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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2007-09-10 Final Regular Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Monday , September 10 , 2007 AGENDA 1 . Call to Order 2 . Pledge of Allegiance 3 . Report of Tompkins County Legislature — Mike Koplinka- Loehr 4 . Report of City of Ithaca Common Council 5 . Report of Fire Commission 6 . 6 : 00 p . m . - Persons to be Heard and Board Comments 7 . 6 : 15 p . m . — Youth Employment Recognition 8 . Consider recognition of National Senior Center Week 9 . 6 : 30 p . m . Public Hearing regarding Local Law amending Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone 10 . Consider SEQR regarding Local Law amending Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone 11 . Consider adoption of Local Law amending Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone 12 . 6 : 45 p . m . Public Hearing regarding a Local Law providing for a moratorium on development in the northeast corner of the Town for a period of 270 days 13 . Consider adoption of a Local Law providing for a moratorium on development in the northeast corner of the Town for a period of 270 days 14 . Consider approval of Recreation Partnership Agreement 15 . Discussion of video taping Town Board budget meetings 16 . Discussion of SPCA contract Final agenda — September 5 , 2007 Final 17 . Discussion of Planning Board recommendation regarding Pennsylvania Avenue and Kendall Avenue neighborhood 18 . Report on status of Sapsucker Woods consultant RFQs 19 . Consider recommendation of Carrowmoor Committee to authorize Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft local law for a Planned Development Zone 20 , Consider Personnel Committee recommendation ( s ) 21 . Consider Appointment of Town Clerk 22 . Consider consent agenda a . Town Board Minutes b . Town of Ithaca Abstract C. Bolton Point Abstract d . Disposition Listing e . Appointment of Account Clerk Typist — SCLIWC f. Reclassification of Technical Services Assistant — ( SCLIWC ) g . Extension of Project Assistant — Engineering 23 . Report of Town Committees a . Agricultural Committee b . Agricultural Land Preservation Committee C , Capital Projects and Fiscal Planning Committee d . Carrowmoor Committee e . Codes and Ordinances Committee f. Comprehensive Plan Review Committee g . Ethics Board h . Personnel Committee i . Public Works Committee j . Recreation and Human Services Committee k . Safety Committee I . Transportation Committee 24 . Intermunicipal Organizations a . Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization b . City/Town Shared Services Committee C. City/Town Trail Committee d . Joint Youth Commission e . Lake Source Data Sharing f. Pegasys Oversight Committee g . Recreation Partnership h . Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission i . Special Joint Committee ( Sewer) Final agenda — September 5 , 2007 Final j . Tompkins County Council of Governments 25 . Report of Town Officials a . Town Clerk b . Highway Superintendent C . Director of Engineering d . Director of Planning e . Budget Officer f. Manager of Human Resources g . Network/ Records Specialist h . Recreation and Youth Coordinator i . Attorney for the Town 26 . Review of Correspondence (to be circulated at meeting ) a . 7/5/2007 letter from Henrik Dullea , Tompkins County Public Library Board of Trustees , request for funding from Town of Ithaca b . 8/5/2007 letter from Frank Proto , Tompkins County Water Resources Council , re seeking applications for municipal representatives C . 8/ 15/2007 SPCA July 2007 monthly report d . 8/23/2007 letter from Lenore Durkee re resignation from Conservation Board e . 8/23/2007 letter from John Longhouse , Country Club of Ithaca , re renewal of alcoholic beverage license f. 8/24/2007 letter from Geoffrey Huth , State Education Department , re 2006/2007 SARA grant g . 8/28/2007letter from Michael Stamm , Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency, re Ithacare Center Service Company, Inc. Project h . 8/29/2007 letter from Ithaca College re liquor license renewal for Egbert Union i . 8/29/2007 letter from Ithaca College re liquor license renewal for the Tower Club j . 8/31 /07 email from Philip Smith re new DEC handbook for Elected Officials k . 08/31 /2007 letter from John W . Fitzpatrick , Director of Cornell Lab of Ornithology re donation of land to Sapsucker Woods nature preserve 27 . Consider Adjournment Final agenda — September 5 , 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 REGULAR MEETING OF THE ITHACA TOWN BOARD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 , 2007 at 5 : 30 p . m . 215 NORTH TIOGA STREET , ITHACA, NY PRESENT Catherine Valentino , Supervisor; Will Burbank , Councilman ; Sandra Gittelman , Councilwoman ; Herb Engman , Councilman ; Peter Stein , Councilman ; Jeff Cowie , Councilman ; Patricia Leary , Councilwoman . STAFF Carrie Coates Whitmore , Deputy Town Clerk ; Susan Brock , Attorney for the Town ; Dan Walker, Director of Engineering ; Fred Noteboom , Highway Superintendent ; Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning ; Judith Drake , Human Resources Manager. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Patrick Gill , Anna Gill and Vivian Hsaiau , 118 Randolph Rd ; Karen Coleman , no address given ; Janet Wagner and Bill Sonnenstuhl , 206 Winston Dr; Allan Eaglesham , 106 Pinewood PI ; Jonathan and William Miller, 4 The Byway ; Glenna W . Margaris , 199 Tareyton Dr; Arno Selco , 311 Salem Dr ; Kirk Sigel , 223 Highgate Rd ; G . Ezra , 110 Birchwood Dr; Bill Hawley , 9 Penny Ln ; Joshua Eberle , 119 W Court St ; E . and L . Fabbroni , 1 Settlement Way ; Andres Peree- Chafreco , 303 Richard PI ; Erik Whitney , 407 Auburn St ; R . Lucente , 103 Salem Dr; Bernard Carr, Phoenix , New York ; Gail Kroll , Newfield , New York ; Betty and Sara Ford , 13 Peachtree Ln ; Vicky and Robert Blake , 104 Park Ln ; Eileen Gravani , 203 Salem Dr. CALL TO ORDER Supervisor Valentino called the meeting to order at 5 : 30 p . m . and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance . Agenda Item No . 3 — Report of Tompkins County Legislator No one present to give report. Agenda Item No . 4 — Report of City of Ithaca Common Council No one present to give report. Agenda Item No . 5 — Report of Fire Commission No one present to give report . Agenda Item No . 14 - Consider Approval of Recreation Partnership Supervisor Valentino stated that the County Legislature passed the proposed agreement and approved funding for the Partnership . The agreement before the Board includes suggested changes from Dooley Kiefer. Supervisor Valentino asked if there were questions from the Board . There being none , Supervisor Valentino moved the resolution adopting the Recreation Partnership Agreement . Councilwoman Gittelman seconded . Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Supervisor Valentino asked if there was further discussion . Ms . Brock brought the Board ' s attention to the 4th whereas clause of the proposed resolution . It stated the Recreation Partnership Board voted on June 7 , 2007 to adopt the attached agreement , but the Agreement stated as recommended by the Recreation Partnership Board on August 13 , 2007 . Ms . Brock suggested that June 7 , 2007 be changed to August 13 , 2007 . Ms . Brock added that typically when the Town Board votes on agreements of this type , there is a statement giving the Town Supervisor authorization to execute the agreement on behalf of the Town . She proposed adding the following language in the first resolved , "and the Town Supervisor is authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of the Town of Ithaca" . The proposed changes were acceptable to the Board . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007449: Adoption of the 2008-2012 Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership Agreement WHEREAS, the Town of Ithaca is currently a member of the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership, and WHEREAS, the Recreation Partnership has been an excellent model of Intermunicipal collaboration which enables the Towns of Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Enfield, Groton, Ithaca, Newfield, and Ulysses, the Village of Lansing, and the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County to jointly, plan, finance, and share a more diverse set of high quality recreation programs than any single municipality could offer on its own, and WHEREAS, the current Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership Agreement will end December 31 , 2007, and WHEREAS, the Recreation Partnership Board, comprised of representatives from participating municipalities wishing to continue this innovative partnership, has reviewed the current agreement and voted on August 13, 2007 to adopt the attached, updated Agreement for the period of January 1 , 2008 through December 31 , 2012, and WHEREAS, municipalities in the Recreation Partnership value Tompkins County's commitment to building collaborative Intermunicipal solutions to meeting needs of youth, and Tompkins County's contribution is essential in enabling smaller municipalities to participate affordably, and WHEREAS, the Agreement must be approved by the elected board of each participating municipality to take effect, now therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the 2008- 2012 Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership Agreement is approved and the Town Supervisor is authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of the Town of Ithaca, and it is further 2 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, in approving the Agreement, the Town of Ithaca agrees to abide by its terms and conditions, and it is further RESOLVED, that the Town of Ithaca strongly urges Tompkins County to maintain its keystone financial and planning support for the Recreation Partnership, and it is further RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Recreation Partnership Board care of Tompkins County Youth Services Department at 320 W State St, Ithaca, NY 14850. MOVED: Supervisor Valentino SECONDED: Councilwoman Gittelman VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, Aye; Council Engman, Aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, Aye; Councilwoman Leary, Aye; Councilman Cowie, Aye; Councilman Stein, Aye ABSENT: Councilman Burbank Agenda Item No . 15 — Discussion of video taping Town Board budget meetings Supervisor Valentino would look into the cost of taping the Town ' s budget meetings . She thought that when they talked to Time Warner Cable before , it would be approximately $250 . Councilman Stein asked why taping of the meetings could not be done in- house . Councilman Engman felt that there needed to be a minimum standard of watchability for the meetings , such as the meetings of the County Legislature and City Common Council . He has tried to watch other meetings that were amateurishly done and found it to be unwatchable . On a related item , Councilman Cowie wondered why the Town was still using cassette tapes to record the meetings instead of digital recording . Supervisor Valentino replied that the Town had not costed it out . She would look into the cost of taping the budget meetings . Agenda Item No . 16 - Discussion of SPCA contract SEE ATTACHMENT # 1A Supervisor Valentino directed the Board ' s attention to the letter in their packets from the SPCA . The SPCA came before the Council of Governments stating that it is very costly for them to provide dog control services to municipalities . They would no longer be able to provide dog control services to the Town at current contract costs . The Town ' s current contract is for $20 , 700 . The letter from the SPCA states that they would need $41 , 400 in 2008 to continue providing services to the Town . 3 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Supervisor Valentino felt that the amount of service the Town is getting from the SPCA is not a lot. She wanted to bring the issue to the Board ' s attention because serious discussions will need to take place . The other municipalities are concerned about the increase as well . Supervisor Valentino explained that the Town has taken over some responsibilities from the SPCA. Ms . Whitmore explained that the Clerk' s Office prepares the tickets for the SPCA and the SPCA delivers them . Councilwoman Leary asked what services the SPCA provides . Supervisor Valentino responded that they respond to complaints and pickup stray animals . There is not a lot of activity in the Town . Councilman Stein remembered discussing the same issue a year ago when he raised the concern about the number of cases . He recalled that the Town does not have an option because it is required by State Law and wondered if there were other possible providers . Ms . Whitmore responded that the Town could hire a dog control officer. Councilman Stein wondered if the Town could contract with the City. Ms . Whitmore explained that the entire County contracts with the SPCA for dog control . Councilman Engman wondered if other discussions could be initiated with the SPCA as well , such as a dog census and a dog park . At one time the SPCA said that they would have land available for a dog park . He thought these were contributions that could. be made for additional monies . Supervisor Valentino did not think the SPCA would want to provide more service for the additional money because they feel that their current costs are high for the services that they currently provide . Councilman Cowie suggested that the SPCA come to a Town Board meeting . Supervisor Valentino responded that the SPCA would be invited to the October 4 , 2007 board meeting . Councilwoman Leary mentioned that at the Agenda Meeting , it was discussed that there could be private dog control officers . The persons would not be on staff, but the Town would contract with them . Councilman Stein suggested that there be a working group to talk to the SPCA before the Board meeting . Supervisor Valentino , Councilman Burbank and Councilwoman Gittelman volunteered to meet with the SPCA . Councilman Burbank added that he would like to continue supporting the SPCA because they are a valuable community organization , but he has been concerned about the community' s , as a whole , ability to deal with aggressive dogs . Councilwoman Leary felt that that was part of the SPCAs problem . The No Kill policy extends to aggressive dogs that nobody wants and because of that , Councilwoman Leary thought that they were strained financially. She is not sure that she would want to support them . Supervisor Valentino thought the Town needed to look at their budget and have a clear understanding of the costs . She did not want to share in the cost of the No Kill policy . 4 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Agenda Item No . 17 — Discussion of Planning Board recommendation regarding Pennsylvania Avenue and Kendall Avenue neighborhood Mr. Kanter introduced the agenda item to the Board and explained it is a result of a subdivision granted by the Planning Board in the Pennsylvania Avenue area . Several residents spoke in opposition to the project , but the Planning Board could not deny the application because it met all requirements . The Planning Board discussed a number of possibilities and recommended to the Town Board that the issue be looked into further. ( Discussed at the September 4 , 2007 Planning Board meeting . ) Councilman Stein noted that the Planning Board made a specific recommendation to the Town Board . He felt these kinds of issues are issues for the Town Board , not the Planning Board , and that the Town Board form a committee to look into the issue . Councilman Stein suggested that Councilwoman Leary and he serve on the committee because they have worked with the South Hill neighbors on various issues in the past . Supervisor Valentino commented that she did not think the Planning Board had any intent to interfere with Town Board responsibilities . The Planning Board was saying it is the Town Board ' s responsibility and making the Board aware of their concerns . She agreed with the idea of establishing a committee to look into the issue . Councilwoman Leary clarified that the Board was creating an Ad - hoc committee and not a Planning Committee . Supervisor Valentino agreed and added that they have to be specific with regard to the charge of the committee when it is established . Councilwoman Leary asked if the recommendation from the Ad - hoc Committee would go to the Codes and Ordinances Committee because the committee deals with rezoning . Councilman Burbank was sympathetic to the constraints of the Planning Board and thought it was appropriate for them to express their concern to the Town Board so that the Town Board could then look into the issue. He thought this spoke for the need for a Planning Committee . The Town Board discussed the need for a Planning Committee at length and it was decided that they would look at establishing a Planning Committee in January when committee assignments are made . Ms . Brock brought up that according to the Policy and Procedures Manual , the Town Board should approve the establishment of the Ad - hoc committee . She drafted a resolution and read the proposed language to the Board . The Board discussed the proposed language of the resolution and decided upon the following : Resolved the Town Board approves of the Town Supervisor's creation of a Pennsylvania/Kendall Avenue Committee to review the Town Planning Board 's Resolution No . 