HomeMy WebLinkAboutAG Minutes 2020-01-28 Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting
Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 6:00 pm
Final Minutes
Members Present: Lisa Ferguson, Claire Forest, Christianne White, Matthew Stalker
Town Representatives: Mike Smith (Senior Planner), Bill Goodman (Deputy Town Supervisor)
Guests: Ed Baptist (farm on Coddington Rd), Mery McMillan (Steep Hollow Farm), Lisa
Ripperton (3 Story Farm), Liz Coakley (Groundswell), Jonathan Negley (SWCD)
1. Jonathan Negley, District Manager, Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District.
• Background and history of SWCD, now located on Bostwick Road
• Participation voluntary/ Locally led / Based on watershed / Confidential
• AEM:
1. Inventory questionnaire, basic info probably takes less than half hour
2. Worksheets, based on assessments, walk-through
3. Conservation planning
a. Progressive planning
b. Nutrient Management plan
C. Whole farm plan
4. Plan Implementation
5. Evaluation
6. New in 2020, up to $50,000 for planned designs on farm, 75/25 match
• FLLOWPA
• Fingerlakes Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance
• Drains to Cayuga Lake
• Tompkins County allocates $30,000/year for a project on a farm to improve water
quality, 90/10 cost share up to$30,000
• A Groton beef farm got$to mitigate runoff from barnyard, put a covered roof
over barnyard, send runoff to leach area/filter rather than road ditch
Competitive, and statewide. Can result in grant assistance and cost-share. The Agricultural
non-point Source Program has $18 million. April 1 is the cut-off date, and it is run through the
conservation district.
The Climate resilient farming program is fairly new and has three tracks. For example, Ag waste
cover and flare project. Cover cropping and Pasture Management also areas of interest.
NYS Grown and certified, includes material on safe food handling, an annual food safety audit,
GAP, Good Agricultural Practices.
New program for source water buffer work is fairly new, but no applications for that yet. Involves
a 50-year easement, construction of riparian buffers, and protects drinking water.
Noted that all Lisa Ferguson's goats = impact of one cow, impact on environment.
Measurement should be by `animal unit' rather than number of animals.
The NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program and EQUIP are run out of offices on Meadow
Street where Groundswell is located.
1
2. Persons to be heard
• 17 farms participated in Local Fiber popup shop before the holidays
• Lisa Ferguson's 4H group ended up pitching in to help her off season after her surgery
3. Member Announcements and concerns (none)
4. Chair(Lisa) and Coordinator (Mike) reports/updates
• Mike Smith reports that the Town plans to do the deer culling program again this year
• The Town received the permit from DEC for 6 locations in February and March.
• Baited locations, mostly using archery, 40 tags available over the six sites.
• Lisa Ferguson mentions she has a deer highway through her property, only 1.5
miles from the city; we have about 125 deer/sq mile, 25/sq mile would be
optimum
• Either hunters take the venison or a processor in Romulus provides it to the
Venison Donation Coalition.
• The Town got a DEC grant to remove woody invasives and plant native trees and
shrubs along South Hill Recreation Way
5. Ithaca Town Board (Bill) report/update
• Bill Goodman is now the Deputy Town Supervisor, and Rod Howe is the Town
Supervisor.
• Town is looking at Green Building codes and the Ithaca Supplemental Energy codes.
Until 2025 will accumulate points for building that is not `green' but after 2030 no natural
gas will be allowed for household or energy use. Heat pumps will replacegas.
• They will be looking at existing buildings too
• Old farmhouses present a challenge
• There might have to be incentives to inspire energy savings renovations short of
permit applications
• Partners for Places, a local sustainability group funded by the Park Foundation
50/50 will help again.
• There will probably be a Town of Ithaca Green New Deal
• 2021 is the Town Bicentennial
• There are three areas of Form-based zoning:
• On South Hill (NYS Route 96B/King Road intersection)
• East Hill Plaza
• Linderman Creek area, West Hill
• Legislation about telecommunications facility siting is in the works.
• Aesthetics
• 5G towers will be numerous, e.g. the telephone pole outside Town Hall
6. Approval of minutes of November 19, 2019
• Moved by Claire Forest, seconded by Lisa Ferguson to approve minutes,approved.
7. Other business (none)
8. Adjourn at 7:21 pm
• Next meeting March 31st
Minutes were drafted by Christianne White.
2