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Home My WebLink AboutCB Minutes 2010-02-04 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board February 4, 2010 7.30 p.m. Draft minutes Members present: Jon Meigs, Diane Conneman, James Hamilton, Tony Ingraham, Nirav Patel, Kristine Shaw, Andrew Goodell, Eva Hoffmann Staff: Darby Kiley Guests: Aaron Donato Persons to be heard: Guest Aaron Donato introduced himself, explained his background, and expressed interest in the Conservation Board. Members went around the room introducing themselves and explained why they are on the board. Members' Concerns: Eva reported on some things of interest she learned on her recent trip to Denmark. • Eva noted that the Danes have a lot of wind turbines, but she was particularly impressed that she saw no cell towers, and speculated that they are all underground. Diane thought that the Danes might be using satellites instead, as is done in some other countries. She also noted that many people ride bicycles, mostly adults, including during the winter, but that they don't wear helmets. Chair and Coordinator Reports: Chair: • Invasive plants: Diane talked with Craig Schutt of the Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District about some plants that are sold by the SWCD that are listed on the County EMC invasive plants list, namely black locust (popular for fence posts) and periwinkle. She also asked about Norway spruce and burning bush. Craig said he is willing to distribute educational literature with plants sold. Darby noted that Don Siegel of Plantsman Nursery is open to getting more native plants on their list. Diane passed around a sample of an invasive species summary sheet published by Penn State. • Ditches: Diane noted that the SWCD does hydroseeding of ditches as a service to municipalities. They do it for the county and they could do it for the Town. We need to continue to investigate ditching practices, e.g., installing culverts speeds up water. • There is a new chair of the public works committee. • Susan McCutcheon has resigned from the Conservation Board, citing time constraints. Coordinator: Planning Board: At the January 19 meeting, the Silvers Medical Clinic received subdivision and site plan approval. The Cornell Water System Improvement project received approval for the site plan modification and the approval included the following conditions that might be of interest to the CB: in order to provide adequate notice to the public that the East Ithaca Recreation Way will be closed during construction, the applicant must install an advisory sign at all trail entrances at least one week prior to the trail closure with the proposed starting and completion dates of construction and trail closure specified; the East Ithaca Recreation Way shall not be closed for more than two weeks without a plan in place acceptable to the Town Parks Manager to keep the Recreation Way open as much as possible while the work continues to completion. The applicant, further, shall update the advisory signs to reflect the new proposed Recreation Way reopening date; Removed trees greater than 8 inches diameter breast height shall be replaced by trees that are a minimum of 5 feet tall and are protected from deer browsing by deer cages. At the February 2 Planning Board meeting, the Melen/Markowitz two-lot subdivision was approved, this was a subdivision that was filed in 1985 without town approval. The spur of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Phase 3 that is located in the Town (at the Chamber of Commerce) received site plan approval. The PB also heard sketch plan presentations for the modified Cleveland Estates (now 13 lots with open space and stormwater facilities) and modified Holly Creek Townhomes; INHS is the applicant for that project. The PB discussed planning for West Hill in light of the current projects before the board. The resolution will be discussed again in March. The Feb 16 meeting is cancelled. For the next CB meeting, Conservation Zoning language changes will hopefully be available for review. Newsletter: The CB should consider writing an article for the upcoming spring newsletter. Diane said that she would put together a draft on invasive species. Business: The minutes for the January meeting were approved, with minor corrections of a typographical nature. Eva suggested that when we mention revisions to minutes that we include those corrections, unless they are minor spelling or typographical errors rather than a more substantial revision. The work priorities for 2010 were adopted with the refinements made at the January meeting. Coy Glen Conservation Zone: In the meeting packet, Darby sent out an annotated outline of the Coy Glen/Culver Creek and the group discussed the boundary line: • Regarding the private property adjacent to the west side of the public works facility, James suggested including the part of their property already designated in the CEA. Tony felt the rest of the property (except for a small holding) ought to be included in the CZ to provide buffering to protect the continuity and integrity of the entire CZ. The CB concluded that the whole parcel or at least the part currently in the CEA be included in the CZ. • Several other small properties around the area were discussed vis a vis inclusion. • The boundary around the cemetery will change to follow either the CEA or UNA, most of that area is wooded. • Nirav asked about the history of the decisions regarding properties included in CZs. Eva said that it's been a combination of ecological concerns and landowner feelings. • Nirav asked that we stress the importance of micro-habitats due to the geology and hydrology of the area. Regular Reports and Updates: • Environmental Review Committee: No report. • Scenic Resources Committee: The committee has been suggesting text versions for the East Shore Park interpretive sign, and will meet soon in person to make decisions as a whole committee. • R. Fischer Award Committee: The committee has been talking with organizations about nominations, including EcoVillage, Finger Lakes Land Trust, and Sustainable Tompkins. EcoVillage is nominating itself. The Land Trust has not responded yet. Kristine volunteered to join the committee, in light of Susan's departure. • Tompkins County EMC: The EMC has restructured its subcommittees, focusing resources on a narrower field so they can accomplish tasks more effectively, including an Environmental Review Committee, Communications Committee (as a liaison to other groups), and Unique Natural Areas. The EMC is the "door to the County Legislature." Working on Unique Natural Areas is a big project this year. • Sixmile Creek Volunteer Monitors: James reported on the Community Science Institute's sixth annual symposium on water quality monitoring held Feb. 3. Don Barber of the Town of Caroline gave a "rousing keynote speech on how Water Quality Monitors were keeping the pulse on gas drilling." They had their largest symposium attendance ever, probably because of the gas drilling issue. A big theme was the value of conducting a select set of surface water tests to prove unpolluted waters prior to drilling operations, something CSI doesn't currently do but could do fairly cheaply. o Volunteers were asked to sign "signature forms" to meet certified lab requirements to improve the legal value of data collected. o Additional watersheds being sampled: ■ Cayuga Inlet now has lots of sample data. ■ King Ferry has four creeks with CAFO problems; sampling is getting organized to look at fecal drainage problems. ■ Though the Trumansburg Sewage Treatment Plant is releasing excessive E. coli during storms, more sampling along the creek indicates that the contamination is not reaching Cayuga Lake at Camp Barton. o The next Sixmile Creek WQMV meeting is scheduled for February 15 at Cooperative Extension. • City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission: No report. • Comprehensive Plan: Diane reported that at their recent meeting, the committee had consensus on the need to decrease the use of energy in the Town, stressing alternative energy sources. Other Business- Swallow-wort removal strategy: Tony asked about the status of Town parks staff taking measures to control invasives, particularly swallow-wort. Nothing has happened. It was suggested that the CB offer a work session to help cut down the population near the water tank that threatens the Cornell Plantations preserve. Diane talked with park manager Rich Schoch about this possibility and he was delighted by the idea. Kristine noted that a group of ten LACS students are interested in helping with this as part of their community service hours requirement. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9.30 p.m. These draft Minutes generated by Tony Ingraham