HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2024-08-01 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB) Meeting
August 1, 2024 5:30 p.m.
(In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference)
Final Minutes
Members present: Lori Brewer (Chair), Frank Cantone (Vice-Chair), James Hamilton,
Eva Hoffmann, Michael Roberts, Ingrid Zabel (via Zoom)
Staff present: Michael Smith (Senior Planner)
1. Persons to be heard:
None.
2. Members comments/concerns-
Mike R commented that herbicides are being sprayed on weeds in the ditch on the
north side of Rt. 79 West near the Linderman Creek Apartments. Plants in the ditch
could retain water and prevent soil erosion. Mike S will provide Mike R with a
NYSDOT contact to inquire.
3. Environmental Review Committee Update: (Lori)
A new gravel road that leads up to the radio tower near Hungerford Road in East Hill
is being proposed. The road is 12 feet wide and 12 inches of topsoil will be removed.
The ERC did not identify any concerns with the proposal. The old road passed
through private property that has since been sold.
4. Chair & Coordinator Reports:
Chair report: none
Coordinator report:
a. Several large projects are starting the Town approval processes, which the
ERC will be seeing soon. These include Cornell's Maplewood 2, Southworks
(former Emerson plant, initial phase for residential), and Conifers West Hill
neighborhood (north of Lindeman Creek apartments off Conifer Drive;
develop a residential complex; this will be the first project that uses the
Town's new neighborhood code which encourages mixed use - residential
and commercial; the neighborhood will have the opportunity to be involved
and there will be a charrette process coming soon).
b. EDR design firm out of Syracuse will assist with the development of trails and
parking on the Culver Road Preserve/Babcock Ridge. Mike S and Todd
Bittner from Cornell Botanic Gardens conducted a walk-through with the
consultants.
C. South Hill area, 135 acres, near King Rd and Ridgecrest. Owner has offered
the Town an opportunity to purchase parts of the property to be maintained as
a nature preserve with trails. The offer is good for three years (spring 2026).
The Town is applying for Tompkins County and NYS Parks funding to assist
with the acquisition.
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d. A research group from Cornell University approached the Town to conduct a
tick survey on Town owned park lands, including along the South Hill
Recreation Way. They also used private residential properties in the Town.
Additional analysis and details will be provided later this fall.
www.neregionalvectorcenter.com.
e. The Planning Board is currently conducting interviews for new members. One
applicant may fit the Conservation Board.
f. As a reminder, if Conservation Board members provide comments, sign
petitions, or otherwise voice an opinion on a development proposal, please
remember to indicate whether you are signing as a Conservation Board
member (depending on whether CB provided comments) or as a private
citizen.
5. Approval of minutes from May 2, 2024 meeting: Mike R moved and Eva seconded;
all approved.
6. Draft NYS regulations to protect freshwater wetlands:
Mike S sent an email regarding the webinar on 14 August.
Beginning 1 January 2025, any size wetland that meets one of 11 criteria in the
regulations is covered. A wetland greater than or equal to 12.4 acres is covered
regardless of criteria until 2028, when the wetland size decreases to 7.4 acres.
7. Draft NYS 30x30 conservation document:
This is an initiative to conserve 30% of lands in NYS by 2030. Currently, the state is
at 22%. Connection/conflict between development and conservation always occurs.
Cluster development of housing could help - build more densely (up instead of out) to
conserve open space. State funding stands at $24 million, but requests from
communities exceed $48 million for NYS Park grant projects.
8. Indigenous environmental justice:
Mike R is placing content into signage format for the Tutelo Park ethnobotanic walk.
The $3,100 grant must be spent by end of 2024. The goal is to provide a virtual
presence - scan QR code on signs that will take you to a website that provides
information about the plants, history of their use, etc. We need seven more plants to
fill out the walk - aiming for 12 species. Joe Talbut may be involved in the purchase
of additional plants.
9. Regular reports and updates:
a. Scenic Resources: (Eva). Nothing new.
b. Communications: (Ingrid). Low engagement on Facebook lately. Do we want to
plan an outreach campaign for indigenous environmental justice as the signage
for the ethnobotanic walk is installed later this year?
c. Tompkins County EMC (Ingrid). The EMC is revising its bylaws. The New York
State Association of Conservation Commissions will be holding its annual
conference on 18-20 September 20-22 (https://www.nvsacc.net/2024-coe). It will
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consist of a virtual conference followed by field trips. Please coordinate with
Mike S if anyone is interested in registering.
d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James). Adrianna Hirtler's Fischer
Award tree-planting ceremony in Tudor Park's northeast corner was well
attended by family, friends, and community members. During the ceremony, she
recognized indigenous land rights. Adrianna works in the Community Science
Institute (CSI) as a biological analysis specialist and has helped identify
dangerous bacteria and harmful algal blooms along Cayuga Lake shores. She is
also responsible for CSI's documentation of years of benthic macroinvertebrate
(BMI) sampling in Six Mile Creek. Volunteers took a synoptic water sample in Six
Mile creek on July 17, when flow was unusually low. Volunteer BMI sampling
teams will be taking their annual summer sample in August.
e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program: (James). Volunteer work in
CBGNA included: trimming the Upper Cascadilla trail in Collegetown below Oak
Ave; potting lingering ash clones (from ash trees possibly resistant to the
Emerald Ash Borer); weeding wild parsnip, burdock, and mulberry along the
Beebe Lake trail; weeding inside deer exclosures around recently transplanted
trees in Forest Home Park and Fall Creek South trail; weeding swallowwort at
Edwards Lake Cliff's deer exclosure study with summer interns from Hobart &
Smith's Geneva PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species
Management); weeding swallowwort around the Deer Run water tank on South
Hill and in adjacent woods; blazing and trimming the red and yellow trails in
Monkey Run; repotting oaks and pines to larger containers for eventual
transplanting to CBG natural areas; harvesting seed from Dansonia (Poverty Oat
Grass) for a native lawn propagation project; hunting for lingering black ash in a
swamp in the Allen Preserve north of Cayuta Lake (Cornell is hoping to
propagate black ash as it is an important resource for indigenous people's culture
of basket making); scouting South Hill swamp for Japanese stilt grass in the
woods adjacent to Ithaca College natural lands.
10. Other Business:
Mike S will set up a tour of the Bolton Point water treatment plant for CB members
in September.
11 . Review 2024 Work Goals / Discuss September Agenda:
On August 271" the City of Ithaca's Planning & Development Board will continue
discussions of the use of plastic carpet for the new Cornell University athletic
facilities (Meinig Fieldhouse project).
12. Adjourn: at 7:05 pm
Minutes drafted by Frank A. Cantone.
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