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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-11-CAC-minutesTown of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Minutes of In-person Meeting in Town Hall, and Via Videoconferencing Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025 Council Members Present: Joel Gagnon, Anne Klingensmith, Brittany Lagaly, Don Schaufler, Jonathan Zisk (via Zoom) Council Members Absent /Excused: Margaret Corbit, Renee Owens Others Present: Pat Curran (via Zoom), Katharine Hunter (via Zoom), Greg Hutnik (via Zoom), Kristin McCarthy (staff), Ronda Roaring (via Zoom) Meeting was called to order at 7:07pm. Deletions or Additions to Agenda: “Zoom Setup: Designate Co -Host and Record Meeting” will be removed from agendas moving forward. Item was added to the agenda to allow Joel to report on the town board's discussion regarding CAC criteria involvement. Privilege of the Floor: Pat Curran provided recommendations for plantings around the Norbut Solar Farm perimeter fence. She advised against the suggested plants for outside the fence due to potential deer browsing and instead recommended alternative plantings inside the fence or using native vines on the fence for screening. Pat also suggested certain hardy shrubs as a possibility for outside the fence, noting their vigor would likely overcome deer browsing after initial protection. She expressed some reservations about the landscape consultant's proposal and offered to organize a site visit with experienced horticulturists to provide better recommendations. Following Pat's comments, Ronda Roaring raised concerns about documents referenced in the agenda not being made available and requested that Kristin McCarthy be properly identified as the minute taker in the minutes. Approval of Minutes: Joel Gagnon moved, with a second by Anne Klingensmith, to approve the October 2024 CAC minutes as amended. Motion carried. Anne Klingensmith moved, with a second by Brittany Lagaly, to approve the November 2024 CAC minutes as amended. Motion carried. Anne Klingensmith moved, with a second by Brittany Lagaly, to approve the December CAC minutes as amended. Motion carried. Status of Easement Monitoring: No updates Status of Retrieval of Past Easement Monitoring Documents: Anne encouraged people to organize their folders. She asked if anyone had problems or questions about retrieving past easement monitoring documents and offered assistance to anyone having trouble uploading documents. Updates on Ongoing Easements: Altman Easement Jonathan reported that the Altman easement is essentially ready to be sent to Guy Krogh, attorney for the town, for review. Town Planner Greg Hutnik identified an issue with the tax parcel numbers in the easement documents, noting that the survey included in Schedule A shows an incorrect parcel number compared to the County tax rolls. Jonathan agreed to update the document by adding captions to the map indicating the correct tax parcel numbers and will send the corrected document to Greg for verification within the next few days. Action: Anne Klingensmith made a motion, with a second by Don Schaufler, to approve forwarding the Altman easement to the Danby Town Board if there are no substantive changes once the parcel numbers are fixed and both the Town Attorney (Guy Krogh) and property owner (Ben Altman) approve the document. The motion passed with all in favor. Gladstone Easement Jonathan informed the group that the writing for the Gladstone easement is complete and has been circulated to members as separate documents for the main agreement and schedules. Andi Gladstone is still reviewing the details and may request minor changes. Jonathan mentioned that Andi is not uncertain about doing the easement but wants to make sure she gets all the details right. Joel noted some organizational issues with the documents, including the need to move zone descriptions from Schedule B to Schedule C for clarity, as the reference to the zones should be located with the map. The map zones require better labeling to make them self-explanatory for monitoring purposes. The committee discussed the rationale for the complex boundary of the meadow zone, which Jonathan explained is defined by existing bluebird boxes and a distinct edge between meadow and forest that is obvious when standing on the property. Joel also pointed out that the natural and exceptional values section contained too much detail that should be moved to the baseline documentation. Jonathan will reorganize the documents to better separate baseline documentation from the description of natural and exceptional values. The committee agreed to revisit the Gladstone easement at the March meeting. Sherman Easement Brittany reported that she has completed first drafts of all documents for the Sherman easement and is now refining the language. She is working through the challenge of categorizing certain features as either natural or exceptional values. Review of Norbut Solar Farm Request: Greg presented a request from Norbut to modify their approved landscaping plan, changing from 2.5-inch caliper trees to 2-inch caliper trees for better transplant survivability. The group discussed deer browsing concerns, noting that tree size is less important than protection measures for ensuring plant survival. Members expressed concern that the proposed plant species would be quickly decimated by deer regardless of size. Jonathan pointed out that even deer-resistant species will be eaten in harsh winters when deer are desperate. The group agreed that focusing on survivability rather than tree size is the appropriate approach, especially since Norbut is required to ensure plant survival for at least two years after planting. Don mentioned that effective screening might require fencing around the plantings to allow them to establish with foliage at lower levels. Greg will respond to Norbut suggesting that while smaller caliper trees may be acceptable, they should implement protection measures like tree tubes to ensure plants survive the required two-year maintenance period. Status of Timber Harvesting Law: Don reported he has spoken with Town Clerk Mariah Dillon about the timber harvesting law and received ideas that need to be coordinated with the Town Highway Department before developing an implementation mechanism. Greg asked whether the document was intended to be a law requiring state environmental quality review or simply a policy with advisory recommendations. The group discussed that while initially planned as a law, it might function as a policy document if existing highway regulations provide sufficient enforcement mechanisms. There was additional discussion about improving the document's organizational structure to maintain a consistent hierarchy throughout the sections. Updates on Ongoing Easement Development: Greg reported on ongoing communication with a property owner who expressed interest in placing approximately 50 acres of her 70-acre property into a conservation easement. The property includes Lick Brook and steep slopes that would be protected, while the owner is planning a cluster subdivision on the remaining portion. Greg noted that he has not heard from the owner since December but will follow up. The group also discussed different approaches to identifying potential new easements, including targeting properties with special environmental features rather than simply contacting the largest landowners. Greg mentioned that this targeted approach was similar to the method used successfully by the Finger Lakes Land Trust when protecting the Six Mile Creek watershed. Approval of New Landowner Letter and Procedure for Discussing Potential New Easements with Landowners: Group discussed the status of two pending documents. Margaret had previously agreed to draft a letter for sending to new landowners but hasn’t submitted anything yet. Jonathan reported that he has begun writing a procedure for discussing potential new easements, but it is still a work in progress. The group agreed that these items were not urgent and could be addressed at the March or April meeting. Update: Report/Discussion with Town Board on “Reasons to Involve the CAC” criteria document: Joel reported that the Town Board adopted the CAC's criteria list, prompting him to consider how to ensure implementation rather than letting it become a forgotten document. The committee discussed institutionalizing the process, so boards routinely consult the criteria when reviewing proposals. Greg noted that some technical criteria might require CAC expertise to evaluate, creating a potential circular situation. The committee appointed Greg as point person to remind Planning and Zoning boards about consulting the criteria list. Don and Jonathan volunteered to help review proposals as needed. Greg suggested he could send all development cases to the CAC for initial screening to identify those requiring deeper review. Items for Next Month’s Agenda: Members discussed several items for future meetings, including a presentation by Grascen Shidemantle from the Community Science Institute (CSI) in April about CSI’s work in Danby, including their collaboration with Trout Unlimited. The committee also suggested member recruitment and easement outreach strategies as possible topics. From this discussion emerged a plan to recruit "adjunct members" who could help monitor easements without attending all meetings, since they now have more easements than members to monitor. Member Announcements: None Executive Session (as needed): None Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 9:03pm. Submitted by Kristin McCarthy, Secretary.