HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2020-03-05 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB)
March 6,2020 5:36-7:18 p.m.
Final Minutes
Members present: Lindsay Dombroskie, Hannah George, Elizabeth Hageman,James Hamilton, Eva
Hoffmann, Carolyn Lee,Jon Meigs, Vladimir Micic, Michael Roberts, Lori Brewer
Staff: Mike Smith
1. There were no persons to be heard.
2. Member's concerns: Hannah noted that the NYSEG electric transmission pole replacement
project was considerably behind schedule and won't be started this spring as originally outlined.
3. Chair and Coordinator Reports:
Chair: Mike R was relieved that New York's plastic bag ban was now in effect, but wondered if
some businesses were in compliance, as he had seen some thin-film plastic bags still in use.
Coordinator: Mike S noted that the Planning Board had not had much business lately.There's a
Bostwick Road lot subdivision under consideration, splitting a lot into two below the Town's
water tank. He distributed an updated CB members list, with our new members Carolyn, Lori
and Karen now officially recognized and ready for photos he'll take for their new CB laminated
identification cards. He reported nine deer killed in the first month of the Town's new deer
management project, with the new Six Mile Creek reservoir watershed deer stands proving
especially busy.The only problem there was that hunters had such large crowds of deer at their
bait stations that hunters had to wait for three or fewer so they could shoot them without
educating herds of danger at those free corn dispensers. One deer that died on an adjacent
Town homeowner's property brought the bowhunter to make the neighbors' acquaintance
when he asked permission to remove the deer from their land; he was enthusiastically
welcomed to do so and may have found another property that would welcome similar deer
management. Hunters in the reservoir watershed noticed that deer there acted very differently
from all the other deer they'd ever seen, and would not disappear when spooked, but just walk
off a little way and continue to act very much at home. CB members responded to this fine news
with enthusiastic appreciation. Mike R noted that deer in a newly established management
project in the Ringwood Preserve were acting much like the usual hunted deer, and not showing
up on trail cameras after the first of them got killed. Mike S said some of the Town's baiting
stations were not getting used and may need to be dropped next year.This year's project
continues till the end of March.
4. Minutes for the December 5, 2019 meeting were approved after minor revisions. Eva noted that
her request reported in those minutes for feedback on the Danby Rd view sign's perhaps
obscuring the view from the bench sited just south of it had not received any member
comments, and hoped we'd visit and consider whether the bench needed repositioning.The
February minutes were approved as is.
5. Discussion of the 2019 Fischer Award nomination: CB members shared what they thought of 4
nominees: Primitive Pursuits, Rich Schoch, Cayuga Bird Club, and Tompkins County Dog Park.Jon
suggested all might share the prize, but most agreed that would dilute the honor.James
suggested we vote with a ranking system, and the Bird Club came in first place, beating second
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place Primitive Pursuits by 7 points, third place Rich Schoch by 8 points, and the Dog Park by 21.
Carolyn volunteered to write the second, third, and fourth place nominators thank-you letters
for their interest in the award, assuring them their valuable conservation actions were
appreciated and hoping they'll consider applying for the award again next year.James will send
Carolyn email copies of previous award letters so she can have some idea of prior format, and
also draft an award letter to the Bird Club, officially notifying them of their win. Lori volunteered
to draft a Fischer Award Nomination Form to simplify citizen participation in the nominating
business. Besides the Official Paperwork recognizing the Bird Club's award, we'll post reports of
the winner on our CB Facebook page and on the Town's webpage.
6. Ideas for Earth Day or Streets Alive activities: Nobody had noticed any plans for an Ithaca Earth
Day event on the 50th Earth Day, April 22. We decided to focus a table at the next Streets Alive
festival, from 1 to 5 PM, Sunday April 26th, around the theme "Climate Action."As Hannah is
still working on a draft Climate Action calendar checklist—which she'll show us very soon—Lori
suggested we pick a few acts so visitors to the table could be thanked for the good actions
they're already taking and convinced to commit to a few more specific actions to help curb
global warming.The general consensus: about 15 particular Acts for Earth's Climate should be
plenty broad enough. As Streets Alive is committed to healthier and sustainable transportation,
we want to prove that we are, too.James volunteered to contact Streets Alive to apply for a
table position.
7. Regular Reports and Updates:
a. ERC sent a comments memo advising as much recycling of materials as possible in the
demolition of the East Hill apartments.
b. Scenic Resources had no report.
c. Communications Committee, Will absent, had no report.
d. Vlad read us minutes of the County EMC's considering whether to save or replace the one-
lane Freese Rd bridge in Varna, which they could not bring to a decision yet. Vlad will
present the CB's recent achievements at the EMC's next meeting.
e. James reported that the Six Mile Creek volunteers held their annual meeting 3/2/20, where
9 attending agreed on dates for scheduled water sampling. One of the dates will probably
change as volunteers try to catch a high-water event as close to creek flooding as they can.
The Community Science Institute they work with is updating its sampling database to be
more user-friendly, to download faster, and to contain Benthic Macroinvertebrate data and
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) data as well. Six Mile Creek, of all the watersheds draining into
Cayuga Lake, has proven to have the least concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen,
nutrients that contribute to algal blooms.This creek has more forest/shrub/wetland and less
agriculture in its sub-watershed than any of the others draining to Cayuga. More HAB were
found in the north half of the lake, where there's more agricultural land runoff promoting
algal growth.
f. The CU Botanic Gardens Natural Areas program weeded invasives around the Horticulture
Building in Forest Home, as the snow was too deep to do a planned weeding with pesticides
elsewhere. Another group hunted Hemlock Wooly Adelgids in the east side of the Ringwood
Preserve, finding a small infestation in the same vicinity as one found previously.James and
Lindsay briefly explained to our new members what these adelgids are and why hemlocks
are very important trees around here.
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8. Other Business: Elizabeth and Lindsay cleaned out some Bluebird Boxes on East Hill. Mike S can
lend them a trail cam if they want to see what sort of wildlife is using them. So far, more mice
than birds.They're hoping the Cayuga Bird Club might help maintain these boxes, now that
they're winning a Fischer Award.
9. April's Agenda should include our focus on about 15 main Climate Actions for the Streets Alive
CB table;we need to plan who'll attend and what materials we'll need.The Fischer Award tree
party and assorted business will need organizing, too. Mike S will ask Joe Talbot, Parks Manager,
what trees he'd like to plant and where. Possibly in a Town Park close to the Lab of Ornithology
at Sapsucker Woods.
10. We Adjourned at 7:18 pm.
These minutes by James Hamilton 3/6/20.
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