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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CAC-1994CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES -- Meeting of Jan. 10, 1994 Present: Rob Shapiro, Betsy Darlington, Peter McDonald, Dan Hoffman; Liaisons: Jill Tripp (BPW), Rick Grey (CC) Absent: Judy Jones, Paul Salon 1. Review of Dec. Minutes: deferred- -lack of quorum 2. Introduced Bart Guetti, potential new member: Geographer- -uses GIS a lot; worked for DEC -- Bureau of Wildlife and Bureau of Environmental Protection; worked for private firm, mapping sources of environmental pollution; just started his own environmental consulting firm -- applying for EPA grant to identify nonpoint source pollution locations in Lk. Champlain area 3. Welcomed new member, Dan Hoffman, and new liaisons: Jill Tripp (BPW), Rick Grey (Common Council) 4. Therm spill site - -Jill and Dan: Straw berms were installed by Therm recently. At today's 6 -Mile Creek Meeting, the committee agreed on a remediation plan to recommend. 5. Chlorine -free paper -- Peter: Using chlorine in the processing of paper pollutes the water; combines with ? to produce dioxin. Peter called: Greenpeace which said it would send him info; Jim Lassoie at Cornell's Center for the Environment who referred him to a post - doc with whom he'll be meeting; and Lyons Falls Paper Co., a co. that doesn't use chlorine. Question was asked if their paper is also recycled. Peter will bring us more info. 6. EAF subcommittee through April 14: Peter, Dan, Betsy [later changed because of scheduling problems - -Dan, Paul and Betsy through Feb. 10, then Dan, Rob, and Betsy through Apr. 14] 7. Betsy announced that she had been asked by Ithaca Times to write her environmental advice to new Common Council members, and asked for suggestions from CAC: bicycle plan, public transportation, set priorities for funding, consider how their spending decisions might affect the environment, consider cumulative impacts. Adjourned about 9 PM - -Betsy Darlington CAC Monthly Meeting, City Hall, Ithaca, February 14th, 1994 7:30pm Present: Judy Jones, Jill Tripp, Bart Guetti, Peter McDonald, Dan Hoffman, Rick Gray (CC), Paul Salon. Absent: Betsy Darlington, Rob Shapiro 1. Chlorine Paper: Peter brought the Greenpeace chlorine packet to the meeting. Asked what the next step was. Jill responded that a resolution to Common Council was next, followed by a presentation to CC w/ handouts from the alkaline paper industry. Resolved that a draft proposal be submitted by Peter to CAC for comment at the March meeting. 2. SEQR. There was a brief discussion about the proposed changes to the SEQR review. Bart and Peter agreed to be at to Coop. Ext building for the Wed. 16th, rural network telecast. 3. Weisburd. Paul briefly described the 5 acre site off 13A. It is steep sloped and will contain multiple duplexes with 27 to 32 units in all. Paul recapitulated what's in the CAC Feb. 1 1 th memo. 4. Liaison Reports: Jill from the 6 Mile Creek Committee suggested a joint meeting between CAC and the city attorney on land purchases to protect the watershed. John Johnson will contact Betsy to facilitate this meeting. Judy said Cornell has participated in some studies on local watershed protection; there may be CU contacts. Bart asked if the city demands capture cloths when city workmen are painting Ithaca bridges so that toxic effluent such as paint doesn't drip into the waterways. The general consensus was N0. It was suggested CAC contact Ward Stone to see what ordinance either at the state or local level cover this contingency. Jill reitereated that there is a 3 yr bridge plan for the city. Judy said SWAC had proposed that CPF downsize and that a subcommittee of SWAC was being formed to study the optimal process for sludge treatment because of the heavy metals contained in it. 5, Mann Library. Peter started a discussion of the Mann Library extension by giving a brief overview of the situation. Rick pointed out that Mann was part of the state and therefore on state land and that in instances such as this the state can write its own waiver. Common Council and the zoning board can comment but nothing else. It was agreed that further discussion should be followed up at the March meeting. 6. Therm Spill. Jill reiterated that everything is currently in litigation which creates somewhat of a bind since no decisions will be made while litigation is in process. Dept. of Public Works will hopefully be able to manage the 6 Mile Creek area when the spring thaw comes. Paul described some of the soil conditions around the Therm site and mentioned that the bike path is in part exacerbating the run -off problem. Meeting adjourned at 9:05pm. Repectfully submitted: Peter McDonald, CAC MINUTES CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL Meeting of March 14, 1994 Present: Paul Salon, Peter McDonald, Rob Shapiro, Betsy Darlington (Chair), Dan Hoffman; CC liaison Rick Gray; Guests: Laura Marks and Bernadette Fiocca Absent: Judy Jones, Bart Guetti; BPW liaison Jill Tripp 1. Minutes for Dec., Jan. and Feb. were approved. 2. Chlorine -free paper -- discussion of Peter's resolution. Rob will talk to Lynn Leopold re chlorine -free paper vs. recycled. To be continued. 3. Mann Library addition was discussed and Betsy explained what the issues were. A DEIS probably will be prepared [note: yes], so comment from CAC isn't needed at this time. 4. Wal -Mart discussion: Peter chaired this portion of meeting. Bart, Paul, and Peter will review the DEIS and bring recommendations to CAC at April meeting. Bernadette and Laura gave their concerns: what's to be gained by a Wal -Mart? Should be considered at the County level. Laura has heard that "the City" wants it. Bernadette said that her family has long - enjoyed that area and it would be sad to see it developed. CAC's and EMC need to coordinate their responses. Question was raised regarding the aquifer under the site - -does the DEIS address this? Impact on downtown and on flooding. CAC members should keep an eye on the site if flooding becomes a problem this spring. Rob will monitor Mar. 21 -28, Paul Mar. 28 -Apr. 4, Peter Apr. 4 -11, and call Peter with their findings. Peter will call EMC Chair, Ed Cope. 5. EMC report-- Peter. EMC is rethinking how it operates. Might meet every 2 months, with committees in between. They're looking into following issues: radon, Biggs Building, Mann Library. Peter is on the Media Committee. 6. CEC's: beginning of discussion re areas to recommend to City for designation. Six -Mile Creek, Inlet Valley aquifer recharge zones, Fall Creek, wooded hillsides, Cornell Biological Field Station were all mentioned as possibilities. Discussion to continue next month. - -Betsy Darlington CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL - -CITY OF ITHACA MINUTES Meeting of Monday, April 11, 1994 Present: Rob Shapiro, Judy Jones, Dan Hoffman, Peter McDonald, Betsy Darlington; CC liaison Rick Gray, BPW liaison Jill Tripp; Absent (out -of- town): Bart Guetti, Paul Salon Guests: 6 or 7 of Dick Booth's students, Tim Allen 1. March Minutes were approved unanimously. Peter noted that a DEIS will be done for the Mann Library expansion. 2. Jill reported on the DPW's 1994 work schedule. Many water and sanitary sewer repairs will be made. Any lead pipes will be replaced as part of each project. Mitchell St. curve is going to be realigned. A decision about the road through the Mutual Housing site has not been made. Highland Ave. bank will be stabilized, and Stewart Ave.'s bricks will be replaced, using ones taken from State St. Bank erosion along Six -Mile Creek at W. Seneca St. is to be taken care of. Jill will find out when bridge painting and deck work is to be done so we can make recommendations on scheduling -- nesting barn swallows have been disturbed in the past. She will also ask again about mowing along Flood Control Channel to see if one mowing a year, in late summer (Aug.- Sept.) is possible, or perhaps just a foot path width. Cass Park bike path is to be repaired, shoreline at Stewart Pk. restored, and roadway to 30' dam (and 60'dam ?) completed. Rick said that motorcycles are using the path along E side of Flood Control Channel (south of Octopus), and tearing it up. How can this be stopped? Peter reported coming across a very large quantity of lead behind the old Ithaca Gun factory- - dumped there in a misc. heap, presumably over many years. He'll try to make an estimate as to how much is there, then report back. 3. Peter led a discussion about Wal -Mart: Paul and Bart, the other two DEIS reviewers, were out - of -town, and Peter had not yet gotten their comments. For April 26 Planning Board meeting, he needs to have a list of items that are absent from the DEIS but were listed in the scope for it. If Board decides DEIS is complete, the next step will be a public hearing sometime in May. Peter said the cumulative effect of nearly completing the paving over of the City's SW is not addressed. Tim said some of the things in the scope re economic impact are not covered: # and types of jobs to be created, compensation level, and fiscal impact on Tompkins County. Also not addressed: distribution analysis from Floral Ave. and Spencer Rd. Acquisition of some of the land for substitute park land for the City was barely mentioned - -and only in the sense that Wal-Mart would sit on some of the land. Impact of its being there on use of adjoining land for a park is not addressed. Betsy passed around a recent resolution from the Parks Commission re SW Park substitute lands, recommending the ones approved by Common Council and the NYS Legislature a few years ago. Parks Commission recommends that Wal-Mart acquire some of the land and set it aside for parkland. The named parcels include a fairly large amount of land that Wal -Mart wants to occupy. Betsy proposed that CAC recommend restoring the fields to wetlands - -a draw for tourists and visitors to Buttermilk, as well as helping to mitigate flooding. Drainage tile in the cornfield could be blocked off or removed. Peter, Bart, and Paul will be drafting a statement from the CAC for our next meeting, so that comments can be incorporated in time for the public hearing. Betsy spent some time at the USGS, and also talking to Lyle Raymond, and explained more about the federal flood plain maps, as well as about aquifers: • Federal maps are for flood insurance program only; • Floodway is the portion of the 100 -year flood plain where water can move at high velocity during a 100 -year flood - -in this case, a band along Cayuga Inlet. The "regulatory floodway" is the floodway area that cannot be raised by new development by more than 1 foot, in a 100 -year flood. • For federal insurance purposes, the concern is major structural damage such as would happen if a house (rather than just ducks) floated down Rte. 13. Many areas in the City that are zoned B (500 -yr. flood) or C ( "minimal flooding ") have nevertheless had what most of us would consider serious flooding (at least four times since 1963), but merely filling people's basements or closing down a high school for many months is not a concern for the insurance program. If the water had been flowing through those areas at high velocity, then there would have been concern by the feds. • Re aquifers: the valley floor has a huge, deep (— 200 feet down) confined aquifer. This is mostly recharged from fractures in the bedrock on the hillsides and at the base of the hills. A layer of essentially impervious clay lies over this aquifer in the valley. It is not known if there are any "leaks" through the clay, but in any event, little or no recharge takes place from the valley floor. Above the clay and at varying distances from the surface is another aquifer - -also called groundwater or the water table. This fluctuates up and down, and can be at surface level. This, of course, is not confined. Betsy passed around photos taken last April showing considerable standing water in the Wal -Mart fields, although they were not excessively flooded. Floods come in many forms. Last year's flood was very different from the one in 1972 that filled the fields with water, and which raced into them from the pedestrian underpass under the old r.r. bed, south of the project. Creeks overflowing their banks, log or ice jams, and the lake backing up are three types of floods common in this area. Loss of flood plain contributes to flooding by eliminating its water - holding function. The effect of this depends on the type and location of the particular flood. 4. Critical environmental areas (CEA's): Betsy listed the areas in the City that are in the County's Unique Natural Area inventory, and proposed that CAC recommend to Common Council that these be designated CEA's. This was approved unanimously. This would make projects proposed in these areas Type I actions and subject to full environmental review. The process is quite easy: name the areas, show them on a map, state why they are important, hold a public hearing, vote, then send the designation to the DEC for filing. Betsy agreed to Xerox the info about each one and forward it to Rick and John Schroeder, for consideration by the Planning Committee. [Note: City of Ithaca is unusual in NYS for not having designated a single CEA.] 5. Postponed: Discussion of a steep slope ordinance and of making activities that exceed Type I thresholds subject to SEQR (i.e. even if no permit is required or if issuing a permit for the action would otherwise be a "ministerial act "). 6. Betsy gave a brief summary of the Weisburds' West Inlet II proposal. 7. April 23 City cleanup: call Doria Higgins if you can help with Cass Park shoreline: 273 -6450. S. Chlorine -free paper: Peter has now received information and will talk to City purchasing about how using it might fit in. He'll report back on this. 9. Betsy passed around a draft Annual CAC report; comments to be called in to her by Sunday evening, April 17. 10. Betsy announced that State Parks is sponsoring a big Cayuga Lake celebration sometime this summer and asked if CAC wanted to participate. To be discussed at a future meeting. 11. EAF subcommittee through July 12: Judy, Peter, Betsy. Adjourned at 9:25. - -Betsy Darlington CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL Minutes Meeting of May 9, 1994 Present: Judy Jones, Dan Hoffman, Bart Guetti, Paul Salon, Betsy Darlington, BPW liaison Jill Trip, CC liaison Rick Gray; Guest Cisela Wildes Absent: Rob Shapiro, Peter McDonald 1. April minutes were approved unan 2. Discussion of "ministerial acts" and whether or not the City should make those that meet Type I thresholds subject to SEQR. Dan will check State law to see if this would be permitted. 3. New member, Bart Guetti, announced that he has just taken a job in Wash., DC and will have to resign. 4. Jill will get DPW's bridgework schedule. Bart gave her the DOT's specs. for bridge maintenance. Mowing of flood control: DEC has rules about this that the City must follow. 5. Solid Waste (SWAG): Judy reported that they're considering a fall scavenger day /trash pickup. Should leftovers be picked up for free? Should there be "super tags" for big items? Should they just pick up special items (e.g. tires)? 6. Rick reported that our CEA resolution will be on next Planning Committee agenda. 7. Cayuga Lake celebration: Collaborate with other groups - -City committees or Land Trust, e.g.? Have a visual display of what City committees do what? Display re storm drains, litter, lawns (direct connection to the lake). Cisela will call State Parks to see what the event is. 8. Those who were at the Wal -Mart hearing reported on the Planning Board's action (declaring the DEIS incomplete). Adjourned about 9 PM CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES -- Meeting of June 13, 1994 Present: Judy Jones, Betsy Darlington, Dan Hofman, Peter McDonald; BPW liaison Jill Tripp, CC liaison Rick Gray; guest Cisela Wildes Absent: Rob Shapiro, Paul Salon 1. Dan reported on what he could figure out regarding ministerial acts and Type I actions. If something is, in fact, a ministerial act, the City would not be able to make it a Type I action if it exceeded a Type I threshold. Betsy and Rick will meet with Building Commissioner Eckstrom re building permits - -is there discretion involved here? 2. Jill reported that BPW is spending a lot of time on traffic issues. She'll have the bridge painting schedule for us next time - -it got removed from a table where she had left it. 3. Rick reported that the reaction of Council to our recommendation that Unique Natural Areas in the City be designated "critical environmental areas" (CEA's) was favorable. Betsy reported that the County is making the UNA maps more precise and these should be ready for the City by mid to late August. 4. Judy reported that SWAC (Solid Waste) is in a flap over the current state affairs, with the overturn of flow control by the Supreme Court. She asked for our thoughts, and - -such as these were- - generally reaffirmed how complicated the whole issue is. Betsy asked if Barbara Mink's statement in her recent IJ column re the CRIinc contract was accurate - -that the City would get 90% of the proceeds from the sale of recyclables: Surely this must be after CRIinc takes its cut ?Judy will check this out. Judy said that recycling costs money but it's a lot less than disposal of other solid waste $20 per ton vs. — $60 per ton). Cisela reported on a beautiful private transfer and recycling center she visited a couple of years ago in Glastonbury, CT, and Judy said that Barbara Eckstrom very likely visited it as well. Cisela also reported that a friend of hers who is a trucker frequently hears casual conversation among other truckers about illegal radioactive dumping - -in the night and in counties where it is easy to get away with, including Tompkins County! She'll call John Anderssen at the Health Dept. to see what can be done about this. 5. SEQR amendments, DEIS: Betsy and Dan will work on a draft of comments to bring to the July meeting. Deadline for comments is July 22. 6. Lead at Ithaca Gun: Peter showed us on a map where the lead shot is and said it's about 1/4" on top of the ground but also down in the soil, over an area about 30' x 12'. It extends into a gully, and depending on the acidity of the water, could be leaching down to Fall Creek. Betsy will call the 800 # at DEC. [Note: she called this # and Mark Finkelstein.] Peter also reported that 15 -20 trees, from small up to 3' in DBH, had been cut down near the northwestern -most building, on the steep slope -- perhaps by kids wanting to improve their view while hanging out on and around the building. Betsy will let Finkelstein and Cornell know about this (cutting was on both properties.) 