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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-296/29/2021 CONSERVATION BOARD 06/29/2021 Members Present: Gian Dodici (Chair), Bob Beck, Anne Clark, Craig Schutt, Jeanne Grace, Tim Woods Town Staff: Emily Banwell Absent: David Wilson, Andrew Miller, Nancy Munkenbeck, Liaisons: Loren Sparling (Town Board) Guest(s): The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM. Review and approval of minutes dated May 25, 2021 On motion made by B Beck, seconded by C Schutt, minutes were unanimously approved as amended. The following updates were sent via email: AAC Update: The AAC met on June 9 for its regularly scheduled meeting. As the Town Board had already voted on the Stretch Energy Code there was no need to discuss it any further. There was some discussion on the proposed TMDL for the Cayuga Lake Watershed. The committee decided to discuss that at its next meeting in July. There was some discussion on the upcoming toned down Dryden Dairy celebration. There will be a smaller celebration held at Dryden Agway. Planning Board Update: The Planning Board was fairly quiet this month. The main news is that we're slowing down the Dryden 2045 Comprehensive Plan project slightly, so that public conversations can be in the fall, when more people are likely to participate. It sounds like I'll be bringing a draft of the future land use map here before the big conversations, probably in August if all goes well. Rail Trail Update: Bob Beck, Chair of the Dryden Rail Trail Task Force, invites the public to the open house for the Rail Trail Bridge over Route 13 on June 30. The purpose of this open house is to present the preferred design alternative for the proposed trail and bridge and to address questions and comments from the community. There will not be a presentation. He is encouraging whoever wants to learn more about the project, to come. 6/29/2021 B Beck: I want to thank Rick Young and the highway crew who have been really helpfully working on the trestles on the game farm. The work is proceeding quickly and nicely. They’ve done most of the renovation on the western trestle closest to Game Farm Road. They took the deck off, replaced some structures underneath and put the deck back on and will add with railings. There will be additional plywood and waterproof membrane on top. They are now working on the second trestle on the east side. They are taking it apart where need be and doing serious work. It is looking very good, and we will have that section on the trail open within the next few weeks. The Game Farm Road crossing plan needs to be sent to County Highway for their approval and do what we need to make a safe crossing there. We hope they are not going to require the flashing lights. Most people I’ve talked to have said it is not necessary, but we will do what they need to make a safe crossing. So far, we have secured 42 out of 48 railroad segments, which is huge progress. 6 more and we could have it all. All of these easements are donated to the town. The Game Farm is a 20 year renewable agreement. We have a license agreement with NYSEG which is also renewable. I’ve heard that they’ve given a permanent easement for the long stretch for the south hill rec way that goes out towards Brooktondale. I’m hoping they’ll do the same for us. Drinking Water Source Protection Plan: G Dodici: In 2014 the town passed a resolution that started this task. The final plan will be presented to the Town Board at the August agenda meeting. It will be interesting to see how the town received this and what measures they plan to take to implement the suggestions – page 40 of the guide really summarizes Dryden zoning laws and what could be done. I think the overall message is the aquifers in the town are insulated from contamination, which is a good thing. There are some measures the town board can take as far as zoning laws. Are they laws or suggestions, or both? Once the Comp Plan is passed the focus will be on revamping the zoning code to suit this. Once the comp plan is adopted, zoning is the next step. A broad comment would be that it identifies the source but then what? What actions are supposed to be taken? Cayuga Lake TMDL: G Dodici: These rules are implemented to show in a model that you’re having those reductions without those numbers ever being quantified. A farmer could implement a buffer program and put a buffer between their fields and ditches. They could then get into an NRCs program, state or town program and get paid a rental fee to have that conservation practice in there and in some models you have a check box so you now have a certain number of buffers. The town as a whole has to implement, for example, 1000 acres of buffer, 1000 acres of wet land restoration, and 55 miles of stream restoration to meet that target. It’s all going back into a model. No one is actually measuring these things. The model is generating metrics and then you mitigate those metrics, then the model shows how those mitigation behaviors should have affected those metrics and meet the goal. No one is really out there measuring phosphorus coming off a single field. They seem to be mandating monitoring of streams for all inputs for Cayuga lake. We have to go on the assumption that the data they are basing these recommendations on