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Home My WebLink AboutCB Packet 2023-07-06 DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING 215 N. Tioga St 14850 607.273.1747 www.town.ithaca.ny.us TO: CONSERVATION BOARD MEMBERS FROM: MICHAEL SMITH, SENIOR PLANNER DATE: JUNE 29, 2023 SUBJECT: UPCOMING CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING – JULY 6, 2023 This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Conservation Board (CB) is Thursday, July 6th at 5:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is enclosed (see the back of this memo). The draft minutes from the June 1st meeting are attached. Please email me any spelling, grammatical, or other minor edits you have prior to the meeting. At this meeting, we will continue the conversations on the indigenous environmental justice (Mike R.) and your yard could be a wildlife sanctuary / garden tour (Ingrid & Joann) topics. The pollinator garden tour will take place on Saturday, August 19th from 10am – 2pm and will include four garden stops. We will also take a few minutes under Other Business to review the draft Fischer Award nomination form and the draft Fischer Award past winner display that were prepared by the summer Planning intern (drafts attached). Frank is signed up to take minutes at the July meeting. If you have any questions prior to the meeting or are not able to attend, please contact me at msmith@town.ithaca.ny.us or 607-273-1747. Conservation Board Members and Associates (*) Lori Brewer (Chair), Frank Cantone, Lindsay Dombroskie*, Elise Edwards*, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Joann Kowalski (Vice-Chair), Michael Roberts, Ingrid Zabel ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD 5:30 p.m., Thursday, July 6, 2023 ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Aurora Conference Room 215 N. Tioga Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (The rear entrance is handicapped accessible) (607) 273-1747 Members of the public are welcome to attend in-person at Town Hall or virtually via Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/6750593272). AGENDA 1. Persons to be heard (5:30 pm) 2. Members comments / concerns 3. Environmental Review Committee Update (Lori) 4. Chair and Coordinator reports 5. Approval of minutes from June 1, 2023 6. Continue discussion of Indigenous Environmental Justice (Mike) 7. Continued discussion of Your Yard Could be a Wildlife Sanctuary / Garden Tour (August 19th from 10am – 2pm) (Ingrid & Joann) 8. Regular reports and updates (6:30 pm) a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva) b. Communications Committee (James) c. Tompkins County EMC (Ingrid) d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) 9. Other Business (6:50 p.m.) - Review draft Fischer Award material 10. Review 2023 Work Goals / Discuss August Agenda 11. Adjourn (7:00 p.m.) 1 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB) Meeting June 1, 2023, 4:30 p.m. (In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Draft Minutes Members present: Lori Brewer (Chairperson), Frank Cantone, Lindsay Dombroskie (by Zoom), Elise Edwards, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Joann Kowalski (Vice Chairperson), Mike Roberts, Ingrid Zabel Staff present: Hilary Swartwood (Sustainability Planner), Michael Smith (Senior Planner) Guest: One high school student was present. 1. Persons to be heard: none 2. Members comments/concerns Joann brought up an article in the Ithaca Times about Zero Waste Ithaca and Ithaca College’s decision to install artificial turf at Butterfield Stadium (link to article: https://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/zero-waste-ithaca-rally-against-turf-installation-at- butterfield-stadium/article_37908480-ff08-11ed-b1f7-332f80583b53.html ).This project was recently approved by the Town of Ithaca Planning Board. CB members expressed concern that a quote in the article was not accurate: it alleged that the Town was unaware of pending legislation in New York State that would place a moratorium on the installation of artificial turf. The CB’s Environmental Review Committee (ERC) did mention this pending legislation—and other concerns and considerations—in its memo to the Planning Board. This is probably not clear to the public since the minutes of the most recent Planning Board meeting have not yet been published. At this recent meeting, one member of the public (Brian Eden) spoke. Mike S. noted that athletic fields are a permitted use as part of the college and Town Zoning does not specify a surface material type. Action items: ● Joann has a contact who is involved with Zero Waste Ithaca. Joann can share the ERC’s memo to the Planning Board with the contact. ● Possibly invite Zero Waste Ithaca to attend the next (or a future) CB meeting. We could ask them to present to us to learn about their work, and we could help them understand the process of Town decision-making. 