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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019.05.20 WRC Final MinutesPage 1 of 2 TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL May 20th Joint Meeting with Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization Town Hall, 215 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY Final Minutes Attendance Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension Brian Rahm P Environment Fay Benson P Agriculture Elizabeth Thomas E At-Large Chris Bordlemay Padilla A Water Purveyor Linda Wagenet P At-Large Cynthia Brock P Municipal Mara Alper P Associate Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Annie Bastoni P Associate Amanda Champion E County Government Bill George E Associate Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Roxy Johnston P Associate Ed Gottlieb P At-Large Dooley Kiefer P Associate Michelle Henry P EMC Representative Jose Lozano P Associate Marina Howarth E At-Large Todd Miller E Associate Kristen Hychka P Municipal Government Niamh O’Leary E Associate Emelia “Mia” Jumbo E At-Large Steve Penningroth P Associate Darby Kiley E County Planning & Sustain. Elaine Quaroni P Associate Lynn Leopold P Municipal Government Marjory Rinaldo-Lee A Associate Jon Negley P Soil & Water Cons. District Joanne Trutko A Associate Frank Proto E At-Large Tom Vawter P Associate Guests and IO members: Katie Borgella, Deborah Dawson, Roxanne Marino, David Sprout, Jennifer Tufano, Steve Riddle, Kathy Bertuch, Bill Ebert, Anna Post, John Fleming, Tony del Plato, Tom Cassell, Emma Swarthout, Joseph Wetmore, Jackie Cassaniti, Hilary Lambert, Shawn Murphy, Becky Sims Call to Order – Chairs Cynthia Brock, of the Water Resources Council (WRC), and Tee-Ann Hunter, of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization (IO), convened the meeting at 4:15 p.m. Privilege of the Floor – None Agenda Review/Changes – None Welcome and Introductions – Everyone in the audience briefly introduced themselves. SPDES MS4 Permit Annual Report – Angel Hinickle, TC Soil & Water Conservation District Angel Hinickle presented the draft SPDES MS4 Permit Annual Report. She works with the Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County every year to file the report with NYSDEC on behalf of the 10 regulated municipalities and the County. Three advertisements were placed on TCAT buses, and traffic has increased for website and in-person office visits. Angel trained 47 people last year, 38 of whom were employees of municipal highway departments. Anyone interested in submitting comments can contact her directly. The annual report can be found at the URL listed below: http://tcstormwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JointAnnualReportCompiled_5_13_19.pdf Page 2 of 2 Owasco Lake Watershed Rules & Regulations Development Process Panelists: Eileen O’Connor, Cayuga County Environmental Health Director; Edward Wagner, Town of Owasco Supervisor; Brian Boerman, Agricultural Consulting Services Inc.; and Kenneth Post, Owasco Watershed Lake Association. At this joint meeting of the IO and WRC, members heard from key players involved in the drafting of new rules and regulations for the Owasco Lake Watershed. Owasco Lake is the water source for more than half of Cayuga County residents. In 1997 the City of Auburn won best drinking water in New York State, but the water quality declined steadily in the subsequent years. Around 2000, municipal officials began receiving complaints of foul smelling and tasting water, then there were issues with excessive disinfection by-products, weeds, pollutants, and nutrients, as well as invasive species like zebra mussels and Asian clams. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) first appeared in 2012, with water sampling beginning in 2014. In 2016 toxins were found in the lake water. While there were already some Watershed Rules and Regulations (WRR) in place for Owasco Lake, they hadn’t been updated since 1984. (Skaneateles Lake and the New York City were the latest watersheds to update their WRR, around 1994.) Eileen O’Connor reviewed the process undertaken to create the draft Owasco WRR, which included various rounds of revisions incorporating feedback from the Cayuga County Health Department, Soil and Water Conservation District, and other government entities; focus groups (farmers, lakeshore property owners), community organizations, and the general public. To keep public meetings civil and on track, they hired the same private firm to lead the meetings that had facilitated the NYS HABs meetings. Of note is that a lot of the farmers, landowners, and other individuals who turned out for the meeting didn’t even know that current WRR existed for the Owasco Lake Watershed. Several topics were discussed during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, including the definition of “pollutant” and other aspects of the pollutants sections, CAFOs, zoning, conservation easements, septic systems, gray water and composting toilets, nutrient management plans, data collection, road ditch maintenance training, cross-watershed boundaries, costs incurred in hiring meeting facilitator and watershed manager, incentives for farmers and waterfront property owners, and enforcement of WRR once they are approved by New York State. In closing, Cynthia and Tee-Ann spoke about the challenges of establishing WRR for the Cayuga Lake watershed when so many stakeholders are involved – e.g. multiple counties and municipalities. Panelists are willing to speak further about their experiences and put Tee-Ann in touch with the new watershed manager. They reiterated the need to be patient and keep finger-pointing at bay. Ed Wagner hopes the Owasco WRR, once they’re finished, could serve as a model for New York State. Interested parties can watch live stream or archived meetings of the Owasco Lake Management Council via the City of Auburn website. The draft Owasco Lake W RR can be found on the Cayuga County municipal website. Comments and questions can be submitted online through June 14th. https://www.cayugacounty.us/776/Owasco-Watershed-Rules-and-Regulations Adjournment – The meeting ended at 6:30 pm.