The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2026-05-12-CAC-minutesTown of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Draft Minutes of In-person Meeting in Town Hall, and Via Videoconferencing Tuesday, May 12, 2026 Council Members Present: Paciﬁc Austin, Margaret Corbit, Joel Gagnon, Anne Klingensmith, Don Schauﬂer, Jonathan Zisk Council Members Absent/Excused: None Others Present: Katharine Hunter (via Zoom), Greg Hutnik, Renee Owens Meeting called to order: Chair Anne Klingensmith called the meeting to order at 7:03pm. Agenda Review: Additions or Deletions: A brief report on the Danby Resilience Fair was added, and discussion of Renee Owens’ sign-on letter regarding pending state energy legislation was moved higher on the agenda. Privilege of the Floor: Katharine Hunter raised concerns about the growing prevalence of bright outdoor and LED lighting in town and its effects on nocturnal wildlife during the height of regional bird migration. Members discussed drafting an educational article or voluntary guidelines for the Danby Area News or town website, citing former CAC member Bill Evans and Cornell's Lab of Ornithology "Lights Out" program as possible resources. Approval of Minutes: The April 2026 minutes were approved (moved by Joel Gagnon, seconded by Margaret Corbit) with minor edits. Paciﬁc Austin abstained. Motion carried. Discussion/Action: NYS Legislation on Reforestation Lands (A10483/S4408A) Renee Owens, Danby resident and former CAC member, provided an overview of NYS Assembly Bill A10483 / Senate Bill S4408A ("An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to agreements and easements related to renewable energy interconnection across reforestation areas"), sponsored by Senator Rachel May and Assemblymember Jennifer Lunsford. Discussion covered several points: the bill would let the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grant private energy developers access to roughly 600,000 of the state's 787,000 reforestation acres — for which no qualifying map yet exists — for transmission and storage infrastructure without environmental review, public comment, or acreage limits, and utilities are ﬁnancially incentivized to build on public rather than private land. Opposition has come from the Allegany and Cattaraugus County legislatures, the New York Environmental Energy Association, and hunting and ﬁshing associations; and alternatives such as brownﬁelds, landﬁlls, and rooftops could meet substantial needs without developing forest land. Renee shared a public sign-on letter, an expert testimony document, and a draft resolution for the town board. After initially considering its own letter, the CAC instead adopted Renee's resolution language, revised to state that Danby includes — rather than is adjacent to — a speciﬁc acreage of Danby State Forest, to be conﬁrmed by planner Greg Hutnik, since part of the forest extends into neighboring Tioga County and roughly a quarter of the town's land lies within it. Renee agreed to send the ﬁnal resolution to Joel for the town board's next agenda, with copies transmitted to Assemblymember Anna Kelles, Speaker Carl Heastie, Senator Rachel May, and Assemblymember Jennifer Lunsford. Action: Paciﬁc Austin made a motion, seconded by Margaret Corbit, that the Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council adopt the resolution opposing NYS legislation A10483/S4408A ("An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to agreements and easements related to renewable energy interconnection across reforestation areas") as amended. Motion carried. Ayes: Paciﬁc Austin, Margaret Corbit, Joel Gagnon, Anne Klingensmith, Don Schauﬂer. Nays: none. Abstentions: Jonathan Zisk. Action: Anne Klingensmith made a motion, seconded by Paciﬁc Austin, that the Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council recommend that the Danby Town Board adopt a similar resolution opposing NYS legislation A10483/S4408A ("An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to agreements and easements related to renewable energy interconnection across reforestation areas"). Motion carried. Ayes: Paciﬁc Austin, Margaret Corbit, Joel Gagnon, Anne Klingensmith, Don Schauﬂer. Nays: None. Abstentions: Jonathan. Easement Summaries: Don Schauﬂer presented a draft one-page, plain-language summary for the Palmer easement . The summary describes the easement’s active use zone, references the building envelope shown in the original easement map, and includes a brief note on the property’s history, including the circumstances under which the easement was established. Members agreed the format was useful and discussed adding a note conﬁrming that the previously undeveloped building envelope has since been built upon. Easement Monitoring: Group discussed plans for compiling summaries and monitoring records for all easements this year, along with linking source documents from the tracking spreadsheet. Additionally, members contemplated the value of including brief historical narratives, similar to those already written for the Kartman and Hansen easements, and agreed that consolidating scattered documentation into the correct easement folders is essential. Discussion also touched on a gap in the council's standard easement template around allowable ancillary or "agritourism" uses in agricultural zones. Following was a broader check-in on monitoring assignments, during which Paciﬁc volunteered to serve as monitor ("parent") for the Curtiss easement going forward, a relatively small property containing both invasive species and valuable native plantings. Updates on Ongoing Easements: Altman Easement: Revisions continue, with one more iteration expected. Olsefski Easement: No update. Resilience Fair Recap & Easement Outreach: Margaret updated the group on the resilience fair, starting with feedback attendees had shared on Greg's updated easement map. This led to a broader group discussion of possible improvements, including an aerial/canopy layer, property lines, waterways, and a larger physical format for display at town hall, along with the longer-term possibility of an online "story map" modeled on Lansing CAC's project and involving a Cornell intern. Turning back to the fair itself, Margaret noted that turnout was modest due to weather and that conversations focused more on invasive species than easements, though several attendees expressed interest — including one resident who mentioned the concept of "community forestry" and offered to connect the council with a Cornell contact who might speak with the group in the future. Members went on to discuss creating simpliﬁed, distilled easement materials and holding an informal winter information session. Rapid Waters Plan Update: Members discussed a suggestion from community member Brad Rausch that the CAC help organize stakeholder input for the DEC's overdue review of the Rapid Waters Unit Management Plan, which covers Danby State Forest and Shindagin Hollow. However, members determined that they lack capacity to lead such an effort. Discussion turned to a broader concern that the DEC's framework favors use over preservation, with members considering non-use or preservation zones within reforestation lands. Items for Next Month’s Agenda: Next month's discussion will include the agricultural- zone easement template and agritourism, alongside a presentation from Margaret on the Hansen easement. Member Announcements: Anne shared that her daughter recently completed her doctorate at Harvard. Everyone offered their congratulations. Before group adjourned for the evening, Greg shared a draft forest-cover map showing Danby as approximately 73% forested, for possible future use in the town newsletter or a story map. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:40pm. Submitted by Kristin McCarthy, Secretary.