2007-090 as amended by Resolution No. 2007-095 regarding limiting the number of unrelated individuals occupying dwelling units in that area. The s Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Committee will present recommendations regarding improvements to quality of life issues such as the occupancy issues raised by the Planning Board to either the Codes and Ordinances Committee or the Town Board as appropriate . The Committee members are Peter Stein and Patricia Leary, Supervisor Valentino moved the resolution and Councilman Cowie seconded . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 150: Establishment of the Pennsylvania/Kendall Avenue Committee I - RESOLVED, the Town Board approves of the Town Supervisor's creation of a Pennsylvania/Kendall Avenue Committee to review the Town Planning Board 's Resolution No. 2007-090, as amended by Resolution No. 2007-095, regarding limiting the number of unrelated individuals occupying . , dwelling units in that area . The Committee will present recommendations regarding improvements to quality of life issues, such as the occupancy issues raised by the Planning Board, to either the Codes and Ordinances Committee or the Town Board as appropriate . The Committee members are Peter Stein and Patricia Leary. MOVED: Supervisor Valentino SECONDED: Councilman Cowie VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye, Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 8 — Consider recognition of National Senior Center Week — See Attachment # 1 Supervisor Valentino read into the record the " Senior Center Month Proclamation " ( see attachment # Bill Hawley, Director of Lifelong , appeared before the Board and supported them for their support of Lifelong . He hoped the Town Board would enjoy the art on display in the Board Room . Agenda Item No . 7 — Youth Employment Recognition — See Attachment # 2 Supervisor Valentino and Marnie Kirchgessner, Youth and Recreation Coordinator , presented Certificates of Recognition to students who completed the 100- hour summer youth employment program . Ms . Kirchgessner provided thank you letters to the Board from participants and their guardians ( see attachment # 2 :) Agenda Item No . 6 — Persons to be Heard and Board Comments 6 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Councilman Stein expressed dismay over Supervisor Valentino presenting the Tentative budget to the press before it was given to Town Board members . Supervisor Valentino responded that she had met all requirements of the law. The Town Board continued to discuss the item in detail with no consensus . Councilman Burbank expressed concern over the procedures in place with regard to appointments of Town Officials and staff. Ms . Drake explained positions are offered to applicants conditioned upon their appointment by the Town Board . With regard to the Town Clerk position , the applicant understood the offer was contingent upon Board approval when the position was accepted . Discussion continued regarding the budget process with no consensus . Agenda Item No . 9 — Public Hearing regarding Local Law amending Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone Supervisor Valentino opened the public hearing at 6 : 56 p . m . The Deputy Town Clerk had proof of posting and publication of the public hearing notice . With no members of the public interested in speaking , Supervisor Valentino closed the public hearing at 6 : 57 p . m . and brought the matter back to the Board . Agenda Item No . 10 — SEQR regarding Local Law amending Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone SEE ATTACHMENT # 3 Mr. Kanter made the Board aware that the amendment applies for four parcels in the Lakefront Commercial Zone and offered to answer any questions . There were no questions from the Board . Councilman Stein moved the SEQR , Councilman Engman seconded . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 151 : SEQR: Proposed Local Law Amending the Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to Add Water-related Educational Uses and Additional Yard Re_gulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone WHEREAS, this action is the enactment of a local law amending the Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water-related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone; and WHEREAS, said proposed local law would add the definition of Ordinary High Water Line, would include minimum setbacks for structures from the shoreline, and would add institutions of higher learning facilities principally dedicated to water-related research, education, and recreational activities, excluding dormitory accommodations, as uses permitted by Special Permit in the Lakefront Commercial Zone; and Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 WHEREAS, this is an unlisted action for which the Town of Ithaca Town Board is acting as Lead Agency in environmental review with respect to the enactment of the proposed local law, and WHEREAS, the Town Board, at a public hearing held on September 10, 2007, has reviewed and accepted as adequate the Short Environmental Assessment Form, Parts I and II for this action, along with other application materials describing the proposed Merrill Family Sailing Center; RESOLVED, that the Town of Ithaca Town Board hereby makes a negative determination of environmental significance, in this uncoordinated environmental review, in accordance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act for the above referenced action as proposed, based on the information in the EAF Part I and for the reasons in the EAF Part ll, and, therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement will not be required. MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Engman VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 11 — Consider adoption of Local Law amendinq Zoning Chapter of the Town of Ithaca Code to add water- related educational uses and additional yard regulations to the Lakefront Commercial Zone Councilman Engman moved adoption of the local law, Supervisor Valentino seconded . Councilman Engman noticed that the Sailing Center and the Town -leased East Shore Park shared an entrance way and wondered if there was a guarantee that the Town would continue to have public access to the park through the entry way. Mr. Walker explained that the Park is an easement to the Town and it includes the entrance way. Councilman Cowie brought the Board ' s attention to the proposed resolution and questioned the language , "will rent boat lifts to some non - Cornell users" . He asked why " some" was included because it made it sound arbitrarily selective . Councilman Stein thought it implied it would be a limited use and not a major use . Mr. Kanter agreed and added that the Marina slips have been open to the public. Mr. Walker suggested that " some" be relocated within the sentence so that it indicated some boat slips would be available to rent to non - Cornell users . s Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Ms . Brock proposed the following change in language , "that will rent some boat slips to non - Cornell users" . Councilman Engman and Supervisor Valentino agreed with the language change . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 152: Resolution Adoptin_g "A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING CHAPTER OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA CODE TO ADD WATER- RELATED EDUCATIONAL USES AND ADDITIONAL YARD REGULATIONS TO THE LAKEFRONT COMMERCIAL ZONE" WHEREAS, Cornell University owns and leases property on East Shore Drive in the Town of Ithaca (Tax Parcel No. 19-2-29 consisting of 2. 5 +/- acres) that is zoned Lakefront Commercial and is the site of a small sailing facility and marina from which Cornell Athletics runs its physical education and collegiate sports programs in sailing and conducts field classes and research; and WHEREAS, Cornell University wishes to replace the current small sailing facility with a larger Sailing Center that will be used for Cornell's competitive sailing program, classes, and events that further Cornell 's educational mission, including receptions; and WHEREAS, Cornell plans to continue to operate a commercial marina at the site that will rent some boat slips to non- Cornell users; and WHEREAS, there are three other properties located within the Lakefront Commercial Zone, including a 3 . 0 +/- acre portion of Tax Parcel No. 19- 1 -5. 22 also owned by Cornell University, a 2. 08 +/- acre property owned by Lowery containing a non-conforming warehouse building (Tax Parcel No. 19- 1 - 6), and a 0. 19 +/- acre vacant parcel owned by the Village of Cayuga Heights (Tax Parcel No. 19- 1 - 7. 2); and WHEREAS, educational uses are not currently permitted uses in the Lakefront Commercial Zone; and WHEREAS, by letter dated December 21 , 2006, Cornell University asked the Town of Ithaca to amend the Lakefront Commercial zoning (Town Code Section 270- 141 . F) to allow educational and institutional uses upon receipt of a special permit from the Town of Ithaca Planning Board; and WHEREAS, on January 8, 2007, the Town Board by Resolution No. 2007-005 referred the request to amend the Lakefront Commercial zoning to the Planning Board for a recommendation; and WHEREAS, Town staff and the Attorney for the Town thereafter prepared a draft local law that included the proposed amendment as well as a requirement for a minimum setback from the shoreline applicable to all structures; and WHEREAS, Town staff, the Attorney for the Town, and Cornell University representatives thereafter met with a Tompkins County Planning Department 9 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 representative to discuss the County Planning Department's concerns with the uses allowed by the proposed local law; and WHEREAS, after that meeting the Attorney for the Town revised the proposed local law to allow "institution of higher learning facilities principally dedicated to water- related research, education and recreational activities, excluding dormitory accommodations '; but not other institutional uses, to address the County Planning Department's concerns; and WHEREAS, the Town of Ithaca Planning Board held public hearings on this matter on July 17, 2007 and August 7, 2007, and reviewed, discussed and recommended adoption of the proposed local law by Resolution No. 2007-078 at its meeting on August 7, 2007, and WHEREAS, at its August 7, 2007 meeting, the Planning Board also granted preliminary site plan approval and a special permit for the Sailing Center project, subject to enactment of the proposed local law by the Town Board amending the Lakefront Commercial Zone; and WHEREAS, the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals granted an area variance for a boat storage shed that is part of the Sailing Center project by Resolution No. 2007-035 at its meeting on August 20, 2007, and WHEREAS, a resolution was duly adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca for a public hearing to be held by said Town on September 10, 2007 at 6:30 p. m . to hear all interested parties on the proposed local law entitled "A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING CHAPTER OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA CODE TO ADD WATER-RELATED EDUCATIONAL USES AND ADDITIONAL YARD REGULATIONS TO THE LAKEFRONT COMMERCIAL ZONE'; and WHEREAS, notice of said public hearing was duly advertised in the Ithaca Journal, and WHEREAS, said public hearing was duly held on said date and time at the Town Hall of the Town of Ithaca and all parties in attendance were permitted an opportunity to speak on behalf of or in opposition to said proposed local law, or any part thereof; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA '9 and its implementing regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617, adoption of said local law is an Unlisted action for which the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca, acting as lead agency in an environmental review with respect to adoption of this local law, has on September 10, 2007 made a negative determination of environmental significance, after having reviewed and accepted as adequate the Short Environmental Assessment Form Parts I and II prepared by the Town 's Planning staff, NOW, THEREFORE, be it 10 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby adopts said local law entitled "A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE ZONING CHAPTER OF THE TOWN OF ITHACA CODE TO ADD WATER=RELATED EDUCATIONAL USES AND ADDITIONAL YARD REGULATIONS TO THE LAKEFRONT COMMERCIAL ZONE", a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of this resolution; and it is further RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to file said local law with the Secretary of State as required by law. MOVED: Councilman Engman SECONDED: Supervisor Valentino Roll Call Vote : Supervisor Valentino, aye Councilwoman Leary, aye Councilman Cowie, aye Councilwoman Gittelman, aye Councilman Burbank, aye Councilman Stein, aye Councilman Engman, aye Carried Unanimously. Agenda Item No . 12 — Public Hearing regarding a Local Law providing for a moratorium on development in the northeast corner of the Town for a period of 270 days (note: this section of the Town Board meeting was transcribed verbatim) Supervisor Valentino opened the public hearing at 7 : 02 p . m . The Deputy Town Clerk had proof of posting and publication of the public hearing notice . Members of the public were invited to address the Board . Larry Fabbroni , 1 Settlement Way ( handout) - SEE ATTACHMENT # 4 . I ' m the Project Engineer for Briarwood II and I have been the Project Engineer and Surveyor for almost 5 '/2 years for this project . This project has a lot of good things for the Town of Ithaca . We' ve worked in earnest with the Town Planning Board for those 5 '/2 years following the Comprehensive Plan . Your packet starts out with a couple of sheets from the Comprehensive Plan that are quoted in the local law. They show a little spot up in the Northeast that at the time needed more definition and study. We did that study , and you ' ll see later in your packet , part of the wetlands delineation that not only maps out what we determined to be the wetlands for that particular area and the rest of the property , but a whole listing of plants that are on the site . You should look carefully at that , although it doesn 't cover 100 % of the site , it covers a great part of it in and out of the wetland , identifies the plants . Interestingly enough , the new information that you consider you have on the UNA , doesn 't list one of those plants . . . not one of those plants they list matches up with those plants that we found during that delineation or during a follow- up survey that I 11 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 asked our consultant to do even before you broached the subject of a moratorium last month . We felt we needed real firsthand information to have you consider the facts or the non - facts that were contained in that letter and we feel there are gross mistakes and errors in that letter. Jon Kanter met with 2 of the individuals that signed that letter and here ' s his memo to you that summarizes that meeting , wherein he could get no backup data from those individuals concerning those assertions , emotions , comments , opinions that they made in that letter. In addition , in the packet you ' ll find the summary of the bird study that we did in 2003 . The issue of the UNA was always in front of us . It' s correct to say it' s never been changed by the County because it can 't be changed but once every 10 years . That' s what we learned from going to the County , asking them to study this UNA a little more deeply . They said they didn 't have the funds to do it more than on a 10-year cycle . The EMC actually recommended , their committee recommended once a year, and the answer they got was since it took 6 years to compile the information , it wasn 't practical to be looking at it year to year. So they' ve come up with a method that if some piece of land comes up , it can be considered and everybody alerted but it can 't officially be taken in and out as a UNA , but once every 10 years . Our consultant then came down , after we received that letter or purported - new information , . and the August 6th and August 10th letters , Bernie Carr will ,speak to in a few minutes . He' s our environmental consultant . He' s the one who delineated the wetland in 1993 . Delineated it again in 2003 , and is most familiar with the ecology of this site for anybody with expertise . Beyond the people on the Conservation Committee who you may know by now have not taken action on the negative recommendation that was offered to them . Nobody would move that resolution . The other night , the Planning Board recommended back to you not to enact the moratorium . And so , then we move from the UNA to the drainage issue . We have answered all the comments that Malone & MacBroom report that was provided to you in July , came up with . We have a current design that has been submitted to the Town for review that we think answers all those comments , makes an earnest attempt to improve