HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 1-5-06 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
January 5, 2006
Final Meeting Minutes
PRESENT: Melissa Anthony, Diane Conneman, Lenore Durkee, James Hamilton, Eva
Hoffmann, Brent Katzmann, Susan McCutcheon, Jon Meigs, Larry Sallinger
STAFF: Sue Ritter
The meeting was called to order at 7:36PM.
Since the required formal approval of Diane Conneman as Chair has been delayed until
January 9 when the Town Board meets, it was moved by Eva, seconded by Brent, and
unanimously approved that Diane conduct this meeting as temporary "titular" Chair.
Member Concerns: The Board offered its best wishes to Melissa who is expecting a
baby in May. Brent asked Sue if she had any further information on discussions held by
Cathy Valentino and Mayor Peterson concerning sharing of municipal responsibilities,
resources, etc. Sue responded that there is already a degree of sharing (e.g. fire
protection, sewer utilities); other than recreation partnerships and water resources,
nothing further has been proposed that she is aware of.
Chair Report: Diane expressed her interest in inviting speakers who can expand our
knowledge about various topics of interest to the Board. She also described a
preliminary study she has made of Cayuga County dairy farmers. In this rural area,
about ten percent of farm water wells are contaminated, often from septic systems.
Checking populations of milk cows, it appears that the same number of cows is
producing less manure. Also, the amount of manure generated / gallon of milk
produced has declined indicating a greater efficiency in animal nutrition.
Coordinator Report: The public meeting that had been scheduled for December 15th,
inviting concerned citizens to an informal discussion of the proposed Indian Creek
Gorge/Lake Slopes Conservation Zone, was canceled because of bad weather. None
of the invitees has called for additional information. The meeting may be rescheduled
for late January.
Jon asked about: 1) the status of Conifer Village Ithaca Senior Living Community.
Although a negative declaration was made in the State Environmental Quality Review
(SEAR), the Town Board still has some concerns about the site, including view
preservation, and is scheduling a site visit. There will be a public hearing on the re-
zoning request. 2) Namgyal Monastery. The proposal has received both SEAR and
site plan approval. Eva said she understood that the roofs will be yellow, a traditional
color for such construction and wondered what impact this might have on views. The
Planning Board will be given some color samples to examine. 3) Docks on the lake. At
the request of the Planning Board, the COC has begun discussion of the regulations on
dock dimensions in the Lakefront Residential Zone to determine if they should be
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altered. Presently, docks 30' long, 8' wide with a surface area of 300 sq. ft. are allowed.
The Planning Board can allow longer dock lengths in consideration of water depth
variations and boat docking needs, but this can result in exceeding the surface area
limitations, which would need a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Eva said
she voted against a reconsideration of the regulations, as they seem appropriate. She
also argued that it should not be possible for owners of lakeshore property to extend
their "holdings" beyond the shoreline. The negative effect of poor regulations on the
scenic views of the lake could be considerable. Larry suggested checking the dock
regulations of the state of Maine.
4) the Genex facility. Eva said that there appears to be no problem with the planned
10,000 sq. ft. addition to the existing facility on Sheffield Road. Jon felt that the ERC
should look at the site plan.
Business: The minutes were approved as amended. A question arose as to whether
minutes can be called "minutes" when there is no quorum.
James offered a motion nominating Brent as Vice-Chair of the Board. The motion was
seconded by Eva and carried unanimously.
Some shifting of committee assignments followed. Diane will leave the ERC, while
Susan McCutcheon will be added to the Committee. Brent will leave the Scenic
Resources Committee, and James will be added. Lenore will join the Fischer Award
Committee so that the CB by-laws requirement of three persons is fulfilled.
Jon prepared and sent the announcement asking for nominations for the 2005 Fisher
Award to the Ithaca Journal, but it has not yet appeared. It was suggested that the
announcement also be sent to the Ithaca Times.
A work plan for this year was discussed and there is some interest in tree preservation
and wetland ordinances. The latter is complicated by the need for a permitting process,
but there is a real need for protection of non-stream associated wetlands smaller than
the NYS regulated wetland of 12.7 acres. James asked if there was something the
Board could do to promote trail development. Sue said that funding and resources to
accomplish the work are the issues, together with the need to deal with landowners
whose property may overlap with trail routes. Some federal money could become
available, but only when solid plans are made. The "bridge to nowhere" exemplifies
these issues. Mayor Cohen obtained funds to build this bridge even though no
connections to the bridge were ready. The bridge was built so that the funds would not
be lost.
Jon had concerns with the CB promoting trails, arguing that it is a Planning Department
issue and should be initiated by that group. James responded that it could be a CB
issue if we consider that increased trail use by bicyclists or walkers might save gas and
reduce pollution if a good trail system existed.
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Sue pointed out that the element of the Transportation Plan identifying short/long term
planned pedestrian and bicycle facilities would be a good place for the CB to evaluate
and offer comments.
Eva said that we could be on the Commons on Earth Day distributing information on
existing trails in the Town.
Brent pointed out that the City of Ithaca has subscribed to the Kyoto Protocol, and
suggested that there should be some effort by the CB to bring recommendations and
ideas for the regulation of greenhouse gas emission--either by the Town or by private
citizens-- and push generally for the use of renewable resources. Jon said that support
by the municipality would be more effective. Sue mentioned that there would be a
windmill proposal coming from Ithaca College as part of its sustainability initiative.
Sue described the Town's proposed Natural Heritage Preservation Program and said
that it needs to be evaluated before it can be adopted as a policy by the town. The CB
had started looking at the proposal's ranking of parcels of land worthy of protection and
suggested that the CB might want to resume this project.
At the end of this discussion, it was agreed that Diane and Sue would prepare a list of
all these ideas, so that the CB can decide on a plan.
Regular Reports and Updates:
ERC: no report
Scenic Views Committee: It will meet on January 11.
Fischer Committee: Press release has been sent
EMC: Meets next Wednesday
Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring: James reported on the second annual
symposium. Water monitoring results are "spooky". Six samples were examined, but
drought conditions this summer made abundantly evident the need for more sampling.
Quite a bit of salt was detected in the samples, but its origin is uncertain. Perhaps it
comes from road salt, but also possibly from the salt found naturally in the soil here.
There was a presentation on point and non-point pollution sources. Non-point sources
could include septic tanks and even large deer populations. In some places, the water
has a high bacteria count and is not safe for swimming. The water treatment plant is a
point source. Flocculent is used to settle out particles in the water and the excess fluids
from this process are sent to the Creek.
Overall, no reliable evidence of serious pollution has been found.
New volunteers are needed for this year.
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City of Ithaca NAC: The NAC thinks it is important to address visitor control concerns in
the watershed and also to conduct a survey of the SW Park area behind Home Depot to
determine the needs and priorities for this area. The NAC also sees a need to develop
guidelines that public agencies and their contractors can follow when work such as
water plant repair, road construction, or other such activity is contemplated in
environmentally sensitive areas. The NAC would be glad for ideas from the CB on this
subject.
The CB then viewed the "Riparian Forest Buffers" video. Since it will be important to
provide basic information on buffers to the Town Board when the proposal for the
streamside setback ordinance is presented, Sue thought this video would be a useful
tool. CB members agreed that the video was very effective and should be shown to the
Town Board.
As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9.25PM
Lenore Durkee
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