The town of Lysander is finally hanging up its skates.
The $550,000 sale of the Lysander Radisson Community Arena closed March 5. Back in January, the Lysander Town Board voted unanimously to approve a purchase offer from Rochester-based developer and property management firm DHD Ventures.
The official owner of the eight-acre property, which contains two ice rinks, is Home Ice 1, LLC. Home Ice 1 filed a business certificate with the office of the Secretary of State of New York Feb. 7, 2015, according to a legal notice in Rochester City Newspaper.
The town of Lysander has poured more than $2 million into the ice arena since 1992.
“The proceeds will be used to pay off the remaining bond balance of $315,000 plus interest, payment of the balance of the energy-efficient lighting system of $10,000, legal fees and expenses of $2,547.55 and any unpaid operating expenses prior to the closing date and for the period that the town has been operating the ice rink,” read a release from Supervisor John Salisbury.
At the March 9 Lysander Town Board meeting, Salisbury said the town will not spend already budgeted expenses for the Lysander Radisson Community Arena for 2015. The town will collect income and cover expenses dated until March 5, 2015, and the rink’s buyer, Home Ice 1, LLC, will assume expenses and collect income after March 5.
“There is no windfall that’s going to result from not spending those expenses because we won’t be receiving the income,” Salisbury said. “Hopefully, by the first meeting in April, we will have a complete picture of the income and expenses for the period the town operated the rink.”
Later in the meeting, the town board voted 4-1 to approve an extension of 139.5 hours in ice rink consultant Robyn Bentley-Graham’s contract, which previously stipulated a maximum of 360 billable hours of work.
Councilor Roman Diamond dissented, saying that Bentley-Graham working additional hours and then asking the board to approve those hours set a “bad precedent” for future contracts.
Salisbury said while he would have preferred to negotiate Bentley-Graham’s hours differently, her work kept the ice rink open for the children who use it.
County planning board shares CLUP concerns
Town Clerk Lisa Dell presented the Onondaga County Planning Board’s comments on the town’s revised Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). OCPB determined that the plan would have no significant adverse effects on the community, but shared its concerns with the town.
“While the board commends many elements of the plan and the process in general, the board shares the concerns expressed by the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency, transportation officials and the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection [WEP] regarding the long-term implications of a land-use strategy for the Cold Springs Peninsula,” the OCPB’s statement read.
The OCPB is concerned about the cost of radical changes to wastewater management infrastructure that will be necessary for the CLUP’s vision of single-family residential developments along the peninsula’s largely agricultural land.
“The board encourages the town to undertake a more robust investigation of the potential taxpayer costs and long-term fiscal impacts of the proposed land use and infrastructure strategy or other options prior to the adoption of the proposed plan, and especially the incentive overlay zoning district,” the OCPB continued.
Lysander’s revised CLUP would allow developers to build smaller, higher-density lots in exchange for agricultural easements.
The OCPB also encouraged the town to keep citizens and neighboring municipalities engaged in and informed of the process.
“The town should continue to work with WEP as well as the village of Baldwinsville and the town of Van Buren in developing a mutually acceptable land allocation plan which prioritizes allocation of limited treatment capacity within the Baldwinsville-Seneca Knolls Wastewater Treatment Plant to the highest quality uses and locations within the service area,” the OCPB said.
Town Engineer Al Yager said the CLUP would require developers to conduct traffic studies and cover the costs of traffic and wastewater improvements for new developments.
The town board will continue to review the CLUP and will hold a work session at 5 p.m. March 26 to discuss it. Residents who have comments or questions may address the board publicly at future meetings.
