HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2002-06-06 TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD
June 6, 2002
FINAL Meeting Minutes
Present: Clifford Blizard(Chair), Diane Conneman, Lenore Durkee, Eva Hoffmann, Conrad
Istock, Barney Unsworth, Don Weir(who brought cookies).
Absent: Richard Fischer, Jon Meigs, John Yntema, Elissa Wolfson
Staff: Susan Ritter
The meeting was called to order at 7:33PM. The Committee members were introduced to David
Jones, a Lansing High School student who is attending this meeting as part of an assignment for
a government class.
1. Chair reports: At Clifford's request, the Committee's draft of the Water Resources Protection
Ordinance was sent to some members of the Six-Mile Creek Partnership for their perusal and
with the expectation that they would give the CB some feedback on the draft. Their comments
have been received and will be included as part of the discussion for the next meeting of the
Ordinance subcommittee. The Partnership discussed using this draft as part of an effort to
develop a buffer ordinance for the City. Don suggested the possibility for City involvement in
the WRPO as plans proceed for addressing the erosion problems in Fall Creek and the general
need for improvement of the Cayuga Lake waterfront. Clifford will discuss this with Roy
Johnson and other interested persons. The CB thanks the Partnership for their thoughtful
comments.
Clifford also received the final version of the environmental impact statement for Cornell's
animal waste disposal plan using alkaline hydrolysis. Again, there was some heated discussion
about this plan and the way in which its impact on lake water quality is being measured. Conrad
noted that CU now admits that the amount of P (phosphorus) entering the lake will go up
significantly over time. He also reminded the CB that CU's favorable comparison of its facility
to a similar hydrolysis operation in Florida is faulty because in the Florida facility the effluent
enters the aquifer(not the ocean, editing correction provided by Paul Jennette, Cornell Biosafety
Engineer), whereas here the effluent will be entering a fairly finite body of water--Cayuga Lake.
Discussion then centered on the ability of the present wastewater treatment plant to handle the
increased load of material from the CU facility. CU argues that the proposed tertiary treatment
facility will improve the IAWWTF1s capacity to handle the increase. However, tertiary
treatment is not available at the moment and the question now is how long the present set-up at
the IAWWTF can function effectively when the CU facility is in operation.
The CB continues to be concerned that the animal waste disposal plan (as well as the LSC
project) could adversely affect the Lake and also has the potential to negate efforts towards
waterfront revitalization. Because of these concerns, it has been proposed that Mary Russell visit
with members of the CB about the situation. Sue will make arrangements for such a meeting
and notify the CB with details.
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2. At this point, the CB departed from its published agenda to welcome Dr. Steven Penningroth,
Director of the Community Science Institute. Its mission is to train volunteer groups in the
proper techniques of data collecting in watershed monitoring activities so that such data can be
accepted with confidence and incorporated into the general pool of information used by public
and private agencies. He described the range of activities supported by the CSI and received
questions from the members.
3. Coordinator report: Sue mentioned a number of items including: 1) a public meeting to be
held on June 20 to consider the development of the so-called "Pew Trail", which actually is an
extension of the East Ithaca Recreationway; 2) a re-evaluation of the proposed new conservation
zone within and adjacent to an area known as the Eldridge Preserve; 3)the decision by CU to
reduce the size of its proposed playing fields so as to preserve the hawthorn forest.
4. The Draft Minutes of the May 6, 2002 meeting were approved.
5. CB Committees and Reports:
EMC: Don Weir reported on the meeting of 5-8-02 including the following points: 1) that
the EMC favors a needs assessment for detailed studies of the aquifers in the County as proposed
by the USGS and urges the County Board of Representatives (BOR) to support this assessment
by providing the necessary funding; 2) that plans continue for replacing the current pager system
for countywide emergency services. This is being done separately from the plans for the
communications system, but efforts are being made to utilize the same towers or at least co-
locate towers to reduce expense and environmental impact. It is hoped that the new pager
system will be in operation in July 2003; 3) County airport workers removed 295 trees and
topped 45 which were viewed as obstructions to the safe operation of the airport. This was done
without a final review by the County. Accordingly, the EMC will examine the site and draft a
letter to the airport administration.
Conservation Zones: Sue reported to the CB that at the end of this month a meeting will be
held with Ithaca College representatives to consider the proposal for a new boundary for the
South Hill Conservation Zone. Clifford suggested that an ad hoc CB committee should be
formed to consider future planning for conservation zones by examining maps and visiting
possible candidate sites. Such a committee would work to develop preliminary ideas in time for
the August CB meeting. The motion to form such a committee was made by Clifford and
seconded by Don Weir. Sue alerted the members to the possibility that an area near the southern
tip of the Indian Creek Gorge and Lake Slopes UNA may be at risk for development. Such a site
could be a good candidate for the ad hoc committee's research.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Lenore Durkee, Acting Secretary
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