3. Environmental Review Committee Update (Lori) Two new items: ● Dalai Lama project. Changes were above what Town of Ithaca staff can review, so it went back to the Planning Board. 2 ● New solar installation. The applicant has done a lot of homework and submitted lots of material, far beyond what is typical at this point in the process. For example, they have included a view & glare analysis and stream and wetland delineation. The project will come back in July or August for approval. The project is for approximately 27 acres, and this is the first time since the new solar law that a project has been this large (note: the new law allows for projects up to 35 acres in certain cases). The proposed project is in an agricultural zone, and Lindsay asked if we want to comment if it’s on prime farmland. 4. Chair & Coordinator Reports a. Chair Report: none b. Coordinator report: i. A landowner on South Hill has approached the Town of Ithaca about selling about 135 acres of land, to become a town preserve. The land has some existing trails, is wooded on two ends, has lots of invasives, and has a power line crossing it. The owners want to keep some of the land, retaining most of the wetlands/ponds on their property. There are no structures on the land that would come to the Town. The owner is offering the land to the Town at 80% of the value; an appraisal is being done now. The sale is hoped to take place in the next 2 to 3 years, so it is not a rushed situation that would need involvement from the Finger Lakes Land Trust (though they have been part of conversations). Possible action item: The Town is looking at grant funding sources and might want a letter of support from the Conservation Board. ii. An intern will start working on Monday, June 5 with Hilary and Mike; the position is split between planning and sustainability. She may work on CB projects such as 1. reworking the Fischer Award display to add room for future winners 2. creating a nomination form for the Fischer Award 3. helping to develop an ERC review process guide 5. Approval of minutes from May 4, 2023 meeting James had a correction to text about wanting to reinstate Town email addresses for CB members to use when conducting official business. 3 With this correction, the minutes were approved (moved by Ingrid Zabel, seconded by James Hamilton). 6. Finalize plan for 2023 NY Invasive Species Awareness Week event  Monday, June 5, 6-7 pm at Westhaven Preserve, off of Helen’s Way  Removal of swallow-wort and other invasives  James will provide education  Members are asked to bring a variety of hand tools; the Town will also provide tools  If we have native wildflower seeds, bring them 7. Continued discussion of Indigenous Environmental Justice (Mike) The May 6, 2023 event at Tutelo Park went well. Sachem George opened the event with words of thanks; the speakers were great; hikes along future ethnobotanical trail were well-attended. Long-term vision for plant trail: Mike spoke with Steve Henhawk about this, who has communicated with tribe elders and is open to dialogue. Mike will keep communicating with him. It would be good to know the level of interest from tribal members in helping to co-create the plant trail. 8. Continued discussion of Your Yard Could be a Wildlife Sanctuary / Garden Tour (Joann, Ingrid) a. June 19-24 is National Pollinator Week, and Joann is planning to have a CB table with information at the Tompkins County Public Library. Brandon Hoak has agreed to offer a program at Marshy Garden (near the Soil Factory) on June 23. We discussed how we could collaborate with him. i. Idea: give away a native plant to the first 20 people who attend ii. Estimated cost: $100 (20 plants @ $5/plant). iii. CB has a budget that would allow us to purchase these plants. iv. We discussed whether plants should only be given to Town of Ithaca residents, since the funds to pay for them come from Town taxpayers. Mike S indicated that as long as the amount of the plant purchase was below $250, it wouldn't matter if the person who received the plant was a town resident. v. We also discussed collecting contact information from people who receive plants, so we can share other information about helping pollinators and wildlife. vi. If we end up not giving away all the plants, the Town can plant them. b. August 19 Garden Tour planning i. Four gardens will be on display; Ingrid met with the gardeners on May 31 to discuss planning details 4 ii. Event will take place from 10 am - 2 pm. Schedule:  10 am, Marshy Garden, Brandon Hoak & Ash Ferlito  11 am, Kate Dickin (South Hill)  12 pm, Barbara Harrison (East