HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-10 CAC MinutesTown of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 8
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC)
Minutes of Video Conference (Zoom) Meeting on
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Danby, New York
Council Members present: Clare Fewtrell (chair), Joel Gagnon, Don
Schaufler, Margaret Corbit, Mary Woodsen, Brittany Lagaly
Council Members absent: Jonathan Zisk
Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby
resident), Katharine Hunter (Danby resident and former CAC member)
Zoom Meeting was officially called to order at 7:05.
Deletions or Additions to Agenda: Agenda item 9 on native plants was
deleted since Jonathan Zisk, the presenter, was absent.
Privilege of the Floor (PoF): none
Approval Minutes MOTION for July 13, 2021
Fewtrell moved to approve
Corbit seconded
Unanimous except for Zisk, who was absent, and Schaufler, who
was late.
REPORTS AND UPDATES from agenda.
1. Status of members whose terms are up at the end of this
year: Joel Gagnon, Brittany Lagaly, Mary Woodsen, Jonathan
Zisk, Clare Fewtrell
All current members whose terms are expiring are expected to
reapply for another 2 years, except Jonathan who is not here to affirm
that. CAC continues to need people who are experienced and willing
to work to fill empty member positions.
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 8
Former CAC member, Katherine Hunter, is likely to be a new Town
Board member following the fall election.
2. Status of easement signs – George Adams
These are ready go and just waiting for someone with a town credit
card to call vendor. Janice Adelman, the town clerk, or Laura
Shawley could do it. Everyone is extremely busy now. Gagnon will
forward Adam’s email to Adelman.
3. Status of logging ordinance – Joel Gagnon
Matt Ulinski on Town Board says the document needs to be seen by
more people. Gagnon noted that one of them in particular is Jack
Shawley, Deputy Highway Superintendent, in the Highway
Department (since the ordinance covers damage to roads). Ulinski
was on the original committee looking into this 3 or 4 years ago when
it was first brought up. The people on this initial committee were Matt
Ulinsky, Scott Davis, Don Schaufler, and George Adams. During this
second effort of working on the ordinance Ulinski was asked to join
the committee again, but he was too busy (and he is no longer on
CAC).
Fewtrell requested that Secretary Keokosky put together a list from
Ulinski of people to ask for feedback. One person mentioned was
Angel Hinickle, Resource Conservation Specialist at Tompkins
County Soil and Water.
Schaufler said he had an upcoming appointment with Laura and Jack
Shawley.
Note: See Appendix II of these minutes for section of Town Board
Minutes on this topic.
4. Status of changes to easement template – Clare Fewtrell & Joel
Gagnon
Fewtrell asked if anyone had additions to make to the template she
had emailed the group. There were none. Since it should be sent to
Town Board before showing it to town lawyer, Fewtrell volunteered to
send document to town board members.
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 8
5. Status of annual easement monitoring– Don Schaufler, Jonathan
Zisk & Margaret Corbit
Fewtrell will be sending annual monitoring reports to secretary
Keokosky to keep on Lasherfiche server. She said that Ruth
Sherman had sent .pdf files from monitoring easements last year.
Town is moving to a digital platform called “Only Office” which is now
being used for document sharing.
On current easements, Wimsatt has signed their easement to be filed
with county clerk, but there is not a copy yet for town records.
Fewtrell will look into that.
Discussion as to where Easements should be stored? There needs
to be some place on the Town website. The Town Clerk is the
records management official. She may have already created a CAC
folder. Currently paper copies of the easements are stored in the
Town Clerk’s office. They need to be digitized but this is not currently
a priority.
6. Easement Variances List for Reference – Joel Gagnon
Fewtrell had cut out the editing comments on the Easement Template
that Gagnon had noted might be helpful in the future but which didn’t
really belong in the template. These were stored in a separate file.
Secretary suggested that it might be useful to give the file a more
explanatory name than “Variances”. One name suggestion was
“Accommodations for different Dwellings”.
Though Easements are public documents, PoF:Hunter expressed
concern about what else the public sees. This Easement variance
file and yearly monitoring reports will not be available to general
public.
7. Appoint a temporary co-chair during time Fewtrell is unavailable.
Fewtrell thinks she probably will be available at next meeting (she is
having surgery, but not until 20th September). Fewtrell suggested
that Corbit be made co-chair and the group was in favor of it, and
even suggested she be made vice-chair.
Fewtrell moved that Corbit be made vice-chair of CAC
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 8
Schaufler seconded
Vote was Unanimous
8. Regenerative agriculture and the role conservation
organizations can play in promoting climate-resilient agriculture
– Elizabeth Keokosky
Keokosky talked about a Scenic Hudson Zoom meeting she had
attended organized by one of their subcommittees, Ground Control,
which was working with the NY State Legislature on promoting two
bills (the Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act –A5386A/S4722A),
that have since passed, though not yet signed by the governor. They
have also helped organize farmers in the Hudson Valley who had
participated in a state pilot program on using regenerative agriculture
methods. The above bill will amend the recommendations and
incentives of NY State Ag and Markets and Soil and Water
Conservation Districts by encouraging farmers to use methods such
as no-till, cover crops, and other ways that increase the biomass in
the soil.
The conclusion of Scenic Hudson: Land conservation organizations
are in a unique position to lead new public-private collaborations that
capture the powerful climate-change solutions in agriculture."
