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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PRNR-2019-02-11 PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES PRESENT: Chair - Roth Commissioners - (7) Freyburger, George, Hoffman, Leventry, Moeller, Sanders-Jauquet, Shelley OTHERS PRESENT: Common Council Liaisons – Brock, Kerslick Financial Management Assistant - Swartz City Forester – Grace Deputy Youth Bureau Director – D’Alterio EXCUSED: Myers Statement from the Public: Charlene Temple is concerned about the plan to remove deer. She is also concerned about plastic bags. Massachusetts has banned plastic bags on a State level. Commission Response: Monika Roth advised her that these topics are on tonight’s agenda and she is welcome to stay and listen to the discussion. Old Business: Deer group meeting report - Jeanne Grace set up a meeting with Mike Smith, from the Town of Ithaca, to coordinate planning and contacted the City Attorney on the City ordinance. She will be meeting with the GIS team about the deer management layers, to identify large properties suitable for bait stations. The Town is applying for a nuisance permit to start their management program on February 15th. Jeanne will also look into planting oak seedlings to monitor deer browse and gauge population size. Other data to gather – deer car accidents and Lyme disease increases in the City. It is anticipated the group will continue to do research this summer/fall and prepare recommendations for Council to consider for a 2019 pilot program. Memorial Policy review/input - Ellen Leventry was on a Memorials Policy subcommittee of the prior Parks Commission. That sub-group discussed issues, such as, funding minimum of $10,000, donor acknowledgement, fund tracking, upkeep/maintenance of endowment, is there a time after which the memorial expires and administrative time. One consideration is to have the Waterfront Trail or Friends of Stewart Park manage memorials since they already receive donations. The sub-committee presented a proposed Memorials Policy to the Board of Public Works in 2014 to redirect gifts under $10,000 to the Waterfront Trail and anything over $10,000 would go towards the Parks, such as naming a playground or building. The policy never was approved and the Mayor suggested the group consider developing a wish list of park improvements that people could pick from. This never went further and nothing could be found in minutes that the Board of Public Works ever took any action. A new updated policy could be developed and moved forward if there is interest among Council members to support it. There are currently many memorials in parks, but there is no record of how these were created. It is Date: February 11, 2019 Time: 6:00 PM Location: Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission February 11, 2019 2 important that there be an established system for tracking memorial donations to be respectful of the people. Jeanne indicated that she receives about 10 requests a year for memorials, generally trees. She often refers people to the Waterfront Trail. It was suggested to discuss this with Public Works and then possibly Common Council. Hannah, Tyler and Mickie volunteered to work in a small group to work on action steps going forward. Park signage update – Ellen indicated that Iron Design is in the process of creating icons. Working groups - Monika would like to move forward to appoint Nina Bassuk and Paul Paradine from the Shade Tree Group, as advisors to this Commission. We can have up to 10 advisors to work for this Commission. Advisors are also key to the establishment of formal working groups. Dan Hoffman made a motion to appoint Nina Bassuk and Paul Paradine as advisors, Tom Shelley second and all were in favor. Monika will reach out to confirm. Monika would also like to move forward with a couple of other advisor appointments - Todd Bittner (for natural areas) and Rick Manning (Waterfront Trail & Stewart Park), though these folks have not been asked. First however, she would like to convene a small group to discuss the natural areas work plan. Environmental review subcommittee report: Tom Shelley will attend the Environmental Review meeting this coming Wednesday, which is after we meet. One challenge is the PRNR meetings are out of sync with the Project Review meetings, so it is hard to comment at the appropriate time. The City is proposing to pu rchase the gym at the Immaculate Conception School. The rest of the school was purchased by INHS. Other projects under review are Falls Park Apartments, North Campus Residential and the Cherry St. project. Monika asked whether PRNR should look at projects through PRNR lens, to focus attention. However, it was mentioned that the Conservation Advisory Committee also reviewed projects, but is now abolished. It was suggested that the PRNR review should incorporate the CAC responsibilities/perspectives. The project review subgroup will continue to discuss the best approach to conducting reviews. New Business: Project Form from City Admin Staff – The form distributed is for communication between Common Council and the Commission. City Council can send requests via this form to the Commission for us to do research and provide a recommendation on a particular project of interest to Council members. Likewise, our commission can propose a project to undertake and get Council’s agreement. It also serves as a record of Commission work. Plastic Bag Ban - Tom Shelley (Liaison - EMC) Environmental Management Council (EMC) formed a subcommittee in April looking at a ban on plastic bags. The State is considering passing a statewide ban, so the County put a hold on proposed legislation until they see what the State does. The EMC would also like to ban Styrofoam containers. If the State passes the ban, municipalities can also pass a ban. The Governor's proposal is to ban plastic and place a fee on paper bags. A few cents will go to the vendor, a few to the county and a few to the State Environmental Fund. This will need to be managed. EMC is working on a number of other things including flooding in the County. If anyone is interested the meetings are the 2nd Thursday of every month at the Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St., Ithaca, at 4:00 PM. Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission February 11, 2019 3 Minutes – Review and approve 1/14/19: Jeanne Grace and Dan Hoffman requested some minor changes. Tom Shelley made a motion to approve with the changes and Ellen Leventry second, all were in favor, none were opposed. Announcements: Ellen Leventry made a motion for Dan Hoffman to be Vice Chair, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet second, all in favor, none opposed. Staff updates – Jeanne Grace reported that there are State Park officials utilizing a Federal program to reduce the geese population at the Golf Course, Stewart Park and Treman Marina. No action at this point. Stewart Park playground update – bids out to see what we can get for the money allocated. Proposed items out for bid: Cover over carousel Large playground for school age children, approximate ages 5-12 New spray pad Bathroom building Improvements to the parking lot to make it more ADA compliant Member Announcements - Tom Shelley – March 12, 2019 in the Borg Warner Room at the Tompkins County Library at 5:30-7:00 PM the Environmental Management Council is sponsoring a program on equity and sustainability. Monika Roth will be attending the City’s Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting this Wednesday to discuss the chicken ordinance revisions to make it permanent. Next meeting is March 11, 2019. Joann Cornish is scheduled to give a presentation on the Planning Department work plan. Adjournment: On a motion the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Debbie Swartz Financial Management Assistant