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Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes - 01_08_19Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 7 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes of monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 Danby Town Hall, 1830 Danby Road, Danby, New York Council Members present: Matt Ulinski (chair), Joel Gagnon, Clare Fewtrell Council Members absent: Bill Evans, Ruth Sherman, Don Schaufler Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby resident), Bruce Richards (Planning Board), Mary Woodsen(former CAC member), Bill Keokosky (Danby Resident) Meeting opened at 7:02 pm Agenda Review (Additions or Deletions) • Gagnon added Upcoming West Danby Association Dish-to-Pass • Ulinski added comments on Draft NRI book that Randall distributed at last meeting Public Comments/Privilege of the Floor (later referred to as PoF) Roaring noted should be a more concerted effort to start a 7pm promptly Approve Minutes MOTION Secretary noted that November Minutes incorporated Randall’s White Hawk corrections November and December minutes unapproved since missing a quorum Public Hearing on White Hawk next Monday. Reports and Updates 1. Discussion of renewal of CAC positions Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 7 • Ulinski position as chair renewed to everyone’s obvious approval. Woodsen declined reappointment for reasons of health but she was in audience today and offered to help if she could. (PoF: Woodsen addressed Roaring’s suggestion that members put their properties into easements. Option is to put in will. Ulinski said members could do good work without putting property in easement.) Woodsen was on Board almost since it was created. Evans and Schaufler submitted applications to be reappointed. Missing records for Ruth but she has reapplied. Evans taking reappointment until a replacement can be found since he is away too often to attend with any regularity. Ulinksi noted we need to continue looking for new members. Joel Rosenthal or Jed Jorden suggested. Jenny Caldwell, a former member. is back in town. • PoF: Bill Keokosky asked why Ronda didn’t apply. Roaring stated that she and Gagnon started organization. Matt said that it was her choice whether to apply • Gagnon requested an annual member roster with phone numbers. 2. Update on Publicity for 2275 Danby Road, Willseyville Danby Conservation Easement • Randall absent, home ill. • Gagnon noted this is a timely topic. Matt will follow up with her. 3. Update on Income from Rural Properties presentations • Schaufler absent, out of town • PoF:Roaring suggested bird watching topic. Ulinski said he wanted Bird Watching trip for Goals for year. 4. Update on background information from Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) non-chemical alternatives to spraying on pipelines going through Danby: • Ulinski not in touch yet with Angel Hinickle from SWCD 5. Update on Knotweed and Highway Department classes on Exotic Species Management Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 7 • Sherman, who was looking into a DEC program called Partnerships for Regional Invasive Species Management, or PRISM, was absent, but will continue spear heading the effort. (PoF:Woodsen – side discussion on new destructive insects. 6. Update on logging legislation follow-up to Deputron Hollow Road destructive logging job • Logging legislation being reviewed by Guy Krogh, town lawyer, still working on whether we can change highway law, remove agricultural exemption, and permitting process • Draft will be submitted to CAC and Town Board and re-visited February or March Action Items 1. Review of Annual Report • Ulinski particularly focused on how to accomplish creating management plans for town lands on Deputron Hollow Road and West Danby Water District. Ulinski wanted Town Board to provide Management Plan guidance on what goals they wanted. The past goal was to leave Deputron Hollow parcel to old growth. The past goal was not to do timber harvest. PoF: Elizabeth Keokosky raised the question of looking into what might be useful to plant. Gagnon affirmed that what had been talked about for the management plan was to leave everything as it was. Ulinski had found some internet links that could prove useful as templates for a plan. They defined a “No action plan” as not doing nothing but leaving land forever wild. Ulinski said he had found some good templates from other towns. PoF:Roaring said that she had sent some inventory sheets to Randall. • Inventory? PoF:Richardson questioned about inventorying saying that there was a large component of ash trees. Not allowing logging for West Danby is a change since they used to get income from it. Ulinski wants to come up with an action plan at next meeting Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 7 • Annual report acceptable but