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Home My WebLink About03-10-16 EMC Final Minutes 1 Minutes of the EMC 2 3 Date: March 10, 2016 4 Time: 4:00pm 5 Location: Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St. 6 7 Attendees: 8 Name Representation Susan Riley P At-Large Tom Shelley P Ithaca CAC Linda Spielman P Village of Dryden Ron Szymanski A Village of Freeville Roger Yonkin A At-Large Anna Kelles A Legislature Liaison Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Jose Lozano A Associate Member Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator Jennifer Turner P Administrative Assistant 10 11 Guests in attendance: Nick Gould 12 13 Call to Order– The meeting was called to order by Brian Eden at 4:05pm. 14 15 Approval of Minutes – March meeting minutes will be reviewed at the meeting on April 14. As 16 approved, final minutes are posted on the EMC webpage: www.tompkins-co.org/emc. 17 18 Energy – Brian Eden reported on the proposed carbon tax and energy bill and expressed his 19 concerns with the “diminishing energy supply”. He noted the growing interest in local area 20 development, noting the Maplewood redevelopment project, as having opportunities for 21 employing new energy-saving aspects. He also noted attempts being made to set up meetings 22 with both the Economic Policy Advisor and NYSERDA regarding heat pumps and hydro that 23 were left out of the federal spending bill. He went on to note about the community solar forum 24 he plans to attend on Friday March 11th in Syracuse, the energy symposium on April 8the, and 25 presentation on the Residential Energy Score project on March 14 at the Tompkins County 26 Public Library at 7:30 PM. It was further noted that the Planning Committee of the Legislature is 27 soon considering a resolution in support of a micro-hydro renewables contract. Finally, it was 28 reported that The Energy Roadmap is complete and will be presented to the Planning, 29 Development, and Environmental Quality Committee on March 16. 30 31 City of Ithaca Stormwater Management Planning – Jesse Hill introduced himself as the Chair 32 of the City of Ithaca’s Conservation Advisory Council. He went on to report on the Council’s 33 efforts in city code and stormwater issues, noting their primary focus on commenting on local 34 projects under consideration by both the City Planning Board and Common Council. Through 35 this review process, a commonality noted was that only minimum code requirements were being 36 met, causing concerns with the planning process and poor design standards that will likely result 37 in environmental and economic impacts. 38 Name Representation Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Kenny Christianson P At-Large John Dennis A Village of Lansing Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Bill Evans A Town of Danby Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton John Hertzler A Town of Ulysses Jim McGarry A At-Large Vladimir Micic A Town of Ithaca Steve Nicholson E Town of Caroline Raised awareness through the new Stormwater Utility legislation was noted as playing a large 1 part in increasing coordination between agencies, though additional objectives were emphasized 2 in order to reduce potential impacts. The CAC has drafted a report recommending the 3 modification of a number of ways the City regulates stormwater and incentivizes the use of 4 stormwater BMPs. Reported objectives include, though are not limited to, streamlining and 5 emphasizing the city code, making specific code changes, clarification of the definition of 6 Natural Areas, and to calibrate any code changes to work with the existing stormwater 7 management operations. 8 9 Members questioned whether smaller properties typically also have issues incorporating 10 stormwater recommendations. Additional areas of discussion included stormwater credits and 11 their benefits to commercial properties particularly in comparison to the cost of traditional 12 stormwater systems. 13 14 To view the complete draft report please visit: 15 http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/emc/documents/presentations 16 17 Committee Reports 18 19 Energy – Brian Eden reported that the 2030 District will be on the Planning, Development, and 20 Environmental Quality Committee agenda on March 16. The Black Oak Wind Farm was 21 discussed, and members expressed concerns of constraints with setbacks, and it was noted that 22 after substantial review, the supplemental EIS was submitted and accepted as approved. 23 24 Environmental Review – Brian Eden reported on the Chainworks site, and expressed his 25 concerns with potential development going in around areas of contamination. Then, the proposed 26 Maguire development and Brindley Street Bridge project were discussed. Also, it was noted that 27 the solid waste regulations for the Cayuga Power Plant were released for review and are 28 currently open for comment. The recent lead found in area drinking water, and discrepancies 29 with the numerous agencies’ varying standards were additional concerns discussed by the 30 Council. The DEC will tour the Cayuga Power Plant on March 15. 31 32 Unique Natural Areas – Linda Spielman reported that the UNA committee did not meet this 33 month, and have not yet taken an observational walk through Sapsucker Woods. 34 35 Executive Committee – Brian Eden announced the Earth Day celebration taking place at The 36 Space. Susan Riley announced an upcoming presentation on Cornell University’s Climate Action 37 Plan and sustainability goals that will likely take place this spring. Steve Penningroth will be 38 presenting at the meeting on April 14. Members mentioned an interest in information on the 39 topic of lead in area drinking water. The committee annual reports are due April 1. Suggestions 40 were further made to update the purpose statement in the EMC Bylaws. 41 42 Staff Report – Scott Doyle reported on the two major environmental reviews with both 43 Chainworks project, and Black Oak Wind Farm project. He went on to report on the energy farm 44 meeting he attended that focused on funding opportunities for various energy projects. Jennifer 45 Turner announced her resignation from the Planning Department and full-time employment with 1 Personnel. 2 3 Wind Power FAQ: Discussion and Approval – Brian Eden presented his efforts in creating a 4 wind industry fact sheet, and asked members to submit comments prior to the meeting on April 5 10. Dooley suggested “The EMC supports the EMC -2016, and seeks to encourage public 6 dialogue”. 7 8 Municipal Reports – Marie Terlizzi expressed concern with the agricultural properties at Pony 9 Hollow that are being used to spread manure. 10 11 Member Items – Thomas Shelley reported on the joint meeting between the City Planning 12 Board and the Ithaca Landmark Commission on the Old Library (Dewitt House) regarding the 13 improvements on the design of building. He reported further on the draft EIS approval of the 14 Chainworks project, and the design review elements that were presented. 15 16 Adjournment -- The meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM. 17 18 Respectfully submitted, 19 20 Jennifer Turner, Administrative Assistant 21 Tompkins County Planning Department 22 Approved by Council on April 14th, 2016 23