HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2018-03-01 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Meeting
Thursday, March 1st, 2018.
Final Minutes
Members present: Mike Roberts (chair),James Hamilton,Vladimir Micic, Eva Hoffmann,
Ellie Stewart,Jon Meigs, and Lindsay Dombroskie
Staff: Mike Smith (Senior Planner)
Guests: Group of students from Ithaca High School government participation class
1. Persons to be heard: None
2. Member Concerns:
a. Eva relayed that Spectrum TV is trying to shut down WSKG radio station.
i. Ellie asked why considering WSKG doesn't charging Spectrum.
Spectrum didn't renew PBS and are targeting WSKG.
ii. Mike R. suggested that Tom Reid is planning to have a town hall
meeting in Ithaca, complaints could be lodged then.
b. James asked if we could change the status of members who are continually
absent. E.g. Carry hasn't attended a meeting in over a year.
i. Eva supports asking such members if they want to step down.
Associate members are still expected to attend regular meetings and
make contributions to the board.
3. Chair and Coordinator Report:
a. Chair- Mike R. requested higher response rate to his emails from the current
members.
b. Mike S: Amabel development is going through the approval process again.
The previous approval has expired. No changes are proposed.
i. Ellie mentioned she did not like the design,but supports a clustered
development. Such developments are usually more energy efficient.
ii. Eva said it will need to have a bridge across the inlet to justify some of
the statements they made in promotional material about the walking
accessibility of the development.
-Ellie explained it was in the plans and that old octopus is only
1 min driving distance away from the development.
c. Mike S. also mentioned a 2 lot subdivision on Trumansburg Road and that he
will send that proposal out to the members,when he gets a revised map.
4. Minutes: February 2018 meeting minutes were approved with minor edits. James
moved to approve, Ellie seconded.
S. Finalizing CB Work Goals: Review goal assignments. Have comments back to Mike R.
in a few weeks. Propose action items please.
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6. Discussion of 2017 Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award
Nominations
a. Tony Ingraham &Liz Bauman VS. Mark Whitmore. Information on each party
was presented, discussion of the best nominee ensued.
i. Eva moved to vote on Tony Ingraham &Liz Bauman as the recipients,
Ellie seconded the motion. They obtained majority support.James
voted for Mark Whitmore.
7. Discussion of Earth Day Activity/ Table
a. Communications Committee tasked with examining possibilities. Current
thoughts include:
i. A pest management component
ii. Sustainable Tompkins might be hosting an event we could join
iii. Could table at the Farmer's Market
iv. Host our own event (in the future) or collaborate to give back to the
community
8. Regular Report and Updates
a. ERC- Had a meeting. In the process of formalizing the framework for
reviewing proposals. ERC has reading to do (e.g. Town of Ithaca
Comprehensive Plan).
b. SRC- Had a meeting (Eva and James, and Jon in future).A draft of the
proposed sign will be distributed in the future.
c. CC- No update.
d. Tomkins County EMC- No representative at last EMC meeting. The EMC
Outreach Committee is hosting an information session March 151h, 5-7 pm @
Tompkins County Public Library, BorgWarner Room.
e. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program- Pushing to identify the last
BMI samples from 2017.An event will occur this weekend at 1603 Slaterville
Rd.to help process samples.
f. Cornell Botanic Gardens- Monitoring for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on
Cornell properties. Finger Lakes PRISM is running an HWA iMapinvasives
training on Fall Creek near Flat Rock later in March.
g. Deer Management Committee- no update; next meeting is March 201h.
i. Mike S. made a large deer collision map for the Deer Committee
ii. Mike R. relays Coy Glen area is under Cornell-based deer
management, and the Babcock parcel could be included as well if the
town was interested (with funding or other mutualism).Also,the Paul
Curtis deer study is not continuing.
9. Other Business:
a. Town of Ithaca representative for new City of Ithaca committee(s)?Jon &
Elizabeth interested and could reach out to City Clerk.
b. EMC update event on March 151h. Ellie, Eva, and Lindsay will tentatively
attend.
Mike R. moves to adjourn and Lindsay seconds; meeting closes at 7:06pm.
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