HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2019-06-06 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB)
June 6, 2019 5:35-6:45 p.m.
Final Minutes
Members present: Hannah George,James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann,Vladimir Micic, Mike Roberts
Staff: Mike Smith (Senior Planner),Joe Talbut(Parks Maintenance Manager)
Guest: Andrew Bashi (Westhaven Rd resident)
1. There were no persons to be heard, though Andrew Bashi, a new Ithaca resident from
Westhaven and Helen's Way near EcoVillage,was attending to see what we do here. Mike R gave him a
brief welcoming introduction to our mission. Mike told Andrew that the CB deer management plan had
managed to kill only one deer in the first season it was implemented last year, but there had been no
public opposition to that program.James hoped Andrew would come to more CB meetings, as we need
a new member.
2. James had two Member's concerns: 1) he hoped someone from either the CB or Town Staff
might be able to attend the North American Invasive Species Management Association's 2019 Annual
Conference in Saratoga Springs from September 30 to Oct 3. Mike S had just forwarded us an email
announcing the schedule and agenda, which look very relevant to our mission; 2)the USDA is inviting
public comment on a plan to release a predatory plant louse (a tiny insect called the Japanese knotweed
psyllid) as biocontrol for knotweed. Bernd Blossey has some knotweed infestations under careful
observation that could use this psyllid if enough have been lab raised by next year's spring. Links to the
public comment page can be found at:h tp s,(/nrnr eir g�a� ti r�sog av/ c err t C - tF�NIS 2019 0002
000 .and James hopes members will submit comments that encourage the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service to promote labs to raise this psyllid (Aphalara itadori).
3. Chair and Coordinator Reports:
Chair: Mike R had no reports, but did later in the meeting, off-agenda, encourage members writing
meeting minutes to email their draft minutes to all on the board, identifying"action items" to make sure
members would remember to follow up on work they'd promised at these meeting to perform. (Vlad,
for example, was supposed to "draft an email to teachers and then provide students with context" [see
section 6b of May 2, 2019 minutes] so they'd have a better idea what they were doing when they
attended CB meetings to satisfy government class course requirements. "Promoting democratic
processes for the environment" should be central to the CB mission, so this ACTION ITEM deserves
action.)
Coordinator: Mike S noted that Cornell's North Campus dorm final site approval was scheduled for June
18th.
4. Minutes for the May 2 meeting were approved (moved by James, seconded by Mike)with one
tiny typo corrected.
5. Joe Talbut explained why the Town could use an official policy for herbicide use in its parks,
trails and preserves:The contractor has been contracted to extirpate invasives from the Town's natural
areas, and in a recent case crossed beyond the well-marked Town's Dress Woods Preserve's western
boundary on Culver Rd to "clip and drip" five or six privet and buckthorn stems on an adjacent private
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property.Though the contractor thought he was doing the landowner a favor,the home's drinking
water comes from a nearby spring and she was not at all happy about the glyphosate he applied to the
stumps in her ditch.The town had to pull out those stumps with a mini-excavator to remedy the
situation, and now intends to draft a clearer policy to make sure nothing like this happens again.Various
possible directives were considered, including GIS mapping of private wells and springs on properties
adjacent to Town property that might need herbicide for invasives management.While the notification
of pesticide application surely needs to follow the relevant NY State regulation,the Town should try to
follow even more stringent rules to assure it doesn't allow mistakes like this to happen again.Adjacent
landowners ought to be contacted when the Town needs to manage invasives as carefully as possible.
Joe and Mike S will work up a draft policy for CB review soon.
6. Plans for the 2019 NY Invasive Species Awareness Week (NYISAW) event on Thursday,July 11, 5-
7 PM at East Shore Park include submitting an online "NYISAW Event Submission" at the PRISM
(Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management) website at
Inttps;//fgirrns.g.i /.t5V�✓F8539_r6bD_Dt 8.James emailed a draft submission for this on May 28th that
neglected to include the participation of the Community Science Institute (CSI) and the Cayuga Lake
Watershed Network(CLWN). Mike S will revise the "event description" to make sure the participation of
CSI and CLWN are reported to the PRISM website. Hannah thought these organizations could focus on
aquatic invasives,while the CB members could handle terrestrial invasives. If previous attendance at our
NYISAW events was limited by a focus too narrow to interest much of the public, we hope a very broad
attention on this week's theme—"Explore, Observe, Report!"—might have more public appeal. We
should tell Tony Ingraham about our event in case he wants to make a video of it as he did at Tutelo
Park last year. We will ask Elizabeth to continue be the contact and inform CSI's Nate Launer
(m t0l m t;'e_( _!_!_'.ir.. _ ?_unun r�itys�i€�m_c€.o g) and CLWN's Hilary Lambert (st yJ�rd c�y�a �(�i<t'ogrg)that
we'd like them to feel free to address anything they think relevant to exploring, observing, and reporting
problems with lake health. Mike R said he'd ask Mark Whitmore for invasive forest specimens to bring to
the show.
7. Regular Reports and Updates:
Environmental Review Committee: no news
Scenic Resources Committee: Eva asked Joe if the Danby Road view sign would be installed soon.Joe
said it could be planted next month after a survey makes sure the NY Department of Transportation
(DOT) is okay with the location.The bench to be placed by the sign has been built and Joe does not
anticipate problems with getting this job done before too long. He also noted that a Tompkins County
DOT official had told him that the site for a third view sign near the intersection of Pine Tree and Snyder
Hill Roads should not be a problem, even though the right of way there belongs to the County and not
the Town.
Communications Committee: no report
Tompkins County EMC: Vlad was very enthusiastic about his recent meeting, where William Powell
reported success in saving the American chestnut from fungal blight by incorporating anti-fungal
enzymes in the tree.
Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitors:James reported that the group took a scheduled synoptic water
sample of Six Mile on May 8th last month.Though the analyses of that sample has not yet been
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published,the previous March 111"sample results are now available online at CSI's website.The annual
volunteer supper symposium was being held in Taughannock Park at the same time as the CB meeting
today, but James missed that free meal to take these minutes.
Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas:James reported that volunteers had hunted for Hemlock Wooly
Adelgids in Eames Bog in Freeville, and had found none there,though two cute young coyotes were
discovered hiding in the skunk cabbages. Volunteers also weeded out many wild parsnips and burdocks
around the edge of Beebe Lake so alumni attending reunion festivities wouldn't have to see them.
City of Ithaca Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission: Hannah reported that the city wants
to keep better track of its memorial installations, like trees and benches, and to keep track of its natural
areas better.The City has not tracked memorial installations in the past.
8. Other Business: Hannah noted that an IC student ecology club called the Sunrise Movement
might want to work with us to challenge government to make more ambitious environmental plans. We
ought to consider ways to get them involved with us.
9. Mike R wondered if any of us had reviewed our work goals lately and encouraged all to
(ACTION) review the Towns Comprehensive Plan by August 1st to see if we're missing anything. Eva
wondered what had happened to the PRI publication on teaching climate change. Maybe Elizabeth has it
now? Eva hopes it will circulate so we can all read it.
10. We Adjourned at 6:45 PM
Minutes by James Hamilton 6/7/19
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