Hill)  1 pm, Jane-Marie Law (Northeast). She has offered to provide refreshments. iii. The group thought it was best to have people pre-register, to get an estimate of the number of attendees, and to get contact information for sharing event details and enable follow-up communication after the event. Ingrid will create a Google form for registration and create the information to send to people after they register. iv. The group discussed parking and encouraging carpooling, sharing information using Pollinator Pathways pamphlets, and event promotion. v. The event will take place rain or shine, unless there are thunderstorms 9. Committee Reports a. Scenic Resources (Eva): no report b. Communications Committee (James) i. Tree-planting Party for Friendship Donations Network' Fischer Award went well at West Hill Park, Monday May 15th, 5-6pm. Joe Talbut found us a big trophy basswood tree, and Lori brought two young basswood seedlings to plant near the northwest corner of the Community Garden. ii. Mike S will update the Fischer Award page on Town's website with some photos and a short text about this 20th Fischer award. iii. Let's try to get more CB membership attending the Westhaven Preserve NYISAW event next Monday, June 5th, from 6 to 7 pm. c. EMC (Ingrid) Lori and Ingrid attended the May 11, 2023 EMC meeting at Stewart Park with members of CACs, CBs from municipalities in Tompkins County. It was interesting to hear the different types of work done by different organizations. Our CB seems to be unique in that we do environmental reviews. Our focus on Indigenous Environmental Justice also seemed unique. Some other organizations had a more activist role. d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) Results for the 2022 BMI sampling have been published, and the March 29, 2023 synoptic sampling results put into records available for online access. On May 17th, volunteers took synoptic water samples from 16 sites in Six Mile from headwaters to Plain St downtown. Flow was low, results not yet published. Though DEC developed standards for BMI sampling between July 1 and Sept 22, Adrianna Hirtler, the biomonitoring coordinator, is looking for volunteers willing to sample earlier, just to see what BMI might be living in late spring and early summer. e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) 5 Volunteers blazed trails in McLean bogs, repairing deer exclosures, pruning, and moving fallen trees from across these trails. They also blazed and pruned trails in the Monkey Run natural area north of Fall Creek. Young trees and shrubs growing at the Plant Propagation Facility near Flat Rocks needed repotting to larger containers; these plants grew from seeds collected by volunteers in CUBG Natural Areas and will be transplanted to natural areas that need them this fall. 10. Other Business: Question about plans for Culver Rd. Preserve development. Mike S. reported that there has been no action yet, as we are still waiting to sign the contract with the State. 11. Review 2023 Work Goals/ Discuss July Agenda a. It was decided to save discussion of work goals for another meeting. b. Next meeting: July 6, 2023. Keep our continuing discussion items on the agenda. 12. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm Minutes drafted by Ingrid Zabel. Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award Nomination Form Background: The Richard Fischer award is presented annually to an individual, professional, governmental or commercial entity and recognizes exemplary contributions made towards the improvement of the Town of Ithaca’s natural environment. The award is named after Richard B. Fischer, who spent decades improving and advocating for the conservation of the natural environment. Some notable achievements of his included working to conserve habitats for the State Bird of New York (Eastern Bluebird), leading a campaign which successfully gained State legislation mandating bottle return deposits, teaching at Cornell University and writing hundreds of scientific articles. The award is presented to a member of the Town of Ithaca community that works to carry on his legacy through similar environmental action. Submission Details: The nomination deadline is February 28th of the year following the year for which they are to be considered for. Copies of supplemental materials, such as news articles, photos, school reports etc. are encouraged to be submitted along with the form. Each year, the Conservation Board will review nominations and select awardees based on the following criteria. o The nature of the project, be it physical, educational or research based. o The size, scope, location and ultimate potential of the project. o Cost-effectiveness. o Applicability of the projects, whether it is reproducible