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TOMPKINS COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL 121 East Court Street Ithaca, New York 14850 Telephone (607) 274-5560 http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/emc EMC Final Minutes 1 January 11, 2018 4:00 p.m. 2 Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St, Ithaca, NY 3 4 Attendance 5 Member Seat Member Seat Steve Bissen E Town of Dryden Susan Allen-Gil E Associate Member John Dennis P Village of Lansing Cait Darfler P Associate Member Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Karen Edelstein A Associate member Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton Bill Evans P Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Anna Kelles P Associate Member Anne Klingensmith P Town of Danby Dan Klein P Associate Member James Knighton P At-Large Jose Lozano P Associate Member Vladimir Micic P Town of Ithaca Osamu Tsuda E Associate Member Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline David Weinstein A Associate Member Susan Riley P At-Large Robert Wesley A Associate Member Tom Shelley P Ithaca CAC Roger Yonkin A Associate Member Ron Syzmanski E Village of Freeville Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator TBD Legislature Liaison Kristin McCarthy P County Staff 6 Guests – Beth McGee, Town of Enfield; Amanda Champion, TC legislator, Regi Teasley, City of Ithaca 7 resident/prospective member; Elen Able, Town of Enfield 8 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. A quorum was present. Given 9 the number of guests at the meeting, everyone briefly introduced themselves. 10 Privilege of the Floor – Jose Lozano said that yesterday was a big day for the Ithaca energy community 11 and the Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Facility because their Board approved the first pilot project to 12 recover energy from effluent. 13 Agenda Review/Changes – None 14 Approval of the Minutes – Action: A motion was made by Tom Shelley, and seconded by Michelle 15 Henry, to approve the December 14, 2017, minutes. The motion carried. 16 17 Strategic Planning Review – Standing Committees 18 19 • Climate Adaptation: James Knighton. In 2017, the committee developed a survey on the 20 connection between climate change and flooding in our area, with an eye to distribute it among 21 stakeholders in Tompkins County who have some influence on flood mitigation decisions. The 22 survey has a 25% response rate so far. The goal is to put together guidance and policy 23 recommendations for municipalities. Such documentation would also help guide Scott Doyle in 24 identifying issues to address in the next update to the County’s FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plan, 25 which is a prerequisite for receiving pre-disaster mitigation funds from the federal government. 26 • Environmental Review: Brian Eden. Committee members review relevant projects for their 27 environmental impact,which they find via the Environmental Notice Bulletin, County Planning 28 and Sustainability Department staff, municipal websites, news articles, and other sources. They 29 also conduct public education and generate outreach activities focused on issues of local 30 interest, such as the wind turbine impact study, pesticide-use reduction, expansion of the Cargill 31 mine, and the single-use plastic bag ban. In addition, they advise the Legislature on the 32 environmental impacts of County projects. 33 • Unique Natural Areas: Steve Nicholson. The committee continues to revise UNA boundaries as 34 needed, employing the latest GIS technology and conducting on-site fieldwork. Seventy-five 35 UNAs remain to be checked. A UNA designation does not provide legal protection; however, it 36 does promote public awareness of the reasons for protecting these areas from development. 37 38 Strategic Planning Review – Special Committees 39 • Outreach: Susan Riley. The committee’s mission is to increase the visibility and relevance of the 40 EMC in Tompkins County. They are planning an “anchor” program for March to update the 41 public on the Council’s work with a concentration on Unique Natural Areas, to be held at the 42 County Public Library. Another public event is planned for the fall. Other ideas include 43 expanding the EMC’s presence on social media and revising the website. 44 • Membership: Brian Eden. Volunteers are needed to staff a Membership Committee as there 45 remain several seats to fill and recruitment efforts have been minimal in recent years. New 46 member Anne Klingensmith agreed that a much improved website would help in that area. Cait 47 Darfler added that if updating the site is too complicated then a Facebook page or one-page 48 document should be provided to possible candidates. Anna argued for promoting the EMC 49 through its committees, as people are more likely to connect to an environmental issue close to 50 their heart rather than an organization. 