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Home My WebLink About09-18-17 WRC Final Minutes_0TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL 1 Monday, Sept. 18, 2017 2 City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant 3 Final Minutes 4 Attendance 5 Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension Elaine Quaroni P At-Large John Andersson A At-Large Marjory Rinaldo-Lee P Environment Fay Benson E Agriculture Michael Thorne E At-Large Chris Bordlemay Padilla P Water Purveyor Cynthia Brock P Recreation Kristen Hychka P Associate Member Ed Bugliosi A USGS (non-voting) Roxy Johnston P Associate Member Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Emelia “Mia” Jumbo P Associate Member George Fowler P At-Large Jose Lozano E Associate Member Bill George P Municipal Government Darren MacDougall A Associate Member Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization John Mawdsley P Associate Member Michelle Henry P EMC Liaison Todd Miller P Associate Member Joan Jurkowich P Co. Planning Department Steve Penningroth E Associate Member Dooley Kiefer E County Government Joanne Trutko A Associate Member Darby Kiley P Municipal Government Tom Vawter A Associate Member Lynn Leopold P Municipal Government Linda Wagenet E Associate Member Jon Negley E Soil & Water Cons. District Frank Proto P At-Large Kristin McCarthy P Co. Planning Dept. Staff 6 A quorum was present. 7 8 Guests: Mara Alper, Ithaca College 9 10 Call to Order – Chair Darby Kiley called the meeting to order at 4:15 pm. 11 12 Tour of City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant – Roxy Johnston 13 14 The meeting started with Roxy Johnston giving the group a private tour of the City of Ithaca’s new water 15 treatment plant. She started the tour in the conference room with a quick introduction to the six-step process used 16 to treat water from the Six Mile Creek reservoir so that it is safe for the public to drink as well as a breakdown of 17 the different areas of the plant the group would be visiting. 18 19 Privilege of the Floor – Guest Mara Alper introduced herself to the group and expressed her interest in possibly 20 applying for membership in the Water Resources Council (WRC). Soon to be retiring from the faculty of Ithaca 21 College, she has taught classes on water-related issues and is particularly interested in the commodification of 22 water and how policy making could help to preserve it as a public good. 23 24 Agenda Review/Changes – None 25 Approval of June and July Minutes – Action: Frank Proto moved, and Barry Goodrich seconded, the 26 approval of the June 19th and July 17th minutes. The motion passed by the unanimous vote of the members 27 present, except for Lynn Leopold and Marjory Rinaldo-Lee, who abstained because they had not attended the 28 July meeting. 29 30 Committee Reports 31 32 Updated Water and Sewer Study – John Andersson 33 34 John Andersson was absent from the meeting. Joan Jurkowich said the committee is still waiting to hear about the 35 study. She will keep the WRC informed of any developments. 36 37 Nominating/Membership – Marjory Rinaldo-Lee 38 39 Marjory Rinaldo-Lee moved, and Joan Jurkowich seconded, to recommend associate member Emelia “Mia” 40 Jumbo for voting membership as an At-Large representative. Mia would be taking over the seat left vacant by 41 Michelle Henry when she became the Environmental Management Council liaison to the WRC. The motion was 42 passed unanimously by the members present. 43 44 Emerging Contaminants – George Fowler 45 46 George Fowler did not give a report because he left the meeting at the conclusion of the tour. However, on his 47 way out the door, he told Darby that the committee is looking at three components (point sources, nonpoint 48 sources, and sediments) and how they might be releasing contaminants into our waterways. 49 50 Grants – Jon Negley 51 52 No report. Jon Negley could not attend the meeting because of a work commitment. Frank Proto said that the 53 Grants Committee had not met recently. 54 55 Education and Outreach – Lynn Leopold 56 57 • The committee is putting together the clean boating brochure. In addition to serving as a guide on how to 58 be on the lake in an environmentally responsible way, the brochure will also provide boaters with 59 logistical information, such as where to find fueling stations and restrooms, and give some basic 60 geographic guidance. 61 62 • Lynn Leopold told Hillary Lambert that committee members would be willing to help keep hydrilla id 63 testing kits in stock at locations at the south end of the lake, such as Stewart Park, Boatyard Grill, and the 64 Cornell Sailing Center. 65 66 • Todd Miller asked if the WRC could obtain a complete copy of the lake model and all its files. Darby said 67 the Monitoring Partnership would be meeting tomorrow and could request a copy of the model from the 68 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The copy would be stored with the 69 County. 