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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 June 14, 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 P Town of Dryden Regi Teasley P At-Large Maureen Bolton P Town of Enfield Amanda Champion P Legislative Liaison Cait Darfler P Town of Ulysses John Dennis P Village of Lansing Susan Allen-Gil E Associate Member Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Karen Edelstein A Associate Member Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton Bill Evans A Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Anna Kelles A Associate Member Anne Klingensmith P Town of Danby Dooley Kiefer E Associate Member James Knighton E At-Large Dan Klein P Associate Member Vladimir Micic P Town of Ithaca Jose Lozano E Associate Member Steve Nicholson E Town of Caroline Osamu Tsuda P Associate Member Susan Riley P At-Large David Weinstein A Associate Member Tom Shelley P City of Ithaca Robert Wesley A Associate Member Genny Shipley E At-Large Roger Yonkin A Associate Member Don Smith E At-Large Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator Ron Szymanski E Village of Freeville Kristin McCarthy P County Staff Guests – Joe Wilson, Anne Koreman, Martin Hatch 6 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. 7 Privilege of the Floor – Anne Koreman, who represents District 5 on the Tompkins County 8 Legislature, inquired whether the Council would discuss the possible construction of a large-9 scale solar farm atop the coal ash landfill at Cayuga Power in Lansing. Brian said yes, during 10 the Environmental Review Committee report. 11 Agenda Review/Changes – None 12 Approval of the Minutes – A motion was made by Tom Shelley, seconded by Maureen Bolton, 13 to approve the May 10, 2018, minutes. Motion carried. 14 Update: County Habitat Connectivity Strategy – Scott Doyle 15 • Scott provided background information on the strategy and the study that served as its 16 basis. Cornell City and Regional Planning graduate student work helped refine national 17 models of habitat connectivity to clarify locally appropriate key habitat corridors. 18 • The strategy also identifies key undeveloped areas that should be protected from 19 fragmentation and prescribes broad strategies and policies to improve connectivity. 20 • Steve Bissen and John Dennis asked if strategy focuses only on terrestrial connectivity. 21 Scott replied that it was consciously designed for primarily land-based connectivity. 22 • Michelle Henry asked if study looks at flyways/migrations. Scott said that for now it takes a 23 broader approach. Plan is to knuckle down a bit, by species, in the next phase. 24 • Brian noted that this project dovetails nicely with the UNA Committee’s work. 25 Committee Reports 26 27 Climate Adaptation: Brian Eden 28 • Committee wants to finalize flooding report by next month. Get comments to them soon. 29 • Next step would be to introduce a resolution to declare it an EMC document that may be 30 shared with other municipalities. 31 • To foster discussion, informal or formal meetings of municipalities in specific watersheds 32 could facilitate cooperation and collaboration in reducing flooding impacts. 33 • Committee discussed creating a repository of flooding information. 34 Environmental Review: Brian Eden 35 Comments on regulations that would expedite the closing of the last two 36 coal-fired power plants in NYS are due in July. 37 Cargill’s motion to dismiss CLEAN’s Article 78 lawsuit on the proposed 38 Shaft #4 construction was denied. 39 Comments on the remediation of the Morse Industrial/Emerson brownfield 40 site are due June 18th. 41 County Legislature accepted NYS funding (Septic Tank Rebate Program) 42 for some residents to replace aging septic systems. 43 Cargill’s on site waste water treatment system was approved last week. 44 Brian shared a factsheet on NYSDEC’s Household Cleansing Product 45 Information Disclosure Program. 46 • Committee is concerned with the Cayuga Power Plant’s plan to construct part of its solar 47 array over the coal ash landfill. It could hinder clean-up efforts and CPP has sufficient 48 available property to site it on non-contaminated land. 49 • Anne Koreman encouraged everyone to attend the June 21st Facilities and Infrastructure 50 Committee meeting to comment on the plans for the solar project. 51 Unique Natural Areas: Brian Eden 52 • Committee working on proposal for the County to fund the review of the final batch of 37 53 UNA sites. They will submit it to Planning and Sustainability Department by end of June. 54 • Members reviewed a proposed construction adjacent to the Fir Tree Swamp UNA on Groton 55 Road in Dryden. Two mobile homes with a shared septic system are being considered for 56 construction very close to the wetland. 57 • A replacement well will be constructed on a UNA site on Hillview Road adjacent to the old 58 County landfill in Danby. A Wetlands General Permit has been submitted to the NYSDEC. 59 An environmental assessment was conducted by Barton & Loguidice. The project should not 60 have any adverse environmental impacts. 61 62 Waste Reduction: Tom Shelley 63 • Hope to present legislation to ban single-use plastic bags to PDEQ, followed by a resolution 64 to the full Legislature, before year’s end. 65 • Ithaca College students, under the direction of Susan Allen-Gil, are creating a one-page fact 66 sheet. Committee will share with EMC when it’s finished. 67 WRC Michelle Henry 68 • Seventy participants have signed up so for the Cayuga Lake HABs Harriers volunteer corps. 69 Next HABs Harriers training is June 21st at Canoga Volunteer Fire Department. 70 • The NYSDEC’s 12 HABs Action Plans are awaiting Governor Cuomo’s approval. 71 • Cynthia Brock is the new WRC chair. Darby Kiley, now on the staff of the County Planning 72 and Sustainability Department, is taking over Joan Jurkowich’s government seat and role. 73 • Angel Hinickle presented the SPDES MS4 Permit Annual Report. 74 • Council approved ad hoc committee’s comments on NYSDEC’s Notice of Proposed SPDES 75 Permit for Discharges of Winery, Brewery, and Hard Cidery Wastewater to Groundwater. 76 • Council formed a Water Withdrawals Committee. 77 • Workshop on roadside ditching tentatively scheduled for the fall. 78 Executive: Brian Eden 79 • Brian passed around the Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change, published by PRI. 80 • 2017 EMC Annual Report was published. Brian presented report to PDEQ. 81 • SmallGrid is constructing solar-powered zero emissions modular homes in Geneva. 82 • Taking suggestions for future meeting presentations. No meeting in August. 83 Education and Outreach: Susan Riley 84 Committee needs a topic for fall outreach event. Brian suggested a program featuring the work 85 of the Climate Adaptation Committee. 86 Staff Report – Scott Doyle 87 • Submit 2019 budget requests by June 29. 88 • County Forest Land timber harvest for land in Newfield is being proposed. 89 • Planning and Sustainability Department finalized the 2018 Work Program. 90 • New 2018 Ithaca Tompkins County bike maps were distributed. 91 Bylaws Revision Discussion 92 Email comments to Brian. Members will vote on draft bylaws at the July meeting. 93 Freese Road Bridge Replacement Project 94 Members and guests shared their thoughts on proposed replacement of the single-lane Freese 95 Road Bridge in Varna with a two-lane structure. 96 Cayuga Lake HABs Plan Update 97 See the Water Resources Council liaison report above. 98 Annual NYSDEC Update Meeting – Maureen Bolton 99 Maureen summarized discussions from the DEC’s annual update meeting. 100 Municipal Reports and Member Announcements 101 • Drafting deer management policy is high on the City of Ithaca’s to-do list. City commented 102 on the Town of Ithaca’s deer management plan. 103 • Village of Trumansburg Planning Board is doing the SEQR portion of the public hearing for 104 the proposed Hamilton Square affordable housing project. 105 106 Chair Brian Eden adjourned the meeting at 5:33 p.m. 107