reopen casinos with enhanced air filtration and strict safety protocols including mandatory masks and social distancing. This is good news and the right next step in our data-driven, phased reopening which is working."

Tompkins County announced the receipt of a $150,000 investment at the end of August from Cornell University towards the ongoing local COVID-19 response. The financial support will aid the County's efforts to identify positive cases and stop the spread of the disease in the community.

"What I'm hearing from my colleagues around the state is that this kind of collaboration with higher education partners is unique — Cornell has been responsive and engaged since the beginning of the pandemic," said Frank Kruppa, Tompkins County Public Health Director. "We're grateful for Cornell's investment to support our efforts."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a public awareness campaign Tuesday to ensure New Yorkers know all the ways they can vote in November's election, including voting early, voting absentee, or voting in person on Election Day. The Governor issued an executive order requiring boards of elections develop a plan to allow a registered voter to drop off a completed absentee ballot at a board of elections, early voting location, or election day voting location, without requiring they wait in line with in-person voters, to help minimize delays during in-person voting and promote contactless voting.

Additionally, New York's absentee ballot portal was launched last week, where voters can directly request an absentee ballot for the upcoming November 3rd election. The Governor acted by Executive Order to allow any voter concerned about risk or exposure to COVID during the ongoing pandemic to request an absentee ballot.

Many in Lansing and Tompkins County have embraced the dream of transforming the now-closed coal powered power station into a data center that uses clean, renewable energy.  Part of Cayuga Operating Company's plan has been to transform its acreage around the plant into a solar farm that could potentially provide some of the power needed for the data center. Cayuga Operating Company's Jerry Goodenough and Douglas Roll brought sPower Senior Manager for Solar Development Michael Farrell to meet the Lansing community Wednesday at a 'getting to know you presentation' at the Lansing Town Hall to talk about the solar portion of the plan.  What Farrell presented exceeds the original plan for Cayuga Solar.  He outlined a 30-year solar project that is expected to produce between 100MW to 200MW that could potentially span up to 1,400 acres at and near the power plant property.  Additionally, a 20MW electricity storage facility is being considered. 

"A general rule of thumb is about about five to seven acres per megawatt for a project," Farrell explained. "So the order of magnitude for a 200 megawatt project, you're looking at a thousand or fourteen hundred acres. There are a lot of different factors that have to go into that. Obviously you have setbacks for your wetlands, if there are any species concerns, if there's any other areas that you need to avoid, that can increase the amount of acreage you need."

A coordinated COVID-19 testing program is a vital component of Cornell's efforts to prevent the spread of the virus as Cornell reactivates its Ithaca campus. The university is now making testing results available on a new dashboard.

The COVID-19 Tracking Dashboard, unveiled Aug. 25, will be updated daily with information on the number of tests performed and the number of positive cases identified in the campus community. University leadership outlined Cornell's public health strategy, including an aggressive testing plan, during a virtual faculty and staff town hall Aug. 20.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday that he will propose legislation to hold utilities accountable for failures to effectively respond to future power outages. In response to the unacceptable performance of multiple electric and telecom service providers during tropical storm Isaias, the legislation will increase the current legal limits on penalties and create a streamlined process for revocation of a utility's operating certificate for recurring failures.

"The response by the utility companies to Isaias was unacceptable and it's even worse that they continue to have such problems during storms and in the aftermath. We know these storms are going to happen. We don't pay for utilities to function on a nice day, the essence of what we pay for is be ready for a storm -- give me information when my power goes out and get it back on quickly," Cuomo said. "The laws are too protective of the utility companies and that has to change. I am proposing legislation that will create penalties that are significant and will force utilities to change their behavior. The bill will also create a faster revocation process so that if they're not providing that service then we will find someone else who can and do it quickly. We must pass this new law and do it right away."

Health Alert: The Tompkins County Health Department received notification that an employee of Simeon's American Bistro tested positive for COVID-19. The individual worked multiple shifts at Simeon's, located at 224 E State St., Ithaca, NY.

Potential exposures may have occurred during the following dates and times at Simeon's: