ГлавнаяMy WebLinkО нас2018-03-28 PAB Final Minutes1 PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD Wednesday, March 28, 2018 OLD JAIL CONFERENCE ROOM 125 E. Court Street, Ithaca NY 14850 FINAL MEETING MINUTES Members Attending: Guests: None Call to Order: Chair David Herrick called the meeting to order at 9:04 am. Agenda Review/Changes: There were no changes to the agenda. Draft Minutes Approval: Darby moved, and Kathy seconded, approval of the January 24, 2018, draft minutes. The motion was carried unanimously by the members present. Introduction of New Staff – Katie Borgella and Nick Helmholdt Katie Borgella introduced the department’s new tourism director, Nick Helmholdt. Nick spoke for a few minutes about his professional background, noting that he worked on transportation and tourism issues in his previous role as a planner with the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission. Katie expressed how excited the search team was to find someone with experience in both planning and administering a room-tax supported program. PAB members introduced themselves. Discussion: County-Owned Forest Lands Update and Recommendations – Scott Doyle Associate Planner Scott Doyle updated the board on recommended actions for the County Forest Management Plan, which was released in 2007. In late 2017, the County entered into a two-year contract with Forecon Forestry and Natural Resources Consultants in Cortland to advise the Planning and Sustainability Department on ways to advance the Forest Management Plan. For more background information on the Forest Management Plan and Forecon’s recommendations for moving forward, please see Scott’s memo to PAB in the March agenda packet. Here, however, are some comments shared by the members at today’s meeting: Name Representation Name Representation Martha Armstrong A Econ. Development Monika Roth E Agriculture Joe Bowes P Housing Leslie Schill P Education Sue Cosentini E Business Kathy Schlather P Human Services Fernando de Aragón P Transportation Rob Steuteville A Built Environment Design David Herrick P Facilities/Infrastructure Andy Zepp E Land Preservation/Public Land Management Rod Howe P Historical/Cultural Resources Dooley Kiefer Associate Member David Kay P Local Planning (urban) Others Present Anna Kelles P PDEQ Katie Borgella P Commissioner of Planning & Sustainability Darby Kiley P Local Planning (non-urban) Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant Susan Mann P Energy Scott Doyle P Associate Planner Gay Nicholson E At-Large Nick Helmholdt P Tourism Program Director/Principal Planner Marcus Riehl P Natural Environment Megan McDonald P Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability 2 • Susan Mann asked for more details on a possible recommendation to do a small test harvest in phases. In her opinion, a multiple bid approach would lead to greater costs for the County as well as the bidders themselves, not to mention the potential negative impact to neighbors with bringing equipment in and out of the forest several times. Fernando de Aragón thought similarly, suggesting it could be structured as a single bid with a designated stopping point built into the contract to get feedback before the harvest continued further. • Anna Kelles stressed the importance of “messaging” in regards to this project. People get emotional about trees, and it can be tempting to talk about such initiatives in black-and-white terms: “harvesting bad” versus “leaving trees alone” good. She suggested using visuals, for example, to communicate more effectively to the Legislature the environmental benefits of harvesting. • After Katie explained that the only option for disposition of these reforestry lands is to give them to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Rod Howe inquired whether the NYSDEC would be better able to manage the harvest process. Katie explained that in the past NYSDEC was willing to consider opening the land to fracking, which was a no-go in the eyes of the Legislature, so transferring ownership was not considered at that time. • Marcus Riehl will look into carbon sequestration in regards to leaving old growth forests versus harvesting and pass along relevant resources, figures, etc., to Katie and Scott. • Scott mentioned that in terms of timing, the Forest Management Plan recommends harvesting on frozen ground so any work done will happen next winter, although markets are good now, so it is important to get the bid process rolling. Commissioner’s Report – Katie Borgella • Nick started with the County in late February. • Megan McDonald was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability. • Darby Kiley will be joining the staff as an associate planner, and David West is coming onboard as a senior planner focused on housing. They both start in May. • Megan and Katie are working with TCAD to hire an energy navigator. • The department’s new furniture is in, and the sole public entrance to 121 E. Court is now on the DeWitt Park side of the building. • The basement is still being renovated – a supply closet will be turned into a kitchen, and the conference room is being fixed up. • Katie and staff are developing the department’s work program and will bring a draft for review to the PAB when it is ready. • Nick and Katie are looking at ways to simplify the Tourism Program; at the moment, it is very much a many-headed beast and complicated to communicate. In particular, there is discord between the STPB and a legislator over a push to increase funding for the arts. Again, the issue is complicated but at heart it comes down to the STPB’s budgeting process being superseded. Katie wanted to alert the PAB that the issue will likely come to a head at the April 3rd Legislature meeting. • The Tourism Program’s Visitor Profile Study and Strategic Plan are both scheduled for updates in 2019. Announcements • Leslie Schill announced that a series of community meetings (a “design charrette”) on the East Hill Village project will be held the week of April 9th at The Space@Greenstar. Her department is also launching two transportation studies and a campus-wide parking optimization study. • Fernando de Aragón remarked that a new dockless bike-share program, called LimeBike, is coming to town in April. Bike Walk Tompkins and the City of Ithaca partnered on the project. 3 • Directly following this meeting, Susan Mann said she was going to a meeting on NYSEG’s RFP for alternatives to the West Dryden pipeline. In addition, Susan plans to attend a big Earth Day protest in Albany concerned with Governor Cuomo’s plans for state buildings and their energy supply sources. • Kathy Schlather relayed that the Human Services Coalition received funding from the Park Foundation for a 15-hour housing coordinator position. • Darby Kiley reported that the Town of Ulysses bought land near the Trumansburg Farmer’s Market as well as a foreclosed property on Taughannock Boulevard. In addition, the town applied for funding for heat pumps to be installed at Town Hall through the Clean Energy Community program. Darby, as well as fellow PAB attendees Scott Doyle and Marcus Riehl, recently went to the two-day conference at SUNY-ESF on Harmful Algal Blooms. A follow-up action plan from the conference will be released in May. In other water-related news, the TMDL for Cayuga Lake is out for internal review at NYSDEC; the Water Resources Council is forming a Water Withdrawal committee; and the Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Watershed Summit, which is geared toward municipalities and highway administrators, is scheduled for April 19. • David Kay passed around a copy of a new Scenic Hudson publication on siting of commercial-scale renewables facilities. Adjournment: Chair David Herrick declared the meeting adjourned at 10:21 am.