7. Cisela reported that the Cayuga Lake celebration is July 23 -31. Kathy Noyes is coordinating it, and Betsy will call her. One thought is to see what it's like this year, and if a display of some sort would be worthwhile next year. One idea might be to have kids release boats or rubber ducks in creeks or storm sewers and then have people count the number recovered from the lake. Peter will ask EMC what they're planning. Meeting on plans is this Wed. at Boynton. Adjourned at 8:35! —Betsy Darlington CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES Meeting of July 11, 1994 Present: Judy Jones, Betsy Darlington, Dan Hoffman, Rob Shapiro; CC liaison Rick Gray; guests: Lanny Joyce, Rob McCabe, and Bob Bland, all from Cornell Absent: Cisela Wildes, Paul Salon, Peter McDonald (all out -of- town); BPW liaison Jill Tripp 1. Betsy announced that Mayor Nichols has appointed Cisela Wildes to the CAC, but she will be out -of -town until September. 2. Cornell Chilled Water plans- -Lake Source Cooling: Bob Bland, in charge of environmental studies for the project, Rob McCabe, head of the chilled water facility, and Lanny Joyce, Sr. mechanical engineer for utilities explained the proposal to us, and the rationale behind it and the environmental concerns they will be addressing. Some of the latter include the following potential impacts: from withdrawal of cold water from the hypolimnion layer on fish and zooplankton; from discharge of warmed water to the epilimnion -- thermal impacts and effect on algae and weeds; from dredging for the pipe, esp. near shore; on habitat; on Fall Creek where pipe would cross it; on aesthetics (esp. from the large building - -100' x 300' x several stories high); on wetlands; on archeological sites. If project looks feasible, it could be on line by 1998. 3. New ERC (Environmental Review Committee -- renamed from EAF committee) for next 3 months: Rob, Paul, Betsy 4. Voted unan. to recommend that Common Council insert a clause into the City's Env. Qual. Review Ordinance (CEQR) saying that any project that exceeds a Type I threshold is subject to SEQR. For example, application for a building permit could not be treated as a ministerial act if the project exceeded a Type I threshold. 5. Betsy reported that she told Mark Finkelstein and Cornell Plantations about the cut trees and lead shot on their lands above Fall Cr. near Ithaca Falls, and called DEC about the lead. Has not heard back. 6. Betsy reported that Common Council has approved purchase of various lands along Six - Mile Creek for substitute parkland or for watershed protection. 7. Comments to the DEC on the DEIS for amendments to SEQR: approved unan. 8. Judy reported that SWAC (Solid Waste Adv. Council) is considering a community swap day. Adjourned about 9 PM. - -Betsy Darlington MINUTES CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL Meeting of Monday, Sept. 12, 1994 Present: Cisela Wildes, Rob Shapiro, Betsy Darlington, Dan Hoffman, Peter McDonald; BPW liaison Jill Tripp, CC liaison Rick Gray Absent: Judy Jones, Paul Salon 1. May, June, and July Minutes were approved unan. (Meeting in Aug. was replaced with attendance at Wal -Mart DEIS hearing.) 2. Jill reported from BPW: Road construction is proceeding. State work on Green and Seneca has been delayed. Dept. is gearing up for major work on our water and sewer infrastructure, including perhaps rebuilding the water treatment plant. City forester job is still unfilled. 3. Oct. meeting will be Oct. 17 since Oct. 11 City Hall will be closed. 4. Rick reported that Common Council is considering reinstating a curfew for kids. Next Planning Committee meeting will consider the Rt. 96 project. 5. Wal -Mart: Ithaca Journal reported that Richard Berggren has offered land in Ulysses to Wal -Mart, but Betsy reported that assessor's office says Berggren doesn't own any land in Ulysses. It was reported that K -Marts are closing around the country, but not in Ithaca yet. Does he have an option to buy the land, perhaps, and plan to sell an option to Wal -Mart, too? 6. Lead paint brochure: Peter recommended that each of us keep track of the booklet's availability in the stores we've been stocking, and restock them when they run out. Peter will look after Grossmans, Cayuga Lumber, Sherwin Williams; Rob -- Bishops, IP &D, Agway; Rick- -INHS, Building Dept., City Clerk. Betsy will get copies to Jill and Rick. Betsy reported that the City has received payment for some of the brochures, esp. from the County Health Dept. but also Dr. Jerry Hersh and others. 