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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2016-02-04 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board February 4,2016 5:30 p.m. Final minutes Members present: James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann,Jon Meigs, Vladimir Micic, Mike Roberts, Elizabeth Sanders, Carrie (& Eliah) Simon, Ellie Stewart, Will VanDyke Staff: Mike Smith Guest: Bill Chaisson,journalist Paulette Terwilliger, our Town Clerk, swore in members whose new terms were starting. 1. Persons to be heard: none 2. Members' concerns: Mr. Chiasson was welcomed, and invited to participate and to ask any questions that might occur to him.James noted that his "regular reports" as recorded in the December and January draft minutes, had not been accurately minuted. He had failed to provide Eva and Mike, who wrote those minutes, with a copy of his notes for those reports, as we've agreed may be necessary when the reports are as technical and detailed as his often are. He'll provide Mike Smith with revisions via email to correct the inaccuracies. He also wondered where the November minutes were;Vlad promised to have them soon. Ellie was concerned that Cornell's new president was acting regressively on Cornell's Carbon Neutral policy. With Cornell's recent trustee decision not to follow student requests that the University divest from fossil fuel investments, it looks like Cornell is moving in the wrong direction. Given this bad development, the Town will need to work even harder to promote social and ecological justice.The Town's Comprehensive Plan needs action if any of its intent to curb global warming is to become practically effective. Mike Roberts noted that Cornell Plantations has a sustainability plan soon to be published;we need to be ready to address this when it comes out. 3. Chair and Coordinator Reports: Chair: Ellie was very happy to welcome Will VanDyke officially as a new member, noting that he has valiantly attended so many meetings already. Coordinator: Mike Smith passed out the new year's Member List to be sure that it was accurate. He reminded us of a recent email directing us to a Tompkins County housing survey, which members ought to take online.The Planning Board would soon address a Coddington Rd subdivision, and a cell phone antenna Verizon wants to put on the roof of Country Inn &Suites on Danby Rd.The GEIS on the Chainworks project would be soon under consideration.The ERC will soon be considering a proposed demolition and replacement of the Maplewood Apartments between Maple Ave and Mitchell St with a much larger and denser housing development.The Town Budget Committee has scheduled a time to consider changing the minimum water bill from 10,000 to 5,000 gallons per quarter. Members wonder if large families would get a break. Mike R believes this change should be welcome, but hopes we'll reach out to the public to promote conservation. Mike S reported that Tompkins County received a grant for an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, looking to see how five electric car charging locations might be engineered in our county. 4. Minutes for the December and January meetings were approved with some editing, including some technical revisions to his "Regular Reports"that James would email to Mike S soon.James' suggestion that the CB's proposed Deer Management resolution that he wrote as requested in last November's 1 meeting, which had no quorum though all members approved of it in December, should be appended to that month's minutes, were also approved. 5.The draft of CB's 2015 Accomplishments that Mike composed for us was approved with satisfaction! The draft 2016 Work Goals, as presented, did not include the idea of light pollution that Elizabeth had brought up last month. A discussion of the problem, including parking lot lighting, night safety, different colors of lamps, the inappropriate tree-lamps that had to be removed from the new Plantations Welcome Center parking lot, and the bright blue decorative lighting on the new Stocking Hall ice cream lab, eventually led to our adding another goal: "Make sure the Town's light code is sufficient, and enforced." 6.The Deer Management strategic plans were to be presented at 4:30 PM in this same Town Hall Aurora conference room at the Town Board's Study Session on Monday, February 22nd. Mike Roberts, Ellie and Eva plan to attend. Mike S will provide appropriate study material, including our 2014 White Paper, "DEER IN ITHACA:An updated review of science and a call to action," and other convincing scientific literature. Mike S wants to be sure that our members can focus the study session on how crucially important deer management is to preserving our natural resources, as overbrowsing is ruining our open spaces, not just harming gardens and landscape plants, causing Lyme disease and traffic accidents. 