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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2023-01-05 1 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB) Meeting January 5, 2023, 5:30 pm (In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Final Minutes Members Present: Lori Brewer (Chair), Elise Edwards, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Joann Kowalski (Vice-Chair), Michael Roberts, Ingrid Zabel Staff: Mike Smith, Senior Planner Guests: Frank Cantone, Elizabeth Sander (former board member), Sonny Zeng (Ithaca High School Student) 1. Persons to be heard (5:32 pm) a. Elizabeth Sanders requested to learn more about the board and about the names of members. 2. Members comments / concerns a. Joann- Lansing Open Space Survey received in the mail from the town of Lansing: Public meeting was held November 15th 2022, but they are inquiring about the areas in the town of Lansing that are most deserving of future conservation. i. Mike S.- Open space needed for the town to have a conservation board. ii. Ithaca has an open space plan, but it doesn’t seem easy to find; could add it to link of plan to the website so that folks can find the open space plan b. Ingrid- there is a NY state program – green purchasing communities – for resources to help purchase more environmental resources, and she wanted to make sure the town of Ithaca was aware of this c. Mike R. public comment open for State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) for release of blight resistant chestnut, this is something to be aware of, and comments were due by December 27th 2022. However, links to information about this work are here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2020-0030-8291 SUNY ESF Project: https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/ 3. Environmental Review Committee (ERC) Update (Lori) a. Chairwoman Brewer offered Ms. Sanders and Ms. Zeng an overview of what the Conservation Board does, focusing on the main charge of the Board: reviewing plans for development within the Town with a focus on environmental issues. There are no new updates, however Mike S. mentioned that there have been a number of calls/inquiries and there will be more things to review soon. 4. Chair and Coordinator reports a. Chairwoman Brewer i. Joann shared with Lori that Cornell’s Center for Community Engagement was looking for community members to participate in an event to get community partners together. They want to find out what partners are interested in, and what Cornell can share with them, and what mutual interests exist among community partners. ii. This will be held from 3-4pm on January 19th at Tompkins County Public Library Borg Warner Community Room. 2 iii. Discussions were had about what our goals were in attending this event and what the goal of the event was. Lori asked what do we want to come away with? Members came up with the following list of items to consider  Frank- this is likely an academic oriented event, but it could be a way to get the word out about the board.  Lori- what activities would Engage Cornell be interested in?  Eva- would be interested in hearing from them about what they are doing/learning with local environmental efforts and would love for them to present at a board meeting if possible.  Would be good to mention that we have open membership available b. Coordinator i. Mike S. mentioned that the grant for Culver Road Preserve from NY State Parks of $200,000 was received. This will be for a parking area, trailhead, trails on the preserves, benches and picnic tables. They will be working with a landscape architect to develop a work plan. There are 150 acres of land in this area that the town has acquired at this point. Eva asked if we would be able to view the plan. Mike S. – Yes. ii. December 21st Mike sent an email about upcoming invasive species conferences that board might want to keep on their radar. These include the Northeast Regional Invasive species climate change management network 6th annual symposium and the Invasive species forum. iii. Director of planning is retiring and they have a new hire, CJ Randall who was the director of planning in Lansing. She and Sue Ritter will overlap for 2 weeks. Lori asked if we could have her come to a meeting so she could meet the conservation board. Mike S. -Yes iv. Mike S. mentioned that the town deer program is doing well. Approval for operations from February 1st-the end of march. There is a goal to have 8-9 locations for the program, we had lost a couple of locations from last year, but the Deer Damage Permit will need to go to the Department of Environmental Conservation for approval. v. Mike S. reported he would like to get new members ID cards for when members of the ERC are out reviewing sites. vi. Mike S. discussed comments for the conservation board minutes, all minor comments should be directly to him, all major comments should be sent to everyone for review. 5. Approval of minutes from December 1, 2022 a. James moved, and Ingrid seconded that December 1st minutes be approved, movement passed promptly. The November 2022 minutes were not available. 