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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2008-12-04 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board December 4, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Final minutes MEMBERS PRESENT: Diane Conneman, James Hamilton, Tony Ingraham, Brent Katzmann. STAFF: Darby Kiley GUESTS: Steve Komor, Andrew Goodell PERSONS TO BE HEARD: None Members' Concerns: James: City water project; 12/5/08 is the deadline for comments on the draft EIS. It's too late to comment on this, but we should be able to take a stand on the FEIS. James favors the Sixmile Creek option. He is concerned about impacts of the pipe that would need to be built from Bolton Point in that option, and about the energy required for pumping water from the lake to the treatment plant. If the City abandons Sixmile Creek as its water supply, there will still need to be the cost of maintaining the dams and removing silt. He wants the CB to take a strong stand in favor of the Sixmile Creek option. Perhaps we will have someone talk to us about this or we will attend the public information session associated with the FEIS. Chair and Coordinator Reports: • Chair: Diane attended a meeting on nodal development and sprawl in the county. She noted that nodal development is difficult to achieve. • Darby: o Carrowmoor—The Planning Board will soon be considering the designation of lead agency and a positive declaration of environmental significance. o CU Energy Recovery Linac project—on Dec 2nd the Planning Board passed a resolution designating itself as lead agency and issuing a positive declaration of environmental significance. Staff met with Cornell to begin discussing the scoping document, and we expect a draft in January. o Plantations Welcome Center—preliminary site plan was approved on November 18, and final site plan approval is scheduled for Dec 16. o IC Wetland mitigation—the sketch plan was reviewed at the Nov 18 meeting. They will be doing a Supplement to the EIS; the scoping process will be done be between the applicant and town staff. o There is a cell tower proposal for 651 Five Mile Drive. The tower will be 125' (130' with lightning rod) and is proposed to be a lattice-style monotower. The structure collapses on itself and needs a 60-70' radius fall zone. The project will also include an equipment shelter. The project will be located on private property that will be leased. There will not be any lighting. The Planning Board will review the sketch plan on 1 December 16, and then will consider site plan and special permit. The project will also require variances —at least a height variance. Staff asked for more information from the applicant, including a SWPPP, more details on the equipment shelter, and spec sheets on the tower. o At the November I P Planning Committee meeting, the committee discussed possible follow-up strategies to the CB's report, "Saving Ithaca's Views." The committee agreed that the report is a valuable tool in identifying scenic resources in the Town and will be asking the Town Board to consider designating the "most important"views as significant scenic resources. Action on this will happen in early 2009, with a possible presentation at a Town Board meeting. Town staff will work on how the Town can identify appropriate preservation strategies. One way that this is useful is in the SEQR review. In terms of preservation, staff will analyze who owns the land which makes the scenic views. o The Planning Committee also recommends that modest displays or signs could be developed at several viewing points. The CB should start with East Shore Park as a prototype because the Town has control of that property. The other sites could be more difficult to post signs and the committee did not come to an agreement on how to proceed with the other locations, whether pull-offs are practical. This will not be on the December Agenda(Ed Marx will be there to talk about Route 96 and nodal development). o NE ecological communities study. On Dec 8, the Town Board meeting will include a public hearing to extend the moratorium (in the northeast) through June 20, 2009. We are waiting to hear from Rocco Lucente's consultants regarding the ecological communities study. The Town engineers are still working on the drainage study,working with data gathered over the summer by the engineering interns. Business: • Approval of the November minutes was deferred until January when more members would be present. Regular Reports and Updates: • Environmental Review Committee: No report. (The cell tower and other issues were discussed during the Coordinator's report.) • Scenic Resources Committee: James sent out a draft proposal regarding three preliminary sites (East Shore Park, Route 96BLongview, and Pine Tree Road) to the committee via email prior to this meeting. • R. Fischer Award Committee: Brent promised to send out an announcement to be sent to listserves this weekend. • Tompkins County EMC: Guest Steve Komor mentioned that he attended the most recent meeting. He helped with comments regarding the scoping document on the Marcellus shale drilling. • Sixmile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program: They are still waiting for a flood event to sample. A date has been set for a scheduled sampling in January. Volunteers responded to the DEIS for the City's water supply project. 2 City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission: No report. Comprehensive Plan: Diane reported that the committee met just before Thanksgiving. They finalized the content of the survey to be conducted in January by telephone to more than 400 households. They will set up meetings in various parts of the town in February or March. Other Business: • Board Membership: All members present approved the recommendation to the Town Board of Steve Komor, Nirav Patel, and Andrew Goodell for membership on this board. • 2009 Chair and Vice Chair o Chair: Diane is willing to continue as chair for 2009. James moved and Brent seconded a motion to recommend Diane's continued position as chair; motion approved by all members present. o Vice Chair: Brent will not be continuing on the CB, due to other commitments. His term expires this month. He wants to participate in the Comprehensive Plan update. Diane suggested we leave the recommendation of Vice Chair for the January meeting. • 2009 Schedule: We reviewed the proposed schedule of meetings for 2009. James moved that we approve them; Tony seconded. Approved by all members present. • 2009 Committee selection: Deferred until January. Diane will send out an email with committee descriptions. • 2009 projects: Diane will work up a list of projects for next year. • Announcement: Darby said that the CB is invited to the Thaler and Thaler holiday party on December 19 at 3:00 p.m. Adiournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Minutes generated by Tony Ingraham 3