could not be approved because of a lack of a quorum (PoF: Roaring broached idea of planting bare root trees and selling trees. Can order trees through Prairie Moon or Arbor Day catalogs. CAC could offer trees and sell them. Ulinski said that could be a goal of the year (Clare asked whether this was to raise money or to increase the number of trees – Gagnon responded that it could be both). Trees can also be bought through Soil and Water. Ulinski chair position renewed - Town Board OKed. 2. What are goals for the year? • Easements always on list. Joel and Mary have a few possibles. Some people on Planning Board know of others. Bruce interested. • PoF:Keokosky – suggested goal of getting familiar with natural resources inventory as a planning tool • Ulinski commented that it was part of Randall’s process to educate CAC. • Gagnon brought up the interaction of the Planning Board which is looking at big picture of re-zoning . Currently zoning is just two zones – the hamlets and everything else. Question is to how to avoid sprawl. How would you concentrate development? Hard to do dense residential cluster because of water and sewer limitations. Has to be a hamlet style of housing. Should we run water in from the north? Problem has been that people moving in there think of themselves as Ithacans, not from Danby. Policy has been to locate development to make it inconspicuous from highway such as with Nelson and Olde Towne Road development, where it is clustered back away from road. Keep view shed along road open. Not doing our share to provide worker housing in Danby – more affordable housing. Ulinski said that Planning Board and CAC should collaborate. Have to decide on what we are rezoning to. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 7 • PoF: Keokosky brought up story of how Tompkins County’s attitude that deer are pests not a food for local hunters affects Danby. To limit deer population in town and city a trial policy was imposed on the surrounding area including East Miller Rd by increasing hunting permits and over- hunting. In this way the county is also indirectly affecting zoning. • Ulinski said that Randall will show us how to use Natural Resource Inventory GIS software. We need a presentation on how to use it as a tool. • PoF:Roaring brought up that Jake Brenner – former council member and IC professor – had begun the creation of a natural resource inventory system. Randall’s presentation was on how to use it as a tool. Brenner’s components were the same – it was a starting point – but no layers. • Comments on Randall’s Draft NRI book § General Approval § Ulinski’s only adverse comment was that it had no mention of Danby Easements § Pof:Keokosky remarked that it was mostly pro forma information. Ulinski reminded her it was mainly a compilation. • Gagnon: Re-zoning Public Hearing - Is it better to offer people ideas to respond to or ask for input? The more opportunity for people to know the better, but it slows process down. Yet, if people find out about process near the end and get upset that can lengthen the process anyway. • Gagnon and Ulinski: Next Month (date to be announced) there will be a Joint Scoping Planning Session with Planning Board, CAC, Town Board • PoF:Keokosky asked if there had been any consideration of light industry? (i.e. Three phase energy). Gagnon replied not now but should be. Interested parties should work on it. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 6 of 7 • Ulinski mentioned Town Board approval of CAC as a CAB Gagnon: Not CAB, but Conservation Board - Advantage of CB is that our input becomes more of a formal procedure that is incorporated into informing the process - no veto, not adversarial. Bob Beck talk important to help understand differences. • Town Land Management Plans Ulinski suggested we structure future CAC meetings by topic, not by a miscellaneous set of updates He would like the next topic to be the Management Plans. • Easements revisited • Ulinski noted that Roaring had requested streamlining process with a better explanation of easements • Suggested another meeting with a working session to go through that. Currently a lot of complexity interpreting documents. Need two options: a informal coffee table presentation and a formal power point presentation for a group 3. Update on West Danby Association Dish-to-Pass annual meeting Gagnon reported topic is on Land Preservation, “What is protected, What are the Criteria” Held Saturday, Jan 19 at 5pm; Ulinski invited to speak, or, alternatively, Sherman who is also a West Danby resident. All invited to attend. Went into Executive session at 8:12 Next Meeting is on February 12 at 7p.m. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm _____________________________________________ Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 7 of 7 Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)