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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-02-11City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 CAC Monthly Meeting Members Present: Rima Shamieh, Chair, C.J. Randall, Michael Culotta, Tom Shelley, Yash Gharat Members Absent: Eva Birk, Jesse Hill Visiting: Chris Hayes 1. Meeting Minutes Approval: Minutes from January meeting will be approved in the March meeting. 2. Chair Report, R. Shamieh Various notes from Jennifer Dotson meeting – ‐ The Chair (R. Shamieh) and Vice-Chair (J. Hill) met with Common Council member and CAC liaison Jennifer Dotson; she is very supportive of the CAC and wants us to take on a more assertive role in City policy-making. ‐ Denise, who was Sustainability Planner for the City, was working on correcting numbers in the Energy Action Plan. Sue Kittell at the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA), is working to correct some mistakes in the plan. ‐ Jennifer Dotson suggested Dan Hoffman as a new member of CAC. He is part of the NAC, is well connected and has worked with us in the past. R. Shamieh has offered to reach out to him regarding the possibility of working with the CAC. ‐ J. Dotson has suggested that the CAC should take more of a proactive role. Arrangements with City Clerk - ‐ As per new arrangements with the City Clerk, the CAC will be loaned a laptop for their monthly evening meeting, and will be able to print materials for this meeting through the City Clerk’s office. EMC Report- ‐ EMC member Brian Eden, in a reply to R. Shamieh’s email, expressed a concern regarding the City’s ad hoc planning strategy, especially the backwards planning in that the city is making land use decisions before the comprehensive planning process is complete. ‐ B. Eden has offered to step up collaboration and communication between the EMC and CAC. In his email to R. Shamieh, he informs the CAC of various new issues that the EMC is working on, including the reduction of single use plastic bags; his continued support for the establishment of a natural systems corridor, encompassing the Cherry Street property; the presence of a CAC liaison to the EMC; and updating the Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan. 3. Comp Plan Report, T. Shelley: ‐ Right now the first two focus groups are being put together; one for energy and one for climate change. These groups are expected to be set up in the next couple of weeks, and will work on providing input on areas of the plan that are of interest to them. ‐ The City has hired a graphics design firm for production of the Comp Plan Report. ‐ Question: Can the CAC be part of any focus group, and which focus group? Answer: There will be 8 chapters; R. Shamieh will get in touch with M. Wilson to inquire about the best way for CAC to contribute to the plan. 4. Review of the draft CAC Strategic Plan: Communication and collaboration with other councils and boards: ‐ M. Culotta: Should have more communication with other similar boards, within the City as well as in the County. ‐ R. Shamieh: This was identified as a priority at the strategic plan special meeting and is addressed in the strategic plan. T. Shelley has volunteered to become the CAC liaison on the EMC. CAC will work on reaching out to other councils and boards. ‐ The CAC should do more site visits. The CAC would be able to contribute more effectively to the site plan review process in the case that such coordinated site visits happen. ‐ T. Shelley: The CAC should make sure that our work does not duplicate the work being done by other committees like the EMC. (for example, the EMC has worked extensively on the reduction of plastic bag use in the County. Through collaboration and coordination, we would be able to make that work on projects and issues is not duplicated). Subcommittees ‐ The setting up of subcommittees was discussed. ‐ Despite past failures at establishing such subcommittees and the extra time commitment that they will represent, a motion to approve the setting up of two new subcommittees was made by R. Shamieh, was seconded by T. Shelley and passed unanimously. ‐ The Site Plan Review subcommittee, consisting currently of R. Shamieh and J. Hill, will be responsible for reviewing site plans and subdivision applications and formulating a draft of comments for general CAC membership review and changes before they are submitted. This subcommittee will also develop guidelines that it and the general CAC membership can use to review applications, and that can also be used to recommend policy improvements to Common Council. ‐ The Energy & Sustainability subcommittee, consisting currently of C.J. Randall, E. Birk and Y. Gharat, will be more of an exploration committee. Topics under this subcommittee’s purview will include follow-up on the Energy Action Plan, Green Building Codes, Zoning, Climate Smart Communities, Greenhouse Gas Inventory. To get started, C.J. Randall can email Sue Killett and Megan Wilson regarding the status of the Energy Action Plan and Green Building Codes work. C.J. Randall will follow up with R. Shamieh for contact information and information regarding several of these topics. ‐ M. Culotta and T. Shelley are deferring membership to a specific subcommittee till later on. 5. Site Plan Review: Clinton Street Apartments Proposal: ‐ For the LEAF, page 3, 4a and 4b – the status of bed rock outcropping needs to be checked. ‐ Check for fishing opportunities along the creek bed that runs along western corner of the parcel ‐ What is capacity of the existing wastewater or storm-water drains? They will be making improvements to the existing utilities but there is no indication of existing capacity. ‐ Some elaboration on the parking calculations would be helpful. We don’t know how many parking spots are being lost, and how many new ones are being built. ‐ What will be the expected demand on wastewater for the new construction? ‐ It is still unclear how the applicant will prevent slope collapse or severe erosion damage between the time the vegetation is removed and the project is completed. ‐ Out of 1.7 acres on the site, mature trees will be removed from 1 acre of sloping land. What wildlife is present? How many small-diameter trees and mature shrubs will be removed, in addition to the identified mature trees? ‐ Species of small-diameter trees present in the site need to be determined and a complete vegetation inventory completed. ‐ Is there a part III to the application that would be completed by the City Planning staff? ‐ From part B (project description), answers to 14D and 21 are missing. Harold’s Square Project- ‐ We would like to make sure that the applicant is aware that historical façade tax credits would probably be available for this project.