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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Packet 2024-01-04 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.town.ithaca.ny.us TO: CONSERVATION BOARD MEMBERS FROM: MICHAEL SMITH, SENIOR PLANNER DATE: DECEMBER 21, 2023 SUBJECT: UPCOMING CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING – JANUARY 4, 2024 This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Conservation Board (CB) is Thursday, January 4th at 5:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is enclosed (see the back of this memo). The draft minutes from the December 7th meeting are attached. Please email me any spelling, grammatical, or other minor edits you have prior to the meeting. At this meeting, we will continue the conversation on indigenous environmental justice with Mike R. We will also continue the conversation regarding the CB assisting with deer browse monitoring as part of the Town’s Deer Management Program. Lori and James were going to research two of the browse monitoring methods and bring back additional details for the CB to consider. At this meeting we will also take some time to discuss the CB’s activities and accomplishments from 2023, the 2024 work goals, and the 2024 committee assignments. Please review these attached draft documents for additions or modifications. As a reminder to everyone, please start thinking about nomination ideas for the next Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award. The deadline is February 28, 2024. Also, please remember that we have a new nomination form that can be used this year (https://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Richard-Fischer- Award-Nomination-Form-July-2023.pdf). Frank is signed up to take minutes at the January meeting. If you have any questions prior to the meeting or are not able to attend, please contact me at msmith@town.ithaca.ny.us or 607-273-1747. Conservation Board Members and Associates (*) Lori Brewer (Chair), Frank Cantone (Vice-Chair), Lindsay Dombroskie*, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Michael Roberts, Ingrid Zabel ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD 5:30 p.m., Thursday, January 4, 2024 ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Aurora Conference Room 215 N. Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (The rear entrance is handicapped accessible) (607) 273-1747 Members of the public are welcome to attend in-person at Town Hall or virtually via Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/6750593272). AGENDA 1. Persons to be heard (5:30 pm) 2. Members comments / concerns 3. Environmental Review Committee Update (Lori) 4. Chair and Coordinator reports 5. Approval of minutes from December 7, 2023 6. Continue discussion of Indigenous Environmental Justice (Mike) 7. Town’s Deer Management Program – continue browse monitoring discussion 8. Discussion of: - Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Activities & Accomplishments for 2023 - Conservation Board 2024 Work Goals - Conservation Board Committees 2024 9. Regular reports and updates (6:30 pm) a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva) b. Communications Committee (James) c. Tompkins County EMC (Ingrid) d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) 10. Other Business (6:50 p.m.) 11. Review 2024 Work Goals / Discuss February Agenda 12. Adjourn (7:00 p.m.) 1 Town of Ithaca Conservaon Board (CB) Meeng December 7, 2023, 5:30 p.m. (In-Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Dra Minutes Members present: Lori Brewer (Chairperson), Frank Cantone, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Michael Roberts, Ingrid Zabel. Staff: Michael Smith, Senior Planner 1. Persons to be heard (5:30 pm) (none) 2. Members comments / concerns (none) 3. Environmental Review Commiee Update (Lori) a. There isn’t anything that is currently being reviewed. b. Eva – the self-storage facility looks as though some grading work has been done. There is quite a lot of fill that has taken place. c. Lori – That work is outside the area where the self-storage facility is being proposed. d. Lori – Just so folks here have a frame of reference, we have reviewed roughly the same number of projects this year as last. 4. Chair and Coordinator reports a. The Chair has nothing to report on this month. b. Coordinator – Mike S. has an update on the grants that the Town applied for the purchase of lands (off South King Rd). 1. The proposal to the NYS Parks was unfortunately denied 2. Park Foundaon ($50K) did come through. 3. Babcock Preserve – The RFP had been released and four proposals have been received. Their review will take place shortly. a. 2024 design phase b. 2025 construcon phase c. Spend checks for Conservaon Board Members will be cut around the first of the year. d. The Town Board will be looking at the deer program applicaon for the Deer Damage Permit for 2024. There will be nine locaons for baing and shoong total. i. Three bait locaons around Coy Glen ii. Six throughout 6 Mile Creek iii. One Member asked how the bait locaons on Town property are marked for safety, since they are open to the public. 1. Mike – parcipants cannot use the sites during the day (limited to one our before sunset to one hour aer sunrise). So their use is out of phase with non-parcipants. 2. There is some signage placed around areas being used. 5. Approval of minutes from October 5, 2023 and November 2, 2023 a. James – Moves to approve; Ingrid seconded; all others are in favor. They’ve been adopted as wrien. 