HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2008-09-04 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
September 4, 2008
Final Minutes
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chris Benedict, Diane Conneman, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann,
Brent Katzmann, Susan McCutcheon
STAFF: Darby Kiley
GUESTS: Tony Ingraham, Susan Riha, Roger Segelken, Bill Sonnenstuhl, Stephen
Wagner, Mary Williams
Persons To Be Heard: Susan Riha (Member of the Town's Planning Board) recently
attended a state meeting on gas drilling. Susan explained that there are two layers of
rock with gas drilling potential -Marcellus Shale and a deeper layer of Trenton/Black
River. For the Trenton/Black River gas play, fewer wells are needed, because they are
drilled vertically down and then lines are sent out horizontally, and no hydrofracking is
needed for the horizontal lines. DEC will be releasing a draft scoping document for the
new Environmental Impact Statement, and will be looking for public comment.
Members Concerns:
Brent distributed information on the Green Buildings Open House, which will be held
on Saturday AND Sunday, October 4 and 5. He also shared information about the
Connect Ithaca conference in September.
Chair and Coordinator Reports:
Diane reminded the board about the conference at St. Lawrence University in October.
If members are interested, please let staff know. The EMC is looking for a
representative to replace Larry. We will discuss after more members join. The County
is holding meetings on the draft Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Element to be
added to the County Comprehensive Plan. The meetings are at 6:30 PM on the
following dates and locations: 9/17 at Ulysses Town Hall; 9/22 at Danby Town Hall; 9/24
at Tompkins County Public Library; 10/1 at Dryden Town Hall. The Cornell T-GEIS
public information meeting is scheduled for September 9 at 3:30 and the public hearing
is scheduled for the next Planning Board meeting on September 16, 2008. At the next
Planning Committee meeting on September 11, they will be reviewing the Scenic
Resources report. Diane and James will attend the meeting. The Town received a
$25,000 grant from NYS Ag and Markets for Municipal Farmland Planning Program.
The Town is also about to submit two applications for the Farmland Protection
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Implementation Grant Program (FPIG=PDR) for Indian Creek Farm (42 acres) and the
vineyard next to Indian Creek (70 acres). The Comprehensive Plan Committee
continues to meet and is working on the survey. There will be an Open House for
residents on September 23 at 6:30 PM at Town Hall.
Darby did not have any additional information.
Business:
Approval of Minutes: There were no changes to the May and June minutes, so the Chair
accepted the minutes as Final. There was one change to the July minutes —last line of
the first page says "state" and that is a verb and not The State, so it was changed to read
"state the" and the minutes were accepted by the Chair as Final.
Membership: Supervisor Engman contacted both Tony Ingraham and Roger Segelken
who were in attendance. Diane explained that the process for becoming a member of
the Conservation Board is to first submit a letter of interest and then an interview
committee meets with the candidates. James, Chris and Diane will serve on the
interview committee.
Revisions to Conservation Zone
Discussion continued regarding the current language in the Town Conservation Zone
(referring to Jon Meigs' DRAFT 30 May 2008 and comments from July), starting with
the definition of yard. Darby said that it is a tricky definition to change because the
definition section (Section 270-5) applies to the entire zoning ordinance. The point that
the definition should make is that a yard should stay treed if it has trees. In the
definition of biological corridor (which is a proposed addition), take out the word
"uncultivated" between "open" and "field" and take out "larger" and replace with
"other" wooded areas. For the definition of wooded areas, the use of "mature" is
confusing. What is a better term or description?
The language submitted in July by Town residents Stephen Wagner and Adrian
Williams was discussed. The first addition under 270-10 would be useful to add,
however the language in Section 270-22 (L) should be discussed. Because it is the
"Additional requirements and restrictions" section, using "special care" is difficult to
interpret. The committee also agreed that watersheds, headwaters, and fragipans are
not particularly unique features. Wetlands are covered in other sections of the
conservation zoning [Section 270-22 (B) (2)]. Stephen explained that developers should
take into account all features that could be affected by a proposed project and what the
implications are because of certain features. Eva suggested that there is language in the
zoning ordinance that says that you cannot impact your neighbor. The drainage section
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also covers that topic. Eva also added that when the changes are forwarded on to the
Codes and Ordinances Committee, Conservation Board members should attend the
meeting to discuss how the process worked. Tony suggested that the board should look
at the Land Trust's definitions for terms such as biological corridor, ecologically
valuable, and wooded area.
Regular Reports and Updates:
ERC: Diane relayed Larry's letter regarding a project at 819 Taughannock Blvd. that
requires numerous variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Darby reported that
at the July ZBA meeting, the board adjourned the decision and requested that the
applicant submit revised plans, preferably with less lot coverage.
SRC: James reported that he is pleased with the link to the website under Items of
Interest and pleased how the maps look.
R. FISCHER AWARD COMMITTEE: No report— though it was noted that the tree
planted this year at the end of the South Hill Rec Way is not looking good.
TOMPKINS COUNTY EMC: Roger is a member of the EMC and reported that at the
July meeting the EMC passed a resolution in support of the lake monitoring plan
though in opposition to any reduction in Cornell's Lake Source Cooling monitoring.
SIX MILE CREEK VOLUNTEER MONITORING PROGRAM: James reported dates for
upcoming samplings; BMI survey to be held 9/2-9/08 to compare to DEC definitions of a
healthy environment. CSI will hire students to redesign the website in order to make
data more publicly accessible. Next meeting of the Monitoring Program will be
September 22, 2008.
CITY OF ITHACA NATURAL AREAS COMMISSION: No report
Other Business:
Memo to Town Board Re: Roadside Ditches
Diane sent the memo to the Town Board and today met with Peter Stein, Dan Walker,
and Fred Noteboom. The culverts that have been installed are deep enough to drain
certain areas, but also have a swale on top, which is wide and shallow. The highway
department is adding culverts only in short lengths where necessary. They will be
doing an inventory on what has been done and what might be done.
Darby asked if the board would like to hear more about the lake monitoring plan. Roxy
Johnston (chair of that subcommittee of the WRC) is willing to present to any interested
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group. Darby will arrange for her to present at the next meeting.
Next meeting to be held on October 2, 2008.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 PM.
Minutes generated by Darby Kiley
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