HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2013-12-05 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
December 5, 2013, 7:00 p.m.
Final Minutes
Members Present: Susan Perri, Andy Goodell, James Hamilton, Ellie Stewart, Kristine Shaw,
Tony Ingraham, Jon Meigs, Vladimir Micic
Staff Present: Mike Smith
Guests: Brian Eden, John Dennis, Mike Roberts (interested in joining the Board)
Persons to be heard: none
Member concerns: none
Chair Report:
• Kristine tried to talk with Herb, who is on vacation regarding Bolton Point water rates.
She will try to set up a meeting with them.
• Vladimir commented on his meeting with the Bolton Point general manager. A member
of the EMC had told Vladimir that the BP pumps work constantly regardless of water
consumption. Vladimir went to Bolton and got information: the pumps are electric and
work from 11 pm to 5 pm. They almost never stop the pumps. We need to know to
what extent the pumps slow down and is it meaningful? We should figure out these
numbers. Would reducing water use permit a shorter period of pumping?
• Tony suggested that principally we address the Town's portion of the pumping and
distribution costs. Mike suggested that we could talk with Wayne Sincebaugh at Public
Works to get more information on the Town system.
Coordinator Report:
• The revised version of Comprehensive Plan will be on the Town website soon, as well as
the generic environmental impact statement.
• The County housing project by the Biggs Building will be coming up soon.
• The Town's new digital newsletter will come out four times per year; the next issue will
come out in January, so Mike will query us for potential articles.
• The Town's tree inventory grant application was sent in today. Money might go further
than just for Town roads, but also along trails and walkways for hazard assessment, and
forest assessment for parks and preserves. The Town has talked with two potential
contractors for numbers and scopes for purposes of preparing the application.
Discussion regarding Solarize Tompkins,
with Brian Eden of Tompkins County EMC
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• Solarize Tompkins will be looking for CB help with public education meetings in the
spring.
• They want to jump start investments in solar power in our community.
o Overcome barriers regarding bulk purchasing discounts
o Simplify the process
o Create a community education board
o Overcome customer inertia by doing a lot of the groundwork
o Use criteria to vet installers
o NYSERDA incentives:They require an energy audit. Incentives will expire in year
or two, but there will still be state and federal tax incentives. NYSERDA
incentives can vary with the project and timing.
o Solarize Tompkins will continue to discuss this with the Town to see how to
make the program attractive to people.
o They just got a grant yesterday to help with the cost of a program manager and
educational materials.
• There were 280 enrollees last year. Enrolling just gets the ball rolling.
• Solarize Tompkins's job is to stimulate the market and help installers get going, and then
get out of the business, which is intended to sustain itself.
• They have a lot of upfront work to do before public meetings in the spring.
Deer Management Discussion
with Brian Eden of Tompkins County EMC
• Brian generally addresses public policy aspects of the issue.
• He reviewed ecological impacts of over-browsing by deer: forest regeneration,
biodiversity, impacts on County UNAs. He referred to a Letchworth State Park study,
where a no hunting area had lower biodiversity and more invasive plant species than
areas where hunting is permitted.
• The NYSDEC Deer Mgt. Plan created a Deer Mgt. Focus Area. The one in Tompkins is the
only one in state, with 60,000 acres, 1/3 of which is in the Town.
• Cornell Integrated Deer Mgt. Program (Earn a Buck).
• Village of Cayuga Heights and the Town of Lansing have had deer management
programs, taking very different approaches (e.g., sterilization of does in Cayuga
Heights).
• Brian reviewed the history of deer populations and hunting in the US and New York
State. "Our forest needs stewardship to restore balance."
• There was discussion by John Dennis about methods of deer reduction via hunting,
including market hunting, and current social barriers to such approaches. Currently,
hunters prefer bucks with big racks.
• Brian would like us to think about this issue and make recommendations to the Town
Board. Brian has research materials. He could arrange for Cornell experts could come to
speak to us. (bbe2@cornell.edu)
• Mark Roberts (Natural Areas Steward) emphasized that addressing deer impacts is a top
priority for Cornell Plantations.
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• Kristine:This should be on our agenda for discussion soon.
Minutes: November's minutes were reviewed, corrections noted, and approved. James would
like last month's resolution on water conservation to be included in the minutes so that it could
be found on the web. It was agreed that it would be helpful for resolutions to appear in the
same document as the minutes.
Update on pest management and research from other communities
The City of Austin's policy looks like a good model as a start. Kristine suggested that we take
their model and comment on it and make suggestions, and then forward it to the Town Board.
Perhaps we will have a committee next year for deer and pest management issues.
Comments on NYSDEC invasives species proposed regulations
Tony suggested adding Ailanthus altisimma (tree-of-heaven). Mark Roberts said Plantations
noticed its absence as well, and he'll bring it up again. Vladimir will see if EMC is doing
something. Perhaps we can add on or endorse their report. The deadline for comments is
December 23.
Committee Reports
• Environmental Review Committee (Andy): They did not meet
• Scenic Resources Committee (Tony):They did not meet.
o Tony finally received the photographs showing his reception of our NYSACC
Award at the Conference on the Environment in Buffalo in October. It was
suggested it could be included in the Town newsletter.
o As Tony is the chair of the SRC and is going off the Board, a new chair will need
to be appointed. Tony will pass along helpful documents, largely digital, to the
Committee.
• Communications Committee (James)
o Feb. 28 is the deadline for nominations for the Fischer Award.
o There was a discussion of continued administration of the FaceBook page, as
Susan is going off the Board. She agreed to continue managing the page for the
time being.
• Tompkins County EMC (Vladimir):
o Mina Amundsen, Cornell University Planner, was in attendance to discuss the
University's master plan. She said that there will be much development
happening on Tower Road, near the botanical garden. They learned about
Cornell's proposed solar power plant.
o An activist from Dryden reminded them about the comment period regarding
DEC's document about liquefied natural gas facilities (the comment period just
ended).
• Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James): Four teams sampled the creek's
BMI. They are working on training new team members and getting reliable data.
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• City of Ithaca Natural Areas Commission (Jon):There was discussion of hunting and
related signage in the Six Mile Creek Natural Area. There is danger to people using the
natural area during hunting. The matter is yet to be resolved. Mike said that, technically,
the South Hill Recreation Way is closed during hunting season because of adjacent
landowner hunting. He said that signs posted about this often have to be replaced
almost daily. Tony mentioned that the State Parks locally only allow bow hunting.
• Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Academy (James): On 11/2 they had a volunteer
party. They logged more than 3400 volunteer hours in the past year.
• Community Energy Action Plan Advisory Committee (Andy): Grant funding has been
secured for Nick for two more years (from the Park Foundation).
Other Business
• Board Elections
o Kristine nominated Ellie Stewart for Chair for 2014;James seconded. Passed
unanimously.
o Kristine nominated James Hamilton for Vice Chair; Sue seconded. Passed
unanimously.
• 2014 Meeting Schedule
o The January meeting is scheduled for 1/16/14, the third Thursday. (Mike noted
that the third Thursday of each month was established as a backup date for CB
meetings.)
o The group discussed trying an earlier meeting time for 2014, everyone was in
favor. Vladimir moved that meetings take place at 5:30 p.m. on the first
Thursday of each month. Ellie seconded. Passed unanimously.
• Next Meeting agenda
o Continue the deer and pest management discussion.
o Set goals for 2014.
o Mike will put together a list of 2013 Board accomplishments, probably for the
February meeting.
o We need to get more members to fill the three vacancies. Ellie suggested
forming a short-term committee.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Tony Ingraham
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