HomeMy WebLinkAboutTCCOG Monthly Report, March 10, 2021Monthly Report
Tompkins County Council of Governments
March 10, 2021
by Councilperson Robert Lynch
Enfield TCCOG Representative
The Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) met on February 25th. It was mostly a learning
session for us. Our only major action was, as expected, the formation of an intermunicipal Broadband
Committee to assist in the information-gathering and report dissemination of the forthcoming
professional study aimed at enhancing and expanding access to broadband Internet communications in
Tompkins County’s rural communities, including Enfield. As established, the committee currently has
ten members, generally one per municipality. An eleventh member will likely be added soon. Our first
committee meeting could come within the month.
Katie Hallas, Project Coordinator for Tompkins Food Future, provided the principal presentation.
Tompkins Food Future is a locally-backed initiative to develop a “comprehensive food system plan,”
much like the Comprehensive Plan for land development that Enfield has. The study’s been underway
for about a year. It’s most notable outreach effort so far has been the online “Food Future Community
Questionnaire” one that many of us have already taken and that remains as a link on our Enfield Town
website. Ms. Hallas reported that nearly 400 people have taken the survey to date. She acknowledged
it may not serve as the best tool to gauge food needs and wants, but it serves best in a pandemic.
In response to my inquiry about food pantries, Hallas gave a shout out to our own Enfield Food Pantry
and its Director, Jean Owens. “Enfield is awesome. Jean is amazing,” Hallas said. “I’ve seen her in
action,” Hallas continued, adding “I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how Enfield is the best pantry,
with the best food.”
Katie Hallas surprised me by saying our county has as many as 17 pantries; most smaller than Enfield’s,
less equipped, and with fewer volunteers. She also admitted that at some locations, “the food is sub-
par.” “It’s not just about having enough, she said, “but having enough quality food,” that which meets
both with tastes and with dietary and nutritional requirements. I guess we in Enfield should consider
ourselves among the fortunate.
Coordinator Hallas talked about the challenges facing farmers, particularly the rising cost of land, the
competition for land among varied uses, and “food system infrastructure challenges,” those related to
processing capacity and getting locally-grown products to market. “Being a farmer is not necessarily a
viable career path,” she said. Farmers often need an outside income.
TCCOG member questions and comments ran the gamut. Acknowledging the recent land use
controversies in her neighboring Ulysses, Town Supervisor, Nancy Zahler, remarked, “We are supportive
of agriculture, but farmers might say we have not been supportive enough of them. Zahler talked of
the “conflicting goals,” including those of balancing agricultural operations with protecting water
quality.
Monthly TCCOG Report March 2021
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Danby Supervisor Joel Gagnon complained about what he called the “open loop with regard to
nutrients.” Pursuing a line of reasoning that could take interesting twists and turns, Gagnon said we
must do more “to get human waste back on the land.” Food composting aside, Gagnon said, food waste
often travels on “a one-way street to the landfill.”
Groton Supervisor Donald Scheffler raised perhaps the most critical observation. Scheffler took aim at
solar farms which he saw as gobbling up prime farm land. He questioned how some county agencies,
including the County Planning Department, can balance their objectives; promoting Tompkins Food
Future’s initiatives, on the one hand, “while those same agencies are gung ho to cover the whole county
with solar panels.” And while some contributors to Hallas’ project have suggested we begin growing
food on public land. Supervisor Scheffler turned the argument around. He urged the public land be set
aside for the solar farms, leaving prime farm land available to agriculture.
Our next TCCOG meeting is set for April 22nd. The Broadband Committee will likely meet sooner.
Robert Lynch
Councilperson
Enfield TCCOG Representative