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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes - October 23, 2017Page 1 of 3 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes_October 23, 2017 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes of Meeting The regular monthly meeting of the Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) was held at 7:00pm on Monday October 23, 2017 at Danby Town Hall, 1830 Danby Road, Town of Danby, New York. Council Members Present: Matt Ulinski (Chair), Joel Gagnon, Ruth Sherman, Don Schaufler, Bill Evans and Dan Klein. Absent: Mary Woodsen Non-Members Present: C.J. Randall (Town Planner), Matt Hobart (Secretary), Kevin, Brandon, and Julian (IHS Government Class) Call to Order – 7:15pm by Ulinski. Agenda Review – • No changes to the agenda. Privilege of the Floor – • Secretary Hobart announced that he would be leaving at the end of November to take a job promotion and relocation with the USDA-NRCS in Maryland as a Soil Conservationist. Approval of the Minutes – MOTION—APPROVE MINUTES Moved, that the Conservation Advisory Council of the Town of Danby approves the minutes of June 26 and August 28, 2017; as corrected. Moved by Gagnon, Second by Klein. The motion passed unanimously. Reports and Updates – Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) • Planner Randall continues to work on the NRI. She will contact the 2nd candidate for the CAC Secretary position to see if they are still interested to replace Secretary Hobart. The 2nd candidate has GIS experience which would help complete the data inventory modeling. Action Items – Vision/Mission Statement Draft & Discussion • The CAC reviewed the DRAFT language for a mission statement that was provided by Secretary Hobart at the September meeting. The language was taken from Resolution 82. • Discussion took place as to how this statement would be used and that it is more of a byline for marketing and explaining what the CAC is and does. Page 2 of 3 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes_October 23, 2017 • Evans read from Resolution 87, which sets out the purpose and template for conservation easements in the Town of Danby. • Gagnon stated that “rural character” should be added. • Klein suggested edits using some of the language from Resolution 87. • Secretary Hobart will write up edits and send to CAC members for further review. Easements – Strategies for Acquiring New Easements • Gagnon spoke about how to communicate the benefits of tax reductions and how that could be achieved via donating land to the town with life-time use, tradelands, or donating the land to the town who would then sell the land to a conservation buyer with an easement on the property. • Ulinski mentioned that it is important for people to talk with an estate planner. • Discussion took place related to including the residence/homestead in an easement. Gagnon spoke to the fact that the Finger Lakes Land Trust does not do an easement on a property unless it includes the residence/homestead. There is no reason to exclude the residence/homestead from an easement. • Evans stated that the town zoning would restrict development of the residence/homestead if it was not included in an easement. • Ulinski reported that he will be including a piece on easements in in the Danby News specific to neighbors taking ownership working together to protect the rural/local characteristics of their neighborhoods. The hope is to encourage other folks outside of the CAC to take initiative in working together to protect land. • Klein stated that it is important for people to have a vision for what they want natural resources protection to be and that the CAC can help. • Evans said that it would be great if a movement could be started with landowners working together with neighbors to cluster easements. • Ulinski asked if there was anything to restrict or provide development suggestions to landowners that would enhance land protection and open space as part of development. Currently there are only restrictions on sub-division but not on the specifics of development with-in the sub-division. • Discussion took place as to if there are incentives to encourage and to help get people to adopt land protection friendly development. • Discussion also took place related to restrictions of development in wetland areas. Who regulates conversion of wetlands and the role that the federal government via the National Wetland Inventory plays and the role that the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation plays. Page 3 of 3 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes_October 23, 2017 Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm. Executive Session – According to NYS Public Officers Law, Article 7, Section 105(h), the CAC then went into Executive Session until 8:40pm. The purpose was to discuss on-going negotiations with a specific landowner interested in donation of an easement to the Town of Danby. No action was taken by formal vote. Next meeting is November 20, 2017 at 7:00pm ____________________________ Submitted by Matthew Hobart, Secretary