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Home My WebLink About10-16-17 WRC Agenda Packet Inclusion through Diversity Tompkins County DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & SUSTAINABILITY 121 East Court Street Ithaca, New York 14850 TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL Monday, October 16, 2017 4:15 PM Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT, Inc.), 737 Willow Avenue, Ithaca AGENDA 1. Call to Order – Darby Kiley, Chair 4:15 2. Privilege of the Floor1 - Darby Kiley Chair 3. Agenda Review/Changes – Darby Kiley, Chair 4. Approval of Minutes – Darby Kiley, Chair 4:20  September 18, 2017 5. Hydrilla Treatment Update 4:25 - Hilary Lambert, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network 6. Nominating/Membership candidates for consideration 4:55 - Marjory Rinaldo-Lee 7. Committee Reports as needed 5:15 8. Chair & Staff Reports 5:25 9. Announcements – Members 5:30 10. Adjournment 5:35 Upcoming Meeting Dates: November 20 and December 18 Members: If you cannot attend a meeting, please contact Kristin McCarthy at 607-274-5560. 1 Limit of 3 minutes per person for members of the public to address the board TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL 1 Monday, Sept. 18, 2017 2 City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant 3 Draft Minutes 4 Attendance 5 Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension Elaine Quaroni P At-Large John Andersson A At-Large Marjory Rinaldo-Lee P Environment Fay Benson E Agriculture Michael Thorne E At-Large Chris Bordlemay Padilla P Water Purveyor Cynthia Brock P Recreation Kristen Hychka P Associate Member Ed Bugliosi A USGS (non-voting) Roxy Johnston P Associate Member Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Emelia “Mia” Jumbo P Associate Member George Fowler P At-Large Jose Lozano E Associate Member Bill George P Municipal Government Darren MacDougall A Associate Member Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization John Mawdsley P Associate Member Michelle Henry P EMC Liaison Todd Miller P Associate Member Joan Jurkowich P Co. Planning Department Steve Penningroth E Associate Member Dooley Kiefer E County Government Joanne Trutko A Associate Member Darby Kiley P Municipal Government Tom Vawter A Associate Member Lynn Leopold P Municipal Government Linda Wagenet E Associate Member Jon Negley E Soil & Water Cons. District Frank Proto P At-Large Kristin McCarthy P Co. Planning Dept. Staff 6 A quorum was present. 7 8 Guests: Mara Alper, Ithaca College 9 Call to Order – Chair Darby Kiley called the meeting to order at 4:15 pm. 10 11 Tour of City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant – Roxy Johnston 12 The meeting started with Roxy Johnston giving the group a private tour of the City of Ithaca’s new water 13 treatment plant. She started the tour in the conference room with a quick introduction to the six-step process used 14 to treat water from the Six Mile Creek reservoir so that it is safe for the public to drink as well as a breakdown of 15 the different areas of the plant the group would be visiting. 16 17 Privilege of the Floor – Guest Mara Alper introduced herself to the group and expressed her interest in possibly 18 applying for membership in the Water Resources Council (WRC). Soon to be retiring from the faculty of Ithaca 19 College, she has taught classes on water-related issues and is particularly interested in the commodification of 20 water and how policy making could help to preserve it as a public good. 21 22 Agenda Review/Changes – None 23 Approval of July Minutes – Action: Frank Proto moved, and Barry Goodrich seconded, the approval of the 24 July 26th minutes. The motion passed by the unanimous vote of the members present, except for Lynn Leopold 25 and Marjory Rinaldo-Lee, who abstained because they had not attended the July meeting. 26 Committee Reports 27 28 Updated Water and Sewer Study – John Andersson 29 John Andersson was absent from the meeting. Joan Jurkowich said the committee is still waiting to hear about the 30 study. She will keep the WRC informed of any developments. 31 32 Nominating/Membership – Marjory Rinaldo-Lee 33 Marjory Rinaldo-Lee moved, and Joan Jurkowich seconded, to recommend associate member Emelia “Mia” 34 Jumbo for voting membership as an At-Large representative. Mia would be taking over the seat left vacant by 35 Michelle Henry when she became the Environmental Management Council liaison to the WRC. The motion was 36 passed unanimously by the members present. 37 38 Emerging Contaminants – George Fowler 39 George Fowler did not give a report because he left the meeting at the conclusion of the tour. However, on his 40 way out the door, he told Darby that the committee is looking at three components (point sources, nonpoint 41 sources, and sediments) and how they might be releasing contaminants into our waterways. 42 43 Grants – Jon Negley 44 No report. Jon Negley could not attend the meeting because of a work commitment. Frank Proto said that the 45 Grants Committee had not met recently. 46 47 Education and Outreach – Lynn Leopold 48 • The committee is putting together the clean boating brochure. In addition to serving as a guide on how to 49 be on the lake in an environmentally responsible way, the brochure will also provide boaters with 50 logistical information, such as where to find fueling stations and restrooms, and give some basic 51 geographic guidance. 