Keokosky proposed that CAC should educate itself and become more
involved in farming-related conservation easements. She suggested
a three part Agricultural presentation series. She mentioned 2 other
things had inspired her interest in Regenerative Agriculture:
a. A book she was writing with a Quaker organization called
Quaker Institute of the Future that researched Regenerative
Agriculture and the events of the past 70 or more years that
had encouraged factory farms and corporate transnational
agriculture.
b. Creating an Ag Working Group with Alyssa de Villiers, a
subgroup under the Danby “Planning Group.” It’s main purpose
was to find people interested in farming, homesteading,
gardening, etc., and get feedback to influence the current
zoning discussion.
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 8
See Appendix I of these minutes for first draft of these presentations
(After-note: first presentation will be Oct 21).
Gagnon moved that CAC Sponsor Agricultural
Presentation Series
Fewtrell seconded
Vote was Unanimous
Corbit will mention the presentations in the Monthly article on CAC in
the Danby News and Keokosky will write a more explicit article
outlining the presentation content.
9. Easement updates – Clare Fewtrell
Fewtrell asked for a lead to work on the easement that Ronda
Roaring has requested. Roaring thought it would be a good
opportunity to engage the other people who live along the creek that
runs though her property and review good practices for riparian
habitat. Fewtrell questioned whether the initial visit to see the
property was the best time to invite people over, but these initial
reservations didn’t gain traction. Schaufler volunteered to take the
lead. Corbit and Woodsen volunteered to help. Fewtrell will offer
assistance as needed. She is sending basic form to all. GPS
mapping software helps keep track of boundaries but Roaring
demurred that the property is small (1.4 acres) with a house and a
creek so visual oversight may be all that is necessary. Need to s ettle
on a date (offline) so Roaring can invite her neighbors.
Other Easements:
News on the Wimsatt easement is that Art James is no longer
acquiring the property, but Irene Weiser (of Caroline; also an energy
activist) may be buying it
Fewtrell had assigned herself follow-up on other easements we’ve
been discussing at past meetings before the complexity of the
Wimsatt easement took up all the space. They are progressing
slowly.
Of the following CAC members who were interested in getting
easements: Lagaly is still figuring out a vision for their property, but
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 6 of 8
will be going ahead later. Corbit also held up. Woodsen is still
working things out with her family.
10. Easement webpage & rack cards – Margaret Corbit & Mary
Woodsen
Both webpage and rack cards continue to wait on other people’s time:
Town Clerk’s time is needed for CAC easement webpage but her
focus is still on the new town website. In the meantime, Fewtrell
suggested collecting images. Corbit suggested a cycling slide show
of photos – maybe a half dozen – to add interest to the site.
Rack card editing still requires a full version of Acrobat, but town
planner (who has the package on his computer) now has his time
taken up with solar farm negotiations.
11. Planning Group Working Group reports – Joel Gagnon
Gagnon reported that it was discussed in the July 21st meeting of
Town Board. Gagnon noted that the Planning Group and Working
Groups are not meeting until Town board meets and discusses
zoning changes so far. The draft zoning ordinance was late by 3
weeks (or more) off the scheduled time line. Part of problem,
according to Gagnon, is that David West committed to incorporate the
changes into existing zoning ordinance. (After-note: this town board
meeting is now scheduled for August 30.)
There was no Executive session
Next Meeting via Zoom is on September 14th at 7p.m.
Adjournment at 8:48
_____________________________________________
Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 7 of 8
Appendix I
Suggested Draft of Agricultural Presentation Series
1. Introduction
Speakers: Barb Neal (Tioga CCE), Farm Bureau, farmers from Danby
• Common misperceptions about farming
• Farming in transition; value-added farming, organic
• Farm Bureau – what it does
• How is Agriculture important to our community?
2. Regenerative Agriculture – Soil Health and climate change
Speakers: Graham Savio (Tompkins CCE), someone from Cornell Small
Farms or NY Soil and Water, Permaculture Institute?
• Methods and Philosophy
• Just passed - New York Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act
• Land use – water absorption and carbon sequestration?
• Implications
3. Preserving farmland and transitioning it to new farmers
Amy Olney from NY Agricultural Land Trust, Samantha Levy or Tim Biello
from American Farmland Trust, others?
• Conservation Easements
• Encouraging new farmers
• Purchase of development rights
• Recognizing the common good
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 8 of 8
Appendix II
Copy of section of Town Board Minutes from July 21, 2021 meeting
discussing logging ordinance
9. New Business
9.1. Review of Draft Logging Regulation Proposal from CAC
9.1.1. Gagnon reported that because Highway had not yet reviewed the
document; he did not think they were ready to ratify the document yet but it
would still be helpful to get a general sense if the proposal was in the
ballpark of what we are looking for.
9.1.2. Schnabel asked for reference to what 4,000 board feet represents.
Ulinski suggested that Bruce could give a sense and it was clarified that
4,000 board feet would include about an acre or less.
9.1.3. Gagnon explained the goal is to integrate new needs with the current
law while ensuring the burden on small-scale harvesting of firewood or
timber is not high
9.1.4. Schnabel mentioned the liability insurance was very low at $250,000
9.1.5. Ulinski reiterated the desire to not impinge on the right to make
money off private land through logging, as that supports keeping the town
rural. He expressed a desire to hear Bruce’s thoughts as well as other
professionals (DEC or Soil and Water). Previously there was a roundtable
discussion that this could go back to. Following that, should run past Guy.
Ulinski said Angel Hinikle helped navigate in the past and she was great.
9.1.6. Shawley : Highway Department would like to have the loggers meet
with the Highway Department as a part of the formal permitting process.
These meetings/check-ins have happened in the past, the loggers have
been very amendable to it. Highway would like to meet with the committee
to discuss incorporating that.