the design to address all those comments . And that took us a month to do ; we don 't think a moratorium for as long as you propose is necessary to review that work , nor the work of our environmental consultant . The hydrologist expert from Cornell , I provided you a sheet that shows some of the streams highlighted as part of that sheet , after the August 10th letter that I was referring to ; it shows you the area that he studied . This area is completely north and separate as a drainage area from the property that we are developing . He ' s again extrapolating the results from a very busy site , if you look at the number of streams and lakes and whatnot that are on that site , and you consider the fact that probably , that whole medical area there was a wetland before they started . . . I don 't know who lives in Ithaca and road up Warren Road every time it rained and saw 12 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 the water pouring out of that site , that doesn 't believe that wasn 't a wetland before they started , but . . . My point is , it' s extrapolated to our site , has nothing to do with our decision and the efficacy of it . Eric Whitney , who subcontracted from me to do the drainage design , will speak to that in more detail . On the back of that sheet is a dilemma for you folks if you think the fragipan is going to limit development in this area of the Town , that' s 1 -3 % . . . the fragipan exists in the whole south end of Tompkins County. This is the flattest area of the Town ; it' s the easiest to deal with . You deal with the fragipan in Eastern Heights , you deal with the fragipan on West Hill , you deal with the fragipan on Stone Quarry Road , you have real problems , and you have historic problems of what' s happened here . There are no historic problems up in the Northeast of that severity . If you want to rate this problem in the Northeast , which needs to be attended to , it rates about 9 or 10 down on your list of priorities . But the fragipan , my point is , exists in the whole south end of Tompkins County and most of the Town of Ithaca . You have to ask yourself, finally , in the element of fairness , I provide you with a map here with sort of a bulls- eye on it , and it shows you the amount of land that would have to be included east and west and north if you went as far south as Hanshaw Road , as a UNA contiguous area . It' s a pretty remarkable area . You go as far west as Warren Road , if you were going to have a UNA . You go as far north as up into the airport if you were going to have something that was concentric with the center of the Bird Sanctuary. So , you have to ask yourself the question , based on what detailed information we have provided on our site , how the UNA got down that far. Finally , we had a design prior to the Malone MacBroom report that met all the New York State regulations for this project . I included the perm . . . the letter and the permit in my packet . We have only improved upon that design with the Malone MacBroom recommendations and as I say , you ' ll see in this yellow report , in Town Hall , where we' ve addressed every paragraph in the recommendations and the conclusions of that report. You know, it' s hard , in conclusion , to be consistent in what you do on the side of the table you sit on . I can only say that because I sat there for 28 years as a public official and it' s very difficult to take a step back , look at all the facts , ask yourself if there' s an improvement , and we think , based on what the Lab of Ornithology has looked at with us over a 5 year period , based on what we' ve done to improve the project , based on half of the land being donated to the Lab , based on the fact that the ecology falls off dramatically as you proceed from the Lab down to the south end of this property , that there' s reason to look for compromise and move forward with a good project for the whole neighborhood . The neighborhood got your attention , that' s the way the process works . You need to ask yourself how connected their concerns are to what' s been proposed in the project , and now that you have more information , maybe that you weren 't aware of, Herb , maybe you would change your mind from these emails that you were shooting off in the end of July and the beginning of August to everybody . I ' m a little astounded that , basically , which started out from that position , if you really wanted to hear the information that' s been developed over 5 '/2 years. I ' m not criticizing , I ' m just saying if you ' re open , inclusive and democratic , the way I ' ve been reading time and time 13 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 again , now' s the time to show that you can consider new information and do a good thing for the Town . This isn 't a bad thing we ' re trying to do . I wouldn 't be involved in it if it was . I ' ll share with you 2 ends of the political spectrum after sitting what I have through tonight . Walt Swan , my first boss with the Town of Ithaca , I served 5 republicans and I ended my career serving 11 democrats . Well , one of the first pieces of advice told be is the only thing you guarantee leaving your seat with is your integrity . And the lady on the wall taught me a lot about compromise . She served with 6 other republicans on the Board and could always come up with a 4 to 3 vote to do something good . We wouldn 't have had the first 6 parks and the first 3 walkways in the Town if she didn 't know how to compromise with people , you know. So there is something to be learned about compromise and not just going bullheaded ahead and then looking up one day , 10 years from now, and saying , I didn 't do a very good thing . I had a Board that did that . We had a grant to buy Coy Glen , and they turned it down if you could imagine , because someone from real estate at Cornell came in and said it' s not worthwhile . There were 50 Professors with research plots for 50 years there that said otherwise , but that was a dark day in the Town . Don 't make another one by not looking at the facts . You know, again , it' s hard to be consistent and I ' ll end by saying , you know, sometimes you have to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you' re not telling others to do what you are enjoying yourself, or not doing . How many of you would live on those lots if you were held to what size they were or whether easements were on them , you know, I ' m just saying , have an open mind . . . Councilman Stein — [referring to paper handed to him] Larry , what am I supposed to be looking at here ? I ' m not quite sure what I am supposed to make of this . Mr. Fabbroni — The 46 that' s circled is your lot , and it' s not a standard size lot . Councilman Engman — Can we ask questions and make comments after each speaker or shall we wait for the end ? Supervisor Valentino — Do you really want to make a comment? [Laughter . . . ] Councilman Engman — Well , people might be a little curious . What Mr. Fabbroni is talking about is I bought a 1 , 000 square feet in order to provide myself some access to the walking trail , which the Town of Ithaca maintains , because I didn 't want to have to go up on Warren Road and walk against traffic , which is almost impossible to do , and so , that' s what I bought from my neighbor and it' s 1 , 000 square feet and , I guess for some reason . . . Mr. Fabbroni — That J s not my point . My point is . . . Councilman Engman - . . . Mr. Fabbroni feels there ' s a problem with that . 14 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Mr. Fabbroni - . . . my point is that the Malone and MacBroom report told me that I shouldn 't develop 3 lots because there were sewer and water easements across it . My point is that your lot is half the size of any of those lots that we were proposing and it has a rather large sewer easement that' s colored on that map , that runs across it , and I ' m not criticizing , I ' m just saying , if you look at your lot , it' s . . . Herb . . . . if you look at your lot , it' s beautiful , it' s on a 10 % slope and it works real fine , so , it' s just , I ' m saying , use that information to judge things you look at rather than telling us the way it should be . Councilman Engman — Well , let me ask my question . I know you ' re proud of this because you ' re the one who designed that , so , I know you ' re proud of it . Let me ask a question . . . you included in some of your material here , some emails and a couple of them say "this electronic transmission contains legally privileged and confidential information intended only for the persons named . Any use , distribution or copying or disclosure by any other person is strictly prohibited . If you receive this message in error, please immediately notify the sender by telephone" and it gave the number. Did you notify the people when you got that? Mr. Fabbroni — I took that to mean . . . if you look at the top of that page , it' s blanked out . . . Councilman Engman — You were in public service for 27 years . You know that if you receive something that is privileged and confidential , you should have turned it back . You knew that , you didn 't do it . Mr. Fabbroni — I ' m sorry. I FOILed it from the Town and that' s what I got . . . Councilman Engman — And you got it accidentally. Mr. Fabbroni — The top of that page is blank , show it to everybody , the transmission from the attorney back to you I took as being blacked out . . . Councilman Engman — On two of these , you have this statement . In other words , you can not be trusted to receive information and send it back when you ' re supposed to . Mr. Fabbroni — No , well , if this is the way you attack people , I ' m very disappointed . Councilman Engman — I ' m only responding to what you said to me . You were questioning what I was doing ; I ' m questioning what you ' re doing . Mr. Fabbroni — Read the entirety of those emails to everybody . Supervisor Valentino — Maybe we should . . . Councilman Engman — I do think Mr. Fabbroni should , and anybody connected with him , should be dedicated , in the future , not to use private and confidential information because you are interfering with the client/attorney privilege of the Town , and I would strongly recommend you not do that again . 15 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Supervisor Valentino -- We need to move on , we need to move on from this . Peter? Councilman Stein — This is probably not quite as heated as the last one , but I just wonder why you gave me a picture of my neighbor' s lot. My house isn 't on this map , but it doesn 't matter, but , I just wondered what you did that for. Mr. Fabbroni — I ' m sorry if I ' m incorrect. I thought Lot 46 was yours . . . Councilman Stein — Oh I see , no , that' s not my lot , so , okay . . . Supervisor Valentino - Okay. Let' s move on . Who wants to speak next? Yes , sir. Bernard Carr, Terrestrial Environmental Specialists , 23 County Route 6 , Phoenix , New York . As Mr. Fabbroni stated , in 1993 1 did a wetland delineation for Mr. Lucente on the lands of Briarwood 11 . Subsequent to that , in 2003 , 1 did another wetland delineation for Mr. Lucente on the same lands and we also conducted a bird survey that year and that was in response to a change in the Unique Natural Area maps of Tompkins County and what occurred was , in the past , if you looked at the Unique Natural Areas of Tompkins County , there was DR54 which was Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary . When they amended the maps in 2000 , they expanded that Unique Natural Area to include all the lands owned by Mr. Lucente in the vicinity . And , not only did they include the lands of Mr. Lucente , but they also included some homes , so I ' m not really sure what the procedures are in the EMC of why they would include homes , I mean , these homes are wholly within the Unique Natural Area . Another thing that we noted when the Unique Natural Area was changed was wood lots directly adjoining Mr. Lucente' s property were not included in the Unique Natural Area . So , they expanded it onto Mr. Lucente ' s land , but not on adjoining wood lots . And we put together a letter to the Environmental Management Council addressing this issue and we requested a change in the Unique Natural Area . . . at least an investigation of why only Mr. Lucente ' s property and these homes were in this expanded Unique Natural Area . So , basically , there was a point of contention on whether or not Mr. Lucente ' s property actually qualified for being a Unique Natural Area and what we looked at was the various categories of why land should be considered in the Unique Natural Area . And everything is published in the Unique Natural Areas and it lists what rare species are present , what rare birds are present , and that was the data for the decision to put something in the Unique Natural Area . Over the past few years , we have represented Mr. Lucente in front of the Planning Board with questions and answers regarding what the development is like . And one thing I can say is I ' ve seen that the plans have gotten better over time . The number of lots were reduced , and the most amazing aspect , to me , was the fact that the northern portion of the property , directly adjacent to Sapsucker Woods , I think it' s on our letter , it' s 15 acres , but I think Larry' s correct and he said it' s 18 acres , is being donated to 16 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Cornell ' s Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary . So I think it' s a pretty significant addition to the Bird Sanctuary. In addition to that , there ' s another area to the south that includes a wetland and that wetland and a buffer is also being donated to Sapsucker Woods . I think it' s really important to realize that Mr. Lucente has avoided all wetlands through the development of this project . There' s no wetland impact from this particular project . I think that' s a really good thing to consider in any project design because even when Cornell expanded their Bird Sanctuary , they filled in several acres of wetland to build that expanded facility. The Bird Sanctuary and the roads and all the structures , so for Mr. Lucente to do a little bit better job in avoiding wetlands is pretty significant . This year we received a letter that called into question our professionalism . It was submitted to the Town and to the Board and to the Planning Board . Once we received this letter , Mr. Fabbroni asked us to revisit the site , and we did . I wanted to have someone else from our firm , and I said this at the previous meetings , but I think it' s worth repeating , I wanted to have someone else who had never been on the site before from our firm and I brought in one of our founding partners , Kathy Baumgartner, her resume is attached to her letter. My letter addressed specifically the plants that were listed as being present in this Unique Natural Area and I think it' s really important to point out that this puttyroot plectrumhiomaly hasn 't been recorded in Tompkins County since 1920 . There is no record at the New York State Natural Heritage program that this particular plant has ever been recorded in Sapsucker Woods . We obtained the records for that . Most of the plants that were listed in the letter are state and globally secure . They' re not rare species , and most of them are not even rare in Tompkins County even though they are considered scarce . We did find the " lopseed " and the scientific name is mentioned in the letter. Most of that is on the property , the wetland that Rocco is donating to Cornell University . But I really want to emphasize that lopseed is not an uncommon species in Tompkins County or New York State . The other letter that we put together was written by Cathy and I let her address all the issues that were raised in this April 27th letter. I really think that it needed a fresh set of eyes , and I 've said that before at other meetings . We see that there ' s a big difference in the quality of the land that' s owned by Mr. Lucente and I think that as you get to the northern property boundary , next to Sapsucker Woods , that' s the best woodlot on the property . And there' s different forested communities on Mr. Lucente' s property and different wetlands , and , Cathy addresses most of these issues in regards to the turtle , in regards to the butterfly, in regards to the bird species . . . There are definitely things that we agree with in this letter and that' s the importance of wetlands . What we disagree with is the fact that it does not appear that the people that wrote the letter ever visited Mr. Lucente' s property and examined it in depth or even walked on the property. There' s no indication that the people who wrote the letter walked on the property. I know that people from the Conservation Board of the Town have walked on the property because they mentioned it when I met with them . And several years ago , I went with Staff from the Planning , from the Town , and I think it was the Chair of the Committee at that time , and walked on the property. 