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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes - 04_13_21Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 5 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Minutes of Video Conference (Zoom) Meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 Danby, New York Council Members present: Clare Fewtrell (chair), Joel Gagnon, George Adams, Jonathan Zisk, Don Schaufler, Mary Woodsen, Margaret Corbit Council Members absent: Brittany Lagaly Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby resident), Katharine Hunter (former CAC member), Sarah Schnabel (town board member) Zoom Meeting was officially called to order at 7:04. Deletions or Additions to Agenda: Agenda item 1 will be given by Fewtrell instead of Lagaly because she is ill. Agenda item 7 (talk on invasive species by Lagaly) is deleted. Privilege of the Floor (PoF): none Approval Minutes MOTION for March 9, 2020 Adams moved to approve Gagnon seconded Unanimous (5 votes) approval. Corbit and Woodsen entered Zoom session after vote was over. REPORTS AND UPDATES 1. Spotted Lanternfly Webinar (22nd April) – Fewtrell Fewtrell asked Adams (Sustainable Tompkins and Danby South Hill website) and Keokosky to do some advertising. Problems could occur coordinating with Lagaly since she had been difficult to access by email or phone. But she had submitted a Danby Area News article information was on the Town Calendar. Lagaly had assured Fewtrell Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 5 she was going to be able to give the webinar. Katherine Hunter said that Ted Crane of the Community Council was going to put the recording on YouTube afterwards. Then put a link to the YouTube on the Community Council Website. 2. Easement Zoom Meeting & Poster (13th May) – Clare Fewtrell, Jonathan Zisk & Betsy Keokosky Presenter is to be Jonathan Zisk, who will introduce the program, describe how to donate an easement , and discuss some of the pros and cons of easements. There will then be some testimonials by willing easement holders. Zisk suggested Richard and Joan Curtis. Kate O’Neal was another possibility. Zisk is open to questions and interruptions but CAC members should hold their comments until the end of the formal presentation. Other considerations were whether or not to mention tax abatement since this was still hasn’t been approved by NY State and will then have to be implemented by the Town. Zisk voiced his personal distaste of making money a motive for easements, but agreed to mention it. Also, a school tax deduction requires county approval. Additionally, it might be useful to compare our program with that of the Finger Lakes Land Trust. There was some discussion of inviting prospective easement donors that might be interested. Advertising should go out by end of month of April (2 weeks ahead of time). Posters will go up in church, fire hall, post office, etc. 3. Easement Website –Margaret Corbit & Mary Woodsen Corbit has been in communication with Janice, Town Clerk, who is still working on moving the website. Fewtrell wanted to know if it was possible to put items on old website for now. Corbit will check. 4. Easement Signs – Clare Fewtrell & George Adams Fewtrell reported that all the Danby Conservation Easement donors were enthusiastic about displaying the easement sign. She estimated that approximately 12 signs will be needed. One concern – Steve Selin pointed out that the South Hill Cidery was open to the public and the sign says no trespassing. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 5 Adams is still responsible for contacting vendors. Since the special pricing was for 25 or over, there was some discussion about getting (and storing) extra ones. Adams thought a ceremony should be made of the new signs and an article written up in the DAN. Discussion followed on the method of payment - which was calculated as approximately $275. Adams is checking with Laura Shawley. In connection with payments, Schaufler mentioned that Gnomon Copy had the original file for the rack cards but he didn’t know if changes could be made; the QR code should be added to this as well. Fewtrell mentioned that she had joined the NYSACC (New York State Association of Conservation Commissions) for the Danby CAC and donated the cost. She also mentioned that Adams should to contact Ruth Sherman since a functional QR code needs to be added to the actual graphic used for the sign. 5. Logging Ordinance – George Adams, Don Schaufler & Jonathan Zisk Adams went over latest incarnation of the logging ordinance draft. He noted that there are new terms that should be defined and wondered if they should be put in an Appendix. He was especially concerned over the reference to Best Management Practices (BMP) - - and there was some discussion about how this concept is defined. The Ordinance uses a reference to Chemung County’s model since it offers a good explanation. Zisk said that BMP was an umbrella concept and the Chemung County model was just a widely used example. Gagnon said we could check with the town attorney. Schaufler said there will be push-back if the term is too general. If there was no specific yardstick for BMP it could cause less future Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 5 problems with people trying to comply. He also liked Chemung County’s guidelines but to used as specific instructions. Some editing remain to be done. One fix remaining is to remove definitions that reference parts previously removed. Fewtrell voiced her frustration with the last minute emailing of draft documents - which no one then has a chance to read - for meetings in which they will be discussed. She set a requirement of a week before meeting to send items that the group will be reviewing and have put on the Agenda. She felt too much time has been wasted. Adams still needs to speak to the code officer and the Highway Department. Corbit and Gagnon felt that the document is now sufficiently cleaned up to do so. Fewtrell tried to walk through the process of a person coming in that wanted to cut some trees. Gagnon helped with questions. • Given an application – there are 2 classes of applications in packet. How do they choose which? Adams said that there will also be instructions. • Whom do they see - Steve Cortwright – Code Information Officer? • Gagnon asked how the determination is made to go beyond a basic application to a full one? Adams acknowledged this had to be added. The next step is to run the document by the Code Enforcement Officer and then the Town Lawyer. Gagnon offered Zoom sessions to the group when this happens. Another question: Should document be called “Logging Guidelines” or “Harvesting Guidelines”? There was further discussion of the penalty – Gagnon thought the size of the fine was not large enough and asked what an administrative warrant is? Schaufler gave examples of when clear- cutting could be a good thing. There was no Executive session Next Meeting via Zoom is on May 11th at 7p.m. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 5 Adjournment The Zoom meeting ended abruptly at 8:26 p.m. when the host lost connection. The last two agenda items on Easement Updates and the Low Density Re-Zoning Group Report were put off until the May meeting by a post-meeting email sent by the Chair. _____________________________________________ Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)