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Home My WebLink About2019-02-14 EMC Final Minutes1 2 EMC Final Minutes February 14, 2019 4:00 p.m. Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St, Ithaca, NY 3 4 Attendance 5 6 Member Seat Member Seat Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Jonathan Zisk E At-Large Maureen Bolton P Town of Enfield Amanda Champion P Legislative Liaison Cait Darfler P Town of Ulysses Susan Allen-Gil A Associate Member John Dennis P Village of Lansing Karen Edelstein A Associate Member Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Bill Evans A Associate Member Pegi Ficken P Town of Groton Anna Kelles A Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Anne Klingensmith P Town of Danby Dan Klein P Associate Member Laurel Lynch E At-Large Jose Lozano E Associate Member Vladimir Micic A Town of Ithaca Osamu Tsuda P Associate Member Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline David Weinstein E Associate Member Susan Riley P At-Large Robert Wesley E Associate Member Tom Shelley P City of Ithaca Roger Yonkin E Associate Member Genny Shipley A At-Large Darby Kiley P Planning Staff Don Smith P At-Large Kristin McCarthy P Planning Staff Regi Teasley P At-Large 7 Guests – D’Arcy Cheyenne Carter, Ken Jaffe, Mike Merchant, Lisa Piering, Joe Wilson 8 9 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. 10 11 Privilege of the Floor – None 12 13 Agenda Review/Changes – None 14 15 Approval of the Minutes – A motion was made by Regi Teasley, seconded by Tom Shelley, to approve 16 the Jan. 10, 2019, minutes. Motion carried, with minor editorial changes. 17 18 The Ups and Downs of Cayuga Lake – Bill Kappel, Hydrogeologist Emeritus, NY Water Science Center 19 Retired USGS hydrogeologist Bill Kappel provided a presentation on the “Ups and Downs of Cayuga 20 Lake,” which covered the natural history of Cayuga Lake as well as the Seneca River. He particularly 21 touched on water-level fluctuations and how human intervention has affected them over the past two 22 centuries. His presentation can be found on the EMC website. 23 24 Committee Reports 25 26 Climate Adaptation – Regi Teasley 27 • Committee met but turnout was small due to poor weather conditions. 28 • Members continue brainstorming ideas for their next area of focus. Possible topics include best land 29 use practices and re-plumbing the landscape to better sequester carbon. 30 31 Environmental Review – Brian Eden 32 • Brian gave updates on the following issues of concern to the Committee: NYSDOT facility relocation 33 (siting selected on parcel and energy technology), Town of Lansing Rod & Gun Club building permit 34 to relocate the shooting range, Bergen Farms water withdrawal permit, dredging of Cascadilla Creek, 35 GreenStar West End expansion energy technology, Green Street Garage redevelopment project, 36 East Shore tram, Cayuga Power Plant coal ash contamination data collection and analysis, Romulus 37 Incinerator legislation, use of Roundup by County departments, and completion of the 38 environmental review process for North Campus Residential Expansion. 39 • He and Joe Wilson continue their outreach efforts to the City of Ithaca and other municipalities 40 encouraging them to opt for energy efficient technologies and infrastructure solutions. 41 • Village of Cayuga Heights voted to replace its streetlights with smart LED lighting. (The New York 42 Power Authority has substantial funding for municipalities). The City of Ithaca has not yet finalized 43 its buy-back contract with NYSEG. 44 • No news on Freese Road Bridge replacement environmental review. 45 • The environmental review for a new bridge over Fall Creek in Freeville was listed as a Type II Action. 46 • A bill was introduced in both houses of the NYS Legislature to prohibit the construction of 47 incinerators in the Oswego River/Finger Lakes watershed. 48 • John Dennis is planning to comment on the Cayuga Salt Mines SPDES Permit Renewal Application. It 49 is a Type II action, which does not require an environmental review process. 50 • Osamu Tsuda created a Google doc folder for the Committee. 51 52 Unique Natural Areas – Steve Nicholson 53 • By this time next year, consultants will complete the 10-year review of the entire UNA inventory 54 • Members are contemplating renaming the committee since UNA work is almost complete. May 55 work with local municipalities on natural resource inventories. 56 • Steve N. created a Google doc with meeting agendas, schedules, etc. 57 • Next meeting is March 11. 58 59 Water Resources Council Liaison – Michelle Henry 60 • WRC had its yearly organizational/restructuring meeting. 61 • A HABs committee was created. 62 • No news on TMDL for Cayuga Lake or HABs action plans from DEC. 63 • A tour of Cayuga Lake is being organized by Ithaca College and the Ithaca Area Wastewater 64 Treatment Facility, with funds from the Park Foundation. The tour, which is scheduled for June, will 65 provide an update on emerging contaminants and microplastics in the lake. 66 • Environmental lawyer Rachel Treichler spoke on water withdrawals and approaches local 67 municipalities have taken with regard to water withdrawal regulation for private entities. 68 69 Waste Reduction – Tom Shelley 70 • The committee’s single-use plastic bag ban campaign is on hold until the NYS budget is approved 71 and the outcome of Governor Cuomo’s proposed statewide ban is known. 72 • In the meantime, Barb Eckstrom will lead research efforts on behalf of the County. She is interested 73 in possibly tying a Styrofoam ban in with the plastic bag ban. 74 • Committee members plan to continue with public education efforts on an individual level. This 75 includes outreach to local businesses and partnering with other community organizations. 76 77 Executive – Brian Eden 78 • The EMC wishes Cait and her family all the best with the upcoming birth of their daughter. 79 • Members should plan to attend the March 12th public outreach event at the TCPL. 80 81 Staff Report – Darby Kiley 82 • 2019 Tompkins County Ag Summit will take place February 26th. 83 • Scott Doyle will be submitting a request to the Legislature to support a $15,000 investment from the 84 Capital Reserve Fund for Natural, Scenic, and Recreation Resource Protection to support the Owego 85 Creek Headwaters Project. The funds would assist the Finger Lakes Land Trust in purchasing a 24-86 acre portion of a parcel from a family farm in the Town of Caroline. 87 • County reviewed the Maguire project in the Village of Lansing and sent comments drawing upon the 88 EMC’s lighting and energy use recommendations in the County’s GML 239 review. 89 90 March 12th Public Outreach Program Planning 91 • The working theme for the evening’s presentation is “A Green New Deal: Is it a Pathway to 92 Ecological Sustainability” Subtitle is ”Are There Limits to Growth?” Members should forward speaker 93 recommendations to Susan. 94 • A Save the Date announcement will go out the week of February 25th. 95 96 Municipal Reports and Member Announcements 97 • Purity Ice Cream was selected for the first HeatSmart Award for Outstanding Earth Stewardship. 98 • Cait met with the Superintendent of the Trumansburg School District to inquire how the EMC might 99 support the district in choosing energy-efficient, sustainable options when upgrading facilities or 100 undertaking other measures to improve infrastructure. 101 • The all-day Water Law for Activists Symposium will be held March 22nd at the Cornell Law School. 102 • The Town of Newfield has a new Planning Board Chair. 103 104 Chair Brian Eden adjourned the meeting at 5:35 p.m. 105