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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-13Dryden Ag Committee June 13, 2018 Page 1 of 4 Dryden Agriculture Advisory Committee June 13, 2018 Members Present: Evan Carpenter (Chair), Kim LaMotte, Steve Foote, Marie McRae, and Jeremy Sherman (at 7:45) Liaisons: Craig Schutt, Joe Wilson Guests: Debbie Teeter E. Carpenter called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM. E. Carpenter asked if everyone had reviewed the minutes from the May 9th meeting. K. LaMotte made a motion to accept the minutes, M. McRae seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously. Right to Farm signs update K. LaMotte said that there’s an issue regarding the size of the signs; that doesn’t match the posts that they are to be attached to. It was also reported that one of the board members had an issue about the design of the sign. E. Carpenter said we were going with the same design that is used in the Town of Lansing and several other locations use the same design; it’s basically become the “standard” Right to Farm sign format. S. Foote reported that R. Young has not ordered the signs because of the size/width of the signs doesn’t work with the posts that the signs were going to be attached to. R. Young also felt the pricing that was originally quoted was a little high, so he’s working on the price and discussing the size the signs need to be with the vendor. Rail Trail E. Carpenter said he had been the liaison to that group for a while, then S. Foote was the liaison, but they now need another Ag Committee member to be the liaison and attend the Rail Trail meetings. M. McRae asked what that entails. E. Carpenter said you need to attend their monthly Monday meetings. M. McRae said she’d like to read through their minutes and get up to speed on what they’re doing before making any commitment. E. Carpenter said you don’t need to get involved with any legal work for them. She said she’d let them know. Dryden Ag Committee June 13, 2018 Page 2 of 4 Review of letter to B. Lifton M. McRae presented her letter she’d compiled to B. Lifton thanking her for her support of the Carbon Farming bill (A3281). They reviewed the letter for changes. She suggested they send a copy of the Dryden Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan along with the letter. She’ll e-mail the deputy clerk a copy of the updated letter and E. Carpenter will stop in at the Town Hall to sign the letter; then the letter along with the Ag Plan will be mailed to B. Lifton. Cornell Students zoning research update D. Teeter reported that she hadn’t received anything regarding this issue. She will try to get some information and forward it on. E. Carpenter said they’d all be interested in what their final thoughts were on it. D. Teeter said it should probably have been done in two semesters; part 1 in the fall semester and part 2 during the spring semester. E. Carpenter said if they’d met with the students earlier than March they would have had more time to complete their project. Zoning definitions document (update) D. Teeter brought copies of the zoning definitions document she’d been working on. They reviewed the document. C. Schutt said that D. Michaud had edited the document inserting the changes (marked as “Draft”; that was per C. Anderson’s request. C. Schutt said that it was presented to the Planning Board, but they didn’t really like it. They’d like to figure out how the town could have more control over agriculture. They are worried about agritourism. E. Carpenter said Hopshire Brewery is “agritourism”. D. Teeter asked if Hopshire, for example, had to go through a site plan review. C. Schutt said he believes that they did, but he’s not positive. D. Teeter said maybe what the Planning Board is worried about is that even though there’s some agricultural activities going on, when you have the public entering the space it’s another issue; for public safety sprinklers and such are necessary. C. Schutt said that C. Anderson tried to explain to the Planning Board that Ag & Markets isn’t totally against the Town having oversight site plan review but it can’t be ownerous. He said that it should be done in house by the Planning Department, not by the Planning Board. D. Teeter said that’s only if it is an agricultural building. If it is something for the public, like a corn maze, that’s going to require some type of review; where’s the parking lot going to be and where is the access. K. LaMotte said the greenhouse is several years old and review wasn’t required for that. D. Teeter said that’s a temporary structure and K. LaMotte said it is not. D. Teeter said that by Ag District Law greenhouses are considered temporary structures. K. LaMotte said that the greenhouse had to be Dryden Ag Committee June 13, 2018 Page 3 of 4 inspected, for one thing, and there was more to it but she doesn’t remember exactly what that entailed. She said they didn’t have to do a site plan for parking. D. Teeter said maybe it won’t be an issue with the Planning Board in general. She suggested setting the Planning Board up with a conference call with Bob Sumners so they could ask questions. She said they did that in Trumansburg. J. Wilson said the conference call is really good idea. M. McRae asked what the next step is with this issue. J. Wilson said shouldn’t the Planning Board recommend that the Town Board adopt the definitions with the suggested revisions. K. LaMotte said if it’s State Law, why does the Town have to go through the Planning Board and get their approval. D. Teeter said it is her understanding that any suggested changes to zoning should go through the Planning Board. J. Wilson said he’ll find out the status of the proposed definition changes; if they’ve been reviewed by the Planning Board and forwarded on to the Town Board. Bi-laws update D. Michaud had found in the 2012-2013 Town Board minutes the resolutions establishing the Agricultural Advisory Committee and had e-mailed them out to everyone. D. Teeter went over her document she’d compiled. She’d looked at the Ag and Farmland Protection Boards bi-laws that she had access to because they were the most detailed. She pulled out what she felt they might want to in include in their bi- laws. E. Carpenter requested that D. Michaud locate the Conservation Board bi-laws and have them for the next meeting. D. Teeter had e-mailed three articles for the committee to review to assist them with setting up their bi-laws which they discussed. M. McRae said she’d start a draft document with a statement of purpose for the committee which she’ll send out. D. Teeter said she was just going to copy and paste from the documents she has changing the wording as necessary. M. McRae said ok, that’s fine. They then started looking at the membership section. C. Schutt said that applications are filled out by those interested in being on a committee/board and the Town Board reviews the applications and makes recommendations. The application form is on the Town web-site. D. Teeter said she needs to find out the term length and when current members terms are up. They discussed different items that should be included in bi-laws, like quorum, unexcused absences from meetings, ad hoc committees, etc. She’s going to type up a document for the next meeting for them to review. Dryden Ag Committee June 13, 2018 Page 4 of 4 K. LaMotte made a motion was made to adjourn the meeting, seconded by M. McRae and unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM. Respectfully submitted, Diane Michaud Deputy Town Clerk