Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2014-01-06 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB)Meeting January 16,2014, 5:30 p.m. Final Minutes Members present: Andy Goodell, James Hamilton - Vice Chairperson, Eva Hoffmann, Jon Meigs, Vladimir Micic, Kristine Shaw and Ellie Stewart- Chairperson Staff. Mike Smith, Environmental Planner Guests: Mike Roberts, who is applying for a membership on the CB, and Carrie Simon,who is also interested in joining the board. Both have studied in the department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. Five local students also attended. 1. Persons to be heard: None 2. Members' Concerns: Kristine announced that she is moving from the Town of Ithaca to the City,but she would like to stay on the board as a non-voting Associate Member. Andy also announced that he will be moving away from Ithaca to the State of Oregon soon. This may be the last meeting he can attend. 3. Chairperson and Coordinator Reports: Chairperson: No report. Coordinator: Mike passed around a sheet for members to sign up for meeting dates when they will be able to record the minutes. He also provided copies of the Town Newsletter to anyone who wanted them. He reported on Planning Board(PB) activities. On Jan 21 the PB will consider four two-lot subdivisions. In February it will consider site plan approval of a solar array for Ecovillage III. The Town Board(TB)will hear about the Amabel project proposal,with 27 clustered residential units, which needs a change from low to medium density residential zoning. It is proposed for land to the west of the Black Diamond trail. 4. Business: The minutes of the December 5, 2013 CB meeting were considered. James and Vladimir made corrections. James wants to have resolutions appear as part of the minutes document(not as attachments) so they can more easily be found and read on the Town's website. The minutes were approved as amended. 5. Discussion of Work Goals and Committee Assignments for 2014. Mike handed out a list of CB accomplishments for 2013. He also gave us a list of work goals for the coming year and one with suggested committee assignments, with the names of retiring members removed. Vladimir asked if we would like to have the board encourage more public participation in our work. The members responded positively and Vladimir said he would come up with some wording. Ellie asked whether, since we have finished The Coy Glen Conservation Zone,we would still like to leave conservation zones on the work list in order to add more areas which would need this kind of zoning protection. Kristine would like to remain on the Communications Committee. Since Andy and Tony Ingraham, last year's Chairpersons for the Environmental Review Committee and the Scenic Resources Committee are retiring from the board, Vladimir and Eva volunteered to chair those committees. A number of changes were made to the CB 2014 Work Goals list. Mike will prepare a new list and send it out to CB members for another meeting. Eva shared information from the Codes and Ordinances Committee's (COC) 2014 list of work priorities. Some items, C such as Tree Preservation Regulations, are of interest to the CB and some originated as requests from the CB. She pointed out that it often takes quite a long time for suggested regulations to move along through the COC, then to various other boards for comments and finally to the Town Board for more comments and enactment into final laws and regulations. 6. Continue discussion of deer management efforts in Tompkins County. Mike mentioned a project that he and Rich Schoch have discussed involving putting up"deer exclosures"in Town parks and along trails. They would be built to keep deer from browsing on young tender plants,which don't have a chance against the animals without protection. Rich would identify areas and individual trees which would benefit from being enclosed. The CB could help install the "exclosures" and check on them over time. The CB could also provide educational materials about the project. The right fence height is very important. James mentioned that although hunting with guns and bows and arrows in your backyard may not be allowed, trapping and knifing deer is allowed. He is in the process of getting a license for that kind of hunting. Eva mentioned a recent program sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension,where she heard that Lansing has a successful program using bow and arrow hunting on large parcels of land owned by people who allow such hunting there. The deer herd has been reduced. There was discussion about whether the Town could identify Town residents with similarly large properties, who would be willing to allow hunting there. There was mention of new hunting rules which allow deer hunting until the end of January. 7. Regular Reports and Updates. Environmental Review Committee (Andy): No report. Scenic Resources Committee: No report. Communications Committee (James): James mentioned the Finger Lakes Native Plant Society (FLNPS) as a good candidate for the Fischer Award. This organization was suggested by Sarah McNaul, who has been helpful to the Town by printing the tags for our Fischer Award trees. James suggested that we learn more about FLNPS and their newsletter Solidago,by going to their Web site http://flnps.org/ . Mike also suggested several other possible candidates including Finger Lakes Land Trust, Finger Lakes Trail Conference, Community Science Institute,Nature Conservancy for the recent work at the Eldridge Preserve. Tompkins Counter(Vladimir): No report. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James): James stated that the creek water was sampled yesterday for chemical analysis. City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission (Jon): No report. Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Academy (James): No report. Community Energy Action Plan Advisory Committee (Andy): Their meeting was cancelled. Other Business: Eva passed around an announcement about the Glacier Lecture Series at PRI and the Cayuga Nature Center(CNC). The next lecture is on Jan 26 at the CNC and will be a presentation by Dan Karig called"The deglaciation of the Ithaca area: An outrageous new model based on recent field data". 9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 PM. Respectfully submitted by Eva Hoffmann 2