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Home My WebLink About12-14-17 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 EMC Minutes 1 December 14, 2017, 4:00 p.m. 2 Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St, Ithaca, NY 3 4 Attendance 5 6 Member Seat Member Seat Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Dooley Kiefer E Legislative Liaison John Dennis P Village of Lansing Susan Allen-Gil P Associate Member Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Cait Darfler P Associate Member Bill Evans P Town of Danby Karen Edelstein A Associate Member Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton Anna Kelles P Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Dan Klein P Associate Member James Knighton E At-Large Jose Lozano P Associate Member Vladimir Micic P Town of Ithaca Osamu Tsuda E Associate Member Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline David Weinstein A Associate Member Susan Riley P At-Large Robert Wesley A Associate Member Tom Shelley P Ithaca CAC Roger Yonkin A Associate Member Linda Spielman P Village of Dryden Scott Doyle E EMC Coordinator Ron Syzmanski E Village of Freeville Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant 7 Guests – Ingrid Zabel, New York Climate Change Science Clearinghouse 8 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. A quorum was present. 9 Privilege of the Floor – No one 10 Agenda Review/Changes – None 11 Approval of the Minutes – Action: A motion was made by Steve Bissen, and seconded by John Dennis, 12 to approve the November 9, 2017, minutes. The motion was approved by the members present with 13 minor editorial changes. 14 15 Overview: New York Climate Change Science Clearinghouse (NYCCSC) – Ingrid Zabel 16 • Ingrid Zabel, curator of the NYCCSC, took the Council on a tour of the Clearinghouse website 17 (https://www.nyclimatescience.org/). She showed them what sort of resources it contains and 18 how to access them, as well as leaving time for member questions at the end. 19 • A collaborative effort by various groups, including NYSERDA, Cornell University, the State 20 University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and the Paleontological 21 Research Institution (Ingrid’s employer), the Clearinghouse is designed to give policymakers, 22 local planners, researchers, and the general public access to information and tools related to 23 climate change mitigation and adaptation across New York State and, in some cases, beyond. 24 • It has a customizable data grapher, a comprehensive search feature, and an interactive map and 25 GIS viewer as well as other tools. 26 • Some features she highlighted include the Natural Resource Navigator, which is funded by 27 NYSERDA for the Nature Conservancy, and the Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration 28 Ranking Tool. 29 • Members can email additional suggestions or questions to Ingrid. 30 31 Committee Reports 32 A. Climate Adaptation – Tom Shelley 33 • The best model estimates can’t yet predict changes to local rainfall with confidence; 34 however, the risk of flooding will likely increase. 35 • An update to the City of Ithaca Local Flood Hazard Analysis is under way. 36 • Of the 44 flooding surveys sent by the Committee, 10 responses have been received so far. 37 • Osamu Tsuda will review the distribution list and contact people who have yet to respond. 38 James Knighton will reach out to colleagues at Cornell. 39 • Next steps include presenting the survey findings at the spring EMC outreach meeting and to 40 the Tompkins County Legislature. 41 • Long term, the committee members are thinking how these findings might help to shape local 42 climate adaptation policy. 43 • Tom or James will share the link to the survey again with the members, per Anna’s request. 44 B. Environmental Review – Brian Eden 45 • The Lakeview Mental Health Services’ 62-unit affordable housing complex, which is to be built at 46 the intersection of West Court Street and Route 13, will use air-source heat pumps. 47 • There are lots of planning-related deadlines coming up this spring for the Chain Works District 48 project. Brian will keep everyone up to date on issues of interest to the EMC. 49 • The Environmental Review Committee will be compiling, at the request of C & S Companies, a 50 list for the scoping of the project’s environmental review, on the large solar array to be sited 51 near Ithaca Airport. The comments are due January 5th. 52 • A public meeting is scheduled for January 7, 2018, at Romulus Central School to discuss the mass 53 waste incinerator proposed for the former Seneca Army Depot. 54 • NYSEG will release its request for proposals for non-pipe alternatives to the West Dryden 55 pipeline next Monday, December 18th. 56 • The new SEQRA compliance revisions to the County’s Administrative Policy Manual have gone to 57 PDEQ for review. 