7. Jill reported that she's working with the bike advisory committee, hoping to come up with a brochure telling where one can and can't bike, etc. 8. Betsy reported that the public hearing was held on Mann Library expansion DEIS. Little hope that the State will alter the plans despite opposition, even internally at Cornell (e.g. Plantations). 9. Cisela asked what the outcome was of the lead shot and tree - cutting reports we sent to Plantations, DEC, etc., on Gun Co. and-Corneirgrounds. Nothing heard from them yet. Betsy will follow up with DEC and Peter with Plantations. 10. Peter reported that he's on the media committee of the EMC and they're gearing up for a major project to address backyard burning. They'll start with Lansing, as a pilot project: brochures, door -to- door, town meeting, maybe a. video. Adjourned at 8:30 PM! - -Betsy Darlington Conservation Advisory Council Minutes: meeting of Oct. 17, 1994 Present: Cisela Wildes, Judy Jones, Rob Shapiro, Peter McDonald, Dan Hoffman, Betsy Darlington; Rick Gray, CC liaison; Guests: David Boyd, Barbara Ebert Absent: Paul Salon 1. David Boyd, MPO Planners explained the Metropolitan Planning Organization process and the requirement that our MPO present a plan to the federal (or state ?) government by Dec. 18. Numerous volunteers have been meeting in various task groups to arrive at a vision for the region's transportation future. The initial area covered by our MPO (named Ithaca Tompkins County Transit Committee- - ITCTC) is a bit more than the federally defined urban area (pop. 50,000 +), but does not include the entire County. By the end of this year it's likely that all of the County will be included. The goal was to come up with an overall vision, not specific plans for projects although a few ideas for projects are suggested. Keeping things small -scale and not making the County look like Los Angeles or NYC or Syracuse is the goal. David showed us a number of charts. One showed how people get to work, nationwide and in the County. E.g., nationally, 3.9% walk to work, in the County it's 17.9 %, and in the City of Ithaca it's 44 %! He said that one of his proposals is to have big employers have their own bike fleets. Judy said that a couple of Cornell departments already do this, using the bikes for numerous on- campus errands. During the discussion Judy said that studies have revealed that kids at schools along major highways have higher blood pressure than other kids. Betsy suggested including a storm -drain stencilling proposal in the plan. ( "Dump no waste -- drains to.... ") She also said that she feared the DOT would continue with business as usual and the plan would become just window - dressing. David said that the DOT is changing. We have a new regional director, Charles Moynihan, and we should be seeing greater sensitivity and responsiveness to the public. David mentioned a neat new material called "geoblock" for heavily used trails, and will send Judy and Betsy information on it. Comments on the Plan are due by Nov. 4. 2. Betsy reported that the DEC (Kevin Delaney) has visited the lead waste site on Ithaca Gun property and will let me know what the tests show. Peter will call Nancy Ostman or Lew Roscoe about the cut trees in the same area. 3. Brief discussion of the SW Area Land Use Study which has now been reworked by the committee. Peter said that it's better than before and more sensitive, but still recommends an E -W connector without giving justification for it. It discusses housing a lot, and says it should not be on the former City dump. Peter said that the study speaks to development as the only option. He said wetlands are not mentioned, as far as he could tell on initial reading. It was agreed that CAC would try to get comments in by whenever they're due. [Note: Planning Committee will probably refer it to the Planning Board for environmental review, so Pl. Bd. would discuss it, at the earliest, at their Nov. meeting - -4th Tue.] 4. New EAF committee: Cisela Wildes, Rob Shapiro, Betsy Darlington (through mid - January) 9 :30: Adjourned - -Betsy Darlington CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL Minutes -- Meeting of November 14, 1994 Present: Rob Shapiro, Peter McDonald, Betsy Darlington; CC Liaison Rick Gray; BPW liaison, Jill Tripp; Guests: Maria Iannacome Coles, about 10 students from Ithaca College Absent: Judy Jones, Dan Hoffman, Paul Salon, Cisela Wildes 1. Minutes for Oct. -- postponed till Dec. 2. Betsy and Peter reported that they have had no further word on