7.The discussion of invasive species control and educational material had us wondering if goats could adequately control the invasives in our area. Swallow-wort, in particular, may be toxic to goats, though they ought to be able to eat Japanese knotweed.The use of goats to manage an invasive reed grass, Phragmites, might work in some locations, but doesn't mean goats can cope with other woody invasives. Vlad mentioned two goat farmers who could be interested in bringing their animals in portable enclosures to browse on pests in the Town, if pests can be found that are both good for the goats and reasonably well managed by such browsing. Elizabeth would rather have goats than lawnmowers, but can goats eat swallow-wort like that infesting the East Hill Nature Preserve?The various brochures Mike S sent via email recently were passed around as colored printouts; all agreed that some such information should be provided to town residents.James agreed to send Vlad a short list of local invasive pests such as privet, honeysuckle, multiflora rose, buckthorn, barberry, bittersweet, knotweed and swallow wort so they could be posted on our CB facebook page. 8. Regular Reports and Updates: Environmental Review Committee: Ellie reported no meeting lately, but the Maplewood Apartment project would need their attention soon. Scenic Resources Committee: Eva showed the latest, nearly final draft of a view sign for the Danby Rd pulloff for member feedback. Ellie noted that the indication for the Black Diamond Trail wasn't accurate. Recent revision of the "You are here" arrow was approved. Some small text spacing problems still need fixing, and a compass rose relocated, but soon the next stages of getting the sign fabricated and installed need to be addressed.This will be more complicated than at East Shore Park, as that view sign went on Town Park property, while the new sign is intended for a place managed by the state DOT and may be on Longview's property. Mike S cautioned that the fabrication phase should wait to be sure the Town will be allowed to place and maintain the sign on the intended site. Communications Committee: Elizabeth brought up her continued concern that the Town Newsletter is not reaching enough residents in its present electronic format. Not enough Ithacans are getting either 2 the printed or online versions. Mike S reminded us that the Fisher Award needs to be decided by next month's meeting, as the last date for nominations is February 28. Eva recently asked via email that we consider:the Cayuga Nature Center's Summer Camp;the Trout in the Classroom project done by a partnership between Trout Unlimited and the Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom; and Get Your Greenback Tompkins.James particularly likes the CNC's Summer Camp, and thinks the Nature Center's 2013 merger with PRI has been a great improvement and worth promoting. Members were advised to consider these and any other nominations for the Fisher Award, which will need to be decided next month. Tompkins County EMC:Vlad has been away for a while, but reported from a December meeting that Ed Gottlieb, from the Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal, and who works at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility, reported they were keeping old medication out of Cayuga Lake by offering medical disposal drop boxes at all police stations.The current EMC chair, Steve Nichols, agreed to continue as chairman. An enlarged Salmon Creek Unique Natural Area was approved: it is 182% larger than the previous one. Sixmile Creek Volunteer Monitors:James reported that volunteers had held their annual meeting January 14th, and decided when to take 5 water samples for chemical and biological analysis this year. The four BMI teams would again sample in their usual locations at the end of the summer.The one summer creek BMI sample from last year was just this evening getting analyzed at the Community Science Institute's Thursday Night at the Lab by at least three volunteers and the lab's BMI specialist. City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission:Jon reported no news. Cornell Plantations Natural Areas:James explained that volunteers had helped check the hemlocks along Cascadilla Creek between just below the Law school upstream to the tennis courts for Hemlock Wooly Adelgids (HWA).Trees at the downstream site, not yet treated, show considerable HWA infestation, though the trees upstream, many having been injected with imidicloprid six years ago, still showed almost no HWA. It seems the injection treatment, however expensive and difficult, does indeed preserve high-value trees like these along a much-travelled path in the creek gorge. 9. Other Business: none proposed, as we were running late. 10. March Agenda: Fisher Award; Deer study session follow-up; Elizabeth will contact Tom Whitlow about goats eating invasives. We adjourned at 7:46 pm These draft minutes written by James Hamilton 2/5/2016 3