58 • Steve Nicholson asked if anyone else had heard about China limiting the import of “foreign 59 waste.” As of January 1, 2018, China will ban the import of 24 types of waste, including used 60 household plastics, and restrict some paper-scrap imports. 61 • Cait Darfler reported that the Article 78 proceeding against Cargill was filed yesterday (Dec. 62 13th) in the Supreme Court of Tompkins County. 63 • On December 6th, Brian attended a Renewable Heat Now event, which HeatSmart Tompkins 64 helped to organize, at the State Capitol Building in Albany. 65 • Brian mentioned that he still occasionally fields inquiries from the public regarding the status of 66 the EMC’s plastic bags use reduction proposal. Jose Lozano added that if the Council decides to 67 resume this initiative it should include most plastics and plastic films. 68 69 C. UNA – Steve Nicholson 70 • As not to duplicate efforts, the committee has decided to piggyback their public outreach event 71 on to the larger EMC event scheduled for March 15th. 72 • They plan to ask former long-time EMC member Bob Beck, who won major awards for his work 73 preserving the Malloryville Fen and Chairs the Dryden Trails Committee, to speak at the event. 74 They’ll also approach Nick Hollingshead about giving a presentation on his wetlands mapping 75 project. 76 • Another idea for 2018 is to take a field trip to the O.D. Von Engeln Nature Preserve, most likely 77 when the spring wildflowers bloom. 78 • The contractors will start the next round of revisions to the UNA Inventory in January. Seventy-79 five UNAs remain to be revised and the Committee will do half of them this year. 80 • Robert Wesley is updating the Invasive Species List. 81 82 D. Outreach – Susan Riley 83 • Susan will put together an agenda for the March 15th event at the Tompkins County Public 84 Library. 85 86 E. Water Resources Council (WRC) Liaison – Michelle Henry 87 • Andy Zepp updated the WRC on recent activities of the Finger Lakes Land Trust. 88 • No response received yet from the Governor regarding the WRC’s rebuttal letter to Walter 89 Hang’s TMDL letter. 90 • CSLAP data will be published in early January 2018. 91 F. Executive – Brian Eden and Steve Nicholson 92 • The Council still has several vacancies. A second recruitment notice will be released in early 93 January. Brian asked the members for their help in spreading the word to potential candidates. 94 • Steve N. thoroughly enjoyed the New York State Association of Conservation Commissions 95 (NYSACC) conference in Albany. Presentations from the conference can be found on the NYSACC 96 website: http://www.nysaccny.org/2017-conference-on-the-environment. 97 • The conference keynote speaker was Pete Lopez, Director of the EPA Region 2 Office. 98 • As a follow-up partially to the NYSACC meeting, there was a conference call December 6th with 99 individuals from the EMCs, CACs, and DEC in reaction to a letter in the latest NYSACC newsletter 100 saying that the DEC was unresponsive to the letter writer’s concerns. Staff from the DEC Citizen 101 Engagement Office initiated the conference call as a result and are looking for input on topics of 102 interest. Members should forward ideas to Steve N. and he will pass them along. 103 Staff Report – Kristin McCarthy 104 • Katie Borgella was formally appointed by the Legislature as the Commissioner of Planning and 105 Sustainability. 106 • Scott has been in positive talks with the Town of Enfield and Village of Dryden regarding possible 107 EMC candidates from their municipalities. 108 Nominating Committee Report – Thomas Shelley 109 110 Action: Tom moved to nominate Brian Eden as the Chair of the EMC. Susan Allen-Gil seconded the 111 nomination, which passed. The Committee still seeks nominees for the three vice chair positions. 112 113 Member Announcements 114 • Tom said that this meeting was his last in attendance as the CAC representative for the City of 115 Ithaca because of the City’s reorganization of its advisory boards and commissions. He has 116 applied for the new Parks and Recreation and Natural Areas Commission and hopes to continue 117 representing the City on the EMC. If not, he will assist in finding the best replacement and would 118 like to continue on the EMC as an at-large member. The question was raised whether the City 119 could disband the CAC position as the CAC is a state entity. 120 Adjournment 121 Action: Brian adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m. 122 123 These draft minutes will be formally considered by the EMC at its next monthly meeting, and corrections 124 or notations will be incorporated at that time. 125 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 126 Approved by EMC: 1/11/2018 127 128