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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes - 01_12_21Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 9 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Minutes of Video Conference (Zoom) Meeting on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Danby, New York Council Members present: Clare Fewtrell (chair), Joel Gagnon, George Adams, Jonathan Zisk, Brittany Lagaly, Don Schaufler, Margaret Corbit, Mary Woodsen Council Members absent: none Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby resident), David West (new town planner), Jon Jensen (Danby resident interested in perhaps joining CAC) Zoom Meeting was officially called to order at 7:05. Deletions or Additions to Agenda: none Privilege of the Floor (PoF) Fewtrell asked CAC members if they are alright with people attending speaking throughout meeting if they stick with a 3 minute limit? They were. Approval Minutes MOTION for December 8, 2020 Gagnon moved to approve Fewtrell seconded Unanimous approval REPORTS AND UPDATES 1) Welcome to new and returning members Margaret Corbit, who has just joined the CAC was welcomed, and introductions were given by other members and residents attending the meeting. Jon Jensen introduced himself as resident of Danby for 15 years living on Steam Mill Rd. 2) Annual Report for 2020 – Fewtrell Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 9 Fewtrell called members’ attention to the first draft of the 2020 Annual Report that she had sent earlier that day by email. She asked them to read it over the next week, and send her any comments. She asked if everyone was OK with putting off the discussion until the February meeting. (They were.) After approval by the CAC, the report would be forwarded to the Town Board for their information, and to the DEC (as required by statute). 3) What do we want to achieve in 2021? • Fewtrell started off the discussion by stating that her priorities were to try to keep meetings to 1-1½ hours and keeping focused. • She encouraged members to be more involved and for all (herself included) to work on items during the month and not on the last day before the meeting. • Gagnon said that he wanted to work harder on soliciting easement donations o Fewtrell said that everyone should come up with a list of potential candidates o Some CAC members are interested in donating easements o It was agreed that the search should be more focused and not so scatter-shot o Schaufler and Woodsen said that the Covid pandemic had made it a tough time to initiate easement discussions • Gagnon is interested in creating open space priority areas to target properties we think most important o Gagnon suggested starting with properties within UNAs and properties around them that might be particularly at risk (Fewtrell asked about extra copies of the Natural Resources Inventory for new members – where information on UNAs is mapped) o PoF: Roaring offered to generate lists of properties in and adjacent to UNAs • Corbit asked if there had been any town discussion on how to introduce Danby residents to easements o Fewtrell suggested reading the documents available on the CAC website Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 9 o PoF: Roaring repeated a previous suggestion of having a live meeting with panelists from the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Danby Easements, etc., with manned tables, to answer questions o PoF: Jensen was enthusiastic about holding a Zoom session to answer questions o Corbit agreed and said that the easement template is legalese and raised questions • Corbit asked about the status of the easement tax incentive proposed by the Planning Group (which also included alternative time frame easements that are not in perpetuity) o Gagnon responded that this bill needs to get on the state legislative calendar for this year o once approved, it needs a local Danby law to implement it o the time frame is unclear – it could be over a year or more • Adams volunteered to submit names of people who might be interested in easements. He suggested having a person or subcommittee that would be responsible for keeping track of people that come on and off the CAC’s radar. Fewtrell suggested that members should think about this and decide who might be a good person to accomplish this. • Zisk liked the idea of an outreach Zoom presentation to explain what a conservation easement is and give residents an informational start. PoF: Jensen agreed and suggested a collective group of neighbors if no one person had enough property. Adams said that he and his neighbors had pooled property behind their houses to make paths, but he thought approaching and coordinating between 5 different land owners might be daunting. He volunteered to be a tracker of interested people who were at different stages of interest. Fewtrell said she would send everyone the list of potential easement donors that she had compiled last year. Gagnon agreed that getting an easement often takes years, so finding ways to promote continuity among members was important. Also institutional memory provided by a person or committee would be valuable for keeping track of potential easement holders and where they were in their decision-making. • Fewtrell noted that we could use the list to start prioritizing. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 9 • Zisk was interested in the mission statement for the CAC. He mentioned that he wasn’t completely sure what our current mission statement was. Gagnon said that was essentially in the enabling resolution , suggested looking at it and bringing back thoughts for the meeting next month. (See Apendix following these minutes for a list of CAC “tasks” in the Enabling Legislation) • Adams suggested that the logging legislation he is working on could create a consulting responsibility that could be part of our job. 4) Defining a Restricted Forestry Zone for Easements – Fewtrell Fewtrell had put together a definition based on Sherman’s first draft that included suggestions from her and Gagnon. The new zone preface had been shortened to state that: “The purpose of the Restricted Forest Use Zone is to limit activities to those that have a minimal impact on the forest.” “Allowed” examples were kept and used to further illustrate the intent of the zone. The “not allowed” examples were removed to avoid confusion over any items that might have been left out. The one remaining item on the “not allowed” list (commercial timber harvests) was instead moved to the “allowed” section as a negative in the example describing the types of logging allowed. Since only examples of allowable activities were now shown, the words “(not an exclusive list)” could also be deleted. Members were pleased with the result. Schaufler wondered about riding an ATV on access trails. Gagnon said that the general language of the existing easement template already covered this situation; ATVs can be used for utility, not for recreation. Schaufler also pointed out that “non-forest timber products” should be “non-timber forest products”. The next step to including the zone as part of the existing easement template is approval of the wording by the town lawyer. Gagnon noted that this zone defined a forestry objective of maintaining old trees. Corbit said that she thought this would be very attractive to a lot of people. There was general agreement that the action of Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 9 protecting the forest from disruption would also improve bird and animal habitat. Adams wondered if there was a way to determine if there was more interest in easements because of this additional zone. He concluded that it has to be anecdotal. Fewtrell said at least 5 people currently interested in easements wanted a better way to protect their woods. PoF: Keokosky asked whether approval of this zone warranted an article in the DAN and Fewtrell said she would write one. 5) Report on progress of Logging Ordinance – Adams and Schaufler Adams continued on-going discussions of the problems he was encountering in editing and rewriting the old draft ordinance. His current problem was inconsistent structure of sections and subsections, which he has fixed. He wants to send the current version of the document to members with markup showing so they can trace the logic of changes. Members were wary of the format of the draft and whether it would be possible to share suggestions for modifications. Adams apologized for taking so long and Zisk suggested just having an email exchange for the next couple of weeks. Adams elaborated on his other ideas for additional documents and the role of the CAC. Fewtrell suggested that the group should just take a look at Adams’draft. Zisk volunteered to help Adams and Schaufler, if they needed another partner. His offer was accepted by Adams. Fewtrell questioned the need to formulate a detailed ordinance, and wondered if it should just be simplified. Basically the group just needed something to read and make comments on to move the process forward, so Adams agreed to send his working draft to everyone immediately after the meeting. 6) Easement Updates - Fewtrell There are currently two potential easement holders - Andi Gladstone for one, and Dan Hoffman and Micaela and Mark Karlsen for the other. Both are interested in the new Forestry Zone, so should be closer to coming to conclusion. Corbit wanted to know, for the record, whether, if the proposed easement tax incentives go through, they are retroactive to current easement holders. The answer is Yes. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 6 of 9 The individuals mentioned above are planning easements in perpetuity so are not dependent on approval of the short-term easements that the Planning Group has also proposed. 7) Easement Signs – George Adams Adams reported that Camille is not interested in changing the picture in her sign from shading to black and white graphics, and Adams doesn’t have much new information. He called on Zisk who said picture could be changed digitally to help him do it. Fewtrell brought up the option of using Sherman’s original sign, which she liked, and Adams said he could get a quote on both. The group agreed that they liked both signs so Sherman’s sign might be a good alternative. 8) Report from the Town Board on the Proposed Management Plans for Town Properties on Deputron Hollow Road and Sylvan Lane – Gagnon The management plans are to be presented at a Public Hearing on February 17 at the beginning of the Town Board meeting, but the board hasn’t had time to discuss them yet. Planning group – Gagnon reported that the planner had presented a list of options for working with open space (see minutes for the Planning Group). He said they were gearing up again for sub- committees to meet. Fewtrell asked if all members of the CAC could receive an invitation to join the Conservation working group. Gagon thought this was a good idea. Fewtrell reminded members to read and provide comments on the annual report and asked the secretary to send the minutes of the meeting as soon as possible after the meeting. Gagnon asked about Jon Jensen as a possible CAC member. The group was in favor and Fewtrell said that she would invite him. Fewtrell asked Secretary to add the latest members and David West (planner) to the phone list. Legaly mentioned internet problems with receiving email that prevent her from using Danby email. