HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2012-09-06 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
7:00 p.m., September 6, 2012
Final Minutes
Members Present: Eva Hoffman, Diane Conneman, Ellie Stewart, Jon Meigs, Kristine
Shaw, James Hamilton, Andy Goodell, Tony Ingraham
Members absent: Aaron Donato, Vladimir Vicic, Susan Perri, Nirav Patel
Staff present: Mike Smith
Persons to be heard: None
Member concerns: Tony reported on the anti-fracking rally and march in Albany and the
anti-LPG facility rally and march in Watkins Glen.
Chair report: Kristine had initial discussion with Rich Schoch regarding invasive species
control, but they have not had time to meet yet.
Coordinator report:
• Honness Lane development (Greenways): They are coming in for a sketch plan
review on October 2nd. Diane said there was a good community meeting by the
developers recently. Eva would like to see lower speed limit on that road and in
other residential areas. Ellie noted that the Town can't change speed limits; it
must petition the state through a lengthy process.
• Eva was curious why Cornell is changing its softball fields on Pine Tree Rd. to
artificial turf, noting flooding concerns in the past. This should be referred to the
ERC for comment. Jon was concerned about the drainage as well. Kristine
suggested that we email around the board regarding this.
• 2012 Conference on the Environment coming up in early October. There should
be funds for registration if anyone is interested.
Minutes: August minutes were not available.
BUSINESS
Draft Resolution for Rezoning for East Shore Drive:
• Change northern to western lakeshore in 6th whereas clause.
• Jon does not think it is a scenic area. Tony says it's visible from the lake and
from Stewart Park and Treman Marina. James spoke in support of keeping
scenic view value.
• Kristine will work with the comments and circulate a revised draft.
• We discussed what to call the area, such as East Shore Conservation Zone.
• More editing was discussed.
Timber Harvesting Postcard: Small changes were suggested and will be sent back to
Vladimir for finalization, and then it will be printed and mailed to residents in
Conservation Zones. Eva said we should make sure the web address is correct.
Conservation Zone Flier: We reviewed the flier and suggested minor changes. Eva
pointed out that the Sixmile Creek CZ is not implicit in "South Hill" and suggested saying
East Hill and South Hill. We will put a date on the brochure. Take out httpH- in websites.
It was approved as amended.
Southwest Glens and Creeks Conservation Zone: Ellie reported that the committee is
working on a rough draft with pictures and maps. They are meeting weekly, and they
are very close to a finalized draft. They may circulate it before next meeting, or at least
at the next meeting.
REPORTS
Environmental Review Committee: There has been no meeting, but one is needed.
Nirav has tried to schedule one.
Scenic Resources Committee: Tony circulated the second "color sample" of the East
Shore Park interpretive sign sent us for comment or approval by the exhibit fabricator
(Fossil Industries). He will schedule a meeting of the SRC to review this and respond to
Fossil.
Communications Committee: They submitted two notes for the Town's fall newsletter.
Facebook page only has 27 likes.
Southwest Glens and Creeks Committee: already reported.
EMC: Kristine is stepping down as our representative to the EMC. She gave a brief
description of the EMC, but indicated that it is not imperative that there be a
representative on the EMC, although it certainly has value. Jon suggested that Susan
might be interested, and Kristine said that she will ask her.
Sixmile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program: Three teams of samplers found significant
impact from the drought on benthos. A new team from Brooktondale will start their own
sampling, particularly in Hammond Hill State Forest. They have taken chemical samples
for gas well baseline data, which is already uploaded to CSI website. Sampling is
increasing around the Southern Tier
City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission: Problems continue with lots of swimmers.
Comprehensive Plan Committee: It hasn't met for a couple months as the draft is out for
comments and they have been coming back slowly. A meeting is set up for the Town
and City Comprehensive Plan Committees to meet. There is still time to make
comments.
Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Academy: Park Park is nicely tidied up. They may
sow wildflowers to compete with garlic mustard.
Other Business: none
Review 2012 Work Goals and Set October Agenda: Diane suggests at some point we
talk with and share information regarding forest management plans with the Agriculture
Committee, since the farmers own large amount of the Towns forested lands. The
October meeting will include a report from the Southwest Glens and Creeks
Conservation Zone Committee; continue work on the East Shore Conservation Zone
resolution, and the invasives issue.
Tony Ingraham, note taker