or meant for widespread use. o Level of public awareness or visibility of the project. o Impact on the Town of Ithaca and its public image. o The type of benefit produced (preservation, restoration, creation, protection, etc.) o Potential negative externalities. The final decision will be made during the March Conservation Board meeting. Please fill out and return the form on the subsequent pages to be considered. Nominator Contact: Name: ________________ E-mail: __________________ Phone Number: _________________ Nominee Contact: Name/Group: __________________________________ E-mail: ____________________ Phone Number: _________________ Website:___________________________________ Address:___________________________ Group Leader:___________________________ Summary of project/action prompting nomination: Size, scope, and location: What size area and/or audience? What ultimate potential scope? Is the area affected fully or partially in the Town? Does it aim to provide Town-wide benefits, or focused more specifically? Cost-effectiveness: Does it achieve much for little expsense? Awareness/Visibility: If project is physical, how obvious/visible is it? If not, how has the general public been made aware? Is this easily reproduced, or is it applicable for widespread use? Is this likely to encourage other beneficial actions for the Town? Applicability: Negative Impacts: Does this project offset negative outomes? Could these have been foreseen and possibly avoided/reduced? Do they outweigh benefits? Impact on the Town of Ithaca: Does the project enhance the Town's public image? Does it present potential for Town government to take additional steps to benefit the environment? Type of Benefit Produced: Preservation? Restoration? Removal/reduction of negative conditions? Creation of habitat or visual enhancement? Education? Additional Items Attached: A list naming each is fine. To submit this form in writing address it to the Conservation Board, 215 N. Tioga Street, Town of Ithaca, Ithaca, NY, 14850. To submit electronically email to Michael Smith (msmith@town.ithaca.ny.us Cayuga Nature Center’s Summer Camp Program Tulip Poplar - East Ithaca Rec Way Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Program Swamp White Oak - East Ithaca Rec Way Cayuga Compost ‘Honeycrisp’ Apple - West Hill Park Tom Reimers Serviceberry - East Ithaca Rec Way Dan Hoffman Beech - Eastern Heights Park 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2005 2007 2004 2003 2016 2017 NYS Hemlock Initiative American Hemlock - Forest Home Park 2018 Museum of the Earth Maple - Tutelo Park Cayuga Bird Club Serviceberries - Salem Park 2019 2020 Primitive Pursuits American Hazelnuts - Culver Rd Preserve Betsy Darlington Birch - Hungerford Heights Park Jane Moon Clark Oak - East Ithaca Nature Preserve Ithaca College Natural Lands Committee Tulip Poplar - South Hill Rec Way EcoVillage at Ithaca Swamp White Oak - Westhaven Preserve A. Carl Leopold Serviceberry - East Shore Park Finger Lakes Native Plant Society Red Oak - South Hill Rec Way Six Mile Creek Water Quality Monitor Volunteers at the CSI Sycamore - Grandview Park Black Diamond Trail Enthusiasts Network American Hornbeam - Black Diamond Trail Entrance in Cass Park Anthony Ingraham & Elizabeth Bauman White Pine - Tutelo Park Finger Lakes ReUse Bur Oak - Tareyton Park 2021 2022 Friendship Donations Network American Basswod - West Hill Park DRAFT #1 Past Award Winners Cayuga Nature Center’s Summer Camp Program Tulip Poplar - East Ithaca Rec Way Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Program Swamp White Oak - East Ithaca Rec Way Cayuga Compost ‘Honeycrisp’ Apple - West Hill Park Tom Reimers Serviceberry - East Ithaca Rec Way Dan Hoffman Beech - Eastern Heights Park 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2005 2007 2004 2003 2016 2017 NYS Hemlock Initiative American Hemlock - Forest Home Park 2018 Museum of the Earth Maple - Tutelo Park Cayuga Bird Club Serviceberries - Salem Park 2019 2020 Primitive Pursuits American Hazelnuts - Culver Rd Preserve Betsy Darlington Birch - Hungerford Heights Park Jane Moon Clark Oak - East Ithaca Nature Preserve Ithaca College Natural Lands Committee Tulip Poplar - South Hill Rec Way EcoVillage at Ithaca Swamp White Oak - Westhaven Preserve A. Carl Leopold Serviceberry - East Shore Park Finger Lakes Native Plant Society Red Oak - South Hill Rec Way Six Mile Creek Water Quality Monitor Volunteers at the CSI Sycamore - Grandview Park Black Diamond Trail Enthusiasts Network American Hornbeam - Black Diamond Trail Entrance in Cass Park Anthony Ingraham & Elizabeth Bauman White Pine - Tutelo Park Finger Lakes ReUse Bur Oak - Tareyton Park 2021 2022 Friendship Donations Network American Basswod - West Hill Park DRAFT #2 Past Award Winners