17 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 So , basically , what I ' d like to say is we have actual data that was collected there and we have to stand by our data and we have to do a quality job because we have to represent ourselves in front of your Board and other Boards , with the DEC , with the US Army Corp of Engineers , we have to stand by the information that we collected and doing a good job . In terms of is this a good project or not, from my perspective , professionally , I think that they' ve done a good job in terms of changing the design . I think that it' s excellent that they' ve avoided wetlands . I think that it' s an example of smart growth , I know a lot of people have talked about smart growth in the Town of Ithaca , it' s in close proximity to the University , it has transportation facilities , these are all things that allow for pedestrians . . . there' s a park nearby . . . you have a lot of the amenities that make this a beneficial project for the Town and I think it' s . . . what someone once said ` reasonable growth without sacrificing the natural environment' . Looks like there ' s a nice balance here between Mr. Lucente' s development of his property and making sure that the wetlands are protected and that some significant woodlots on the property are protected and added to the Cornell Bird Sanctuary. So , if you have any questions about the technical issues , that' s what I best can address . Thank you . Eric Whitney , 409 Auburn Street, Ithaca I am -the engineer doing the consulting for the stormwater management and the hydraulic and hydrological analysis for the site . I too have a history with the Town of Ithaca . I was hired as Assistant Town Engineer under Noel Desch , who worked under Shirley Raffensperger , John Whitcomb and under Catherine Valentino from 1987 to 1997 and I have to say I enjoyed it and at that time , I did get my initial introduction to the site that we are talking about now in the form of infiltration inflow study and the stormwater study , basically , on what was getting into the sewers in the Northeast. When I had the chance to do stormwater for Mr. Lucente , and Mr. Fabbroni asked me if I would be interested , I said yes because the site was a very interesting site and we did a very intensive , 1 foot topographic contour. Larry and his assistant did that , and we took a look at what the stormwater wanted to do naturally on the site . In talking with DEC Region Eight who had done some similar work up there , had presented there some similar work , using existing wetlands as retention areas , to have temporary stormwater storage , we first explored something that the land wanted naturally to do itself, cause we looked at two major natural restrictions . However, in presenting this work to DEC Region Seven , it was not something they were familiar with or wanted to look at , something outside of the norm for the New York State Stormwater Practices Manual . So we went back to the drawing boards and we expanded this design from what were just the sedimentation traps at initial inlets to the wetland storage to a full wet pond design that was in full compliance with New York State DEC regulations as far as what stormwater retention ponds are suppose to look like and do . This particular method of 18 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 stormwater management was chosen for this site because we are well aware of the fragipan and the relatively impermeable soils from the very get go . The whole site is landsford and erie ( inaudible technical term ) series soils and has permeability rates in the range of . 2 to . 6 inches per hour which virtually offers no underground infiltration storage so we had to design surface detention methods , really the only methods at our disposal for this design that would actually function . And we did this keeping in mind , very carefully the wetlands next door to our design . If you ' ll notice , in taking a close look at the design , all the proposed surface elevations on all four of the ponds are very close or at existing wetland elevations on either side . This is so we won 't exert any draw on the ground water or any draw or contributions to the wetlands on either side . So they' re not going to drain the wetlands and they' re not going to fill the wetlands . It was a very carefully done thing . We passed our design by DEC in June and July of this year. This was the design that we submitted in January of 2007 to the Town . They had some refinements they submitted back to us , an SWPPP comment plan report for us to address each of the items DEC had . We did so and we submitted to DEC at that time . At that time the Town also commissioned a study that Malone & MacBroom had done on the stormwater , an independent look at our analysis and our methods . Malone & MacBroom went through what we had done , and basically represented what we had said and restated what we had said and also wanted to look at a little bit more stringent considerations . They wanted us to look at . . . not the standard analysis procedures for stormwater management . They want us to look at a saturated ground condition which is very conservative . They also want us to look at some local stormwater data and patterns as consolidated and looked at by Dr. Walters up at Cornell . He looked at the rainfall intensity curves very closely over the past 20 years in Ithaca , and come to the conclusion that these intensity curves actually produced , rather than the standard design procedure for the 5 . 5 inch hundred year storm , a 5 . 8 inch hundred year storm . And Malone & MacBroom also recommended that we look at not only our site and its contributions to the stormwater, but , as is normally specified for subdivisions of 50 acres or greater , take a look at the entire watershed , not only the 48 acres of our site , but the entire 130 acre watershed surrounding both up grade and down grade of the site we are considering here . This is normally done and only recommended by DEC practices for subdivisions over 50 acres , but we took a look at all of the recommendations in the Malone & MacBroom report and decided that we would incorporate them , try to satisfy all the conditions that they wanted us to look at . We did this and we submitted our findings , our report , to the Town of Ithaca Staff. In order to do this , we had to get some support from the Staff in that we have not modeled the entire hydrology of the adjoining watershed and the Town did have a water model . So we took out water model and we melded it with what the Town had for the up gradient and down gradient areas and looked at the analysis and design point analysis , asked for down gradient by Malone & MacBroom and we found that the design that we had , already massaged through DEC approval , actually functioned to attenuate properly , the 100 year , the 10 year , and the 1 year storm as prescribed . So as far as hydrologically and hydraulically , the project is designed in a manner which meets with the design expectations of not only the Town ' s Consultant , but DEC and the Cornell Engineers who have reviewed the plans , as they 19 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 are the ones who in perpetuity will be maintaining the stormwater management facilities proposed in this subdivision . So Cornell gave a good , hard look at these also as it is not going to be asked of the Town to maintain these facilities in perpetuity. And I think that was all I had to say . . . Supervisor Valentino -- Any questions for him ? No . Are all your folks finished with their presentations now, Larry? Do you have anybody else? Mr. Fabbroni — I am still making up my mind on whether or not to say things or not . . . things like this Town has another compass that the ( inaudible ) . . . Supervisor Valentino — Okay . So I can go over to this side now. Is there anyone here who would like to speak now . . . who wants to start . . . Bill Sonnenstuhl - = SEE ATTACHMENT # 5 It' s good to be here again and thank you for your indulgence and opportunity to speak . I speak in- behalf of the moratorium . Let me say that this week has been very instructive , to me , about Town Government and the way Town Government works . I learned a great deal that I did not know, or at least I thought I knew about how Town Government works . One of the things that I came away from this week with , in terms of learning , was that different Boards certainly have different kinds of responsibilities in the Town . And one of the responsibilities of the Town Board is to look comprehensively across the entire Town . One of the responsibilities of the Town Board is to represent and make policy for the entire Town . And therefore , they come to most of the things that we discuss with a very broad view of what does on . On the other hand , there are other Boards , such as the Town Planning Board , that are responsible for enacting policies that the Town Board has already set . And therefore , often are compelled to have , much narrower views , a different kind of mindset about what happens or does not happen . And in that context , I came away from the Town Planning Board meeting on Tuesday evening thinking , in many ways the results of that meeting were inevitable . Inevitable in the following sense ; that the kinds of issues that that Board has been dealing with has , as Larry Fabbroni said , that now since 2001 with this piece of property , have been focused very narrowly on this piece of property. Working with the Town Board , Planning Board , and the Town Staff to find ways to create a development up there and that invariably looks at a lot of engineering issues that are site specific. Now this evening , the moratorium that we' re talking about is a moratorium that will consider something called a Conservation Zone . That is in the Town Board ' s purview to consider, having a Conservation Board in that area , it goes back of course to your 1993 statement of your Comprehensive Plan that this could be zoned as a conservation area , and I was kind of curious about what goes into a conservation area this week , after all of the technical discussions and particularly the technical discussions about plants and birds that may reside on Mr. Lucente' s property , and I was very interested in the purpose of a Conservation Zone , and the Conservation Zone in your Code or our Code of the Town of Ithaca , says its purpose , "the Conversation Zone is to preserve the 20 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 outstanding natural features in certain areas of the Town and to provide a regulatory framework through which development can occur with minimal environmental impact in these areas . Among the natural values and ecological importance of these areas are their diversity as a plant and wild habitat , their existence as biological corridors , their scenic views and rural character and their importance as an educational recreational resource . In addition , certain lands in the Conservation Zones contain large areas of steep slopes , wetlands , highly erodible soils and in one in the City of Ithaca , a water supply, which must be taken into consideration in planning for future development . " It also goes on to say " it is a further purpose of the Conservation Zone to preserve existing areas of contiguous open space , prevent unnecessary destruction of woodland and areas preserving existing and potential agricultural land and promote appropriate development densities and flexibility of design in development of the land . " Now, when we came before you earlier this year, or maybe it was last year , I can 't remember, time has gotten blurred , we came with three concerns about the property . One , is the impact of drainage on the properties downstream , in fact , our contention is all about , long been , that there were hydrologic saturated soil here that affected the watershed clear to Cayuga Lake . And in that context , one of the things that you all had done , and I thought was a very interesting report , was the drainage study that you had commissioned that has been referred to here . And , I might note that that drainage study has a lot of, again , very particular things attached to it , but what' s very interesting about the set of conclusions that is reached in this report , and I think it' s important to highlight this report in terms of all the conclusions and recommendations that they make , is that that if the drainage problems aren 't handled in the Town of Ithaca , they' re going to be down in Cayuga Heights pretty soon and they are there in many instances , and all the way on down . And one of the things that they argue here is that one of the problems is that there isn 't a comprehensive storm-sewer system in the shallow fragipan horizon of the glacial till soils . Traditional methods of analyze and designing for stormwater, mitigation may not be appropriate in the Northeast area . It goes on to basically say we need to think more creatively about how we mitigate these circumstances and we ' ve already heard from Mr. Wright about some of the ways in which they . . . these things need to be (tape change ) . . . mitigated is by. thinking about the Conservation Zone . After all , the Conservation Zone is also about the woodlands up there . It' s about , you know, woods can evaporate water , hold the sediment back , it' s a much larger issue . So one of the things that we should bear in mind is that we need again , to think about this development in the conservation area is looking at a much broader comprehensive problem that we need to solve as a Town , and you need to make some decisions about . One particular instance in which we talk about . . . the report talks about . . . mitigating the water there , that I will highlight for you , because , remember, we' re talking about , I don 't know whether it' s 47 or 48 , Oor 49 , two-family houses on plots of less than 3 acres that will have very little buffer zones up against the wetlands , although they may be legal . . . One of the recommendations here that I want to point out to you is " minimize the amount of impervious surface both in the proposed development and in the existing developed area to reduce the frequency of soil saturation . " "Again talking 21 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 about the problems of soil saturation and how do you go about mitigating it . I propose to you that the roofs on these very large homes , the driveways , and all of this stuff is going to be impervious material and it' s only going to contribute to more runoff. Just . . . before I finish my remarks about water runoff, let me share with you a picture of a ditch from yesterday' s rainstorm up in our neighborhood . ( attachment) I don 't have enough , so I will just pass it around , but this was yesterday , this is before the development , nothing has been done , okay ( he passes the picture( s ) to the Board ) . My third point that I want to make and then I ' ll let some others speak , is that in relationship to the ways in which the UNA has been characterized . I think , again , in terms of this mindset , I think it' s very important to recognize that the UNA is trying to talk about a larger area of . . . and how do we conserve that area and what it functions as . It very clearly, in the document that was sent to you , this is not simply about rare or species in the area . In fact , what is made clear when you read the entire document is that they are talking about preserving a biological corridor. In fact , what they are arguing here is that there is a biological corridor that extends from the Ornithology Center over to the Monkey Run area . They' re saying in this document that the wetlands , the woodlands , here , are important. The kinds of things that Mark Whitmore and Bob Wesley responded to in Jonathan ' s email , or his report , I think are somewhat taken out of context because everything has been focused on what kinds of birds are there , what kinds of plant life is on Mr. Lucente ' s property, but the argument , the basic argument about the UNA is the following , and I read from their document to the Town Board , " Characteristics such as the quality of the ecological communities presence of rare and scarce plants and animals and the diversity of plant and animal life all contribute to the high value of UNA 106 . The large size of UNA 106 is also of value in helping to maintain its ecological integrity and diversity and making it more resistant to ecological disturbances along its edges . Being large has other benefits for UNA 106 , it can support scarce forest and cheery songbirds and woodland hawks that are very sensitive to habitat fragmentation and require large intact woodlands . " We want to say that the area is an important biological corridor. That UNA 106 connects Cornell University Sapsucker Woods with the Monkey Run natural area and the long biological corridor extending along Fall Creek from the County bounders to downtown Ithaca . One other point that I would like to read from their communication to you is that they say "The hemlock , hardwood and red maple hardwood swamps found throughout the Sapsucker Woods UNA 106 are very high quality and particularly worthy of the legal protection afforded by their existing designation as Federal and State Wetlands . These valuable wetlands protect the water quality by filtering sediments and pollutants and detoxifying groundwater. They soak up stormwater runoff, store flood waters , and maintain surface water during dry periods . These swamps also provide essential water, food and habitat to hundreds of species