HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-12-17 EMC Final Minutes
TOMPKINS COUNTY
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
121 East Court Street Ithaca, New York 14850
Telephone (607) 274-5560
http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/emc
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Final Minutes 2
January 12, 2017, 4PM 3
Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court Street, Ithaca, NY 4
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Member Seat Member Seat
Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Anna Kelles P Legislature Liaison
Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Susan Allen-Gil A Associate Member
Bill Evans P Town of Danby Karen Edelstein A Associate Member
Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member
Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Dan Klein P Associate Member
John Hertzler P Town of Ulysses Jose Lozano P Associate Member
Roy Luft P At-Large Amber Mase A Associate Member
Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline Nidia Trejo P Associate Member
Susan Riley P At-Large David Weinstein A Associate Member
Tom Shelley P City of Ithaca CAC Robert Wesley P Associate Member
Linda Spielman P Village of Dryden Roger Yonkin A Associate Member
Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator
Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant
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Guests: 7
A quorum (requires 6) was present. 8
Others –Vladimir Micic (Former Town of Ithaca Representative) and John Dennis (Former Village of Lansing 9
EMC Representative). Two others were in attendance who did not sign in. 10
Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at approximately 4:00 PM. 11
Privilege of the Floor – No speakers 12
Agenda Review/Changes – None 13
Opening Remarks – 14
Minutes approval (Dec. 8, 2016) – 15
The December minutes were accepted unanimously as distributed. 16
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Committee Reports and Member Questions 18
A. Energy – Brian Eden 19
a. Brian: Where should people submit applications for the new Energy Advisory Board? ∙ Scott: 20
Send them to the County Planning Department. ∙ Millard Hill Solar Proposal, Dryden Solar, and 21
Borger Compression Station were also discussed. 22
b. Brian: Spoke about developments with the HeatSmart II program. ∙ John Hertzler: Brought up 23
for discussion the prohibitive start-up costs for low- and middle-income households. ∙ Anna 24
Kelles: Union plumbers and steamfitters who’d been engaged in dialogue about the program said 25
they won’t participate until it becomes an economically viable option for people across the full 26
income bracket. Perhaps HeatSmart representatives could come for a discussion; one possibility 27
is a grant that could be a rotating loan. ∙ Brian: They’re cognizant of the need for funding for 28
widespread adoption of the program and are working on it. (A few small pilot projects geared to 29
low-income customers have been funded by NYSERDA.) 30
c. Brian: The Public Service Commission Energy Democracy Alliance trying to intervene in PSC 31
documents for things that impact low and middle-income folks. A comment period on the value 32
of distributed energy resources ends January 24. There will be a change away from net metering 33
to something else, and we don’t want to discourage folks from adopting solar and wind. 34
d. Brian: In regards to the Dryden pipeline, 50 folks gathered for a photo op next to the NYSEG 35
sign on Route 366. The group then sent a Christmas card to NYSEG’s president, Mark Lynch. 36
Dryden passed a local law extending moratorium on new public utility infrastructure to July 20. 37
e. Brian: Meeting with Newman Developers on the City Center project. Also, the Town of Ithaca 38
Planning Board granted the Maplewood Project preliminary site plan approval. 39
Anna: Do you want the EMC to take action on any of the items you’ve mentioned? ∙ Brian: Not at this 40
point. 41
B. Environmental Review – John Dennis 42
a. John D.: DEC point person in Cortland said permit for vertical shaft for Cargill could be granted 43
in as soon as a month. Public comment is over, but DEC will still read emails and other written 44
commentary. Issues include noise, scenic amenities, and especially salinization of lake. A salt 45
mine south of Rochester had an 850-page DEIS done. The Cargill salt mine under Cayuga Lake 46
has never had a DEIS done. 47
b. Anna: What new information are you submitting/presenting post-comment period? ∙ John D.: 48
Focusing on the drinking water wells survey. Cargill says no risk but John found several flaws in 49
that study. ∙ Brian: Wrote a contact in the Attorney General’s Office regarding Cargill mine and 50
NYS mining regulations. 51
c. John D.: Excited about larger solar arrays in the county, but hopes they aren’t situated on prime 52
farmland. 53
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C. Unique Natural Areas – Steve Nicholson 55
The committee’s next steps will focus on public education and outreach. Hope to have funds to at least 56
publicize the new UNA and a few other things. 57
D. Executive – Brian Eden 58
a. February program will be on the Energy Smart Community, which will involve installing 12,000 59
smart meters. Had meeting with director of this project at the Village of Cayuga Heights with the 60
C.H. mayor and others. 61
b. In March, Susan Riley would like to bring someone to talk about Cornell’s carbon-neutral 62
campus. Pegi Ficken would like to see a program on GMOs. Anna: Strategic Planning 63
Committee would like EMC to choose presenters strategically and collectively to ensure it’s a 64
