HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 1999-04-01 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
Town of Ithaca Board Room
01 April , 1999 7:30 PM
Final Minutes
Present: Elizabeth deProsse (Vice-Chair), Eva Hoffmann, Leo Kriksunov, Jon Meigs,
Elissa Wolfson, John Yntema
Absent: Kara Hagedorn, Richard Fischer, Geri Tierney, Barney Unsworth,
Phil Zarriello
Staff: Sue Ritter, Fred Noteboom, George Frantz (arrived later, to discuss
Iacovelli Park)
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM.
Persons to be Heard: None.
Member Concerns: All present noted with great sadness that Barney Unsworth would not be
present to take notes for his always-stellar meeting minutes. John Yntema volunteered to take
notes for drab minutes, this time only.
Coordinator and Chair Reports: Sue Ritter mentioned that Conservation Board(CB) comments, on
Cornell's North and Town Campus Residential Initiative Environmental Impact Statement(EIS),
could be submitted by 27 April. These are comments related to the completeness of the EIS, to
insure that the EIS is considering each of the issues that the scoping document said it would. After
that, the EIS would be made available to the general public for review, and the CB would then have
an opportunity to comment on the substance of the EIS. She also mentioned that Cornell wants to
move the proposed Wilson G-Line Station addition approximately 25 feet closer to the Wilson Lab
itself, one of the recommendations the CB had previously made to the Town Planning Board.
Due to Kara Hagedorn's absence, there was no Chair report.
Business: There were several corrections suggested for the minutes of the 18 March meeting.
Approval of those minutes was postponed until some additional corrections,requested by Kara(and
inadvertently misplaced) could be made. A preliminary, revised version, will be made available for
review at the next CB meeting on 06 May, for finalizing then.
Resolution concerning Sincebau.gh Property: Some minor corrections and suggestions were
incorporated in the resolution, which was then moved by Jon Meigs, seconded by John Yntema,
and passed unanimously by the CB members present. The resolution will then be forwarded to the
Town Board for their April 12th meeting.
Discussion with Fred Noteboom, Town Highway Superintendent: Fred gave a brief presentation of
his duties and responsibilities, noting that he is in charge of water, sewers, and public works, as
well as highways. He discussed many topics in response to CB member questions and concerns:
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Town locations and the extent of"Roundup"herbicide spraying; the Town is using as little as
possible.
• Posts being installed near all manholes will be fitted with Bluebird nest boxes.
• Winter Weather Alliance (WWA) (composed of towns, villages,businesses, schools, etc.), and
keeping winter roads clear, covered many points:
• A survey had been circulated among WWA members, to determine how effective the
Alliance had been. Evaluation was difficult because of the mild winter.
• Fred would have called the Sheriff for any road closings if he had felt it was needed, but did
not do so all winter. The one road closing was called directly by the Sheriff.
• The Alliance is trying to establish definitions concerning when closing roads would cause
the least problems, which is related not only to the weather,but also to the times people are
released from work and schools, to prevent unnecessary traffic problems.
• Salt, sand, and other materials are used to keep roads clear. Formerly, roads were only salted,
but with more information being available, this may change.
• "Ice-Ban", when mixed with "Magic ", decreases salt use about 20%, improves salt's de-icing
action, and sticks to the road better.
• Fred wants to try a pre-icing program.
• When trucks are replaced, the new ones will be able to measure the salt they dispense.
• He expects to use Cornell's 5-year weather data to help determine how much salt, etc., will be
needed and used.
• Sand is seldom used by the Town,because it is not very effective, needs to be cleaned up in the
spring, and much of it washes into the lake and creeks, which in turn tends to smother plants in
the wetlands where the sand ends up.
• Eva Hoffmann mentioned that sand gets underneath car bodies, and tends to hold salt, making
vehicle corrosion a worse problem. Jon Meigs noted that there is probably more dust volume
from shale disintegration than from the sand usage. In response to Libby deProsse's question
about the white deposit on her garage floor and on her rugs, Fred mentioned that it probably
came from the use of Calcium Chloride as a de-icer. He suggested washing the garage floor
with water to get rid of the white deposits. Libby also mentioned that Cornell uses a lot of
"straight" salt for de-icing. Fred mentioned that 1293 tons of salt were used this past winter.
• Sue brought up Kara's concern about trees having been cut down along Town park trails, and
that these dead trees could serve important needs for area birds. Fred responded that trees had
been cut at the proposed Iacovelli park, to make clearings in connection with park development.
And that trees are only cut along the trail that could pose a safety hazard.
• Leo Kriksunov asked about the Coy Glen Road subsidence, which Fred had previously asked
the CB to look at and make appropriate recommendations. Fred said the Town was not sure
what to do to repair the shoulder sliding down and the subsequent road cracking. Use of
gabions was mentioned as a possibility.
• Fred also mentioned:
The newest Town gully is on East Hill nearby Snyder Hill Road, caused by stormwater
runoff from development in the area.
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The Town is recycling asphalt, but is getting to the point of needing places to dump it.
Iacovelli Park discussion:
Fred Noteboom noted that the Town had used a portion of the park as a fill site—an area where
a basketball court is proposed. It had been expected that the filling would have been completed
this year,but that plan may depend on the upcoming 07 April public meeting regarding plans
for Iocavelli Park.
George Frantz gave a brief description of Iacovelli park, indicating on maps the locations of
slopes; the proposed basketball court and how it would be mostly hidden by an embankment
and trees. He also discussed:
• The Town Board grants the final approval on the development details of the park,
not the Planning Board.
• Residents of Pennsylvania and Kendall Avenues are predominantly college students.
• The play structure will be similar to ones at Tudor and Northview Parks, and will not be
made of plastic..
• The park will be 70%brush, young trees, and the pine/conifer forest to the north.
• The pine and conifers need thinning. Kara had suggested(previously) to George that a
• forester be hired to recommend a plan for thinning and maintenance.
• Paths and open areas in the forest part of the Norway spruce/red pine "plantation".
• Benches in the pavilion.
Adjournment was at 9:45 P.M.
Prepared by John Yntema
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