of flora and fauna . Let me just close by saying I think as the Town Board , you have the responsibility to decide what happens to this area . I think that one of the things that should come out of the drainage report is that we need to think creatively about the drainage problems 22 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 throughout the entire area , that perhaps conservation of woodlands ensuring contiguous areas where the wetlands can be supported and survive is part of that kind of process . I ' m well aware that Mr. Lucente and his agents have made a very potent argument about the details of development , but I think that what is important right now, before we rush in and continue to develop this area , because once it' s developed we' re not going to take it back , the 270 days is very little to ask . . . it' s very little to ask about bringing in a group , for example , as been proposed , of outstanding environmental and biological and development agents . . . whoever . . . to study all the stamped data . . . UNA report is not the only stamped data that exists . There ' s also geological survey studies which have also been taken into account in looking at this area and creating this UNA. So I think a timeout is warranted for consideration in asking the larger questions , and that' s the duty of the Town Board . No one else can speak for the Town except the Town Board , so , it' s your decision and I think a moratorium is a good idea to consider in fact whether a Conservation Zone might be a partial answer to solving our drainage problems in those ditches . Thank you . Supervisor Valentino — Thank you Sir. Any questions? Next . . . Patricia Paige , 212 Muriel Street - ATTACHMENT # 6 I ' ve been here before , so you may remember, I ' m Trish Paige , and since I ' ve been here before I m going to try to bring up some new things rather than rehashing the old too much . . . I do encourage the Town Board to recommend the moratorium on the Briarwood II development . This is for many reasons . Some of which have come from new information and for the sake of time , I ' m just going to cover a few of the most important reasons here . The first reason is drainage . The drainage study provided in July by Malone & MacBroom states that , on page 36 , and as Bill has already iterated , there is a lack of a comprehensive storm sewer system in Northeast Ithaca . I ' m not going to take your time talking about the problems we' ve had up there , you ' ve heard from many , many residents about that . However , one thing I do want to let you know is that it' s not that we' re not willing to do the necessary work to solve our own drainage problems . We' re willing to spend the money ; we ' re willing to do the work . The problem is , that the only way we can solve these drainage problems is a community effort . And we' ve been asking for that , a coordinated effort , from the Town , for years . And we have not seen it. This really does require cooperation of people . Upstream as well as downstream in order to prevent the problems that we are having now. The consultant study also raised some important questions about the adequacy of the drainage plan proposed . Another quote , on page 31 , " Based on the results of the modeling completed , volumetric increases in flow are predicted for all storm events . The increases are highest for the more frequent one year return storm event , indicating that the downstream channels will likely flow full for longer and this will happen more frequently following construction . " Now I know a new plan has been developed . It sounds like it' s somewhat similar to the plan , the last plan that we saw, so I can 't imagine that that ha changed dramatically . 23 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 1 was rather surprised to hear the statement that the flattest area , because this is a very flat area , is best for development . I ' m a licensed landscape architect , I deal with all kinds of sites . . . when I see a flat contour plan for an area that I ' m expected to develop , I groan . Because those are absolutely the most difficult areas to develop because you have no where to take the water, particularly when they are perched up in the upland , you have no where to take the water and it' s not , . . typically it' s flat because it does have a fragipan or some other structure like that that is making it difficult for the water to infiltrate . In a presentation to the Northeast Community, the Town did acknowledge that there were sever drainage problems . They also admitted that they don 't have an answer, and another thing that was mentionedain that presentation , is that one thing that exacerbates drainage problems is new development . So , it' s not reasonable for the Town at this point , to approve additional development without serving , without solving some of the current drainage problems first . Now, looking at the underlying problem for our drainage problems , I finally had a chance to really take a look at the soil , Tompkins County Soil Survey, which is the agronomists and the hydrologist' s bible when it comes to soil and drainage capacity. I made a few copies . . . (Attachment 6) . . . Okay . . . let me orient you first . . . I didn 't have time , and I apologize , to label the roads , since this isn 't my day job . . . but down here is the City of Ithaca , the gray area , and you can see , just at the top of that gray area is Hanshaw Road coming through and then going up , and then up here is Route 13 . This straight line , sort of in the center, is Sapsucker Roads Wood . It' s changed a little bit with the development up there . . . Councilman Stein — I ' m confused . . . what should I look for on this map to see roads? Ms . Page — The yellow line is the road , I ' m sorry. Yellow line is the roads , so again , if you look along the running starting at the gray area , that' s Hanshaw Road , Route 13 up here , and then Sapsucker Roads Wood connecting here . The dark green soils here are the ones that are the most poorly . . . that are poorly drained soils and I ' m gonna , I hope you don 't mind , quote from the soil survey on some of these soils once I describe the map a little bit more . So these are poorly drained soils , the medium color is , let me get this right . . . somewhat poorly drained , the lighter green are somewhat moderately well drained , unless they are in a flat slope . That' s one thing that you will see in the soil survey. Whenever there is a flat area , often , it' s poorly drained . Now, there ' s a pattern here , and I will be showing you a visual here to kind of demonstrate the pattern , but you can see that the area that is proposed for development is between the Sapsucker Woods Road and the roads coming through here , of the previous , the Briarwood I and the Sapsucker Woods development . It . . . you can see that in those areas , for the proposed development , we have a predominance of the dark green soils . The area up there that has already been developed , are the somewhat moderately well drained soils , except , as I ' ll be reading you , in the flatter areas . It does get more difficult , but , these soils here are different from the ones in the previous developed property . I hope I ' m not 24 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 completely losing you . So , let me read you , in regard to the dark green soils , let me read you on the description from the soil survey . "Those are Ellery soils , which have now been merged with what' s called the Chippewa and the Ellery series consists of deep , poorly drained , medium textured soils , formed in slightly calcareous glacial till . Like the associated area soils , these soils have a very slowly permeable fragipan , 91 which we all know. Another thing noted "the fragipan is very dense and is almost impenetrable to water. " Now, these soils are found in conjunction with Erie soils , which are also , some of which are also shown on this map , and in regard to the Ellery soils , the dark green soils , and the Erie soils that are from 0 — 3% slopes , which is typical up in that area , here' s what it says , " Ellery soils have greater limitations and generally control land use . " And then it goes on to say, " Generally these areas are poor sites for housing . Water control is the outstanding management problem . " So obviously, to make the statement that , oh , there ' s bad soils all over this area , you know, this is really no different from any of the other areas in the Town or in the vicinity . That' s really not correct , and I guess I ' ll just show you this , I can just pass this out . . . (Attachment6 ) . . . you can see that the City there , the gray and the ( inaudible ) , and what this demonstrates is , when looking at the larger, the big picture , which I think is important for the Town Board to do . . . Again , we ' ve got Cayuga Lake coming down here . . . the City . . . look for the dark green soils . . . if you look in this area , they really are congregated , primarily , up in our neck of the woods . Historically , if you look in this area , geologically , what you ' ll find is that there were a series of. . . a major wetland system that went from Groton , all the way down to , basically , Hanshaw Road . And this creates kind of an overall ecological system that really does not repeat itself in the rest of the county . And you can see , the green area coming all the way down , through Sapsucker Woods , and extending to Hanshaw Road . Supervisor Valentino — Could I just ask about the colors? The more golden colors that we see over here on West Hill , and a little bit here in the Northeast , are they . . . what would that be? Ms . Page — Those are more , those have better drainage , and the blue ones are soils that are over glacial till . Primarily they are the Hudson soils , which are well drained . There are some Rhineback mixed in there which are not as well drained , but they drain to the Hudson , because they are typically not on flat . So , the point of that is when you look at this overall , the blue areas and the lighter colors really are the better ones for development . Supervisor Valentino — Where does this map come from ? Ms . Page — It comes from one of the GIS websites that I use . Supervisor Valentino — These are very interesting . Ms . Page — So , when we look at the fact here , that we have this series of wetlands that have traditionally , historically come down here , gradually the , many of these wetlands 25 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 have been filled , throughout , in fact , chances are there are some being filled right now, but , wetlands are protected and to say that Mr. Lucente is doing us big favor by protecting our wetlands in a little disingenuous , because he is required to protect the wetlands and if more than , typically, a half an acre of wetland on the Army Corp wetlands is being filled , then you have to mitigate by providing additional wetlands , and , sometimes even two-times the amount of wetlands . The other point made about Sapsucker Woods , where wetlands have been filled , many , there was a large area of wetlands actually , that sat , that the Ornithology Lab created as part of that project . They created some beautiful , valuable wetlands. So , to say that they just filled wetlands , again , is , is just not correct . So , this does lead me to my second point . First was drainage , the second is the potential degradation of the wetlands and the surrounding natural area . The debate about whether or not this area is ecologically valuable being based on whether or not a specific puttyroot plant resides on this land is misrepresenting the requirements of a Conservation Zone . For one thing , the fact of the matter is that there are a series of wetlands on this property that the developer' s ecologist has delineated . These wetlands are part of a historical system . They are considered valuable , I ' m sure you all know, because they clean the water, recharge our water supplies , reduce flood risks and provide plant and wildlife habitat . One clear evidence of this is that it' s the only, one of the only natural resources that the Federal Government protects . Doesn 't protect trees , typically , unless they are very special , it really . . . our Government does not protect much , but they do protect wetlands and I tell you , the communities that I have worked with , typically, in fact , I can 't think of one in the last five years that I have worked with where they didn 't fiercely protect their wetlands . Another concern that Malone & MacBroom just touched on , is that according to the Full Environmental Assessment Form , almost , just slightly under 14 acres of trees are planning to be removed as part of this project. Although we haven ' t seen the new plan , now that the grading has been worked out , it will be interesting to see the new Environmental Assessment forms . Part of the , I assume there will have to be a new one , since things have changed . . . it will be really interesting to see how much of the wooded area will be impacted . The removal of forested area is a problem for many reasons , including the fact that anyone who does stormwater 'design knows , wooded and shrub areas absorb excess stormwater runoff much more effectively than areas where the trees have been removed , potentially increasing the concerns about flooding . The other important point here is that the removal of vegetation around the wetlands , because there' s no buffer, they will be removing trees right next to the wetland , that will severely impact the wetlands . In my experience , this is over the last several years , I have been commiserating with fellow landscape architects and civil engineers , that the , because in the populated areas such as ours , the existing sites left for development are typically the more difficult to develop . That' s made our job much harder, but this is an example of where we' re seeing , we are down to really the point where the most difficult area is being , now being developed because really it' s the last area left and there' s problems with it . 26 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 I ' ve also had experience working around wetlands . I was involved in one project that I hate to admit , destroyed a wetland , and it was unfortunate , and it was not intentional , but it does happen , particularly during construction when you ' re working right up next to a wetland , there are situations that get out of control . As I mentioned before , many of the acres of trees to be removed fall within , right adjacent to the wetlands and there' s no doubt , in my mind , that the removal of these trees will have a huge impact . In addition , there are four large detention ponds being built . . . well , I don 't know how many at this point . . .the ones I saw previously were very large , very deep , they' re being built directly adjacent to the wetlands or very near to it . . . I don 't think that anyone can argue that a series of large , deep detention basins , right near the wetlands will have no effect on the natural wetlands system . Everyone agrees that our wetlands are an important natural resource . We must provide them a larger buffer in order to adequately preserve them . And I just have one more point and I ' ll quickly go through it . Town responsibility. It is the responsibility of the Town Board to accept the roads , the infrastructure , the storm drainage , and so , this is a very serious matter for you to consider. A moratorium will allow you time to consider these issues and the Town ' s future roll in this development . The typical developer' s role is to develop a property , maximize its profits , then turn over the road and infrastructure to the municipality and move on . That' s their job . That' s the developer' s job . It is the Town that will be left with the responsibility , ongoing expense and liability to maintain the roads , stormwater system , to prevent additional flooding , and to protect the valuable resources of the wetlands . Maintaining four large detention basins that are sitting near, well , the plan I saw, right on the residential property lines , and directly adjacent to a wetland is a very difficult order. Detention basins don 't take care of themselves . They silt in , believe me . They stop draining if not periodically maintained . We saw that up . . . I worked with a couple up on Eastern Heights whose basement was flooded , a couple of times , their yard was flooded numerous times from a drainage basin that wasn 't maintained and over flooded and the Town did give them money to fix it . They actually had to put in several thousands of dollars of their own money . So , you do have to maintain those structures . Also , these detention basins are deep and the consultant wanted them a foot deeper. The Town must consider the liabilities of these basins directly next to residential properties . So these are just a few of the many concerns and questions , therefore , my belief is that it is prudent and appropriate for the Town to declare a moratorium on further development in this area both for Briarwood II and any other potential development . And if you have any more questions about this , I would be happy to explain . Supervisor Valentino — Thank you . Who would like to be