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Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes - 11_09_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, November 9, 2021 Danby, New York Council Members present: Clare Fewtrell (chair), Joel Gagnon, Mary Woodsen, Jonathan Zisk, Brittany Lagaly, Don Schaufler Council Members absent: Margaret Corbit 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 7:05. Deletions or Additions to Agenda: New member discussion kept as agenda item #1 but 2nd item in agenda on easement signs was incorporated in monitoring discussion below it in #3 (which is now #2 below). Privilege of the Floor (PoF): Hunter voiced appreciation for Keokosky’s first Agricultural Presentation, and thanked her for her work. Roaring talked about bears in South Danby and DEC invasive species Zoom, including, kudzu, spotted lantern fly and Japanese knotweed. She noted that some municipalities have made it illegal to sell property with Japanese knot weed on it. She recommended the CAC talk more about it. There was some discussion on how to eliminate knotweed with Roundup, inserting it into cut stem. Best time to do it is fall. Needs repeat work. Also covering with something (like plastic or metal) is effective. Approval Minutes MOTION for October 12, 2021 Gagnon moved to approve both Fewtrell seconded Unanimous, except for Corbit, who was absent. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 4 REPORTS AND UPDATES from agenda. 1. Discussion on new members and whether to change or keep Chair Fewtrell encouraged members whose term was running out to fill out form to renew membership in CAC. They agreed. Members were unanimous in their wish to keep Fewtrell on as Chair of the CAC, and for Corbit to continue as Vice Chair. CAC has two vacancies to fill. People interested in being new members should fill out form from Town Clerk and are encouraged to apply. Some names mentioned were Tom Janda and Katharine Hunter. 2. Status of annual easement monitoring – Don Schaufler, Jonathan Zisk & Margaret Corbit (on family trip) Zisk reported that Saturday November 13 is set for Kate O’Neal’s annual monitoring, and the 13th or 14th for Joan and Rick Curtiss’ property. Fewtrell noted that easement signs were also ready to put up. Zisk said he and Schaufler were going to be covering the two above, but other people were welcome to come as well. Fewtrell said that there were signs for the Wimsatt property as well, although it was not being inspected this year. Melchen’s annual checkup had already been done, but signs could be put up there at the same time as the Wimsatt property, since they were both in the Deputron Hollow area. Discussion followed on location of signs. 3. Status of timber harvesting ordinance – Don Schaufler Schaufler (who had been ill and was experiencing internet problems) had nothing to report. He will contact Laura Shawley as planned; she is now working at home, recuperating from an operation. 4. Status of Easement Updates – Joel Gagnon Ongoing discussion of getting a good, readable photocopy of Wimsatt easement (that has been signed) for Danby town clerk. Also getting digitized copies of existing easement printed copies. Corbit’s draft of Roaring Easement had a couple of issues that Fewtrell thought needed work. One is how such a small property can be divided into an environmental protection zone and a residential zone. Since there Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 4 was nothing unique to protect, a Forest zone was suggested instead. Roaring wanted to forbid hunting and fishing but the precedent is just making this a comment of the grantor since it cannot be made legally binding. Lagaly said that she and her husband were ready to go forward with an easement. People who were interested in walking her property organized carpooling and a time on Nov 14 at around 3pm – at 214 Heisey Rd. at the top of the hill. Fewtrell will send Lagaly the template from the website. 5. Status of Agricultural Presentation Series – Elizabeth Keokosky Keokosky reported on 1st presentation, “Common Misperceptions and Local Partners, ” and said she was disappointed in the low turnout of 13 people, but was happy with the Zoom format, which was more intimate than a webinar and allowed interesting give and take conversation that highlighted different generational views. Keokosky went over speakers and gave a summary of accomplishments of younger farmers speaking. CAC members attending gave her complimentary feedback. Recording is available on the Town of Danby website and on YouTube. The 2nd presentation which is on “Regenerative Agriculture and Soil Health”, is coming up on Nov 18; the link is listed in Danby Calendar. Keokosky gave some background on the speakers for that. They are Graham Savio from Cornell Cooperative Extension, Jonathan Bates from Food Forest Farm, and Joshua Stone of Web of Life: Regenerative Land Care, a new business in Danby. (Note: later Jonathan Bates, who suffered an emergency situation, was replaced by Steve Gabriel of Cornell Small Farms.) A date was set for the third presentation, which will be on easements, for Thursday, Jan 13 2022. It is specifically oriented to CAC because speakers will be talking about farming easements, buying out development rights, and transitioning to a new generation of farmers. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 4 6. Status of Native plant presentation – Lagaly Lagaly wasn’t quite ready yet, as the date for her presentation is in February, so she still needs to work with town clerk to set up Zoom. She will check back with CAC at its next meeting. 7. Zoning update – Joel Gagnon Town planner is putting together a revised draft of the zoning document that will accommodate changes so far. Town Board is looking at it again Monday, Nov 15 (Note: The meeting was canceled without warning). Gagnon is going to be revisiting transfer development rights credits – some encourage people to be near seasonal roads, which is good, but the downside is that extra credit development units increase the density overall. Gagnon wasn’t happy with how that played out in R1 and R2 zones, where parcels should have originally had only 1 dwelling unit. Town Planner thinks that this would be used by developers. There was discussion of the complexities of transferring development rights, which are still not clear. There was no Executive session Next Meeting via Zoom is on December 14th at 7p.m. Adjournment at 8:54 _____________________________________________ Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary)