HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes - 09_14_21Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 4
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC)
Minutes of Video Conference (Zoom) Meeting on
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Danby, New York
Council Members present: Clare Fewtrell (chair), Joel Gagnon, Don
Schaufler, Margaret Corbit, Mary Woodsen, Brittany Lagaly, Jonathan Zisk
Council Members absent:
Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby
resident), Katharine Hunter (Danby resident and former CAC member)
Zoom Meeting was officially called to order at 7:07.
Deletions or Additions to Agenda:
Privilege of the Floor (PoF): Roaring thanked Corbit, Schaufler and
Woodsen for coming to her place for initial easement visit for her property.
Approval Minutes MOTION for August 13, 2021
These were delayed because of a late set of edits sent by Gagnon so
approval was put off to October meeting
REPORTS AND UPDATES from agenda.
1. Status of annual easement monitoring – Don Schaufler,
Jonathan Zisk & Margaret Corbit
Schaufler is leading the team for annual monitoring of existing
conservation easements. Zisk is calling Palmer to make sure to get
his OK to gain access to his property. Again, there is a problem with
editing a .pdf file since a needed document for replication with
changes is a .pdf
2. Status of timber harvesting ordinance – Don Schaufler
Schaufler had a long chat with Laura Shawley and Jack Shawley
from highway department on ordinance, with a good response. He
also had good feedback from Bruce Richards. There was some
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 4
discussion on how to respond to the various people whose emails
Matt Ulinski had forwarded to CAC. Gagnon’s opinion was that the
subcommittee should respond, and Corbit’s suggestion was “Thank
you for your input. We will take it under consideration.” But
Woodson, who knew one of the people, volunteered to discuss it with
her. The general consensus was that the people who sent the
comments must not have completely read the document since their
concerns would have been addressed within it.
The conclusion was that the newest draft of the ordinance needed to
be more clearly available on the new (and old) website, not buried in
some difficult-to-find pages. Woodsen suggested a simple, cogent
explanation of what was happening should accompany it.
3. Status of changes to easement template – Joel Gagnon
The town board meeting that had included a discussion of the
template had been canceled because of a power outage that evening
so there was nothing to report.
4. Status of Agricultural Presentation Series – Elizabeth Keokosky
Keokosky announced a date change of first presentation to Oct 21st
with the second presentation happening on Nov 18 . The 3rd would
probably be moved to January since late December was a bad time
of the month. It had been difficult to find dates in September that all
speakers could attend. An article will be entered for the October
Danby Newspaper. Keokosky is looking for local farmers to speak, in
addition to speakers from Cooperative Extension and the Farm
Bureau. She is as sending information to other advertisers as well.
5. Status of easement signs, website & rack cards – Joel Gagnon,
Margaret Corbit & Mary Woodsen
The problem with ordering the easement signs with a Danby tax-
exempt credit card has still not been resolved. Gagnon will follow up.
Everyone is very busy with new mail system and website. The new
CAC web page is on hold until these bigger issues are resolved.
Changes in rack cards also have not moved forward. Discussion as
to how important changes really are. Woodsen will continue to check
with people who might have original Word document (as opposed to
.pdf file). She is checking with Matt Ulinski.
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 4
6. Native plants – Jonathan Zisk
This involved several aspects – whether or not to try to sell them
(based on a suggestion from Roaring) and how to educate people on
their value and promoting their use.
Since there are already native plant nurseries in the area, having the
CAC arrange a bulk mail order was not thought to be a good idea.
Collection of the names of people for a group purchase might be
more appropriate.
Lagaly volunteered an already existing webinar she had on native
plants and a date was set for some time in February. Lagaly
volunteered to advertise on Facebook.
7. Easement updates – Clare Fewtrell
Corbit and others had walked Roaring’s property. Roaring had
supplied them with a comprehensive packet of information. A report
will be sent out to CAC members by a week or two before the next
meeting.
The Wimsatt easement document was attached to last town board
meeting agenda. Roaring said she would go through it, using it as a
template, and send a derivative of it for her property to Corbit.
9. Zoning update – Joel Gagnon
The text for the new zoning proposal is difficult for many to
understand, so on Monday, Oct 4th, at a planning meeting, an attempt
will be made to poke holes in it – sort of a stress test. This will be
moderated by David West, and contributed to by the audience.
Roaring noted that entering comments on the draft copy is limited by
the fact that no one can see any one else’s comments. She thinks it
should be done differently.
There was no Executive session
Next Meeting via Zoom is on October 12th at 7p.m.
Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 4
Adjournment at 8:30
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Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)