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Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes - 03_14_23Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 1 of 8 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Minutes of Zoom Meeting (treacherous weather) Tuesday, March 14, 2023 Danby, New York Council Members present: Margaret Corbit, Jonathan Zisk (Acting Chair), Joel Gagnon, Katharine Hunter, Don Schaufler, Renee Owens, Brittany Lagaly Council Members absent: Others present: Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary), Ronda Roaring (Danby resident – via Zoom) Zoom Meeting was officially called to order at 7:19 (again held up by technical difficulties). Privilege of the Floor (PoF): none Deletions or Additions to Agenda: none Approval of February 14, 2022 minutes Gagnon moved to approve  Corbit seconded  Approval unanimous. REPORTS AND UPDATES (from the agenda) 1. New CAC Member Search, Annual Report, Easement tax abatement subcommittee, and other CAC specific issues - Margaret Corbit New Members: Marie Monroe has not followed up. Anne Klingensmith can’t join until after April. Cheryl Potts is a possible candidate – an environmentalist, school teacher and also in Danby events. Zisk will check with her Annual report was voted on: Approval of Annual Report to send on to Town Board and DEC Gagnon moved to approve Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 2 of 8 Zisk Seconded. Approval unanimous Gagnon will take to town board. Town clerk will send to DEC. Tax abatement: David West (planner) followed up recently with Ithaca School Board on the subject of school tax abatement incentives for easements and has heard nothing (school board fast tracked a different tax abatement measure, but have numerous other things on their plate). Candor school district was discussed and dismissed as a possibility. Easement Tax Abatement sub-committee has agreed to give up on school tax abatements for the time being, and will have a short meeting (Zisk will put together a Doodle poll) to bring another proposal to the next CAC meeting. 2. Status of town board approval of Timber Harvesting law – Gagnon Town board wanted input from DEC which requested a deadline that West set for 2 weeks and also to County with request for informal feedback. Schaufler said that he had been working with DEC during writing the law, but many of the people there had since moved on. 3. Sub-committee on monitoring – Hunter and Zisk Monitoring issues: Hunter not talking yet to Palmer. Monitoring waiting on end of bad weather and snow. 4. Any important updates on Easements that need input from other members. Ruth Sherman: Hunter back and forth with her on emails Ben Altman: Zisk also back and forth on emails with Ben. Altman wants assurances on including native American issues in easement. Stephen Henhawk doesn’t want it to be about politics, only cultural traditions. Zisk wants to write this into easement template option. Zisk, Hunter, Owens, and Keokosky walking his land in the coming weeks. Hoffman/Karlson: Gagnon had completed a final easement application draft. He included this with the survey map on which zones were delineated, the original baseline report from 2020, and the recent addition of flora, fauna, and other photos, and sent it to landowners and CAC Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 3 of 8 members by email on March 14th before today’s meeting. Since it was transmitted to the CAC so close to the meeting, it was decided to review the draft before the next meeting and consider sending it on to the town board at the next meeting. Butje: no update Andi Gladstone: Zisk will call Mary Woodsen: Zisk stalled on GIS software Possible easement for a Family on Steam Mill Rd that Gagnon is going to check. The land Is part of unique natural area (UNA). 5. NYSACC meeting ideas? (last time discussed Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 - See archives ) – Jonathan Zisk Cait Darfler sending a Doodle Poll to be filled in by March 17th on a meeting time for Kick-off Zoom county wide meeting held sometime between Mar 20 and 31st. There was some confusion – but interest - about what she was looking for. 6. Ben Altman maple syruping event update. – Corbit Altman/Haudenosaunee land maple syruping time is on hold until tribal elders weigh in. It is held when spring winds blow, but Elders are more in north so CAC members wondering if their time will coincide with syruping time in Danby area. 7. Continuing session on revisioning of CAC mission and message and how to strategize Danby conservation easement outreach for CAC web page As a first step CAC members brainstormed what they could better convey to the public about variously perceived important CAC messages using the framework of nouns and verbs (which became reasons, and actions). Corbit color coded member’s suggestions. Keokosky’s initial suggestion was to “Allow the land to preserve all the interconnectedness for our children’s children.” Zisk agreed, and further responded (tongue in cheek?) that one goal was to make clear to our neighbor why he/she should be instantly convinced to take out an easement. Agriculture and Forests were also important interests. Lagaly Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 4 of 8 mentioned outreach and education – Corbit added a noun “learning through outreach and education”. There was some confusion and disagreement on level of detail to delve into. Owens felt the language was too broad and not specific enough to get people interested. Hunter said she saw our goal as offering general reasons to convince a person to join the CAC. For instance, Corbit felt Lagaly’s suggestion of “Maintaining and enhancing natural corridors” was too specific for this level of description. Distinctions between “Conservation” and “Preservation” and level of management were discussed. Schaufler suggested perhaps just “wise use” would do. Corbit compromised with “to protect our land (and waters) with conservation and preservation”. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 5 of 8 Renee added that, for a website, ease of finding important links, such as Agenda and Zoom links, and easy access to important information – was important. Corbit ended the brainstorming session by saying it was a good start. and suggested this set of ideas should be “chewed over” till next meeting. Gagnon reminded members that we should look at the enabling resolution (that created the CAC) to make sure nothing was left out. (See Appendix A of this document to read enabling legislation goals) There was no Executive session Next Meeting is on April 11, 2023 at 7p.m. Adjournment at 8:30pm _____________________________________________ Submitted by Elizabeth Keokosky (Secretary) Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 6 of 8 Appendix A Section 1: Purpose and Authority from Enabling Legislation for Conservation Advisory Council As provided for in section 239-x, 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 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]. Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 7 of 8 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; (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 Town of Danby Conservation Advisory Council Minutes Page 8 of 8 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.