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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019.02.25 WRC Final MinutesPage 1 of 2 TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL Monday, February 25, 2019 TCAT Main Conference Room Final Minutes Attendance Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension Linda Wagenet P At-Large Fay Benson P Agriculture Mara Alper E Associate Chris Bordlemay Padilla E Water Purveyor Annie Bastoni E Associate Cynthia Brock P Municipal Bill George P Associate Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Marina Howarth E Associate Amanda Champion P County Government Roxy Johnston P Associate Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Dooley Kiefer P Associate Ed Gottlieb E At-Large Jose Lozano P Associate Michelle Henry P EMC Representative Todd Miller P Associate Kristen Hychka P Municipal Government Niamh O’Leary P Associate Emelia “Mia” Jumbo P At-Large Steve Penningroth P Associate Darby Kiley P County Planning & Sustain. Elaine Quaroni E Associate Lynn Leopold E Municipal Government Marjory Rinaldo-Lee P Associate Jon Negley E Soil & Water Cons. District Joanne Trutko E Associate Frank Proto P At-Large Tom Vawter P Associate Brian Rahm E Environment Guests: None Call to Order – Chair Cynthia Brock called the meeting to order at 4:17 p.m. Privilege of the Floor – None Agenda Review/Changes – None Cynthia welcomed everyone to meeting and introduced new Action: Approval of January 2019 Minutes – Frank Proto made a motion to approve the Jan. 28, 2019, minutes. Motion carried. Presentation: Wetlands Mapping Study – Darby Kiley Darby brought forth for review a draft resolution to adopt the “Tompkins County 2012 Wetlands Map as a resource for municipalities and developers to consult for planning, environmental resource management, and land development activities.” The map’s genesis stems from the WRC, in particular the Water Quality Strategy, which has “protect and restore wetlands” as a stated goal. The Wetlands Mapping Study was designed to identify and map all wetlands not currently regulated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation or the federal government, which makes them vulnerable to disturbance and destruction from development. The map’s creator, GIS specialist Nick Hollingshead, used the most recent digital imagery LiDAR Elevation Data to develop it. The new map showed comparisons with National Wetlands Inventory and NYS Article 24 Freshwater Wetland Maps. His work was contracted through the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network (CLWN), and the 2012 Wetlands Map and related data are available on the CLWN website, and accessible on the County’s Natural Resources Inventory interactive map. A large portion of the meeting was spent weighing the pros and cons of having the WRC adopt the map. Some members viewed it as valuable planning tool for municipal and County governments and thought the WRC’s backing would give it more weight. Others didn’t see the point in adopting the map since it wouldn’t be legally Page 2 of 2 binding. The members also had differing opinions on the best verb to use in the resolution – adopt, endorse, accept, recommend, etc. The impetus for the resolution came about in part because the County Legislators and Department of Planning and Sustainability received a request from one of the municipalities to consider formalizing the 2012 Wetlands Map. Later in the meeting, Elaine Quaroni mentioned that the Village of Cayuga Heights consults the Wetlands Map during site plan reviews. No municipality has adopted the map formally. Frank argued for sending the draft resolution to other stakeholders, such as the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board, for input before acting. Action: Amanda Champion made a motion to adopt the Tompkins County 2012 Wetlands Mapping Study. Michelle Henry seconded. Action: Frank Proto moved to amend Amanda’s motion by changing “adopt” in the resolution title to “accept.” A. Fay Benson seconded. Action: Liz Cameron moved to table discussion on adopting/accepting the Tompkins County 2012 Wetlands Mapping Study until further notice. Frank Proto seconded. Motion carried. Final Review of 2019 Draft Committees List The list of 2019 WRC Committees was distributed for a last round of fact-checking. Kristin McCarthy will email the final list of committee members to the respective chairs and send out a poll to schedule the first HABs Committee meeting. Committee Reports Emerging Contaminants WRC members are invited Wednesday, June 19th, for a sunset Emerging Contaminants educational tour on the MV Teal. (Jose submitted the committee’s monthly report electronically prior to tonight’s meeting.) Education/Outreach Committee brought draft plots of the boating map and accompanying back-side reference information to share with members. Cynthia expressed disappointment that there appeared to be no way include a buoy layer on the map. Committee hopes to get bid out to a printer in next two months. Frank questioned why WRC had chosen not to pursue a drought committee for this year. Darby explained that this topic would be covered under the County’s upcoming Hazard Mitigation Plan. Cynthia reminded committee chairs to submit monthly reports electronically via the Google form. Chair’s Report -- None Staff Report -- None Member Announcements • A symposium on HABs in Owasco Lake will be held March 9th in Auburn. • In honor of World Water Day, representatives from Onondaga County will present details of the County’s successful “Save the Rain” program on March 18th at The Space @ Greenstar. Adjournment – Chair Cynthia Brock adjourned the meeting at 6:00 pm.