On the agenda: Ithaca 08/17/2026 — data center (Aug 17)

Village of Lansing
MINUTES of the Board of Trustees Meeting held on Monday, August 17, 2026, in person at 2405
N. Triphammer Road and via Zoom Videoconferencing/Teleconferencing.
PRESENT: Mayor Ronny Hardaway; Trustees, Susan Ainslie, Patrick Gillespie, Carolyn
Greenwald, Kathleen Yen; Attorney Natalie French; Planning Board Member Kevin Kelvington;
Public-0
Mayor Hardaway called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:30pm. Kelvington stated that
he was the liaison for the Planning Board.
Motion - To Close the Public Comment Period
Mayor Hardaway made a motion to close the public comment period. Trustee
Ainslie seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Ronny Hardaway-Aye
Patrick Gillespie-Aye
Trustee Kathleen Yen-Aye

Trustee Susan Ainslie-Aye
Carolyn Greenwald-Aye

Hardaway stated that the recording would be paused and the Trustees would go to the Mayor’s
office to seek council from Attorney French.
Hardaway stated that the Trustees returned at 7:44pm from their session of advice from council
but no decisions were made in the meeting. The Board then proceeded with the agenda topics.
Website Vendor Selection
Hardaway stated that the Village has received the Munibit contract to provide website services.
French noted that Munibit can change the terms of service at any time by simply uploading them
to their website and by continuing to use their website, you agree to their new terms of service. To
the extent any changes are made, it would be hard to monitor and govern that they won’t make
additional changes. They are not required to notify us if there is a change. French wondered if
modifications to the contract could be made because she has concerns regarding a lot of the
indemnity, disclaimers and limitations of liability that are in the contract. She feels the limitation
on damages should be increased. There are no warrantees that the product will even work and there
is no indemnification for gross negligence or willful misconduct by either party.
Greenwald also pointed out that the fee schedule can be updated from time to time and she would
like to have the Village ask for a fee schedule for one year and an increase not to exceed amount.
She feels we should push back a little bit on the contract terms. Greenwald would also like to see
an arbitration clause or consider jurisdictional change because the current jurisdiction is the federal
courts in Missouri which would be very expensive for us to litigate.

Hardaway stated that at this point we also need to consider how easily can we migrate information
off their system and provide it to someone else.
Gillespie feels we should have access to backups. The contract says we have 90 days to get
everything off if the contract is canceled.
Hardaway asked Attorney French to put together a list to present to Munibit.
Hardaway stated that we still need to decide who will be getting user account names to be able to
add, delete or edit information on the website. We also have to make sure that we are not putting
someone else’s copyrighted material on our website without their permission. We will get into that
once we have a contract.
CSC “Skip the Stuff”
Yen has provided a proposed resolution for the Trustees to consider adopting the Climate Smart
Communities (CSC) Taskforce’s recommendation that the Village participate in the voluntary
Zero Waste Ithaca “Skip the Stuff” Campaign. She previously gave a summary of the program to
the Trustees at the June 1, 2026 Trustees meeting. Hardaway had slight changes that were
implemented in the resolution. Gillespie also had some punctuation changes.
Resolution#7321- Recommending That the Village of Lansing NY Participate in the
“Skip the Stuff” Campaign
WHEREAS, the Village of Lansing New York (herein referred to as the Village) is committed to
providing a sustainable future for the community, and protecting the environment and community
health and well-being, and
WHEREAS, single-use consumable products, provided by food service businesses for take-out and
delivery, such as single-use plastic utensils, condiment packets, beverage straws, beverage stirrers
chopsticks, and other single-use items that customers don’t want or need, are a source of litter and
solid waste, and
WHEREAS, production of unnecessary single-use products, uses energy and natural resources,
contributes to increased CO2 emissions, and pollution, which adversely impacts climate, the
Cayuga Lake watershed, natural ecosystems, public health, and community well-being,
WHEREAS, many single use products are frequently not recyclable or compostable within existing
waste management systems, and micro- and nano-plastic pollution poses documented risks to
wildlife, water quality, and human health, and
WHEREAS, unwanted and unused single-use waste increases the amount of waste going to
landfills and incinerators, and increases costs for taxpayers, municipal waste management facilities,
and food service businesses, and
WHEREAS, the Village, as a certified Climate Smart Community, has established sustainability,
climate, and waste reduction goals in its updated Comprehensive Plan, and supports the reduction
of unnecessary single-use consumable products.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Village of Lansing Board of Trustees support:
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•The Village of Lansing New York’s participation in the Zero Waste Ithaca “Skip the Stuff”
Campaign,
•Promoting a “by request only” rather than a default distribution approach to reduce the
unnecessary distribution of single-use items by food establishments in the Village, and
•Increasing public awareness and recognizing participating businesses that display the “Skip the
Stuff” stickers by providing a link to the campaign on the Village website.