next? Adrian Williams 27 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 My name is Adrian Williams ; I had the chance to speak before this Board before . I ' d just like to add a few comments to the things that have been said tonight thus far. I ' d like to urge this Board to go forward with the moratorium . I think it' s the appropriate thing to do at this time , especially given all of the information that - has come to light in the past six months or so , including the letter from Nancy Osman and Robert Wesley and Mark Whitmore from April defending the ecological value of UNA 106 . Mr. Fabbroni tonight has suggested there are , let' s see , what' s his phrase , " mistakes , gross mistakes and errors" in that letter. I urge you to take a look , a close look at that letter and read it closely. I think you will see that the document supports and defends the ecological quality of the whole of UNA106 which comprises Sapsucker Woods and Cornell ' s Lab of Ornithology as well as some of the property that' s in question here tonight . So , I think in that context , when you look at what the document actually says , I don 't think there are gross errors or mistakes in it . I think it' s a very appropriate document . In July , the EMC passed a resolution defending the value of UNA 106 and also in July the stormwater drainage report , as you know, was made , and given all of this evidence , I think that the imperative is stronger than ever to proceed cautiously, judiciously and responsibly when determining the fate of the southern portion of Sapsucker Woods . I just want to emphasize how I think the issue really is a broader one of habitat integrity and if we continue to fragment what is left of the broader woodlands and wetlands up there it' s going to continue to degrade the quality of what remains . And it goes for the plants as well as the animals and some of the rare hawks that live and breed near and adjacent to Sapsucker Woods . and some of these , such as the broad , or the red- shouldered hawk requires a broad , a large woodland area in order to nest as well as to feed and I think that is one very important argument that we have before us tonight in favor of maintaining what is left of the woodlands in that area . In addition , I think that the question of the biological corridor is still a very pertinent one and I would urge you to take that seriously as we need to preserve whatever is left in the connecting Sapsucker Woods to the Monkey Run and the Fall Creek area and again , given the scale of the proposed developments and the number of animals and plants that would be directly or indirectly affected , I think , the moratorium is an appropriate and prudent way to go . I think it is really the least that we could do at this point , is to pause , take a step back , gather all of the information that we have before us and hire an ecological consultant to come in and .to do their study if that' s what the Board wishes , but I think we really do need to at least pause and really reflect on what would be lost if we rush headlong into further development in this area . That , along with the very serious drainage issues , I think that it' s appropriate that the moratorium goes forward . So I urge you to go forward with the moratorium . Supervisor Valentino — Thank you . I thought I saw a hand over here . Yours . . . okay. Adam Shay , Miller Mayer My name is Adam Shay. I work at the Miller Mayer, . . 28 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Councilman Stein — I ' m sorry , I can 't hear, can you speak louder please . Mr. Shay — My name is Adam Shay. I work with Miller Mayer, attorneys for Mr. Lucente , 202 East State Street . I can honestly tell you that I had hoped not to make comments tonight , but listening to some of the things that I have heard , in somewhat the order that I have heard them , I felt it necessary to begin with . . . I ' ve been to a lot of meeting like this one and I ' ve never had a client berated before , particularly berated about a legal matter. Addressing first the privilege or quote , " privileged document" that you were handed , you can talk to your attorney about privilege , my understanding about privilege is , one of the most important things about it is , it' s waived the minute you hand something to the public . Now that document , he didn 't take it , it was given to him by you guys . At that moment it is not a privileged document . So to accuse him of doing something unethical by having that document , by reading that document or by placing that document in the record , is just simply inappropriate as to him . The addition of adding pro-forma language that' s on the bottom of all of my emails , and on lots of my colleagues' emails , to say that something is in fact privileged does not make it so . It' s something we put there . What makes it so is the content of the letter and the manner in which it' s distributed . That' s not a call for him to make . I doubt it' s a call for you to make , you can talk to your attorney , I can give you my opinion about it, but to berate a member of the public for putting into the record something he was given from a rightful FOIL request , I haven 't seen anything like it in the meetings that I have been to . Another thing that I always . . . makes me feel like I need to comment about a something is when you get read a section . of things without getting read the entirety of something . So , a member of the public read to you the purposes of the construction zones . I ' m sorry . . . did you hear me? Or can you hear me? Councilman Stein — Now I can , thank you . Mr. Shay — Okay. What I said is , another thing that I need to comment on or I need to correct , it' s important that when a Board is read a portion of something but not the entirety of something , particularly when I think that changes the import and the meaning of it . So a member of the public read to you about the purpose in the Conservation Zones , protecting spaces and etc . . . and of course what he left off was the last two sentences of section which says , " Developers should be encouraged to use mechanisms to accomplish these objectives . Developers should be used . Such mechanisms include , in large , buffer areas , and among other things , public and semi - public land dedications . " I suggest that what you have here is precisely that . Precisely that in a manner that is better than any project , or the vast majority of projects that I ' ve seen , where you ' re getting a gift to Cornell to hold land in perpetuity of 25 acres . I had intended , or debated whether to submit and read to you the letter from Cornell . I saw that it' s on your Agenda , at the end of the meeting , to discuss this letter. So I will resist my urge to read it in its entirety , but to remind you of some of the language in there , which is "that the proposed gift of 25 acres by Mr. Lucente would in fact represent a significant ecological buffer. Without any doubt , the incorporation of these 25 acres into 29 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Sapsucker Woods would enhance the long-term ecological well being of our existing preserve far more than would any scenario , including development or any other use of these acres . " And that' s from the Director of the Lab of Ornithology. Reading the rest of the letter and the entirety of the letter only strengthens that case and I ' m sure , as your agenda suggests that you ' ll review it in its entirety. You heard some talk about corridors . I would recommend to the Board that you let Mr. Carr speak again . He' s the person in this room that' s actually qualified to talk about what those are . It' s ultimately your option to do that. A couple of things that I ' ll , the first thing that I ' ll pass to you is what the , at least some of the neighbors actually think of a corridor. These are photographs , ( circcu } ated ), . . . showing a large fence erected along the boundary of the Lucente property , locking , what would be , if it were , a corridor, of course , also , any animals or things in a corridor would have to go through what is the current development and across ' a busy road to get where they' re going . One of the things you will note on the pictures is not only a fence that would block anything from coming through , but of course gates , that would allow humans to go back onto the Lucente property . And in fact , trees that were cut down on Lucente property to erect the fence and to allow better passage to get back on to the property , suggesting it' s a . . . what' s going on is " not in my backyard development" , rather than protection of an important corridor to stop , to allow animals to pass through . After listening to a number of the other people speak , I am reminded of a quote , I don 't show an origin for it , that the plural of antidote is not evidence . What you have here is . . . you have . . . on one side , experts , giving you reports , giving you statistics , giving you data , walking the land , characterizing things , studying things , and what you have on another side is someone saying , I don 't think it' s so . That doesn 't create a conflict . ' That doesn 't create a . . . something that needs to be studied . That doesn 't create a dispute . What creates a dispute or conflict is conflicting evidence. If you have something that says , well that report is wrong , here' s a number, here ' s a bird that I ' ve seen on that property that your study missed . That can warrant further study . That' s what a conflict is . But a conflict or a disputed point doesn 't exist merely because somebody says that it is so . It' s not possible for me to go through everything that everybody said and critique it one at a time , but , the nature of the comments that you ' ve heard , like, " I can 't imagine that the plan would work" , that simply can 't be enough for you to say , okay , then we need to throw it out or we need to massively restudy it . Comments like . . . it' s unfair of me to pick one person ' s comments versus any others , but to say , "well , it' s flat and therefore it won 't drain " but what is really said is it' s the flattest section , ideal for draining , and he' s got number that will show you . This is the grade of it and that' s why it' s ideal for draining , but to have that sort of be contradicted by what' s flat versus what' s flattest , just seems inappropriate . I guess in conclusion , I ' ve lived in the Town for some years and somewhat followed the local politics. I ' ve begun to follow it professionally in the last little bit and we indeed have certainly got some education about it tonight . I would , with interest , professionally , the letters to the Guest Column of the Ithaca Journal of last week about development needing to strike a balance and using the tools available to this Board to make decisions , and I guess what I would suggest is , we agree with that . I think these 30 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Allk Approved 1110812007 are ideal comments and I hope that they are not merely slogans . I think balance is precisely what you have here . What you have is a gift of 25 acres . What you have is a major buffer. What you have is something that Cornell has indeed confirmed for you . You have a development plan that provided both housing , provides a tax base and provides a major gift , a major ecological preservation . That' s precisely what balanced development is . Similarly , you have tools available to you to make your decisions . Among those tools are your advisory Boards . You send something out to your advisory boards , the Planning Board and the Conservation Boards . . . I hope that you use the tools and their conclusions as well as their reasoning when you consider this issue . Specifically , the Planning Board discussion about what needs to be fixed in the area as well as the responsibility of experts and drainage plans and the like as well as the Conservation Boards , who I think I ' m quoting , at worst I ' m paraphrasing , when they said that they walked the property , actually walked on the property , and their conclusion , your advisory board , on what needs to be conserved , and speaking of the area , other than what was being given the gift , perhaps that , what they said is , there ' s nothing there to conserve . So . . . Councilman Engman — Excuse me . Who said that? Mr. Shay — The Conservation Board , Councilman Engman — Which individual . Mr. Shay — Well , you can get the minutes , I can tell you that she was the one , two , second person on the right side of the table and unfortunately I don 't know their names . Councilman Engman — So she wasn 't really speaking for the whole Board , she was just , that was her opinion . Mr. Shay — I believe the question was , " you are the expert on birds , yes , did you walk the property , yes I actually went up there and tromped around on it . " They had a discussion about what had been done and the history of the property . The 50 ' s some of it was made into a field , but not in ( inaudible ) what had grown there was some poison ivy , some weeds , a bunch of stuff. That wasn 't the pristine woods that needed to be protected and the comment was " every thing that' s worth . . . nothing remains there to conserve . " I suggest that you get the minutes , would be better and more official than my memory , but that' s absolutely the quotes of the Board , and some of the things were indeed worse . I ' m not quite sure why it would have been recommended to them if their opinions on . . . (tape change ) . . . so in short , we urge you not to propose . . . not to accept or pass the moratorium to consider , indeed , balanced development of this nature to work look in detail as your minutes suggest at the letter from Cornell and to use the tools available to you , your advisory board . Thank you , oh , and again , if you have any questions on a corridor , I really suggest you talk to Bernie and allow him to speak again rather to take antidotal evidence as to what that is . Thank you . Arno Selco , 311 Salem Drive 31 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 1 want to thank you for bringing in the drainage stormwater experts and I just want to take a moment and to say that I think that was a terrific idea and I hope that you will vote for the moratorium so we can bring in people who are not neighbors , some of whom have a great deal of expertise , by the way , and who are also landowners . I venture to say if you put together all of the property that people in the northeast own it would amount to more property than Mr. Lucente owns . And the development that he has proposed is affecting the people in the northeast a great deal . I would be interested in what Mr. Fabbroni considers the good things that the developers are doing for the neighborhood . It seems to me that many people in the neighborhood are experiencing very serious problems because of flooding and driveways washing out and that sort of thing . I think the moratorium would allow time to bring in people who are not neighbors and also are not on the payroll of the developer. We do have a conflict regardless of what the attorney said . I think that the ' only way to resolve this conflict is to bring in people who are disinterested in the sense of object . Thank you . Those who previously spoke were allowed to make the following brief comments as no one else was interested in speaking . Bernard Carr I would just like everyone , the Board , to take a look at the August 10th letter from Cathy Baumgartner and she directly addresses the issue of the connection of UNA106 to the Monkey- Run area . There is not a direct connection between UNA106 and Monkey- Run . Based on her estimate it is at least 1 , 000 feet apart. Directly across Hanshaw Road from the property is currently residences and Cornell University has a large open agriculture area . There is not a direct connection between these two areas . In addition , I should point out that there is a direct separation between UNA106 , the northern portion of it and the southern portion of it . And the southern portion of that UNA is currently completely surrounded by development . So I think it is important to get in the record that there is not a connection there and that what you are getting in terms of natural area is directly contiguous with Cornell University. Another part of the comments that was brought up earlier related to the hawks . Those issues , page 2 that is thoroughly addressed about the bird issues. The next area was the Town is going to assume ownership of the stormwater detention areas . Those areas are on the property that is being donated to Cornell University and one of the concerns and the discussions with Cornell University at the Lab of O is that the stormwater detention areas be similar and be developed in the manner as the stormwater management facilities that are currently on the Lab of O ' s property. And the plant list and any plant list that is going to be developed for these detention ponds has to be approved by Cornell University. It is part of the agreement . I just wanted to address those and to make sure that people actually read the letter because I seriously think that the characterization of the other letter, it just doesn 't represent the site that I have looked at . Councilman Engman — Could I just ask a clarification question ? I thought you said that the parcel to be turned over to Cornell was 18 acres , but later we heard , it was 25 . So what is the . . . 