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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2011-02-03 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board February 3, 2011 7:30 p.m. Final Minutes Members present: Aaron Donato, Andrew Goodell, James Hamilton, Tony Ingraham, Jon Meigs, Nirav Patel, Kristine Shaw, Larissa Smith, Ellie Stewart Staff: Mike Smith Members and associates starting new terms were officially sworn in by the Town Clerk, Paulette Terwilliger, kindly visiting for a few minutes to make us all legal. There were no persons to be heard, nor any members' concerns. Chair and Coordinator Reports. Chair: Diane Conneman was absent; the vice-chair had nothing to report. Coordinator: Mike reported that the plan to put Verizon antennae on Riley Robb Hall been approved by the Planning Board, but that it would still need a variance permit for its height, which exceeds code limits. The Holochuck Homes Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement was accepted; next the Planning Board would progress to its Finding Statement on the project. Our Conservation Board (ERC) will again be involved when site and subdivision plans come for approval. No other development plans are under consideration: an unusual calm prevails. Business: The minutes for the 1/6/11 meeting were approved after discussion of the wording used to describe the Cornell Plantations Welcome Center parking lot illumination. Members agreed that "extravaganza" accurately reflects their concern with the spotlights aimed upwards to light up trees recently planted there. Mike assured us the Town would measure the lumens of these lamps when final landscaping was reviewed to make sure they didn't exceed the allowed 1000 lumen limit. Members checked the accuracy of a revised list of their name & address, phone & email, term of office, committees & responsibilities for the Year 2011; Mike will mail this with next month's agenda package. Discussion of our 2011 Work Priorities list made sure we were comfortable with dropping the Natural Heritage Program. Kristine noted that we could still address that business if it came up. The list of nine priorities still seemed long, and James asked if we should drop the deer population issues, since the Town was not likely to do anything to kill or sterilize deer. All agreed that too many deer harmed the health of both deer and their habitat, not to mention their role as road-kill hazards. After some consideration, members agreed that the verbs "monitor," "engage," and "educate" still seemed appropriate for ways the board might address deer overpopulation. Members unanimously agreed to adopt the Priorities list as revised on 1/6/11. Regular Reports and Updates: Environmental Review Committee: no news. Scenic Resources Committee: Two planned meetings had to be cancelled by member illness. A February 7, 2011 meeting was now scheduled to discuss the East Shore Park interpretive view sign and strategy for revising the Planning Department's Scenic Resources Inventory and Analysis report. Mike couldn't say if Sue Ritter would continue with needed revisions of that draft report, now available on the Town's website, or if other staff or an intern might do it. The SRC needs to know how to proceed and to whom they should address their many recommendations for improving the 7/14/10 draft. Tony had a copy of the National Park Service's October 2009 Guide to Developing Outdoor Interpretive Exhibits, which should be useful for the Town's view sign "wayside exhibit" project. R. Fischer Award Committee: James reports that Liz Walker's nomination for the 2010 award was still the only one under consideration. He encouraged members to nominate any others they thought worthy before the deadline of February 28, as it helps to have several candidates for the next year's award. A good report by Tina Wright on the front page of the January 24-30 Tompkins Weekly invites readers to nominate more candidates for the eighth annual award. Tompkins County EMC: Kristine reports that the EMC is restructuring its committees and their responsibilities, making it hard for her to get them to consider publishing a revised guide for home planting without invasives. She vows to keep trying to get the County to issue good recommendations for residents looking to landscape with native species. Sixmile Creek Volunteer Monitors: James notes that the annual Water Quality Monitor Volunteer symposium this year will address monitoring as a way to provide baseline stream health data before gas-well hydrofracking comes to our area. It will be held at the Tompkins County Human Services building on Feb 15th, with a free supper for volunteers at 5:15, and formal presentations to follow till 8 PM. The next Six Mile Creek quarterly volunteer meeting is at Cornell Cooperative Extension on 2/21/11 at 6:15 PM. City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission: no news. As we had no Other Business: we adjourned at 8:21 PM. These draft Minutes written by James Hamilton 2/4/11