HomeMy WebLinkAboutAG Minutes 2017-01-31 Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting
January 31, 2017, 6:00 pm
Final Minutes
Members Present: Debbie Teeter (Chair), Lisa Ferguson, Christianne White
Town Representatives: Mike Smith (Senior Planner), Bill Goodman (Town Supervisor)
1. Persons to be heard/Member announcements: Debbie mentioned that Groton High School
will hold classes in agriculture this fall, 2017. There are requests for ag programming statewide.
There is ag certification for teachers in training at Ithaca College, and a teacher at Groton is
pursuing the certification. There is a steering committee of 20 people guiding the certification
process. Cornell no longer has an ag teacher certification program. IC produces about 4
certifications/year. There are dozens of classes in the curriculum that can be taught.
Future Farmers of America, FFA, holds a national annual convention attended by 55,000 kids.
Lisa Ferguson, Laughing Goat Farm, this year has about 65 goats, 8 alpacas, 1 sheep, 27 does
are pregnant and she has a good market for the little ones. The largest herd she had was 100
but it was hard to keep them over the winter. Marie Roenke came to shear; she has about 80
Jacob sheep, also Finn ewes. Lisa has a new barn this year, which will provide not only shelter
for animals but place to store fleeces when the animals come in off pasture, and loft storage for
the hay used during winter, which can be conveniently thrown down to the animals. The interior
temperature of the barn is at least ten degrees warmer than the outside. The barn builder was
Nate Bishop of Bishop Landscaping. Alternatives Federal Credit Union was very supportive of
the investment and helped keep contractors in line. They were encouraged to apply for a
Historic Ithaca award because they used old barn recycled materials.
Switzer's in Trumansburg sell and stock square bales. Cody and his father.
2. Chair and Coordinator report: none
3. Ithaca Town Board report: Bill mentioned that the Town will be having a little event to kick off
the successful Community Garden near the Linderman Creek Development.
The Town had been purchasing a share from a CSA as a perk for Town employees, but now
they can't locate a CSA in Town of Ithaca for this coming year.
A consultant has been chosen for the Inlet Valley Corridor economic planning project. They did
some work for Saratoga Springs and is led by a Cornell grad from Boston. Scott Doyle from
County Planning said there might be funding to decrease the sediment load going into Cayuga
Lake; perhaps supporting work in the inlet of the Inlet Valley? The Black Diamond Trail plans to
connect Buttermilk and Treman State Parks. They will be looking at economic development and
how to boost agritourism. It will be a six month process, with one or two large meetings and
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smaller meetings with engaged stakeholders. It was mentioned that Eddydale is aware that
there's an untapped market for prepared food...many people come in asking about food, but
they don't want to install a kitchen.
The Suwinski's worked with Finger Lakes Land Trust for a conservation easement on their
property (470 acres). The Town would like to be supportive of conservation, eg West Hill
Wildway. We like to create connected properties under conservation easements. There is
some kind of Cornell easement on the Babcock property in Coy Glen. They would like to create
a trail through West Hill. Andy Zepp at the Land Trust has been talking to the Town.
The Town's sign law is still underway and will be adopted in the next month or two. They
wanted to consider the difference between murals and signs and how the law would affect
planned development zones. (Would be beneficial to consult with the consultant hired for Inlet
Valley before finalizing the law)
The Town has just redone their solar law to accommodate larger systems. Dan Mitchell may do
a large solar array for Ithaca Beer.
John Gaunt of GreenTree has bought 2 parcels from lacovelli's for his biochar and retail
venture.
4. Approval of minutes: Approval of minutes of July 26, 2016 and November 29, 2016
Motion to approve by Debbie Teeter, seconded by Christianne McMillan White, approved.
5. Prioritization of Ag Plan recommendations: Maybe try a sub-committee in the future to
discuss the Ag Plan recommendations?
6. Ideas for future quest speakers: Erica Frenay offers a holistic planning class for farms that the
Ferguson's found very helpful.
If anyone can suggest potential speakers, it would be helpful. Debbie will contact Matt LeRoux
who has a good presentation about a marketing calculator that was developed with
Groundswell. How can a farm put its efforts into its most lucrative products?
7: Regular reports and updates: Debbie Teeter brings to our attention an agriculinary event on
February 7 at LaTourelle.
Debbie also wants farmers to know about an interesting resource. Nationwide Insurance, in
cooperation with Farm Bureau, will do free farm succession planning that is quite involved.
After conferring with an individual client they send all the info to their team of lawyers and
accountants who make recommendations about forms of ownership and estate preparation that
could be beneficial, guided by the goals of the farm owners. This service is open to non-
Nationwide clients, and is not related to sale of Nationwide products.
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The Tompkins County Ag Summit will be held in early March, everyone encouraged to attend.
New TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load regulations will be discussed. There will also be a
presentation about the industrial scale solar farms. There is a Farm Service Agency (FSA)
program on grazing that may be of interest. Mike mentioned that the Town will pay the
registration fee for any Ag Committee member.
AgStravaganza (April 1 st) will be moving to the commons from its previous location at the mall.
Apple Harvest weekend drew record crowds and the new Wizarding weekend was very popular.
8. Other business: Dryden has twelve horse farms. The equine operations are exploding over
there. There are now 2 tack shops, and a woman who makes saddles. There's a saddle maker
in Enfield and a woman in Trumansburg who makes cinches. The Town of Ithaca is centrally
located and a good place for ag suppliers to be located.
9. Admiourn: 7:37 pm
Minutes drafted by Christianne McMillan White