32 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Mr. Carr — Basically it is 25 acres . It' s in two separate parcels . There' s two areas . There ' s the area on the north and then there is a wetland area on the southern donation area and there is a buffer on that also . Councilman Engman — And that' s the 18 acres . Supervisor Valentino — I think Larry Fabbroni is going to clear that up for you . Mr. Fabbroni — I can just tell you , Herb , that the 16 . 33 acres is immediately adjacent to the Sanctuary and 9 . 12 acres is the southern area that includes the _ wetland and the area that surrounds it and three of the ponds . Supervisor Valentino — Okay. Have we got that? Councilman Engman — umhum . Supervisor Valentino — Thank you . Is there anyone else that wishes to speak? We' d like to wind this down pretty soon if we could . With no one interested in making additional comments , Supervisor Valentino closed the public hearing at 8 : 38 p . m . and brought the matter back to the Board . Agenda Item No . 13 — Consider adoption of a Local Law providing for a moratorium on development in the northeast corner of the Town for a period of 270 days - SEE ATTACHMENT # 7 PLANNING BOARD RECOMMENDATION Supervisor Valentino commented that the Board has a lot of information from a lot of different , interesting sources to look through and evaluate . She thought to move ahead with the consultant and the request for qualifications was extremely important . Supervisor Valentino felt the most prudent thing the Board could do was to move ahead with the moratorium because once a Unique Natural Area is lost , it is lost forever. Councilman Stein agreed with Supervisor Valentino . He expanded upon his personal reasons for the need for a moratorium and commented that people draw different lines for where balance is ; it' s difficult to find the right spot to draw the line . He understands the need for development , but too much development will change the Town of Ithaca . Councilman Stein addressed Mr. Shay and stated that just because a person is an expert doesn 't mean that every expert will come up with the same answer. He felt his personal observations of the area would not mean anything to him because he does not have training in the area and is not an expert . Councilman Stein asked co-workers at Cornell for advice on whom to hire for an independent assessment of the area and the persons that were suggested were Bob Wesley and Nancy Osman . He thought it is necessary to have a moratorium so that the experts hired would have time to make a judgment so mistakes are not made . It' s worth the time to find the answer. 33 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Councilman Engman commented that a moratorium is needed because there is conflicting evidence . There are two sides of the story and a lot of information to be understood . Councilman Engman has known Mr. Wesley and Ms . Osman for many years and they have superb reputations . Mr. Wesley and Ms . Osman are scientists and not environmental activists . They figure out what should happen scientifically in an area and make recommendations . Councilman Engman commented on biological corridors and his experience with them . He guaranteed that there was a biological corridor between Monkeyrun and the area being discussed . Councilman Engman explained that the reason the Town Board was injecting itself into the process was because they had new evidence given to them by the Town ' s neighborhood members , and the Environmental Management Council . A moratorium allows the Board to find the answer. He felt that a study would not magically clear things up , but rather it would add another piece of information and the Board would still need to make a decision . Past decisions may have been made on the assumption that one could engineer their way out of the drainage problems . With no further comments from the Board , Councilman Engman moved adoption of the proposed local law and Supervisor Valentino seconded . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 153: Resolution Adoptin_a "A LOCAL LAW PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE TOWN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY (270) DAYS " WHEREAS, for the reasons set forth in Section 1 of the attached "LOCAL LAW PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE TOWN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY (270) DAYS ", the Town Board requested Town staff and the Attorney for the Town to draft said local law for its consideration; and WHEREAS, at its meeting on August 13, 2007, the Town Board discussed the proposed local law and by Resolution No. 2007- 135 referred the proposed local law to the Planning Board and Conservation Board for their respective recommendations; and WHEREAS, the Town of Ithaca Planning Board held a public hearing on this local law and reviewed and discussed it at its meeting on September 4, 2007, and then rejected a proposed resolution that recommended the Town Board adopt the proposed local law, and WHEREAS, at its meeting on September 6, 2007, the Town of Ithaca Conservation Board discussed and decided not to vote on a recommendation regarding the proposed local law; and WHEREAS, a resolution was duly adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca for a public hearing to be held by said Town on September 10, 2007 at 6:45 p . m . to hear all interested parties on the proposed local law entitled "A LOCAL LAW 34 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE TOWN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY (270) DAYS "; and WHEREAS, notice of said public hearing was duly advertised in the Ithaca Journal, and WHEREAS, said public hearing was duly held on said date and time at the Town Hall of the Town of Ithaca and all parties in attendance were permitted an opportunity to speak on behalf of or in opposition to said proposed local law, or any part thereof; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA ') and its implementing regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617, it has been determined by the Town Board that adoption of the proposed local law is a Type 11 action because it constitutes "adoption of a moratorium on land development or construction " pursuant to 6 NYCRR § 617. 5(c) (30), and thus adoption of the proposed local law is not subject to review under SEQRA; and WHEREAS, notwithstanding the Planning Board 's vote, the Town Board finds that it is appropriate to adopt the proposed local law for the reasons stated in Section 1 of said local law and to assure adequate time to obtain the study information described in the Town 's Request for Qualifications for Technical Consulting Services to Evaluate the Natural Characteristics of Certain Parcels In and Around the Sapsucker Woods Unique Natural Area (UNA - 106) in the Town of Ithaca, dated September 5, 2007; NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby adopts said local law entitled "A LOCAL LAW PROVIDING FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE TOWN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY (270) DAYS ", a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of this resolution; and it is further RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to file said local law with the Secretary of State as required by law. MOVED: Councilman Engman SECONDED: Supervisor Valentino Roll Call Vote : Supervisor Valentino, aye Councilwoman Leary, aye Councilman Cowie, aye Councilwoman Gittelman, aye Councilman Burbank, aye Councilman Stein, ave 35 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Councilman Engman, aye Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 18 — Report on status of Sapsucker Woods consultant RFQs - SEE ATTACHMENT # 8 Mr. Kanter updated the Board on the progress of the consultant RFQs . The final RFQ , along with a list of consultants that were sent the RFQ , were provided to the Board in their meeting packets . Councilman Engman requested that the deadline for submittals be extended until the end of the month so that the RFQ could be sent out to additional consultants that he had gathered the names of. The Board and Planning Staff discussed the impacts of extending the deadline until the end of the month and it was decided to extend the deadline for RFQ submissions to Friday , September 21 , 2007 . Councilman Cowie asked how the list of consultants was gathered and Ms . Ritter explained that she knew of some of the consultants because they were local . She found other consultants through an internet search . Councilman Stein also suggested some individuals on the list . Agenda Item No . 19 — Consider recommendation of Carrowmoor Committee to authorize Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft local law for a Planned Development Zone Councilman Engman took the lead on the discussion stating he is chair of the Carrowmoor Committee and the Committee has met a number of times to discuss the project . He gave a brief description of the project and thought it was very intriguing because of a number of elements . At the same time , it does include 400 units that would have an impact on hydrology and traffic in the area . The Committee recommends the Town Board authorize the Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft a local law for a Planned Development Zone for Carrowmoor. This means that the work can begin to put down on paper the items that' have been discussed verbally within the Committee . The plan would still need to come before the Town Board for approval and reviewed by the Planning Board . There are many steps for the project to go through , but this gives an indication that the Town Board is serious enough about the proposed change in zoning . Councilman Engman moved that the Town Board authorize the Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft a local law for a Planned Development Zone for Carrowmoor. Councilwoman Leary seconded the motion . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007= 154 : Recommendation of Carrowmoor Committee to authorize Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft local law for a Planned Development Zone RESOLVED, that the Town Board authorize the Attorney for the Town and Town staff to draft a local law for a Planned Development Zone for Carrowmoor. MOVED: Councilman Engman 36 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 SECONDED: Councilwoman Leary VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 20 — Consider Personnel Committee Recommendation ( s ) Councilman Cowie introduced the resolution before the Board . The resolution increases the hours of the Director of Planning position to 40 hours per week so that it is in-line with the other positions within the S category of the classification scale . Councilman Cowie moved the resolution and Supervisor Valentino seconded . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007 — 155 Approval to Increase Hours and Salary for Director of Plannin_g WHEREAS, the Personnel Committee recommends increasing the hours and salary of the Director of Planning, so that the hours and salary would be the same for all three positions in the "S " Classification, which is 40 hours per week at the annual salary of $84, 281 . 60; and WHEREAS, the Personnel Committee recommends no change to the "S " classification 's job rate at this time; Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves increasing the hours and annual salary of the Director of Planning, to salaried at 40 hours per week, with the annual salary of $84, 281 . 60, retroactive to, September 1 , 2007, and be it further RESOLVED, there is no change to the job rate for the "S " classification at this time, and any new hires will be hired and remain within the salary structure in place at the time of hire . MOVED: Councilman Cowie SECONDED: Supervisor Valentino VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Councilman Cowie introduced the next resolution by saying that Ms . Drake brought the idea of a sick bank to the Personnel Committee in order to help an employee currently 37 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 out on disability . He thought it was a fantastic idea and could not be more enthusiastic about it. Ms . Drake added that the Committee came up with the concept of a sick bank and decided to establish individual sick banks when needed . Perimeters were established within the Committee . Ms . Drake created a policy from Personnel Committee discussions . Councilman Cowie pointed out that the sick bank is for one particular person and that the Town would match the employees' donation of - hours . Councilwoman Leary commented that it made a lot of sense to have a sick bank . She felt that they should not specify "catastrophic" illness in the language . Someone may need to take family sick time to care for a family member. Supervisor Valentino thought Councilwoman Leary made good points for the Board to consider if they decide to establish other sick banks . Councilman Cowie added that it would serve as a good pilot. Ms . Drake explained that she mirrored the language of the Family Medical Leave Act . Councilman Burbank asked if Ms . Drake had taken a look at the numbers and if donations could be made without disrupting the system . Ms . Drake responded that she did . Councilman Cowie explained that another dimension of it has to do with psychological well - being and knowing that there is not a definite end . Ms . Drake added that the employees asked to be able to donate their sick time . Councilman Cowie moved the resolution and Councilman Stein seconded . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007 — 156: Approval to Create Sick Bank for Dani Holford WHEREAS, the Personnel Committee discussed the idea of creating an employee sick bank where employees could donate sick time to be used by another employee when they deplete their sick time due to an illness or injury out side of work; and WHEREAS, the Committee decided to create an individual sick bank, but on a case by case basis for a specific individual in need, instead of an on going larger sick bank; and WHEREAS, the Personnel Committee recommends the creation of a Sick Bank for Dani Holford, in which employees can donate 1 - 40 hours of their sick time to Ms. Holford, and the Town will match that donation; Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves the creation of a Donation of Sick Time Policy and the creation of a Sick Bank for Dani Holford, in which employees can donate 1 -40 hours of their sick time to Ms. Holford and the Town will match that donation; and be it further 38 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, the employees donating time will abide by the attached policy and complete the Leave Donation Authorization Form . MOVED: Councilman Cowie SECONDED: Councilman Stein VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye. Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 21 — Consider Appointment of the Town Clerk 8EE ATTACHmENT # 9 Ms . Drake directed the Board ' s attention to the information in their packets , which included a memo , proposed resolution , and the resumes of the top three applicants . Supervisor Valentino added that Councilwoman Leary , Councilman Engman and herself served on the interview committee . The committee called back three individuals for second interviews and decided unanimously upon the candidate before the Board . Councilman Engman thought that they had a wonderful group of candidates and any of the candidates would have done a fine job , but Ms . Billings had much more experience and a lot more ability to get along with everyone in the Town . She is a top- notch candidate and he is very enthused to have her join the Town . Councilman Engman moved the resolution and Supervisor Valentino seconded . Ms . Brock pointed out typographical changes . Third whereas , " posses" should be " possesses" . In the first resolved , " appointment" should be "appoint" . