HomeMy WebLinkAboutAG Minutes 2023-03-28 Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting
Tuesday,March 28,2023,6:00 pm
In Person at Ithaca Town Hall(Aurora Conference Room) and via Zoom Video Conference
Final Minutes
Members Present: Matthew Stalker(AJ Teeter Farm), Claire Forest(Forest Family Farm), Christianne
White(Steep Hollow Farm). Lisa Ferguson(Laughing Goat Fiber Farm)via Zoom.
Town Representatives: Bill Goodman(Town Board Member),Mike Smith(Senior Planner).
Guests: Crystal Buck(CCE Tompkins Farmland Protection&Ag Marketing Coordinator), Leon
Ginenthal(Der Rosenmeister Nursery).
1. Farmers Round Robin—What's happening on your farm?How is the season going/went?
Issues/concerns?Announcements?
Matt reported a good calving season with a new bull on the Teeter farm and looking forward to
productive hay crop.
Leon reported some plants didn't go dormant due to the warm temps and some began to leaf out
early and a small bug problem as a result. Low prices noted for potting mix at Sanders. Hoop
house is full of propagated material and shipment of wholesale roses is expected soon.
Claire reported her organic raspberry farm growing continues, along with apples and peaches and
hay fields are being utilized. Ash trees unfortunately are being harvested for firewood due to the
beetle destruction.
Christianne reported planning for spring field crops.
Lisa joined in via Zoom later in the meeting and reported a perimeter fencing grant received from
Soil and Water Department for her farm. Tree planting was also included in the grant to help with
soil/pasture improvement. Many goat does are due birth soon and 4-H meetings have resumed for
the 2023 year with potential increased membership. Sheering will begin when it warms up and
her husband will be retiring from his full time job in June and will be home on the farm more. An
open house is planned for May 13th on Laughing Goat Farm.
Leon followed up with a Tree Book recommendation for Lisa and the committee(Tree Crops by
J. Russell Smith). Louis Bromfield was also a tree book author that was recommended.
2.Persons to be heard: Crystal Buck introduced herself as the new Farmland Protection&Ag Marketing
Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension. She lives in West Danby with a small homestead farm and
has a background in Planning with focus on Agriculture. She noted being familiar with the County PDR
program and Ag and Natural resource planning and outreach with local municipalities.
3. Chair(Matthew) and Coordinator(Mike)reports/updates: Mike Smith reported a history note from
the Town Supervisor on a town farm from the year 1753 in the South Hill area. There were inventories of
the farm assets and different summaries of farm production items, shared for general fun historical fact
information.
Mike also reported on the recent Town of Ithaca Planning Board action approving the Site Plan and
Special Permit for phase 1 of The Learning Farm project on Enfield Falls Road. He described the project
proposal consisting of 10 yurts for farm education seasonal lodging, a commercial kitchen for preparation
and processing the items grown as well as children's area for education. Phase 2 will need additional
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approval. Mike also updated that the proposed town solar law amendments are going before the town
board for approval in April. One potential solar developer has expressed interest in applying for a
proposed @33-acre solar project in the near future on Rt. 79. Full project details have not been submitted,
however using sheep to maintain the vegetation was part of the initial plan.
4. Ithaca Town Board(Bill)report/update: Bill reminded the committee that this is his last year as Town
Board member and likely his last meeting as the Ag committee due to being out of town on the next
meeting date in July and the anticipation of having a new liaison town board member for the committee's
November and final meeting of 2023.
He updated the committee of the Town acquisition of a vacant portion of the former Cortright property in
the Inlet Valley area with the intent to work with NYS and Tompkins County for the Black Diamond
Trail continuation. One additional parcel remains in private ownership before the state can make the full
extension of the trail. Economic development in that area is encouraged as well as continued recreational
opportunities and agricultural related businesses.
Bill noted the Town is working on the Environmental Impact Statement for the South Hill TND zoning as
well as the final stages of the revised Telecommunications and Solar Laws. He encouraged the committee
to review the YouTube recordings of the COC meetings with details related to the proposed and the
concerns raised by the public.
The Gayogoh6:nq' and Deyodi:ho:nq'People and Tutelo Park event May 6,2023 was mentioned as being
held at Tutelo Park on Bostwick Road from 11:OOa.m.—3:00 p.m. Leon mentioned his involvement in the
botanic trail and native plantings and trees in the park area.
Westhaven Farm/EcoVillage was noted as possibly purchasing or helping to continue the nearby a-pick
berry farm operations.
5. Approval of minutes—January 315T, 2023.
The January 315T, 2023,minutes were approved as presented. Motion was made and seconded, all
voted in favor of approval.
6. Other Business:
-Recommendation of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2023. Motion was made and seconded that
Matthew remain Chair for 2023 and Christianne remain Vice Chair. All members voted in favor
of approval.
-Approval of the 2023 meeting schedule. Committee members approved the remaining meeting
schedule for 2023. Motion was made and seconded, all members voted in favor of approval.
Christianne stated she reached out to a few current Ag committee members to promote attendance. Some
noted difficult experiences working with town departments and boards hindering their attendance and
participation. Examples were given of potential expansions and projects not moving forward due to
various reasons. She recommended an Ombudsman or similar role to get to the root of the problems and
regain a good relationship between farm businesses and the town boards and permitting departments. All
agreed there are more new and welcoming staff in various departments now as well. One member
suggested a public message could be put out by town leadership that progressive agriculture and
improvements are supported as well as promoting the new agrotourism language in the Town Newsletter
and website. Another suggestion was a continued message in the meeting minutes that notes the
committee will help farmers through the town processes. Bill mentioned that the Codes Directors could
come to a committee meeting if that would be helpful,if the members having problems were able to also
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attend and were comfortable voicing the past issues. He was very supportive of a statement in the Town
Newsletter regarding agriculture. [Note: the Town has designated Mike Smith as the primary contact at
Town Hall for any agriculture related question or concerns, so please contact him with any
questions/guidance/feedback on upcoming projects, ag committee, or general agriculture items.]
Wedemeyer Farms passed the information that they have been busy working on upcoming NYS Special
Olympics equine event and the website information would be shared with Mike.
7. The committee reviewed Goal 1-Promote the availability of locally grown foods and other
agricultural products and related recommendations from the Town's Agriculture and Farmland
Protection Plan. Mike shared the document on the big screen and noted this was 1 of 5 goals and
recommendations from the town plan and would be a good place to begin the review with an additional
goal/recommendation at subsequent meetings. There were columns added for Implementation,
Responsibility and Status/Action for each recommendation within the identified goal.
-Members agreed"fiber" should be added to the list under item 1C-Land based Ag products
available for local consumption. The addition of"nurseries"was also recommended and agreed
upon to add in 1-d after greenhouses.Possibly there will be a need to address/add Cannabis now
as well within this document or wherever appropriate.
The last part of the meeting was discussion of the gap between the public and farmers and how to bridge
it. The PDR program was also briefly discussed and the open pasture space language within, one member
noted that silvopasturing should be encouraged and allowed. Mike noted the easement language has been
modified for the PDR project and does not include the requirement for the pasture to remain open.
8. Adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
• Next meeting 7/25/2023 7:00 p.m.
Minutes were drafted by Planning Admin Staff Abby Homer
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