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 7 of 9 There was no Executive session Next Meeting through Zoom is on February 9th at 7p.m. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m. _____________________________________________ Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary) APPENDIX Town of Danby, NY Resolution No. 82 of 2010 AUTHORIZING CREATION OF A CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL Adopted 14- Jun-2010 Section I Purpose and Authority It shall advise in the development, management and protection of the Town's natural resources. The Council shall direct itself toward accomplishing the following tasks: a) conducting researches into the land area of the Town of Danby; b) seeking to coordinate the activities of unofficial bodies organized for similar purposes and to cooperate with other official municipal bodies active in the area of community planning for the Town; c) advertising, preparing, printing, and distributing publications (including, but not limited to, books, maps, charts, plans, pamphlets, and digital materials) that it deems necessary for the accomplishment of its goals; d) keeping a required inventory and map, as defined in section 239 -y of the General Municipal Law, of all open areas within the Town with the plan of obtaining information pertinent to proper utilization of such open lands, including lands owned by the state, any other municipality within the state, or by the Town of Danby itself; e) keeping a required inventory and map of all open marsh lands, swamps, and all other wet lands in a like manner, and Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 8 of 9 recommending, when it deems it appropriate, to the Town Board a program for ecologically suitable utilization of all such areas; f) keeping required accurate records of its meetings and actions and filing a required annual report with the Town Board on or before the thirty-first day of December of each and every year [Once approved by the Town Board, a copy is required to be forwarded to the NY State Commissioner of Environmental Conservation]. In addition, authorization is explicitly given by this resolution for the Council to: g) focus its preservation efforts on land it deems to be at risk of development located in areas zoned for low density or conservation; h) develop a list of scenic or historic sites to protect as opportunities allow; i) lobby on issues relating to the council's duties and goals; j) actively support open space protection by facilitating the transfer of land from sellers to buyers sympathetic to open space preservation; k) accept by gift, grant, bequest, or otherwise, money or other personal property in the name of the Town of Danby, for its use in furtherance of the objectives of this resolution; l) propose, subject to Town Board action, the acceptance by gift, conditional or unconditional, grant, devise or otherwise, the fee or any lesser interest, development right, easement, covenant or other contractual right, including conveyance with limitations or reversions, land, in furtherance of natural resource protection within the Town of Danby; m) recommend acquisition by the Town Board by purchase in fee or any lesser interest, development right, easement, covenant or other contractual right, including conveyance with limitations or reversions, by negotiation or condemnation, such real or personal property as may be needed in furtherance of the purposes of the Council; Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 9 of 9 n) pursuant to (l) and (m), administer a conservation easement program on behalf of the Town, to include the crafting, acquisition, and monitoring of easements, both purchased and donated, with the acquisition being subject to Town Board approval of each proposed easement. o) develop and implement management plans for Town-owned conservation land. At a minimum, the plan for each parcel or group of contiguous parcels shall identify and set forth the features of the property to be preserved and/or enhanced, the features that can be compatibly exploited for public benefit, and the actions needed or desired in order to do so, complete with a schedule of steps to be taken. For conservation properties owned by the Town at the time of creation of the Council, the Council shall create management plans within three years. For newly-acquired properties, the Council shall create management plans within two years. For each management unit, an opportunity for public comment shall precede adoption of the unit’s management plan by the Town Board, with adoption required before implementation by the CAC. The management plans for every management unit, once adopted by the Town Board, shall be reviewed by the council every five years. Progress, via the specified implementation steps, toward the adopted goals, shall be carefully scrutinized. The public, particularly the neighbors of the management unit, should be encouraged to participate in the review. The Council may propose changes to a management plan, subsequent to its periodic review; these changes must be approved by the Town Board before the Council can implement them. p) for land acquired by the Town for conservation not protected by conservation easement at the time of acquisition, prepare an easement for Town Board review and possible adoption.