HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2012-06-07 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
7:00 p.m.,June 7, 2012
Final Minutes
Members present: James Hamilton, Vladimir Micic, Andy Goodell, Susan Perri, Diane Conneman,Jon
Meigs, Nirav Patel, Kristine Shaw.
Members Absent:Tony Ingraham, Eva Hoffmann, Ellie Stewart, Aaron Donato.
Staff: Mike Smith
James Hamilton called the meeting to order and presided as Kristine Shaw had an early evening work
commitment.
Member Concerns: Susan thanked James for the great Fischer Award Presentation and tree planting;
everyone agreed that it was another fine job.
Diane asked about bike programs in Ithaca like she saw in Dublin. Andy and James said Cornell has a Big
Red bike program and Ithaca College is hoping to start a Bomber Bike program.
Chair and Coordinator Reports: Mike reviewed upcoming Planning Board projects:
- Public Works storage building expansions.
- A new farmer's market at the old Courtside site on Pine Tree Road.
- Sketch plan for Cornell Garage Fleet consolidation on Palm Road.
- Sketch plan for a craft workshop and sales facility at Eco Village.
- In July, location of Green Tree Garden Center at the old Ithaca Beer site.
Minutes: May minutes will be available at the next meeting.
Invasive Species on Town Properties: Nirav reported that someone has been pulling garlic mustard and
leaving it in piles along the East Hill Recreation Way. James explained that this is not helpful as the
siliques (seed pods)would dry on the hot pavement, explode and spread seeds to continue the weed
population. Diane volunteered to contact Rich Schoch about educational signs on how to handle this
invasive. She will also ask if groups of youth could help remove invasives.
Draft Conservation Zone Timber Harvesting Notification: Vladimir's work was appreciated. In the
discussion that followed more changes were suggested. The card should be less "scary'with a
salutation to landowners rather than residents. Additional facts such as what is allowed should be
included. If not possible to include on the information on a card, a summary can be posted on the
Conservation Board web site. Communication Committee members will continue to work on the card
and will include all members on the email exchanges. James volunteered Kristine to pull out the facts
from the new CZ ordinance.
Draft CB Facebook page: Susan reviewed her work on the Facebook page. It was agreed information on
the Fischer award and Tree harvesting should be included. Mike advised that a letter be sent to the
Town Board to explain the intent of the page, how it operates and the benefits to the Town. A strategy
would be to ask the town for their preference on the administration of the page since there is limited
staff time for this effort.
Reports:
• ERC—Nirav is hoping to schedule a meeting.
• SRC—Tony is seeking further sign bids because with shipping the one on hand is over budget.
• Communications—The committee has worked via email on the Conservation Zone Tree
Harvesting notification and wants to assemble a Town webpage on Cayuga Compost's Fischer
Award. Pictures are needed in jpg format with resolution of 100 to 700 kb.
• Coy Glen—A field trip was canceled due to bad weather but will be rescheduled soon. A
meeting is scheduled for June 20 to continue work on the draft report. A concern is that plant
species are not well documented in the UNA's. Kristine volunteered to bring this to the EMC's
UNA committee.
• EMC—Kristine shared the draft proposed county law on stopping the spread of invasive aquatic
plants. Suggestions for changes should be submitted to Kristine within two weeks. Kristine also
shared a copy of the new DEC list of invasive plants.
• Six Mile Creek-James reported that monitors are taking samples at 9 specific sites to establish
"gas well baseline" data. The second sample of the season was taken May 291"when the creek
was near a record low—an ideal time to find problems.
• Natural Areas—no report
• Comprehensive Plan—Diane reported the Comp Plan will be posted by mid-June on the town
web site and a public meeting reviewing the plan will be held on June 28. All were urged to
attend.
• Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Academy—James reported he along with the Stewardship
Crew and student interns looked for Wooly Adelgid at several locations. Where Hemlocks have
been inoculated with Imidicloprid, they seem to be surviving well. James and his wife have
adopted Park Park and are working diligently to remove garlic mustard. Mark Whitmore is
trying a biological control on wooly adelgid in a test area in Lansing.
The July meeting will be canceled due to the July 4 holiday. The next meeting will be August 2. Work on
projects will continue via email.
Diane Conneman
Notetaker