70 71 • Lynn said that even though James Balcyzak is no longer on the hydrilla outreach committee, she still 72 attends the meetings so she can keep her fellow Council members informed. She asked if Hillary Lambert 73 would be able to give the group another update soon on the monitoring situation. 74 75 • Liz Cameron said there is a class being taught at Ithaca College on improving public outreach and 76 education efforts related to harmful algal blooms (HABs). 77 78 • On September 30th, the Community Science Institute (CSI) is holding a public forum to discuss harmful 79 algal blooms. The forum will take place from 9 am to 12pm at The Space @ Greenstar. 80 81 Workshop to Protect Water Resources - Joan Jurkowich 82 83 • The committee met in August and September. They lined up potential speakers from the Cornell Local 84 Roads Program and Soil and Conservation District, as well as Rebecca Schneider from Cornell. Also, 85 Kristen Hychka met with the Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County. 86 87 • They discovered that Cornell Local Roads will be holding a training seminar on roadway ditching and 88 drainage in Seneca Falls on October 5th. As a result, they’ve decided to push their workshop training to 89 the spring and will continue preparing for it. 90 91 • Sharon Anderson added that the committee hopes to get on the agenda for the highway superintendents 92 meeting. Darby asked if any information is available on the training in Seneca Falls. Sharon said she 93 received an announcement and would forward it to Darby for distribution to the group. 94 95 Monitoring Partnership – Roxy Johnston 96 97 Roxy informed the group that the NYSDEC has yet to release the draft TMDL for Cayuga Lake. Also, she 98 reported that committee members would meet the next day, Tuesday, September 19th. 99 100 Watershed Rules and Regulations – Chris Bordlemay Padilla 101 102 There was no report because the committee hadn’t met recently. 103 104 Soil Health – Fay Benson 105 106 Fay Benson could not attend the meeting because of a work commitment. However, Mia reported that the 107 committee is gathering information for their Soil Health brochure and investigating options for production. Barry 108 Goodrich added that their group will work with Cornell Cooperative Extension to distribute the brochure once it is 109 ready. 110 111 Chair Report – Darby Kiley 112 113 Nothing to report 114 115 Staff Report – Joan Jurkowich 116 117 Nothing to report 118 119 Member Announcements 120 121 • Frank Proto reported that as vice chair he presented the 2016 Annual Report to the County Planning and 122 Economic Development Committee. They were most interested in the status of the TMDL. 123 124 • Roxy Johnston said that NYSDEC has launched a thorough HABs study to monitor their presence in all 125 the Finger Lakes. 126 127 • Skaneateles Lake tested positive for HABs as did a section of northern Cayuga Lake, in Cayuga County. 128 129 • Joan said that information on the water quality in general of Cayuga Lake can be found on the CSI 130 website. Michelle Henry added that CSI is also posting CSLAP. 131 132 133 134 • Roxy said that the DEC is testing the City of Ithaca’s drinking water monthly. She does not receive a 135 regular report, but would be notified immediately if any problems were encountered and will receive all 136 of the data from the DEC at the end of 2017. 137 138 • Cynthia Brock reported there was a presentation on emerging contaminants, and Jose Lozano is putting 139 together a funding request for the Special Joint Committee to undertake a second round of testing for 140 persistent organics and endocrine disruptors in our area’s raw drinking water supply and influent and 141 effluent water from Cayuga Lake. 142 143 • Frank Proto asked if anyone knew anything about the potential Article 78 being brought by a few 144 municipalities in the County to challenge the DEC’s decision regarding Cargill Mine Shaft #4. 145 146 • Darby said that the Town of Lansing Planning Board has just started the site plan review process for 147 Cargill, and the Town Board will be considering the special permit application for the project. 148 149 • Michelle Henry said the public comment period for the EPA Clean Water Rule has been extended until 150 September 27th. 151 152 Adjournment 153 154 Joan Jurkowich moved, and Michelle Henry seconded, to declare the meeting adjourned. The motion was 155 carried unanimously by the members present. Chair Darby Kiley declared the meeting adjourned at 156 approximately 6:02 pm. 157 158 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department. Approved by Water 159 Resources Council: 10/16/2017. 160