6. Continue discussion of Indigenous Environmental Justice a. Mike R. has been thinking about indigenous environmental justice and wanted to share some information about what he has been learning about. If there is enough interest by other 3 members and specific goals can be identified, this topic may warrant a new committee in the future. i. The nature conservancy and other nonprofit organizations are partnering with indigenous communities. There is often a two pronged approach to seeing conservation, the first is the more traditional approach, and then also including indigenous ecological knowledge. SUNY ESF Center for Native Peoples and the Environment has a website which provides a great resource https://www.esf.edu/nativepeoples/, schools are trying to include a new narrative of the history in the United States that is more real, and shows the injustices of the past. ii. Mike R. attended a talk by Stephen Henhawk, a member of the Cayuga Nation, at Cornell University. Mike R. learned much from this talk and feels a moral obligation to do something, such as a project that works with indigenous peoples, however he is not sure what this looks like at this point. iii. Discussions were had about possibly looking for advice from the Gayogo̱ hó꞉nǫ' (pronounced Guy-yo-KO-no, Cayuga Nation) about the project on Culver Road. Considerations were made about possibly involving the Gayogo̱ hó꞉nǫ' with the development, or some kind of formal relation between the Cayuga Nation and the Town of Ithaca. This discussion ended with more clarity that if we are to ask for advice or learn from the Gayogo̱ hó꞉nǫ' that any collaboration should be started early or prior to the development or concept of plans. iv. Mike R. will be continuously learning and exploring more regarding this effort and welcomes others to join him. v. Mike S. and Joann mentioned that Rod Howe has a connection with couple members of the Gayogo̱ hó꞉nǫ' and they are planning an event in Tutelo Park this May. This might be a good place for Mike R. to start. vi. Ingrid mentioned that she attended a talk given by Robin Wall Kimmerer about the great lakes people who gained knowledge about climate change and knowledge sharing with others but then there was an issue with that knowledge that was shared being used against them. This is something to consider moving forward with these efforts. vii. Eva- Sherene Baugher does archeological digs across from the highway department, this might be another location or source of efforts to consider. viii. Frank mentioned that it might be best to ask the Cayuga Nation what they would like to be involved in. ix. Mike said that any project should be co-created as a joint effort, with meaningful collaboration and engagement. Part 2 of this discussion will be held during our February meeting. 7. Review of Activity and Accomplishments for 2022 a. Joann wants to add the number of reviews the ERC completed in 2022. Lori mentioned she will get that number. 4 b. Mike S. Once this list of accomplishments is reviewed and approved by the CB, it will be shared on the towns Facebook page. c. Lori mentioned we should add the scenic views digital map to the accomplishments. d. No other changes were mentioned. 2023 Work Goals Review a. ERC field trips to sites, we haven’t been doing these because of covid but we should make a goal to make a trip to the sites b. Add continued indigenous discussion and goal development c. Communication: add language to document about invasive species and pest management, water and land conservation but can delete non-automobile infrastructure and delete detail about compost. d. Add in the communication section language about promoting biodiverse landscapes e. Add explore social media services such as Instagram i. discussions about implementing a conservation board Instagram were had, Mike S. mentioned that as long as a town employee has access to the page it shouldn’t be a problem, but the conservation board will need to go through a similar process through the town that they did to make a Facebook page. ii. Frank mentioned that given the goal of acquiring new members, he was interested in becoming a member. Lori gave him the details and mentioned that Mike S. will send him an email about the application process. 2023 Committees a. Committees to keep all of the existing. With the county environmental management council, we need an official member to be the representative for the town of Ithaca. 8. Regular reports and updates a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva) i. The scenic views sign license with Cornell appears to be moving forward, communication indicates that comments will be received by the end of the month regarding the draft towns attorney license agreement. b. Communications Committee (James) i. Conservation board Facebook page now has 317 followers. James saw Mike S's post of SUNY ESF requesting public comments on EIS of draft proposal to allow deregulated planting of Darling 58 genetically engineered blight resistant Chestnut clone, and submitted supporting comment before 12/27/22 deadline. ii. Fisher Award Nominations: We need an official nomination for Sara Pines' food Friendship Donation Network for Fischer award. Can Lori do it? Lori- Yes, she just needs to find a staff member. James mentioned that you can find the format of a nomination on the town website. Ingrid mentioned Zero Waste Ithaca might be a good nomination. Joann mentioned considering Blythe and Frank Baldwin, and the Colle’s who donated the land for Pine Tree Wildlife Preserve 5 and East Ithaca Nature Preserve. She wrote them a letter but haven’t heard back, and she would like to get in touch with them prior to nominating them. iii. Lori- garden tour will be on the agenda for next time c. Tompkins County EMC i. No update d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) i. Thursday evening 5:30-8:30 BMI pickled summer sample ID sessions continue at CSI's Langmuir Lab near airport, and will continue till all samples have been analyzed. e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) i. Recently on vacation, volunteers did manage 3 Tuesday afternoon woody invasives since my last report: all weeding sessions on campus: clip & drip (glyphosate) honeysuckle, privet, buckthorn, multiflora rose, Norway maple around Beebe Lake NW bank and Fall Creek by Triphammer Falls; cutting huge Oriental bittersweet vines in Palmer Woods near CU disc golf course to reduce seed rain. Celastrus orbiculatus vines can strangle host trees when they climb up to 40 feet high and drop their thousands of poisonous seeds. 9. Adjourn at 7:06 pm. Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by Elise Edwards.