The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes - 05_14_19Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 6 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes of monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 Danby Town Hall, 1830 Danby Road, Danby, New York Council Members present: Matt Ulinski (chair), Joel Gagnon, Clare Fewtrell, Don Schaufler, Ruth Sherman Council Members absent: Bill Evans Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby resident), John Czamanske (Town Planner), Bill Keokosky (Danby resident), George Adams (prospective CAC member) .Meeting opened at 7:04 pm Agenda Review (Additions or Deletions) PoF:Keokosky added question raised by Alex Pfeifer in town hall office on avoiding printing out so many copies of minutes Public Comments/Privilege of the Floor (later referred to as PoF) • Comments on logging - Ulinski commented on Timber Harvest Class he and 4 others attended (DEC presentation on logging May 10, 2019 from 9-12:00 on “Timber Harvest Training for Municipalities.” At Tompkins County Highway department building on Bostwick Rd. ) • Roaring brought up DEC logging in Danby State Forest, Fisher Settlement Rd. and it’s affect on animal habitat. Questioned the necessity of taking down 30 oak chestnuts – habitat for great horned owl. Approve Minutes MOTION for Draft April 9, 2019 minutes Gagnon moved to approve, Fewtrell Seconded Unanimous approval Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 6 Action Items 1. Next Steps for adoption of Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) Report by Czamanske on status of a browser GIS interface on Tompkins County website. Been assigned to a county GIS staff person who is deciding whether it fits under county NRI mapping tool or a stand-alone section for Danby. Current version has data layers clipped for Danby. Waiting for her to get back to him. Preference depends on how analysis and analytical maps fit together. 2. Other “Next Steps” to establish use of NRI Report by Ulinski on status o Ulinski went to Planning Board meeting to present NRI but there was no quorum so this had to be postponed. o Ulinski suggested CAC go ahead and resolve to submit NRI to Town Board and have them create the local law needed for adopting NRI. (some discussion followed) o Dryden’s Conservation Board chair, Bob Beck, scheduled to speak a June meeting about CAC becoming a Conservation Board (CB). o Ulinski worked with Czamanske on rewriting introduction of NRI document to include a thank you from CAC members to C.J. Randall, since she did the most work and completely left herself out of the credits. o Ulinski wrote article for May Danby Area Newsletter describing Natural Resources Inventory o PoF:Keokosky (secretary) suggested a second article be written for June Newsletter that talked about some of the significance of the NRI and the possible change from CAC to CB o PoF:Roaring volunteered to write an article announcing Bob Beck speaking at the June CAC meeting and general implications of having CAC become a Conservation Board. Ulinski approved this idea, asking her to send it to him first. Approval of resolution to submit NRI to Town Board and have them create the local law needed for adopting NRI. Ulinski moved to approve, Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 6 Gagnon Seconded Unanimous approval 3. DEC Grant for Water Resources – Discussion on whether we can use it on issues in Deputron Hollow. (https://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/4774.html ) Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) Program o It was noted that Deputron Hollow creek actually is part of the watershed for the Town of Ithaca water supply. Sherman raised the question of how competitive using this rationale would be since it was a distant tributary. o POF:Adams thought it wasn’t applicable to Danby since we don’t have waste water and sewage to deal with. What we do have is non-point source pollution in culverts and creeks. Might be used to pay for Highway Department equipment that mitigates this – like a hydroseeder o POF:Adams could be used on a creek which feeds into Cayuga Inlet off Brown Road near Bruce Hill that badly washes out – He was told it is being rebuilt with other money this summer. o Gagnon said larger picture is that the Highway Dept. is responsible for a lot of erosion that ends up as creek turbidity, but this is not a drinking water quality issue. Interesting program but we are not well positioned to use it. o POF:Adams suggested using it creatively to make swamps as a buffer to creeks o POF: Roaring stated that she didn’t think we should worry about our assessment of whether it was applicable but just apply and let DEC decide. o General discussion on the amount of work needed to apply and how and if - What would we need to apply. Randall has already setup an ID for Danby – Consolidated Funding Application. o Ulinski’s take was that we should pass this on to the Highway Dept. and see if they have use for the monies. o Ulinski initially thought we might be able to purchase some land in Deputron Hollow. Question is are our jurisdictional Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 6 ducks in a row. Gagnon: saw applicability for West Danby Water district. Aquifer protection in West end. o PoF:Roaring thinks that acquiring land in Deputron Hollow and protecting water there is doable through this grant. CAC should be requesting of Town Board that they authorize John Czamanske to apply for grant. PoF:Keokosky noted that NRI does list Deputron Hollow Creek as part of a primary water source. All the little creeks in that corner feed into Six Mile Creek. o PoF:Adams Could two towns who share a body of water go in together to make the application more appealing? o Ulinski noted Town Supervisor is having those discussions of water protection; will talk it over with him at next Town Board meeting o Time frame: Deadline is in July but there is a June Conference in Syracuse for interested appliers. Does John Czamanske have bandwidth to include this in his workload when it may be a long shot? o Matt repeated he will talk to Dietrich (town supervisor). Collaborating with other towns was again suggested. PoF:Roaring suggested calling Randall for help. o Conclusion was left open. 4. Question on can we can change procedures to avoid printing so many copies of minutes? o PoF:Roaring noted minutes need to be available 2 weeks before meeting o Group decided to print 1 hard copy of minutes and 10 copies of agenda for meeting. Otherwise members should read minutes ahead of time from attachments on email or website. Updates 1. Update from Schaufler on presentations Brett Chedzoy to present on June 30th Advertising important. There will be no more presentations until Fall, with general agreement that they should continue. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 6 2. Update from Ulinski on non-chemical alternatives for controlling vegetation in pipeline corridors. No update. 3. Update on Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM ) ( See: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/47433.html ) and Highway Department classes on Exotic Species Management Sherman said that the Highway Department had not acknowledged her email. Ulinski said he would mention it at a meeting he was having with them on Friday. Will talk about coordinating time. Sherman mentioned inviting neighboring highway departments. 4. Update on Management Plans for two town parcels (18.-1- 17.2 , the West Danby Water District, connected by Sylvan Lane to Spencer Rd /Rt 34 and parcel 12.-1-16 on Deputron Hollow Road) Decided on road trip to walk West Danby property on Friday, June 14. Meet at Town Hall at 10:45. Don will bring van. Everyone encourage to look at plan outline web link and fill in ideas. Ulinski – we need to add walking easements to Agenda -. Not good enough aerial GPS imaging to see what is happening without eyes on the ground. PoF: Roaring suggested using a standard form checklist. Does Land Trust have a form? Ulinsky will collect owner contacts – Gagnon, Fewtrell and Sherman volunteered to walk land. 5. Update on Mary Wimsatt Property – 40 acres south of South Danby Rd intersection of Rt 96B – from Gagnon. No update Note: New Table configuration (straight line with microphones facing audience): Problems mentioned were hearing conversations and also seeing each other. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 6 of 6 Proposed to enter Executive session for discussion of easement Ulinski is working on. Ulinski moved to approve, Schaufler Seconded Unanimous approval Next Meeting is on June 11 at 7p.m. Adjournment The meeting ended at 8:06 p.m. _____________________________________________ Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)