2 6. Connue discussion of Indigenous Environmental Jusce (Mike) a. Mike R and Steven Henhawk would like to be able to make recordings to link to from the plant labels using a QR code. Mike R asked if the Town has audio recording equipment? i. No, but Mike S reports that they have had prey good results using a laptop in a quiet room to gather the audio for another project. b. Anyone here have experience on audio producon? i. Recommendaons from members include: 1. Audacity – soware 2. Lori has a connecon to a video producon professional. Anne Michel. She used to work at IC and may have access to equipment. 3. Eva – Deborah Horde, has done a lot of work with a local film maker, and may have equipment to use. 4. The History Center might also have equipment and or funding to help support this. 7. Town’s Deer Management Program; a connuaon of the browse monitoring discussion a. Mike S had sent out a link to the study that compared four methodologies for measuring deer browse pressure/ecological indicators of overabundant deer. b. James – Many of the study methods that were described in the paper use a fence, with plots inside and plots outside of it, differenal browse rates across the fence can make for rich comparisons. i. Member – Where would we locate such a plot and fence area? Would we look for an area that was “hit” badly? ii. Ingrid – Would we really go back to take measurements mulple mes a year? c. Lori – we don’t have to be quite as rigorous as a scienfic study. What can we do that would be compelling but not so onerous. i. Mike R – This is jusficaon for the DEC to issue the permit and agrees this doesn’t need to as iron-clad as a scienfic study. ii. Lori – We could plant bluestem goldenrod, tag it and see if it gets browsed. iii. James – The bluestem goldenrod is a good candidate since there are not as many predators for that as other sennel species. d. Member – It would be good to try and engage a student group to help collect this data. e. Lori – We should try some of these methods to see how do-able or onerous any one method may be. f. James will read more deeply on the feces census method. Lori will read more deeply on the twig-age method. Each will report back to the CB in January and we can schedule an oung to test these two methods. g. Mike S. – We can even look to public complaints as another source of data for the DEC. 8. Discussion of upcoming NYS Open Space Conservaon Plan update (James) a. The property on South Hill, the one the Town did not get funding to buy, would be a good candidate for this sort of program. b. The public comment period is in the summer next year, though individuals here could reach out to DEC staff in the interim to share their senments and recommendaons. c. Mike R – How will these lands be used? Who will have access to them? Is there a way that these lands could be offered to Indigenous communies whose lands were stolen? d. Ingrid – Would like to see lands bordering waterways protected to help protect communies from flooding. 3 e. Lori – Would this group like to host one of the stakeholder members (Andy Zepp (Finger Lakes Land Trust) or Kae Borgella (Tompkins County Planning Department)) involved with this during our February or March meeng? i. [General agreement] 9. Regular reports and updates (6:30 pm) a. Scenic Resources Commiee (Eva) i. No report b. Communicaons Commiee (James) i. James doesn’t want to be the Commiee Chair any more ii. He got locked out of Facebook again for 3 weeks, then was let back in. He has no desire to get a cellphone or “key” gizmo for the “2-Factor Authencaon” they now and then demand he gets. Our Facebook page now has 347 “followers.” iii. We have ll Feb 28 to nominate the next Fischer Award winner; start considering a nominee now. iv. Ingrid – Has been posng material featuring our Town parks and would like to see more traffic go to the Instagram account. v. Eva – would like to see social media content on the Town website. 1. Mike S. will work to get those imbeds into the Town website. c. Tompkins County EMC (Ingrid) i. Don Barber gave a presentaon on TompkinsFoodfuture.org d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) i. Community Science Instute’s Biomonitoring Lab has changed its weekly BMI Open Lab Night to Wednesdays, from 6 to 9 pm at Langmuir Lab, 95 Brown Rd, Suite 288 ii. Volunteers recently finished analyzing a July sample from Salmon Creek near Myers Point, finding a “slight impact” in a low diversity of organisms, with relavely high proporon of polluon-tolerant ones. iii. The 7/11/23 BMI sample taken at Plain Street is part-way analyzed; samples from German Cross and 600 Rd wait for volunteers to find the me to analyze them. iv. Six Mile Creek volunteers took an early morning synopc water sample in Six Mile on November 8. v. CSI got a grant to support purchase of a very accurate rain gauge for volunteers to use in the Community Collaborave Rain, Hail and Snow Network. vi. CoCoRaHS has more than 20,000 trained volunteer observers helping the Naonal Weather Service get accurate local precipitaon measurements. vii. James signed on, and will report his local back-yard “staon” precipitaon as soon as his gauge arrives. e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) i. Volunteers killed woody invasives in the Salt Road fen on November 7 to give rare American Globeflowers there more sunlight, and returned again on November 14 for more of that job. ii. They planted nave trees in Upper Cascadilla gorge, just downhill from Oak Avenue in Collegetown on a slope where large invasive Norway Maples were felled. iii. They weeded out more woody invasives from Fall Creek Gorge south of Risley Hall above Rocky Falls. The volunteers needed reminders of what Amur Cork 4 trees look like, but were well-acquainted with