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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-04Page 1 of 4 Conservation Board March 4, 2014 Members Present: Robert Beck (Chair), Gian Dodici, Craig Schutt, Bard Prentiss, Charlie Smith, Mike Richmond, Rick Ryan and Nancy Munkenbeck. Jeremy Sherman (excused) Planning Board liaison: David Weinstein Town Board Members: Mary Ann Sumner (Supervisor) The meeting was opened at 7:03PM by Chairman Beck. Review and approval of minutes from January 28th. Minor spelling and grammatical errors were corrected. C. Smith moved to approve the minutes with the recommended changes, the move was seconded by C. Schutt and unanimously approved. Citizens Privilege: no guests present Additions to the Agenda? none Reports and Updates: Town Board - Supervisor Sumner said the Town Board has discussed and will vote on the 20th regarding support of the purchase of a property on Ringwood. They found some money in the budget that was targeted for farmland protection (the farmer has decided to withdraw his application). Cornell Plantations was able to secure the property for $8,000, a fraction of it's value. They are asking that the Town pay half of the cost and turn the property over to Cornell. They are willing to accept half of the funds this year and then half next year equaling a total of $4,000 in Town contributions. C. Smith offered the following resolution: The Conservation Board fully supports the Town's contribution toward the purchase of the Ringwood property at $2000 per year for two years. B. Prentiss seconded the motion and the Conservation Board voted unanimously to support the Town's efforts. Supervisor Sumner also presented a map of the Game Farm area and shared discussions recently held with the manager there that increase the probability of the "trail" (Jim Schug) continuing. The Cornell Game Farm management was concerned with animal rights activists, trespassers, vandalism, etc. Supervisor Sumner found recently that the property in discussion abuts a meadow with hunting rights. The Cornell management has agreed to a couple of possible paths but each of them had a definitive negative. The DEC was also concerned about disrupting wildlife habitat. Supervisor Sumner reminded the group that this trail system is part of the Town's Comprehensive Plan and M. Richmond said the Recreation Sub -Committee is on record supporting the continuation of the trail. C. Smith offered the following motion: Page 2 of 4 The Conservation Board supports the extension of the Jim Schug Trail from the Game Farm road east, in a manner which is ADA compliant and in cooperation with the NYS DEC and Cornell Game Farm. The motion was unanimously approved. Town Planning Board - D. Weinstein from the Planning Board shared they are looking at a site plan for a 16 unit development at the corner of Route 366 and Freese Road. Tompkins County EMC - Steve Bissen was not in attendance Agricultural Advisory Committee - C. Schutt shared the discussion regarding the potential Farmer's Market at Dryden Agway. N. Munkenbeck added that the Ag Committee also discussed using the space under the solar panels that are being erected at TC3. The discussion included the solar panels in the sense of open space, promoting agriculture, and view sheds. There doesn't appear to have been much consideration of those aspects when the plan was approved. Other Town Boards and Commissions - Jane Nicholson was not in attendance. Old Business - The multiple-Board/Commission meeting has been delayed. R. Beck passed around an article on Property Rights (the same article that has been distributed to the other Boards and Commissions) and asked the members to read it and provide feedback at another meeting. B. Beck and C. Anderson (Planning Board) are encouraging feedback to assist in future discussions that touch on perceived or real property rights. New Business: Vice -Chairs: Two members were appointed by the Chair to serve as Vice Chairs, Bard Prentiss and Milo Richmond. In a vote, both members were unanimously elected. GIS position: D. Weinstein spent a lot of time on the Town website checking out the information and options available. He was very impressed with the maps that were there and the manner in which they can be used. Having a flat map on paper is one thing but having an interactive map is better. Years ago we might have said we didn't need that but now that it is there, we can see how valuable it is. Comparisons between different properties of land that meet certain criteria are easy to conduct. It is an amazing resource for which he commends the Board for having the foresight to allocate funds to develop this position. M. Richmond added that if anyone questioned the need for the GIS position, he would hand them the binder that the Planning Department created. It contains maps that we would not have access to if not for the GIS position. Almost 70% of the people in the world are visual learners and access to the maps can help understanding. N. Munkenbeck said that the GIS person provides information that otherwise would not be available or at least would take far longer to procure. Page 3 of 4 C. Smith said that there is so much expertise around the Conservation Board table, it is a valuable tool to facilitate the decision making in today's world. N. Munkenbeck added that the GIS person has done a lot of work to the Town website including creating the Virtual Farmers Market. Supervisor Sumner said that there is a list of local businesses (not yet available on the website) that was created by J. Bogdan. She said that we also have an official map for the first time in about 20 years. C. Smith proposed the following resolution: Be it resolved that the Conservation Board urges the Dryden Town Board to maintain and secure the full-time position that provides geographic information system (GIS) and information technology (IT) services for the Town of Dryden, within the Dryden Planning Department. If it is financially and politically beneficial for the Town of Dryden to partner with other municipalities to provide fee-based GIS services, without diminishing the quality and quantity of services needed by the Town of Dryden, the Conservation Board encourages the Dryden Town Board to explore such possibilities. Members of the Conservation Board with GIS expertise stand ready and able to discuss the value and uses of GIS technologies with Town Board members. B. Prentiss moved to accept the resolution which was passed unanimously. Open Space Plan J. Nicholson is unable to help work on the Open Space Plan at this time so the Conservation Board is moving forward on two sections: Section Four: Objectives and Section Five: Inventory and Analysis. C. Smith feels strongly that the objectives have to be measurable so we are able to look back and assess how well we have done. R. Beck said he wasn't sure how to proceed; most of the past organizations he has served on have gotten most of their work done by committee which then brought back their suggestions to the Board. . D. Weinstein said he likes working against a straw man; for example, using the Glenview plan to determine which parts are applicable and which parts can be disregarded in relation to the Dryden Open Space Plan. He suggested sending around the documents via email and have the members comment on the sections that the Conservation Board feels need their attention. The information can be combined and presented at the next meeting. C. Smith recommended they use the Glenview plan as reference and come back next month with thoughts and suggestions regarding Section Four: Objectives, concentrating primarily on Conservation and Natural Resource Protection. M. Richmond asked if the entire Open Space Plan is fair game. He has concerns based on the diagram showing the three overlapping circles: Recreation, Agriculture and Conservation. He believes there could be circles being left out. R. Beck responded that the circles are most likely based on land and land uses. The role of Conservation includes areas like development and encouraging land uses to the best benefit. Page 4 of 4 M. Richmond moved to adjourn. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM. Respectfully submitted, Erin A. Bieber Deputy Town Clerk The next regular meeting of the Conservation Board will be March 25th at 7PM.