the lead shot waste and cut trees (respectively) at Ithaca Gun site. 3. Rick reported that he's looking into what's happening with our resolutions regarding Unique Natural Areas and ministerial acts. Doug Foster in Planning Dept. didn't know where the UNA maps went that Betsy sent the Dept. [Later: Doug has ordered more from County, and Betsy made more copies of hers for John Schroeder and the Dept.] 4. SW Area Land Use Study: Peter passed out his draft of comments, and we approved it after making a few changes. [Note: since our meeting, Stearns and Wheeler has studied SW Park to see how much of it is wetland. A lot more is than the City had thought, leaving only about 1/3 to 1/4 that isn't. This will have a major effect on City plans for use of the park. Housing, at least, will be far less viable an option, for one thing. The report was sent on to the Planning Board by the Planning Committee, but will presumably have to go back to the SW Area committee for revision. We can save our comments until the Planning Bd. conducts environmental review.] 5. BPW: Jill reported that major water and sewer work will be done by the State as part of the Octopus project. 6. EMC: Peter reported that this is the end of the first year of operating under new by- laws. EMC will be coming out with an environmental directory. Unique Natural Areas Committee recommended 10 UNA sites as having top priority for protection, but County Board only approved 4 -5 of these. Co. Board looks on it mainly from a tourism point of view, while EMC's focus is on the biological importance of the sites. Media committee, which Peter is on, is planning an educational campaign on home burning of trash. 7. Six -Mile Creek: Jill reported that no progress has been made on purchases of land. Adjourned at 9 PM. - -Betsy Darlington CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES Minutes for Meeting of 12/12/94 Present: Rob Shapiro, Cisela Wildes, Dan Hoffman, Peter McDonald, Betsy Darlington, Paul Salon; CC Liaison Rick Gray; Guests: Marty Eisenstadt, Barbara Ebert, Maria Iannacome Coles, Doria Higgins, Bob Bland, Lanny Cooper, Rob McCabe Absent: Judy Jones; BPW liaison Jill Tripp 1. Oct. and Nov. minutes were approved unan. 2. Report from Bob Bland, Lanny Cooper, and Rob McCabe re Cornell's lakewater cooling project: Their studies so far indicate the project is still technically feasible. They'd use roads for routing of the pipes. Building would probably be near the marina (SE portion of lake) or on City schools land. Cost estimates have risen and payback has dropped; lots of risks and lots of capital needed. They are working with the DPW. Stearns and Wheeler has done an environmental study which we can have a copy of. (Bob will arrange to get it to Betsy.) They found no accumulation of phosphorus in the bottom and no contaminants in sediments. Project would draw water from 200' down; fish are mostly not down that low -- except perhaps alewife and sculpin in winter. Trout and salmon are mostly at 30 -50 -100' down (on top of the cold water). One potential problem: shrimp, a major trout food, are likely to be sucked into the intakes. They think this won't be significant but more data are needed. An exotic mussel is found at 200' (not zebra mussels), and could cause problems; working on ways to prevent clogging. They haven't yet looked at terrestrial impacts. They'll be back in Jan., probably, with a longer report. 3. Peter led discussion of Wal -Mart DEIS (is it complete enough for public review ?): Consensus was that it is still exceedingly inadequate, with numerous inconsistencies, misstatements, and omissions, and is confusing to read. Some of the topics that need work: surface water and site drainage, detention basins (Paul said these would have to be very large to handle a big storm - -are they being designed just for small storms ?), deicing salts, vacuuming details, noise, loss of substitute parkland, info on fill and its distribution, light pollution (esp. at Buttermilk Park campground), trails, variance and zoning issues, visual impacts (esp. from levee and Buttermilk), green corridor and other park issues, water temp., impact on trout. Paul calculated that 60,000 sq. yds. of fill spread evenly over 14.8 acres would give a depth of only 2.51', so how did they arrive at a depth of 6 -7' of soil above the groundwater, which often is at or near the surface? Dismissing Cornell's data re heating of soil under pavement because it didn't provide enough information was a cop -out. Peter agreed to polish up the draft he had prepared and incorporate the comments. 4. There were no liaison reports. - -Betsy Darlington