HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2020-01-02 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB)
January 2,2020 5:44 p.m.
Final Minutes
Members present: Hannah George,James Hamilton, Vladimir Micic, Mike Roberts
Associate member: Lindsay Dombroskie
Guest: Lori Brewer(future member)
Staff: Mike Smith (Senior Planner)
1. There were no persons to be heard.
2. Neither were there Member's concerns.
3. Chair and Coordinator Reports:
Chair: Mike R noted that 2020 was the Year of the Tree, according to some NGO or conservation
group he couldn't remember. He'd attended a Sustainability Leadership Summit at Cornell.Joe
Martens, now working to develop offshore wind farms, gave a good presentation, explaining that
New York State wants to have 80% renewable energy by 2030, so wind has to be used. Cornell's
promoting solar power with photovoltaic installations and will try a deep fracked heat source if it
can frack a water heat exchange somewhere 20,000 feet under campus. Mike also explained that we
need to slim down our"work goals" under discussion in agenda item 5.
Coordinator: Mike S noted that the Finger Lakes Research Conference at Hobart and William Smith
in Geneva on January 15th will still take early discounted registration until tomorrow, and that CB
members could still register later and be reimbursed from CB funds.The Planning Board has two
projects under consideration: a sign for the proposed enlarged Public Works building;the Cornell
grounds equipment sheds, already established off Dryden Rd, needed post hoc approval. A
landowner in the Coy Glen Conservation Zone off of Culver Rd was applying for a Timber Harvest
Permit as required by the Conservation Zone.A small harvest was planned to take out ash and open
the canopy. Lori Brewer, curious about this law, wondered if she could read it online; Mike Smith
said it is part of the Zoning Chapter in Town Code under the Conservation Zone.Two new deer
management sites, one on City of Ithaca property in the Six Mile Creek watershed and the other on
Coy Glen Road, have been OKed by the Town and would now need DEC nuisance permits for bow
shooting from tree stands over corn bait feeders.This permit should allow deer herd reduction
starting February 1st.
4. Minutes:for the December 5th meeting had not yet been received from Elizabeth, who was not
present.
5. Discussion of CB Activities &Accomplishments for 2019: CB was happy to see the draft compiled by
Mike Smith, thanked him for his work on it, and agreed the draft required no revision and should be
posted on CB's Facebook page and on the CB's section of the Town's website. Mike will also provide
the document to the Town Board.
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Discussion of CB 2020 Work Goals: agreeing with Mike R's hope to limit this list to goals that we can
actually act on, we weeded out several sections entirely, and decided to subsume several other
"goals" into the "Outreach" section, so that water conservation, bluebird boxes, composting, non-
automotive infrastructure, and pest management would become topics for public education.
Lindsay will be able to borrow the Town's trail cameras for bird box monitoring once they're not
needed for deer management. She'd also like to get covers for the bird boxes to keep mice out when
they're not used for bird nesting. Hannah noted that the composting goal might still need some
more drop spots for food waste, but was satisfied that County waste management programs were
doing a good job, so CB could drop it as goal. Hanna noted that REI has a sustainability checklist they
call "Opt to Act," and she'd like to see the Communications Committee adapt something similar as
an outreach function, so that interested Ithacans could find pragmatic and sustainable things to do
to promote our cause.The goal of limiting TCAT bus idling still needs action, and Hanna said she
would draft a request to TCAT for buses to limit idling time;we can review that draft letter as soon
as she sends it to us. She invited members to attend an afforestation meeting with her next week.
Discussion of CB Committees: Lindsay would like to join the Communications Committee. Lori plans
to join a committee in the future as she understands better what they all do.
6. Regular Reports and Updates:
Environmental Review Committee: Mike R noted that the shipping containers seeking Town
approval should not be used for pesticides or fertilizer storage, as they'd be inadequate for those
materials.
Scenic Resources Committee: no news.
Communications Committee: no report. Mike S will send out the Fischer Award press release
inviting nominations.
Tompkins County EMC:Vlad would forward minutes from the EMC meeting to the CB via email.
Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitors:while no monitors worked recently, the Community Science
Institute's BMI specialist continues to invite interested water lovers to the lab's Thursday evening
analyses and identification of benthic macro invertebrates preserved from summer creek samples.
Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas:James reported that the group had half its meetings
cancelled for holidays.The other two Tuesdays they weeded out woody invasives from the north
bank of Beebe Lake, below Helen Newman Hall.
City of Ithaca Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission: Hannah reported that she found
these meetings unproductive and has resigned. We were glad she attended as much as she did.
7. Other Business: Mike R and Hannah reported that they participated in an interview with Lori Brewer
regarding one of the open positions on the Board, and it is expected that she will be appointed at
the January Town Board meeting.
James asked Mike R to request Carrie Simon's resignation, as she had not attended in more than a
year, which seemed unreasonably long for even an associate member. Mike agreed to contact her.
We Adjourned at 7:02 PM
These draft minutes by James Hamilton 1/3/20
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