51 • Strategic Development: Anna Kelles. The aim of this committee was to develop proposals to the 52 larger Council outlining infrastructure updates to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of 53 the EMC to both the County Legislature and County Government as well as the community the 54 Council serves. Here is a general timeline of activities that happen at the beginning of each year: 55 • January 56 o each committee that has been active during the year will review the actions taken and 57 goals reached from their list of established goals from the previous January 58 discussion of whether these existing committees will continue will occur 59 o proposals for new committees will be reviewed and decided on 60 o opportunity for members to change or join committees will open (due by the latest at 61 the February meeting), and 62 o election committee will lead the election of chair and vice chairs 63 • February 64 o Each EMC committee will present their goals for the year 65 Given that this committee was meant to be temporary in nature, and its assigned goals have been met, 66 it is no longer active. 67 68 In terms of other possible Special Committees, there is some interest in reviving an effort on the Single-69 Use Plastic Bag Ban. However, the members thought a more general “Zero Waste” Committee might be 70 more relevant. Steve Nicholson said that only two voting members are needed to form a committee, 71 and Scott reminded everyone that members must serve on at least one committee. Anna encouraged 72 the members to keep forefront in their minds the Council’s responsibility to help the Legislature do its 73 job more effectively. 74 75 EMC Public Event on March 15: Planning 76 Brian argued for holding a short meeting in February to plan for the March 15th outreach event. 77 2017 Committee Reports are due 78 Brian requested that Committee Chairs hand in their committee reports by February 1st so the 2017 79 Annual Report can be ready by the March 15th public event. 80 Election of Vice Chairs 81 Brian Eden moved to elect Tom Shelley Vice-Chair of the EMC. Steve Nicholson seconded. Motion 82 carried. 83 Municipal Streetlight Conversion to LEDs Project 84 Ulysses, Danby, Caroline, and City and Town of Ithaca have submitted a request to purchase their 85 municipal streetlights from NYSEG. Now they will file non-disclosure agreements and have 180 days to 86 negotiate an agreement for consideration by the Public Service Commission. Mike Thorne from the City 87 of Ithaca is taking the lead and will share outcomes with the other municipalities. They are working with 88 a consultant from North Carolina; a scoping document is not yet available. 89 Staff Report – Scott Doyle 90 • Scott reported that the City of Ithaca Water Plant recently adjusted lighting to come more in line 91 with EMC LED streetlight recommendations to the City. 92 • Three important projects were granted funding through the Regional Economic Development 93 Council Awards (CFA): 1) Protection rights for Lounsberry Farm in Town of Caroline; Brown Road 94 Restoration Project in Town of Danby; and an as yet to be determined floodplain connectivity 95 project (Cayuga Inlet) for the TC Soil and Water Conservation District. 96 • Town of Danby CFA-funded project received funding for a feasibility study from the Tompkins 97 County Stream Corridor Restoration and Flooding Hazard Mitigation project that Scott manages. 98 99 Brief Committee Reports 100 • The Climate Adaptation Committee will resend the survey to EMC members. 101 • The Environmental Review Committee submitted a scoping comment to C & S Companies of 102 Syracuse on the City of Ithaca’s ground-mounted solar array project near the airport. The ERC 103 also filed comments on the proposed Hydrogeologic Investigation at Nate’s Floral Estates, which 104 is located on a portion of the old City of Ithaca landfill. The RFP pre-bid conference for NYSEG’s 105 Lansing Non-Pipeline Alternatives project is tomorrow (Jan. 12th). Members will comment on the 106 Romulus incinerator proposal when an Environmental Impact Statement is prepared. The 107 Delaware River Solar project in Dryden environmental documents have been submitted to the 108 Town. Governor Cuomo proposed $65 million in funding for Harmful Algal Bloom research and 109 mitigation. Cayuga Lake will be included in this funding. 110 • UNA Committee is revising the Invasive Species List and hope to have it ready by March 15th. 111 • Scott Cook and Anthony Prestigiacomo from the NYS DEC Finger Lakes Water Hub gave a 112 wonderful presentation to the Water Resources Council on the Hub’s activities. In particular, 113 they remarked the CSLAP (Citizens Statewide Lakeside Assessment Program) monitoring went 114 well and they plan to expand to five sampling areas this year. They also plan to coordinate with 115 watershed educational organizations in the area. 116 117 Municipal Reports and Member Announcements 118 • Brian reported backyard chickens are proposed to no longer be allowed in the Village of Cayuga 119 Heights as their Comprehensive Plan has been revised. There is a document that lists all the 120 proposed changes to the Plan. Brian can pass it along if anyone is interested in reviewing it. 121 • The Article 78 proceeding on the Cargill litigation probably won’t appear in front of Tompkins 122 County Supreme Court until at least May 25th, though a summary judgment motion could be 123 argued before the full Article 78 case is presented to the Judge. 124 • The judge ruled in favor of the Town of Dryden in the Article 78 filing against the large solar 125 proposal project there. For now, the project is moving forward. 126 127 Adjournment 128 Action: Brian adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m. 129 130 These draft minutes will be formally considered by the EMC at its next monthly meeting, and corrections 131 or notations will be incorporated at that time. 132 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 133 Approved by EMC: 2/8/2018 134 135 136