topic of interest to the entire group. Further, there should be some kind of action plan in place for 65
after the meeting. Otherwise, while presentations are extremely informative, their impact doesn’t 66
extend beyond the EMC. 67
c. Another possible group to invite is the Biophilia Network, whose goal is to strengthen the bond 68
between humans and nature. An Ithaca chapter is forming. 69
d. Would like Annual Report to be finished on schedule. 70
E. Staff Report – Scott Doyle 71
a. Met with colleagues Katie Borgella and Ed Marx to talk about the departmental work plan. The 72
plan covers a broad scope of items but also helps clarify priorities. 73
b. Started working on Natural Infrastructure program on January 3. 74
c. Public Service Center – we can obtain mailings from this group regarding conservation measures 75
you can take at home. Members should let him know if they think it might be of interest to their 76
communities and he’ll order them. 77
d. Staff chipping away at website corrections and improvements. 78
e. Need as a group to be much better about adhering to the County attendance policy for voting 79
members. 80
f. Brian: There is a pending budget request with the County for maintenance of snowmobile trails. 81
Has concerns regarding trail maintenance and safety (e.g. how to separate snowmobilers from x-82
country skiers). ∙ Scott: County has 102 miles of snowmobile trails; maintenance, especially 83
grooming, is funded by state registration fees for snowmobiles. 102 miles pale in comparison to 84
other counties in New York State. Brought maps of the trails if anyone is interested. ∙ John D.: 85
Hammond Hill has different colored trails depending on activity. 86
F. Nominating Committee Report/Election of Vice Chairs – Tom Shelley 87
Bill Evans and Tom S. will continue as vice chairs. Need one more volunteer. ∙ Steve N.: Bylaws specifically 88
state there need to be three vice chairs on the Executive Committee. If no one volunteers by the end of the 89
February meeting, the chair should appoint someone. Both Tom S. and Bill E. were approved unanimously. 90
G. Review Proposed Boundary Revisions for Selected UNAs – Steve Nicholson and Robert Wesley 91
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There were three UNA resolutions on the table for discussion and vote to recommend: 93
a. UNA Resolution 2017-01 recommends an amendment to the UNA Inventory consisting of 94
boundary revisions to the 31 UNAs. Steve N. and and Robert W. presented a slide show 95
highlighting the revisions. Thanks to improvements in aerial imagery, they are now able to 96
record boundaries much more accurately. Robert repeatedly cited the Hollingsworth wetlands 97
data as an example. Anna asked if there was a mentorship program in place to ensure knowledge 98
will be carried forward, and Michelle Henry asked if UNA data was being shared with 99
neighboring counties and about reasoning behind certain boundary lines and had suggestions. 100
She also asked how much was ground-proofed, which Robert replied was limited to just a few 101
locations. The locations where site visits have occurred are located in the UNA database.. Brian 102
explained there is limited funding for field visits. In regards to UNA Resolution 2017-01: 103
The EMC voted to approve the resolution with minor editorial changes. The resolution passed 104
unanimously. 105
b. UNA Resolution 2017-02 recommends an amendment to the UNA Inventory consisting of 106
boundary and data revisions to UNA-l06 Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. Brian read the 107
January 10th letter from Cornell University regarding UNA-106, which set forth their 108
disagreement with the new boundary revisions. In regards to UNA Resolution 2017-02: 109
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Motion by Steve Nicholson, seconded by Pegi Ficken, to approve the resolution with minor 111
editorial changes. The motion passed 8-0, with 2 members (John Hertzler and Susan Riley) 112
abstaining. 113
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c. UNA Resolution 2017-03 recommends an amendment to the UNA Inventory to be called Nut 115
Ridge at Cayuga Lake UNA-195. Nut Ridge consists of 4,500 feet of undeveloped waterfront 116
and sits at the northwest end of the lake, next to Cayuga County and near the formerly proposed 117
Bell Station nuclear plant. The group debated the merits of naming the UNA Nut Ridge, in 118
reference to a road where nut trees once grew, but no longer do, or Bell Station, which is named 119
after the first CEO of NYSEG, Joseph M. Bell, Jr. Dooley Kiefer remarked that she planned to 120
continue thinking of other possible names. Other highlights include Robert’s discovery there of 121
the NYS threatened species Jeffersonia diphylla and locally rare (and NYS Rare, S3) species 122
Lathyrus ochroleucus (pale pea). In regards to UNA Resolution 2017-03: 123
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Motion by Steve Nicholson, seconded by Bill Evans, to approve the resolution with minor 125
editorial changes. The motion passed unanimously. 126
Strategic Planning Retreat: Anna Kelles 127
Given time constraints, amount of information to cover, and complexity of the discussion needed, Anna asked 128
to delay her report until the next meeting. Her recommendation was to set aside 20 minutes in the February 129
meeting to use it as a preface to a potential retreat. 130
Municipal Reports 131
Bill E.: The 24-acre Water District property in West Danby was voted upon, the decision being to turn it into 132
old growth and not to log it. 133
Adjournment – Chair adjourned the meeting at 5:37 PM. 134
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Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning Department 136
Approved by Board: 137