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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2019-04-04 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board April 4, 2019 Final Minutes Members Present: Will VanDyke, Vladimir Micic, Mike Roberts, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Hannah George Staff: Mike Smith, Senior Planner Guests: Phil Munson (Town of Lansing), Rick Grossman (Town of Ithaca), Steve Lamb (Town of Ithaca) Meeting called to order at 5:55pm following informal introductions. 1. Persons to be heard - none. 2. Member concerns - none. 3. Chair and Coordinator Reports a. Mike Roberts, Chair: i. Mike Roberts will send out notes on ERC guidelines for review this month. ii. Food Waste talk by Tristan Stewart at Cornell coming up on Thursday May 2, 5:30, in Call Auditorium in Kennedy Hall. iii. Mike Roberts attended a pesticide applicator update workshop, taught by a CCE educator from downstate NY who talk about the distribution of Lyme disease, and showed the distribution of various tick-borne diseases. A single deer can provide the nutrients for half a million ticks in one season. Deer increase the overall numbers of ticks, while the proportion with Lyme or other diseases depends on the abundance of the vector species (i.e. mice in the case of Lyme). b. Mike Smith, Coordinator: i. Moyer 2-lot subdivision was simply changing a boundary line's location. ii. NCRE did get preliminary approval. Comments from CB were noted, including: stormwater concerns, which are being further addressed by Town of Ithaca engineers; light pollution concerns, which will be addressed through a modification of the lighting; and a resolution was made to look at native plants for planting in the plan. iii. There will be a new electric charging station for a new plug-in-hybrid vehicle for Code Enforcement at Town Hall. iv. Invasive species awareness week - New York State: week of July 7-13. V. Sept 30-Oct 3: New York Invasive Species Research Institute and North American Invasive Species Management Association is hosting an Invasive Species conference in Saratoga Springs. 1 vi. The Town of Ithaca was awarded a grant for invasive species management on South Hill Rec Way. Along the entirety of South Hill Rec Way (a distance of 3.4 miles) invasives will be cleared 15 ft on each side, followed up with planting native trees and shrubs. The State contract is in place, and a Request for Proposals (RFP) was submitted and 2 responses received. Volunteer groups will be invited to assist at tree- planting events, likely this fall. vii. A certified pesticide applicator, contracted by the Town of Ithaca, was removing non-native, invasive plant species at the preserves on Culver Road, and accidentally crossed the Town property's boundary line and applied pesticide on the neighbor's property, near a spring that is used for the home's water source. The neighbor was not pleased, and the Town may ask the Conservation Board for guidance on using pesticides near private water sources. viii. Deer Management: 1. 2 locations may not have been used yet; only the cemetery site has reported activity, where a participant was out 3 times, and took 1 deer. All neighbors were notified by letter explaining the program and asking if they would allow participants to track deer onto their property. Neighbors have had positive responses and seem to be in support of the program. 2. Agriculture meeting: Farmers were unhappy that they could not participate in the Towns Deer Management program, but a DEC representative came to the recent Agriculture meeting to show farmers how to apply for a Nuisance Permit on individual farms. 3. 2020 program: Mike has started talking with City representatives about sites along 6 Mile Creek that could be a good fit for the hunting program. 2019 sites only used properties that came with hunters, so hunters that have previously participated in other municipal programs were turned away. 4. There was brief discussion amongst CB members about how publicizing deer-vehicle collision statistics can be one way to garner additional support for the program. 4. No minutes to approve. 5. Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award: the award was given to the New York State Hemlock Initiative (NYSHI), and a tree planting will take place this spring. There are possible sites on East Ithaca Rec Way, between Honness and Mitchell. Mike R. will email Mark Whitmore (of NYSHI) about his preference of tree that is planted in honor of NYSHI. A Doodle poll will be sent out by Will for a planting date. 6. Earth Day: It does not appear to be any local Earth Day event this year to participate at. There will be a Cornell hike in honor of Tom Reimers at the CTC on Freese Road on 2 April 21. Streets Alive is April 28 (1 —5pm). Will will email Bike/Walk Tompkins about tabling opportunities at their Streets Alive event and will contact all CB members to see who is available to assist at a table. 7. Regular Reports & Updates a. ERC: Moyer 2-lot subdivision & merging: no issues. b. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva): Town Highway Department is ready to put up the sign on South Hill after getting the necessary NYSDOT permits. Eva has an appointment with Joe Talbut, Town Parks Manager, on Monday the 15th, to clarify the exact location of the sign and bench. She will also go to Pine Tree & Snyder Hill Road to see the site of the future sign. Eva may put together a slideshow of a view that was previously able to see from along Snyder Hill Road, prior to the construction of several low, but disruptive buildings along Pine Tree Road. c. Communications Committee. 800 people were reached in the recent Facebook post about looking for new members, and there were another 5 or 6 "likes" during this time. There is also a way to invite local Ithaca friends to like the Facebook page, which furthers engagement and increases reach of TOI CB posts, so all members are encouraged to do so. Will has found a way to embed high-quality photos of the most scenic views in Ithaca. This would also be a good way to profile invasive species as part of a series, to help residents identify plants in their yards. Another idea is to display a series of bird box photos, or Fischer Award Trees. Will also would like to get the Fischer Award press release to the Ithaca Journal/other local print media. d. Tompkins County EMC: presentation notes are available for the Ups and Downs of Cayuga Lake, on the EMC webpage. Hannah brought up the idea that a county-level parks department would be of use to assist the Town & City of Ithaca with management of resources that benefit the county and beyond. Ithaca CB resolved to support county level parks department. There was a brief discussion about East Shore Park on East Shore Drive, which is a Town of Ithaca Park that is actually situated on Cornell land, and leased from Cornell. e. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program: The first water sample of the year was mostly frozen, but prevailed nonetheless. f. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program. Looked for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (HWA) infestations at Ringwood Pond, Monkey Run, and other locations, but hardly found any infested trees. Infested HWA tree branches are essential for supporting the NYSHI biocontrol research-- the biocontrol beetles they are raising need a constant food source, and though the population of HWA may be lower currently due to cold winter temperatures, the HWA population can rebound very quickly due to short generations and large numbers of eggs that can be laid by a single HWA. 8. Other Business 3 a. A plastic bag ban was approved by New York State, and the expected rollout will be March 1, 2020. 9. Review 2019 work goals a. Promoting invasive species awareness: Will has made some posts about Invasive Species. We may still need paper handouts that have information about invasive plants and native alternatives to give out at events. Phil suggested checking with Cornell Cooperative Extension about similar materials that we can use. Finger Lakes Native Plant Society is also a great resource. b. Water usage: Check in with Town. c. Non-Automobile Infrastructure: no update. d. Compost: Lindsay reached out to students at IC who supplied contact for student leaders. Good idea to identify barriers to IC composting, maybe will be required by New York State law to compost. Any establishment that generates >2 tons per week waste must sort and divert to a organics recycling. e. Lindsay suggested that CB could provide strategies to promote native plants at an Earth Day event. f. Bluebirds - no update. Meeting adjourned at 7:23pm Minutes drafted by Hannah George. 4