HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2015-03-05 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
March 5th 2015—Final Minutes
Members Present: James Hamilton, Eva Hoffman, Valdimir Micic, Mike Roberts, Elizabeth Sanders,
Carrie Simon, Ellie Stewart
Absent:Jon Meigs
Staff: Mike Smith
Guests: none
Persons to be heard: none
Member concerns: none
Chair report: It's great to see everyone and we need to continue recruiting members.
Coordinator report: Coming to the Planning Board is Tompkins County Trust with a new sign proposed at
East Hill Plaza. There is a public hearing for the Sapsucker water replacement tank and the "glamping"
at Firelight Camps at La Tourelle. There is a new sketch plan for the proposed Amabel subdivision on
Five Mile Drive,which includes 28 units with 41 parking spots and a new access road which will have
direct access to Five Mile Drive. The ERC discussed their site visit last year.Topics discussed included
neighborhood concerns about traffic and the lack of sidewalks and bike lanes on Five Mile Drive. The
concerns with the lack of bike lanes relates to the desire to be able to have people commute to
downtown Ithaca especially if there are not enough parking spots. The straight line distance from the
subdivision to downtown Ithaca is not far, but without a bridge over the inlet the distance needed to
commute would be too much and a lack of sidewalk is a safety concern. Though separate issues from
the Amabel site this led to the question of: what is/are the agreements between the Town of Ithaca and
builders regarding walkways? And what can the town require regarding LEED certifications on new
construction?
The Town received the tree inventory grant though no contract has been signed and therefore the
project has not yet moved forward. 25 new tick and Lyme disease signs have been ordered from the NY
Department of Health.
The East Hill Recreation Way is going to be resurfaced between Maple Ave. and Mitchell St. This is a
capital improvement project that will include tree trimming and drainage management. This will be new
asphalt as this trail needs to be surface safe to plow. This led to the discussion of asphalt alternatives
and permeable surfaces and a host of questions (asphalt vs. permeable or are there other systems?). It
was noted they are used in Syracuse and should someone contact them with these questions.
• Which requires more maintenance?
• What are the cost factors?
• Are there freezing issues?
• Where does the water go?
• Do you need to collect and manage the water?
Roof gardens were also mentioned as a means to soak up water so it does not overwhelm the
wastewater treatment plants.
Discussion then moved to the use of the pesticide Imidacloprid for use in the protection of the Hemlock
trees. It is a "nasty" insecticide that must be applied at certain times of the year and you must abide by
the instructions. The professional application includes the placement of tablets that are placed
underground. At this point in time there is no other way to save the trees except for the use of the
insecticide. However,there are biological controls being researched by Mark Whitmore (Cornell Natural
Resources Department). A few insects are showing promise. One of the issues of the application
included the man hours it takes to apply. More environmental concerns brought up by Elizabeth include
do we know long term effects to the birds and insects? Are there better ways to apply it? Mike R. who
is now certified to apply this insecticide added that the hemlock woolly adelgids are acting as a poison
and killing the native spp. as well. "Is death death?"And he emphasized the fact that certain pesticides
cannot just be sold,they must be registered for purchase and application.
Mike S.then reported that the town's parks, maintenance and management has a budget of$20,000
for management of invasive spp. The idea is to use this money to hire a consultant (pest applicator)
from outside of the town to treat invasives. Issues to think about include, currently swallow wart is
considered the main target but we might want to think about other invasive that might need to be
looked at. Which areas of town should the efforts/money focus on?Should areas that have rare and
endangered spp. be prioritized? Is mowing an effecting and inexpensive method to manage swallow
wort? Should we focus on a small area vs. large area? James recommended the East Ithaca Nature
Preserve as it has acres of swallow-wort. It was recommended that we should chooses a good
demonstration project so you can show results and secure money for the subsequent year. Possible
areas that are just being infested? Or maybe just work on keeping the invasives out of places that are
not yet infested. Some of the money for this year should be used to locate a project site. Ellie then
brought up the idea of using volunteers(ex.YES program)to help make the limited funds spread further.
Questions included would an outdoor program especially with kids work; would you need a coordinator;
and would you need a way to compensate the kids?
There is a symposium Saturday April 25t"at SUNY ESF titled "The Future of New York forests at Risk—
Working Toward a Comprehensive Solution" If anyone is interested, let Mike S know,the CB budget
will pick up the cost of registration and mileage.
Minutes: A few minor changes were made to the previous minutes, and approved.
Deer Management: Nothing to discuss at this time
Regular Reports and Updates
Environmental Review Committee: Will be looking at the Amabel proposal and provide comments to the
Planning Board if necessary. Will coordinate by email.
Scenic Resources Committee: (Eva) Wording for the next sign is being worked on and the next meeting
needs to be planned.
Communication Committee: (James)The 2014 Fischer Award:Three nominees include (1)The Six Mile
Creek Water Quality Monitoring Volunteers at CSI (2)the Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Plant and (3)
Sandra Steingraber. It was noted that the wastewater treatment plant is a good nomination and they
have a solid physical impact on the town. The CSI volunteers would receive good publicity if they
received the award. The third nomination, Sandra Steingraber, has done some wonderful work but it
was questioned if her work was focused on the town enough. Again, it was questioned if two awards
can be given. It was then discussed that nominees can be held over for the follow year. A paper vote
was held with CB members listing their order of preference for the award...The Six Mile Creek Water
Quality Monitoring Volunteers at CSI won! James volunteered to draft letter for all of the nominators
thanking them.
Tompkins County EMC: (Vladimir) New maps for Tompkins County UNAs have been created. There is a
NYS association of Environmental Management Councils conference being organized for October 15, 16,
17 2015 by the EMC. There was discussion around the Tompkins County law that would prohibit brine
use on area roads which has been proposed by the Tompkins County legislator Dan Klein. James made a
motion expressing the CB's support of the law, Elizabeth seconded it and all members supported it.
Vladimir said he would email the minutes from the last EMC meeting.
Six Mile Creek Monitors: (James) Sampling will be done on 3/18. CSI had a meeting on 3/4 at the library
and discussed some of the legal issues with the waste water treatment plan in Bath taking fracking
waste water from PA. This led to the question of what can we do in NY post-fracking ban regarding
waste water treatment?
City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission: Nothing to discuss at this time
Cornell Plantations Natural Areas: (James) Weeding has been done around Beebe Lake and that they
have located the European Alder, a new invasive tree that needs to be cut down. Volunteers have been
busy planting their flower seeds from Cascadilla Creek with the hopes of propagating and replanting
them in the spring to stabilize slopes.
Other Business: Sue Ritter will be taking over for Mike S. during the April meeting
Meeting adiourned: 7:32pm
Minutes written by Carrie Simon