are valid. If this is a legal mandate from the state that these watersheds 6/29/2021 need these TMDLs, it’s up to the town to figure out how to meet these TMDLs. If agriculture is responsible for a certain percent of phosphorus and that has to be dropped by a certain percent, what can the town do to mandate that? As far as Ag producers, a lot of it is volunteer. The state really can’t mandate farmers to do anything. Practices should be in place to encourage the types of activities that produce these numbers to meet the goals C Schutt: It appeared to me that they believe the large farms are doing everything they can. They aren’t expecting big reductions from them. Basically they’re saying there are not good practices in place for small farms. I’m trying to get the ag committee interested. There are things in there that the committee really needs to look at because it is going to become a regulation. Questions/Comments: • People are pointing fingers at farmers because they are an easy target. • CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) control the biggest part of the land. • How do you expect 20% of landowners to take the burden for the whole Ag community? • The whole CAFO operation is regulated. • Anything farmers operate on is part of the CAFO plan. • There’s a need for stricter regulations, even on CAFO’s. • The town as a whole has to meet the target. • Should we ask Steve Winkley to come meet with us to share his views? • When do you think farmers are going to deal with this serious challenge? • Steve Winkley came and met with us years ago and I expect him back to talk to us again • There’s a variety of ways to farm, but they are just going to lump them all into one basket? That doesn’t seem fair or right. • I don’t think anyone on this board is in the position to argue with the science on the way they collected this data. • There has been monitoring already that shows the hotspots. • Maybe a larger percentage is actually coming from CAFO’s. • When this TMDL is finalized what are the legal ramifications to stake holders? A lot of it will probably be grandfathered and future developments will be held to a higher standard. C Schutt & G Dodici are going to reach out to interested parties from different boards to come up with recommendations to present to the Town Board. Grassland Birds (A Clark): 6/29/2021 Grassland birds (including common ones like Red-winged Blackbirds) are on the decline, but grasslands are maintained by farming for hay and farmers generally time mowing on the basis of nutrition for stock. First mowing dates especially often come when birds are mid-nesting. The Cayuga Bird Club members raised the issue that Cornell itself is timing their hay mowing in the middle of grassland bird nesting and asked if there was something to be done. Jody Enk, former Club president, took the lead to gather inputs and sources of information. The issue is delicate because farmers’ and birds’ interests must be balanced. The Cayuga Bird Club members, through a letter from, Jody Enk, are asking Cornell to take the lead in researching best practices: what’s best for the birds, how can we gauge what’s best for birds. We need to think of strategies that will preserve as many birds as possible, while not harming farmers. It’s a worthy cause. One proposed solution used in some places has been to pay farmers for the bales they would be getting if they were mowing earlier. Even short delays of a week or so can help bird reproduction. (A Clark is sharing the letter and some links electronically with the Board.) T Woods recently started an environmental education class with his son. He watched a video on Netflix that was called Kiss the Ground. It’s about soil science and how most farmers don’t really understand how soil works. Because of that they are losing money and its harming the soil at an incredible rate, up to30 feet of topsoil in places that have none now because of Ag practices. The film talks about a unique property of soil that it’s a major portion of the carbon cycle. If we do this right, we can sequester a huge amount of CO2 in the soil itself just by our Ag practices. Changing the dynamic with Ag and using the practices in this film could have a major impact on climate change. The results are remarkable, and the farmers are making much more money. The wildlife, especially birds and fish are flourishing. NYSEG: T Woods says the NYSEG tree trimming and removal program is going off the rails in the following ways: He got a notice card with little information on it and next thing you know the trees are gone. He says they are very destructive. They cut the top off of his 100 year old apple tree with no recourse because there is no one to talk to. NSYEG said they have authority to cut down all hard woods within jurisdiction but there is no access to the company policy. If they can come onto private property and cut down whatever they want, and there’s no resource or input from the property owner, then he believes that is bad policy. J Grace: It is not a policy, it’s a legal easement they have around utility lines. 6/29/2021 T Wood is attempting to have a meeting with the forester. On motion made by B Beck, seconded by C Schutt, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55PM. Respectfully submitted, Emily Banwell Deputy Town Clerk