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007 — 157: Appointment of Town Clerk WHEREAS, due to the August 30, 2007 retirement of the Tee Ann Hunter, there is a vacancy in the full time appointed position of Town Clerk; and WHEREAS, the Interview Committee comprised of Supervisor Valentino, Town Councilpersons Herb Engman and Patricia Leary and the Human Resources Manager interviewed 6 candidates from the over 40 who applied for the said position; and WHEREAS, the Interview Committee has determined that Karen Billings, possess the necessary knowledge and skills to satisfactorily perform the duties of the Town Clerk and make the recommendation for appointment; Now, therefore, be it 39 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca does hereby appointment Karen Billings as the appointed Town Clerk, effective September 17, 2007; and be it further RESOLVED, this is a full time salaried position based on 37 % hours a week position, at an annual salary of $59, 000, in Job Classification "Q " with full time benefits; and, be it further RESOLVED, the said appointment is for a term continuing until the 1St day of January next succeeding the next biennial Town election to wit, January 1 , 2008, in which she will be eligible for a new two year appointment. MOVED: Councilman Engman SECONDED: Supervisor Valentino VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 22 — Consider Consent Agenda Councilman Stein moved and Councilman Burbank seconded the consent agenda . TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158 : Consent Agenda Items. BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves and/or adopts the resolutions for the following Consent Agenda Items: a. Town Board Minutes b . Town of Ithaca Abstract C. Bolton Point Abstract d. Disposition Listing e . Appointment of Account Clerk Typist — SCLIWC f. Reclassification of Technical Services Assistant — (SCLIWC) g. Extension of Project Assistant — Engineering MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye, Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158a : Town Board Minutes of August 13, 2007 40 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 WHEREAS, the Town Clerk has presented the minutes for a Regular Town Board meeting held on August 13, 2007 to the governing Town Board for their review and approval of filing; now therefore be it RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby approve for filing the minutes for the meeting held August 13, 2007 as presented at the September 10, 2007 board meeting. MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158b: Town of Ithaca Abstract WHEREAS, the following numbered vouchers have been presented to the Ithaca Town Board for approval of payment; and WHEREAS, the said vouchers have been audited for payment by the said Town Board; now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby authorizes the payment of the said vouchers in total for the amounts indicated. VOUCHER NOS. 4144 -- 4269 General Fund Townwide $ 68, 579. 64 General Fund Part Town $ 91112. 38 Highway Fund Part Town $ 65, 227. 09 Water Fund $ 12, 301 . 67 Sewer Fund $ 194, 963. 40 William & Hannah Pew Bikeway $ 17, 067. 43 Risk Retention Fund $ 0. 00 Fire Protection Fund $ 2041179. 75 Forest Home Lighting District $ 140. 47 Glenside Lighting District $ 54 . 77 Renwick Heights Lighting District $ 76. 88 Eastwood Commons Lighting District $ 165. 41 Clover Lane Lighting District $ 19. 82 Winner 's Circle Lighting District $ 60. 20 Burleigh Drive Lighting District $ 67. 25 Westhaven Rd Lighting District $ 213 . 30 41 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Coddington Rd Lighting District $ 126. 65 Trust & Agency $ 29725, 00 TOTAL : $ 575, 081 . 11 MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158c: Bolton Points Abstract WHEREAS, the following numbered vouchers for the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission have been presented to the governing Town Board for approval of payment, and WHEREAS, the said vouchers have been audited for payment by the said Town Board; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby authorizes the payment of the said vouchers. Voucher Numbers: 493-562 Check Numbers: 10276- 10346 Operating Fund $ 2321116. 68 1998 SCADA Capital Project $ 31448. 18 2002 Office Space Addition $ 1 , 320. 00 2003 East Hill Tank Protect $ 31705. 66 TOTAL $ 240590, 52 MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. 42 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158d: Records Management Disposition Listing - SEE ATTACHMENT # 10 WHEREAS, the Records Management Officer has determined that the attached listing of outdated and duplicate copies of records are eligible for disposition according to the State Archives and Records Administration (SARA) Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU- 1 ; and WHEREAS, the Records Management Officer (Town Clerk) has reviewed and approved the disposition of the said records; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the governing Town Board does hereby authorize and direct the Records Management Officer to dispose of the records as described in the attached listing according to the procedure developed by SARA . MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007— 158e : Appointment Account Clerk Typist-SCLIWC WHEREAS, there is presently a vacancy in the full time position of Account Clerk Typist in the Administration Department at Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission; and WHEREAS, the Finance Manager and Human Resources Manager interviewed candidates from the eligible listing available from Tompkins County Civil Service; and WHEREAS, the Finance Manager and Human Resources Manager have determined that Donna Kotas possess the necessary knowledge and skills to satisfactorily perform the duties of an Account Clerk Typist; and WHEREAS, Ms. Kotas was appointed by SCLIWC at the September 6, 2007 meeting based on a full time level of 40 hours per week, retroactive to September 4, 200 7;Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca does hereby ratify SCLIWC 's appointment of Donna Kotas as full time Account Clerk Typist for the Administration Department, and be it further 43 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, this is a 40 hours a week position, at the hourly wage of $ 14. 50, which is an estimated annual salary of $30, 160. 00, from account number SW8310. 101 ) with full time benefits; and be it further RESOLVED, a twenty six (26) week probationary period applies and shall end effective March 3, 2008, with no further action by the Commission or Town Board if there is successful completion of the probationary period as determined by the Finance Manager. MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007- 158f: Ratify Approval of Re-classification of Technical Services Assistant to Technical Services Coordinator.'- . ­� SEE ATTACHMENT # 11 . _ WHEREAS, the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission reviewed the job description for Technical Services Assistant and determined that the typical duties described do not represent the position accurately and the minimum qualifications eliminate any applicant that did not have municipal water experience, which has been determined as not necessary for this position; and WHEREAS, the General Manager and Human Resources Manager recommended reclassifying the Technical Services Assistant position to Technical Services Coordinator (see attached job description); and WHEREAS, the reclassification of the said position would require Dale Barrows, Technical Services Assistant, to take and pass a Non- Competitive Promotional Exam for the Technical Services Coordinator position, which he has agreed to; and WHEREAS, on September 6, 2007 the Commission approved the re- classification and provisionally appointed Dale Barrows as Technical Services Coordinator, Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca does hereby ratify the re - classification of the Technical Services Assistant to Technical Services Coordinator; and be it also 44 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 RESOLVED, the Town Board ratifies the provisional appointment of Dale Barrows as Technical Services Coordinator, effective September 6, 2007, pending the next non-competitive promotional exam . MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2007 — 158_g Extending Appointment of Project Assistant- En_gineerin_q WHEREAS, Shravya Markandeya, Project Assistant, was appointed as a temporary employee June 11 , 2007, to work on the Storm Water Management grant through Tompkins County Soil and Water, and WHEREAS, the Engineering Department typically hires Cornell University work study students throughout the year, and WHEREAS, the Engineering Department would like to keep Ms. Markandeya employed longer, however, she is not eligible for work study; and WHEREAS, the Director of Engineering has determined that Shravya Markandeya as shown the necessary knowledge and skills to satisfactorily perform the duties of the Project Assistant for the Engineering Department and makes the recommendation for her extended appointment in place of hiring a work study student; Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca does hereby approve to extend the current appointment of Shravya Markandeya as Project Assistants for the Engineering Department, effective September 3, 2007 through December 31 , 2007; and be it further RESOLVED, this position is a temporary position not to exceed 40 hours per week, at the hourly wage of $ 10. 75, from account number A1440. 110, no benefits apply, and be it further RESOLVED, the funding for this position, not to exceed $3, 117 will be transferred from the A 1440. 406 Work Study line . 45 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilwoman Gittelman, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilman Cowie, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye . Carried unanimously. Agenda Item No . 23 — Report of Town Committees No reports . Agenda Item No . 24 — Intermunicipal Organizations Councilman Engman reported that he received word that Cornell is going to apply for its new five year permit and will ask that it be allowed to eliminate all the monitoring sites in the lake . It is a significant step because in the past they have suggested reducing the number of sites . They are going to recommend to DEC that all sites be eliminated . DEC apparently has said that they are going to do a much more technical study this time around whereas in the past they have done a general study . Last time DEC determined that Cornell needed to keep all monitoring sites . Supervisor Valentino added that the Water Resources Council is also going to be looking at the issue . Councilman Stein recalled that Cornell previously asked that the number of monitoring sites be reduced from 8 to 3 sites . He wondered if that was approved . Councilman Engman responded that' DEC said no . Supervisor Valentino thought Cornell was proposing to monitor the lake differently. Councilman Engman added that Cornell wants to partner with the Water Resources Council and do some general monitoring of the lake , but none of it would be specific to Lake Source Cooling . Agenda Item No . 25 — Report of Town Officials — ( See Attachment # 12 Director of Engineering Mr. Walker reported that he has some information for the energy committee and hopes that they can meet next month . Director of Planning Mr. Kanter reported that the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee is scheduled to meet September 17th at 4 : 00 p . m . Councilman Stein asked if the water rate had increased . Supervisor Valentino responded that the water rate had not increased . Councilman Stein confirmed that the water bill amount is proportional to usage , but a minimum rate does apply. The Board and staff discussed the water rate. 46 Town Board Minutes of September 10, 2007 Final Approved 1110812007 Councilman Cowie commented that customer service at Bolton Point is very impressive . Customers receive calls when there are drastic changes in their water usage . Recreation and Youth Services Coordinator Councilman Burbank announced the Tutelo Park Celebration is being held September 23rd and 24th at Tutelo Park . Attorney for the Town Ms . Brock reminded the Board that in March they passed a resolution authorizing a payment of $20 , 000 to the Finger Lakes Land Trust in exchange for an agreement regarding the Babcock property. The Town was supposed to assure that open space would be maintained and that public access would also be maintained on the property . She has been working through some of the issues with that including a rule against perpetuity. The attorneys working on it have dealt with it the best they can and she is hoping to bring an agreement to the Board in October for approval . Agenda Item No . 26 — Review of Correspondence No comments . Agenda Item No . 27 — Consider Adjournment Upon motion by Councilman Stein , seconded by Councilwoman Gittelman , Supervisor Valentino adjourned the September 10 , 2007 meeting of the Ithaca Town Board at 9 : 41 p . m . Respectfully Submitted , arrie Coates W - it ore Deputy Town Clerk Next Meetings : October 4 , 2007 — Budget meeting October 15 , 2007 — Regular meeting 47 t OF 1p TOWN OF ITHACA 4 � 215 N . Tioga Street, Ithaca, N. Y. 14850 www. town . ithaca . ny.us TOWN CLERK 273- 1721 HIGHWAY ( Roads, Parks, Trails, Water &Sewer) 273- 1656 ENGINEERING 273- 1747 PLANNING 273- 1747 ZONING 273- 1783 FAX (607) 273- 1704 To : Cathy Valentino , Supervisor Town Of Ithaca Sandy Gittelman, Councilperson Will Burbank, Chair Recreation & Human Services Committee Peter Stein, Councilperson Pat Leary, Councilperson Jeff Cowie, Councilperson Herb Engman, Councilperson From : Mamie Kirchgessner, Recreation and Youth Coordinator August 2007 Youth Employment I prepared the enclosed information for the Joint Youth Commission request for proposals and thought you might find it interesting, Student Work Initiative 2007 Site List & Contacts Site Phone Placement Lifelong 273 - 1511 14 female/Cayuga Heights Attn : Joshua Eberle 119 West Court St. Bookery II 273 - 5055 14 female/Town Gary Weissbrot Dewitt Mall 215 N . Cayuga St . Positive News 16 female/Town Ilonka Wloch 351 -7944 posnews (&,liahtlink.com 115 The Commons Lisa Wooddruff 279-4238 Tigerlily @positivenews . org Alterra 256- 5094 14 female/Town Val Van Amburg Email vvanamburgci,assist. com 14 female/Town Patty Clark 101 Bundy Road French Lavender 14 female/Town Monique Morse 277-3171 Frenchlavender @verizon.inc 903 Mitchell St Northeast Kids Count Inc Attn. Laura Boli Peifer 257-9400 14 female/Heights PO Box 3874 peifer@gmail . com American Learning. Inc 16 male /Town @ Cornell 0 Kim Scholl kscholl(iDicsd.kl2 .ny. us Museum of the Earth 14 male Town Attn. Alicia Reynolds 273 -6623 Ext 13 Reynolds @museumoftheearth.org 1259 Trumansburg Road YMCA 257-0101 3- 15 year old boys (1 Lansing, 2 Heights) Joe Donelly (Aquatics) Jdonley(&ithacaymca.com 16 female/Lansing (became direct Hire) Additional 2 direct hires 14 female/Town ; 1 - 16 male/Heights Frank Towner FTowner(ii,)ithacaymca.com . 144 year old boy/Lansing West Graham Rd. City of Ithaca 273-8364 16/male Town Marty Schreiber Fax 273-2817 Computer All Stars Ithaca Youth Bureau 1 James L. Gibbs Drive Convention & Visitors Bureau 272- 1313 16/male Town Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Jodi Van Fleet iodi(ii,)visitithaca.co Fred Bonn fredAvisitithaca.co 904 East Shore Dr, Ithaca, NY 14850 Babbage' s Basement Richard Entlich GSGATWCNY.RR.Com 15/Cayuga Heights 272-6196 Town Placements 14/female Town High way 14/female Town Youth Crew 17/male Town 16/male Town 19/male Town *Position shared by two young men in college in past year that wanted to return Sciencenter had placement through school year difficulty obtaining timely payroll resulted in suspension of referrals 16/female Town A number of youth who came to the program were also direct hires by these and other sites who had openings, Additional youth were hired in programs funded by TANIF etc. The success of this program has resulted in my being contacted by a youth interested in organizing community service projects for High Schoolers . Last years IC intern Lawrence Rotundo would like to return in a work study position to assist with this and other projects. Having become accustom to my super summer team this support would be appreciated . ,r The program experienced another terrific year. Providing skills and opportunities for youth in a variety of locations that benefited the community in countless ways . As a result of curriculum developed by Lawrence for the program I have submitted a proposal to the Department of Social Services for funding for use to subsidize additional positions . Recreation Partnership New agreement awaiting your approval . Recreation and Human Service Committee No meeting this month. Related Activity Rich Schoch and I continue to participate in and support Tutelo Park Festival Planning being lead by Audrey Cooper of the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) This year the group will offer T- shirt sales and an Educational Brochure supported by advertising revenue. On August 14 Rich Schoch and I lead a team from Cornell ' s POST program to make Glenside Preserve more accessible to the public. The endeavor included : 1 ) general cleanup of site and garbage removal 2) check on posting and add more signs as needed 3 ) vine control 4) clean out obstructions in creek bed 5 ) cut brush and grub out roots to create small footpath down to Floral Ave. The team picked up a truck load of garbage as well as all of the other tasks with great diligence, humor and even gave us a Thank you card ! I monitored the "Customer Service Excellence" which was offered to 22 young people on August 24, 2007 . At a request from Rich Schoch High School Student Intern Andrew Sternglass created a power point presentation on South Hill Recreation Way for use with other municipalities interested in expanding it into their communities . I attended Learning Web ' s End of year celebration for their Community Service Program for the Town ' s middle School youth. Sue Schwartz the youth worker sent the following Thank you as a result of my participation Hi Marnie , Thanks again for showing up early and helping out. It meant a lot to me and it also made the evening infinately easier and smoother, as I was much less stressed because I wasn't scrambling . You seem to always show up at just the right moments ! Hope I can return the favor some time , and I hope you ' re enjoying the summer. : ) Sue