HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-2013-12-09City of Ithaca Conservation Advisory Council Minutes
December 9, 2013
7:30 – 9pm, Second Floor Meeting Room, City Hall, 108 East Green Street
Present: Rima Shamieh, chair; Tom Shelley, Noah Demarest, Matt Yarrow, Maureen Bolton
Absent: Augusta Christensen, Jesse Hill, C.J. Randall, Michael Culotta
Meeting was called to order at 7:36 by Rima Shamieh
November minutes were approved with one correction – N. Demarest mentioned he is involved
in three (not 2) of the projects that were up for site review in November
T. Shelley’s report – GPA – Deb Mohlenhoff is chair of the Government Performance and
Accountability Committee and facilitated the recent meeting. During the meeting, the focus was
on getting feedback about changes proposed by the GPA; participants talked in small groups
about issues. Jesse Hill was present as vice-chair of CAC. T. Shelley uncertain what happened at
end of meeting.
Comprehensive Plan Report – T. Schelley – Neighborhood section of comp plan deals with code
issues, density, definition of terms… this will go for public review. It is core of comp plan, so
this section goes out earlier. People from Planning (Lisa Nicholas, Charles Poyett) are putting
time into it so that draft can be ready by January 2014. A proposed land use map of what city
could look like has been created. The sustainability group ahead of the rest. Fernando doing the
transportation section – L. Nicholas is writing introduction for transportation part.
Art & Anthropology, Inc. is working on design package.
Energy Action Plan – T. Shelley – passed Common Council 8-0. Plan wasn’t really circulated
before it got voted on. CAC was involved in parts of it. New sustainability intern at town and
city level.
Plastic bag ban – T. Schelley will find out what is happening during next EMC meeting.
Proposed Edits to CAC bylaws and handbook – Rima Shamieh
There was some work done on bylaws and handbook by previous CAC members a few years
ago, but still changes to be made. R. Shamieh has now included entire City Code Chapter 31 that
pertains to the CAC. R. Shamieh clarified wording – consistently call bylaws “bylaws” not
“rules”. Previously, no annual meeting about institutional upkeep and review. Also added an
annual report that goes to Common Council. R. Shamieh also added info about electing
leadership positions and term limits. A decision should be made every year on whether to keep or
replace CAC’s leadership. The objective was to avoid an expectation that leadership would have
to maintain role for a long time and get burned out. R. Shamieh added clarification as to when
council has a formal vote: resolutions, policy reports, recommendations to Common Council.
CAC’s Strategic Plan should be updated yearly. Also, R. Shamieh restructured appendices,
resources, and modified organizational chart slightly.
Positive feedback about R. Shamieh’s changes from those present. N. Demarest will look
handbook over and make additional edits before January’s CAC meeting.
Nominating chair and co-chair.
Handbook – the chair is a general leadership position. Present opinion of CAC to Common
Council.
T. Shelley moves vote on chair.
CAC members present unanimously voted J. Hill for chair position.
Decision made to vote on vice-chair in January’s CAC meeting.
Contemplating
T. Schelley, M. Yarrow, CJ Randall, A. Christensen for vice-chair. N. Demarest and M. Bolton
turned down their nominations for vice chair.
Additional CAC business and announcements.
M. Bolton will need to be re-appointed to CAC for 2014.
Ithaca city clerk’s office may have additional potential members to replace Rima on CAC.
N. Demarest: Better Cities and Towns got grant for education around form-based codes.
Educational effort in spring 2014 as to what is involved in moving toward a form-based code.
T. Schelley – more trainings would be appreciated for CAC members.
M. Yarrow mentioned that EMC is currently working on Unique Natural Areas (UNAs) for the
County. Suggested that we find out more about this and how we might go about recommending
that UNA’s become CEAs. T. Shelley will bring more information to next meeting from the
EMC.
Members of CAC thanked R. Shamieh for her work as chair and wished her the best in her new
endeavors.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:45