Trustee Yen made a motion to move this resolution. Trustee Ainslie seconded the
motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Ronny Hardaway-Aye
Patrick Gillespie-Aye
Trustee Kathleen Yen-Aye

Trustee Susan Ainslie-Aye
Carolyn Greenwald-Aye

Emergency Preparedness Plan Update
Yen thanked Hardaway for providing the Bolton Point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Yen has
contacted the Town Fire Department but has not heard back. Yen had previously sent the Trustees a copy
of the template and roles and responsibilities. Yen has not received any feedback on the table.
Hardaway wondered why we are reproducing this if the County already has it. Yen stated that it would be
nice to have our plans and procedures integrated so that they are all aligned. Hardaway feels that if we point
to the County’s version we would automatically be aligned. Typically, we rely on the County to take the
lead in these types of situations.
Hardaway asked Yen to contact the County and get an email from them saying that we have to complete
every section in that document. Greenwald thinks the two options are either do our own thing or fill out
their document. Hardaway stated that their document is 47 pages long. Greenwald liked Hardaway’s
previous option of using their boxes but only the ones that are relevant to the Village. Hardaway thinks that
all we have to do is say we will follow the County’s plan when they release it.
Yen stated that it is the exact same command structure. The reason for having the individual municipal
plans is because there will be an incident that requires the Village to act. Hardaway stated that we would
follow our current Emergency Preparedness Plan, we would not go into the County’s addendum. Hardaway
did not understand why we are doing this. French asked if we could just say that we are following the
County’s protocols. Yen stated that in the appendix you can just list the Village plans and agreements.
Hardaway feels there is no value to having our own addendum when in our case, we only have to respond
to a Type I emergency, which we can do now. For Type II and Type III we don’t do anything except go to
the County and wait for their instructions on how we support them for our portion of that emergency.
Greenwald asked if the document we already created could be our addendum. Hardaway understood that it
could be. Greenwald feels we can look at their boxes for inspiration.
Yen stated that the current Emergency Preparedness Plan is out of date. Hardaway had previously provided
a draft and Yen provided a draft back in March based on the training she attended. This plan primarily
addresses a Type III. Yen feels it needs to be clear what the succession plan is if the Mayor is not available,
so we know what to do. Hardaway stated that it is already in our Code.
French stated that it seems that these are easy things that can be added to Hardaway’s plan and be reviewed
annually.

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Yen stated that we had agreed to update and rename the pandemic plan which is supposed to be reviewed
annually because it is an operation. Yen feels this plan needs significant updates.
It was decided that Hardaway’s current Draft Emergency Preparedness Plan will be updated and submitted
to the County by the end of October.

Post Retirement Health Insurance
Hardaway stated that French is going to come up with some wording that will help the Trustees
with planning an annual plan, a look and review and update of the post-retirement health insurance.
Hardaway thanked Greenwald for raising that question and starting that discussion.
Hardaway stated that one topic he wanted to add was the hiring of a Deputy Clerk/Treasurer.
Hardaway will have Dake publish the job description so that we can start getting applicants.
General Discussion
Gillespie had nothing to report.
Greenwald reported that Greenway and CAAC were both meeting this week. Greenwald is the
liaison for the Planning Board but will be at NYCOM for their September 14th meeting. Gillespie
agreed to cover that meeting.
Ainslie had nothing to report.
Yen reported on the following:
1. Town of Lansing Conservation Advisory Council: Wednesday, August 5, 2026, 6:30 PM ET –
attended.
The Town recently submitted its application for certification as a Climate Smart Community;
Discussion focused on finalizing plans for the Saturday, August 8, 2026 community Lansing
Center Trail Bioblitz at the Lansing Center Trail area; Flyers with a schedule of trail walks with
experts included: (1) bird walk with Robyn Bailey, (2) Snail and invertebrate walk with Marla
Coppolino, (3) plant walk with Dan Segal, (4) mushroom walk with Greg Czekaj, (5) bat talk at
Scoops with John Hatfield. Flyers were made available at the Village office and a reminder sent
to Village officials and committee chairs.
2. Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Taskforce: Kathleen reported that Ashley Seyfried, So.
Tier 8 Regional Economic Development Board and CSC Taskforce advisor/liaison will be making
a presentation at the October 5, 2026 (7:30 PM ET) Village of Lansing’s Trustee meeting.
3. Tompkins County Core Advisory Group: Monday, August 17, 2026 - attended
Presentation on Code Blue Sheltering – Lisa M. Barrett, Senior Director of Housing and Shelter
Services, Volunteer of America Upstate New York
4. Tompkins County Planning, Energy, Environmental Quality (PEEQ) Committee: Thursday,
August 6, 2026, 9:30 AM ET – attended

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The Finger Lakes Land Trust Director of Conservation, Kate Riley, presented an overview of
proposed funding requests from the County’s Natural Infrastructure Capital Program for three
properties located in the Towns of Caroline, Danby, and Newfield, and answered questions and
Katherine Borgella provided additional information in response to Legislators’ questions. The
three resolutions were unanimously approved to recommend appropriating funds for the three
parcels which will be considered by the full Legislature at their August 18, 2026 meeting. PEEQ
Committee Chair, Irene Weiser, reiterated the importance of protecting and preserving the region’s
natural resources,
5. Announcement: 2026 Tompkins County Airport Day & Preparedness Expo: A Community
Celebration, Saturday, September 19, 2026
6. Announcement:
Please refer to the following NYS Senate Press:
(https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/kristen-gonzalez/ny-state-senatorkristen-gonzalez-announces-ny-fights) for details on NYS Senator Kristen Gonzalez’s schedule of
visits at locations around the state with existing and proposed data centers. One of the scheduled
visits is scheduled for Friday, August 28, 2026, 12 noon, at Myers Park, 29 Auburn Road, Lansing
NY. NYS Senator Kristen Gonzalez is the Chair of the Senate Committee on Internet and
Technology and sponsor of the Responsible Data Center Development Act.
Hardaway had no additional comments.
Adjournment
Motion- To Adjourn
Mayor Hardaway motioned to adjourn. Trustee Ainslie seconded the motion. A vote was
taken:
Mayor Ronny Hardaway-Aye
Patrick Gillespie-Aye
Trustee Kathleen Yen-Aye

Trustee Susan Ainslie-Aye
Carolyn Greenwald-Aye

The meeting was adjourned at 8:44pm.
Jodi Dake, Clerk/Treasurer

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