52 • Lynn Leopold told Hillary Lambert that committee members would be willing to help keep hydrilla id 53 testing kits in stock at locations at the south end of the lake, such as Stewart Park, Boatyard Grill, and the 54 Cornell Sailing Center. 55 • Todd Miller asked if the WRC could obtain a complete copy of the lake model and all its files. Darby said 56 the Monitoring Partnership would be meeting tomorrow and could request a copy of the model from the 57 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The copy would be stored with the 58 County. 59 • Lynn said that even though James Balcyzak is no longer on the hydrilla outreach committee, she still 60 attends the meetings so she can keep her fellow Council members informed. She asked if Hillary Lambert 61 would be able to give the group another update soon on the monitoring situation. 62 • Liz Cameron said there is a class being taught at Ithaca College on improving public outreach and 63 education efforts related to harmful algal blooms (HABs). 64 • On September 30th, the Community Science Institute (CSI) is holding a public forum to discuss harmful 65 algal blooms. The forum will take place from 9 am to 12pm at The Space @ Greenstar. 66 67 Workshop to Protect Water Resources - Joan Jurkowich 68 • The committee met in August and September. They lined up potential speakers from the Cornell Local 69 Roads Program and Soil and Conservation District, as well as Rebecca Schneider from Cornell. Also, 70 Kristen Hychka met with the Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County. 71 • They discovered that Cornell Local Roads will be holding a training seminar on roadway ditching and 72 drainage in Seneca Falls on October 5th. As a result, they’ve decided to push their workshop training to 73 the spring and will continue preparing for it. 74 • Sharon Anderson added that the committee hopes to get on the agenda for the highway superintendents 75 meeting. Darby asked if any information is available on the training in Seneca Falls. Sharon said she 76 received an announcement and would forward it to Darby for distribution to the group. 77 78 Monitoring Partnership – Roxy Johnston 79 Roxy informed the group that the NYSDEC has yet to release the draft TMDL for Cayuga Lake. Also, she 80 reported that committee members would meet the next day, Tuesday, September 19th. 81 82 Watershed Rules and Regulations – Chris Bordlemay Padilla 83 There was no report because the committee hadn’t met recently. 84 85 Soil Health – Fay Benson 86 Fay Benson could not attend the meeting because of a work commitment. However, Mia reported that the 87 committee is gathering information for their Soil Health brochure and investigating options for production. Barry 88 Goodrich added that their group will work with Cornell Cooperative Extension to distribute the brochure once it is 89 ready. 90 91 Chair Report – Darby Kiley 92 Nothing to report 93 94 Staff Report – Joan Jurkowich 95 Nothing to report 96 97 Member Announcements 98 • Frank Proto reported that as vice chair he presented the 2016 Annual Report to the County Planning and 99 Economic Development Committee. They were most interested in the status of the TMDL. 100 • Roxy Johnston said that NYSDEC has launched a thorough HABs study to monitor their presence in all 101 the Finger Lakes. 102 • Skaneateles Lake tested positive for HABs as did a section of northern Cayuga Lake, in Cayuga County. 103 • Joan said that information on the water quality in general of Cayuga Lake can be found on the CSI 104 website. Michelle Henry added that CSI is also posting CSLAP. 105 • Roxy said that the DEC is testing the City of Ithaca’s drinking water monthly. She does not receive a 106 regular report, but would be notified immediately if any problems were encountered and will receive all 107 of the data from the DEC at the end of 2017. 108 • Cynthia Brock reported there was a presentation on emerging contaminants, and Jose Lozano is putting 109 together a funding request for the Special Joint Committee to undertake a second round of testing for 110 persistent organics and endocrine disruptors in our area’s raw drinking water supply and influent and 111 effluent water from Cayuga Lake. 112 • Frank Proto asked if anyone knew anything about the potential Article 78 being brought by a few 113 municipalities in the County to challenge the DEC’s decision regarding Cargill Mine Shaft #4. 114 • Darby said that the Town of Lansing Planning Board has just started the site plan review process for 115 Cargill, and the Town Board will be considering the special permit application for the project. 116 • Michelle Henry said the public comment period for the EPA Clean Water Rule has been extended until 117 September 27th. 118 119 Adjournment 120 Joan Jurkowich moved, and Michelle Henry seconded, to declare the meeting adjourned. The motion was 121 carried unanimously by the members present. Chair Darby Kiley declared the meeting adjourned at 122 approximately 6:02 pm. 123 124 These draft minutes will be formally considered by the WRC at its next monthly meeting, and corrections or 125 notations will be incorporated at that time. Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and 126 Sustainability Department. Approved by Water Resources Council: DRAFT 127