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Home My WebLink About2017-01-25 PAB Draft Minutes-emdocx 1 PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD 2 Wednesday, January 25, 2017 3 SCOTT HEYMAN CONFERENCE ROOM 4 125 East Court Street 5 6 FINAL MEETING MINUTES 7 Members Attending: 8 Name Representation Kathy Schlather P Human Services Rob Steuteville A Built Environment Design Andy Zepp P Land Pres/Public Land Mgmt Dooley Kiefer A Associate Member Others Present Ed Marx P Commissioner of Planning Scott Doyle P Planner Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant Katie Borgella P 10 Guests: None 11 12 A quorum was present. 13 14 Call to Order – Chair David Kay called the meeting to order at 9:09 AM. There were no changes to the 15 agenda. 16 17 Privilege of the Floor – No speakers 18 19 Agenda Review/Changes – 20 21 Approval of Minutes (Oct. 26 & Dec. 7) – 22 23 David Herrick motioned to approve the December 2016 minutes, seconded by Andrew Zepp. The motion 24 passed unanimously. David Herrick motioned to pass the October minutes, seconded by Kathy Schlather. 25 The motion passed unanimously. 26 27 28 Review of Draft Work Program – Ed Marx & Katie Borgella 29 30 Ed presented an overview of the 2017 Tompkins County Planning & Sustainability Department Work 31 Program and asked for feedback from board members. 32 33 The Work Program, a copy of which was included in the agenda packet, identifies four clear priorities: 34 35 o Housing ─ continue the momentum generated by the Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2016, Housing 36 Summit; develop updated Housing Strategy including focusing on opportunities in 37 development focus areas; track housing to monitor progress in reaching goals; 38 Name Representation Martha Armstrong P Economic Development Joe Bowes E Housing Sue Cosentini P Business Fernando de Aragón P Transportation John Gutenberger A Education Dave Herrick P Facilities/Infrastructure Rod Howe P Historical/Cultural Resources David Kay P Local Planning (urban) Darby Kiley P Local Planning (non-urban) Gay Nicholson P At-Large Martha Robertson P Planning Committee Monika Roth P Agriculture o Energy and Climate Change ─ using the Energy Strategy Update as guidance, set targets for 39 progress over the next 15 years on way to achieving 2050 goals; determine how to translate 40 findings from the Energy Roadmap/Task Force into concrete results; and develop an 41 effective community disaster recovery plan; 42 43 o Land and Water Conservation ─ continue work on Natural Features Focus Areas, with 44 emphasis on habitat connectivity; and use funds from Natural Infrastructure Program to 45 invest in floodplain protection, which will help to mitigate effects of major storm events in 46 the future; 47 48 o Tourism – implement the Cayuga Lake Blueway Trail grant to complete design work for all 49 the signage and facilities; and further develop the Outdoor Recreation Tourism Program. 50 Several other initiatives are under way as well. 51 52 53 Katie Borgella spoke regarding the Department’s work on energy and climate change. The County wants to 54 apply for the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities Program, and energy benchmarking of all its facilities 55 and disclosing the results would make the County a better candidate. 56 57 They are seeing a lot of interest in the Energy Task Force and receiving applications from many excellent 58 candidates. 59 60 In addition, they will continue tracking the County’s energy use and renewable energy development. 61 62 63 FLLT Conservation Strategies for Finger Lakes Region – Andy Zepp 64 65 Andy updated the group on the Land Trust’s key initiatives and strategies for conservation of the 12 counties 66 that comprise the Finger Lakes region. Some of those counties are experiencing lots of development, while 67 others are not and are economically depressed. 68 69 Even though much of the area is still rural, they are in an end-game for preserving many key land resources 70 in the region. 71 72 One challenge they face is that most state funding is directed toward the Adirondacks and Downstate. In trips 73 to Albany, Andy has found that most legislators know little about the Finger Lakes and have almost no sense 74 of its characteristics as a region. As a result, they spent a year not only articulating the Land Trust’s 75 objectives but also talking to different county planning boards, lake associations, conservation agencies (e.g. 76 DEC), and regional planning and development boards to get their thoughts on what issues should take 77 priority in the next decade to preserve land and water resources in the Finger Lakes. 78 79 They came up with a top 10 list of conservation strategies for the region, which were highlighted in the 80 report they published last fall. The publication received quite a bit of press because it came out around the 81 same time that Owasco Lake was in the news for its toxic algae crisis. 82 83 A few of their funding recommendations address farmland protection, scenic byways, and conserving 84 undeveloped shoreline. 85 86 Draft Natural Infrastructure Program Overview – Ed Marx and Scott Doyle 87 88 The program focuses chiefly on easements and protecting and re-establishing existing floodplains; there are 89 also some potential demonstration projects on County roads and facilities. 90 91 They envision creating a committee of this board and bringing any initiatives to those committee members 92 first for review. Once an idea is ripe for implementation, it would be brought before the Board for 93 endorsement and then travel on to the Legislature for approval. 94 95 Large Solar Projects– Katie Borgella, Scott Doyle, and Ed Marx 96 97 The Department is seeing more proposals for large solar and a key issue has come up: when projects are 98 slated to be located on prime farmland or within a conservation zone, how should the County proceed? 99 100 Their inclination is to recommend that solar projects developed on prime farmland should have minimal 101 impact on agricultural use and not destroy prime soils. 102 103 At this time, the Department does not think solar projects should be situated within conservation zones. 104 105 There are some proposals pending now that they need to respond to promptly. However, going forward, they 106 need to implement a consistent strategy. 107 108 Recruitment for PAB vacancies/election of officers – Ed Marx 109 110 The new charter was approved by the Legislature; as a result one of the At-Large seats will change to an 111 Energy seat. Ruth Hopkins resigned, which leaves her At-Large seat open. 112 113 In addition to recruiting for the new Energy seat and the At-Large seat, the board needs to find Natural 114 Environment, Education, and At-Large representatives. A press release will be issued shortly to announce 115 those vacancies. Ed also encouraged members to reach out with personal recommendations as well. 116 117 Dave Herrick, Monika Roth, and Sue Cosentini volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2017. 118 119 Commissioner’s Report – Ed Marx 120 121 Due to time constraints, Ed did not give a report. 122 123 Member Reports/Announcements – 124 125 There were no member reports or announcements. 126 127 Adjournment – 128 129 The meeting adjourned at 10:29 a.m. 130 131 132 133