Buckthorn, Honeysuckle, Privet, Mulflora Rose and Oriental Biersweet. iv. More woody invasives were removed around Beebe Lake's south bank behind the Toboggan Lodge this week. 10. Other Business (6:50 p.m.) - Approval of the 2024 Meeng Schedule - Recommendaon of a Chair for 2024 - Nominaon and Elecon of a Vice-Chair for 2024 a. Meeng Schedule - James moves we approve all mes except for a July meeng; Mike R seconds. All others are in favor. b. Chair – Eva moves that Lori remain Chair; Mike R seconds. All others are in favor. c. Vice-chair – James moves to re-elect Frank Cantone as the Vice-chair; Eva seconds the moon. All other members are in favor of the moon. 11. Review 2023 Work Goals / Discuss January Agenda a. Indigenous restuon b. Deer browse pressure monitoring conversaon c. Eva- we need to recruit new members d. Review commiees e. Tallying our 2023 accomplishments 12. Lori moves to adjourn at 7pm; all are in favor. Meeng Minutes respecully submied by Mike Roberts December 21, 2023 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Activities & Accomplishments for 2023 Awarded its 20th annual Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award to the Friendship Donation Network and held a tree planting ceremony in West Hill Park where 3 American Basswood trees were planted; Environmental Review Committee continued to provide comments on 13 site plan and subdivision projects; Provided support to the Town’s Deer Management Program; Continued to update and monitor the Conservation Board Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/IthacaConservationBoard) and created a new Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/townofithacaconservationboard/); Hosted a public invasive species education event (swallow-wort removal) at Westhaven Preserve in June as part of NYS’s Invasive Species Awareness Week; Continued to monitor and clean the Bluebird boxes along Town trails; Discussed several topics related to Indigenous Environmental Justice throughout 2023, including planning work being done to create an ethnobotanic trail at Tutelo Park; Participated in and held several public events regarding pollinators and converting lawns to gardens, including maintaining an information table at the Tompkins County Library during Pollinator Week, setting up a table at a pollinator event at Marshy Gardens, and hosting a Town garden tour (four locations) in August; Participated in a public tree planting event at the East Ithaca Nature Preserve in October where 75 native trees were planted and provided a table with educational materials on invasive and native plants; Participated in the 2023 NYS Conference on the Environment held in Ithaca in September, including providing a presentation on the lessons learned conducting environmental reviews; Recruited one new full member 2023. 1 Conservation Board 2024 Work Goals Goal and Supporting actions Goal Steward Conduct and improve environmental review process to better promote environmental conservation. Make field trips to application sites. Lori Promote awareness of the importance of scenic resources.  Get permission to place the third view sign on Cornell land at the intersection of Snyder Hill and Pine Tree Roads. Refine and finish earlier draft language and design for this sign and get approval of the draft from the whole CB. Send the design to our local design firm for final layout before sending it to the manufacturer of the earlier signs. Work with the Town Highway Department to get the sign located the optimal way at the site.  Update the Scenic Views map and guide brochure. Eva Continue outreach through both traditional and new social media methods, including Facebook page and newsletter articles to encourage and foster more public participation in conservation of our resources and environment. Explore the use of Instagram.  Post 4-5 times per month articles and events of interest.  Generate novel text periodically.  Solicit input at outreach events and on Facebook from residents on environmental issues that are important to them. ? 2  Outreach can focus on topics like land & water conservation, bluebird boxes, invasive species & other pest management, and promoting biodiversity. Continue ongoing activities such as Fischer Award, Earth Day (April 22nd), Invasive Species Week.  Nominate and select Fischer awardee!  Plant tree and host a rollicking party! James Conduct a year-end review of goals and accomplishments.  Track progress on goals.  Communicate accomplishments to the public and the Town Board. ? Conservation Board recruitment  Host 1-2 events for potential new CB members Lori Revised 12/18/2023 December 20, 2023 Conservation Board Committees - 2024 _____________________________________________________ Environmental Review Committee (review of applications for site plan approval, subdivision approval, rezoning, special permits and zoning variances for the PB, ZBA, TB) Lori Brewer – Chair Lindsay Dombroskie Eva Hoffmann Michael Roberts _____________________________________________ Scenic Resources Committee (interpretative view signs, scenic views map and guide) Eva Hoffmann – Chair James Hamilton _____________________________________________ Communications Committee (Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award, Town newsletter, CB website & Facebook pages, recruitment, education & outreach) James Hamilton – Chair Lindsay Dombroskie Ingrid Zabel ____________________________________________ Other Appointments: Tompkins County Environmental Management Council – Ingrid Zabel Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program – James Hamilton Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program – James Hamilton