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Home My WebLink About2025-03-25 Ag Committee Packet r s r o ] TOWN 1/ OW OF AUI ICULTURE COMMITTEE JJ:jl� w............................ p.m., Tuesday,March , 2 .........JU a o � .. Aurora Conference Root 21,E I . Tio a Street Ithaca, NY 14850 (The rear entrance is handicapped accessible) 7-273-174 Members of the Public arewelcome to attend in-person at'Town lull or virtually via Zoom (https,-,Hzoom.us/j*/6750593272). AGENDA 6:00 pm 1. Farmers Round Robin—What's happening on your farm'.) How the season is going/went`' Issues/concerns? Announcements? :30 pm 2. Persons to be heard + :3 5 pm 3. Chair (Matthew) and Coordinator(Mike) reports/updates 6:45 pm 4. Ithaca Town Board(Rich)report/update 6:55 pm 5. Approval of minutes—November 2+ ,2024 7:00 pm Other Business Recommendation of Chair and Vice-Chair for 202 Approval of the 2025 Meeting chedu.le (Training/Educational Opportunities 7:3 0 pm 7. Adjourn Please call 7-27 -17 7) or email msmith townithacan .gov if you cannot attend Agriculture 'o .ttee Nlem])ers and Associates J. Teeter 'came(Mattliew Stalker,C i, ir, ,k Cos er s ari,-n(Michael.Cas er".),Der senni der Nursery i ent ,. ,.Forest a.iui y Fa (ClaireForest), Indian Creed ' ri /�,umniiiNur ery Ste e Curail in ,Ithaca EquestrianCenter u e eine er,",Ultlaf itig Goal Fiber. (l (Lisa. erg. , Steep Hollaw, are.1 (Ch.distianne Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting Tuesday, November 26,2024,6:00 pm In Person at Ithaca Town Hall(Aurora Conference Room) and via Zoom Video Conference Draft Minutes Members Present: Matthew Stalker(.AJ Teeter Farm), Lee Ginenthal (Der Rosenmeister Nursery). Claire Forest(Forest Family Farm)& Christianne White (Steep Hollow Farm) via Zoom. Town Re-presentatives: Mike Smith (Senior Planner). Guests: none I.Farmers Round Robin —What's happening on your farm'.) How i�Ahe season going/went? Issues/concerns`?Announcements? Matt reported selling the long-time bull on the AJ. TeQ,ter"T arm. Hay season finished strong. Apple festival was very successful with electronic payment,,,0#1ot/1s. Many people were in attendance, artisans and vendors despite the rainy weather. Beef is on,'hand fbr sale and,the pigs will go to butcher soon. Eggs are sold from the chickens on the farm also. Good year overall on the Teeter Farm. Lee reported that his major wholesale supplier for Der Rosenmeister Nursery roses is retiring and there are not many other suppliers to purchas";,,If Larger corporat ions are buying out smaller nurseries and * supply is limited.He is moving toward pod'uci'nghis own stock,and,producing vintage and it is hard to find stock of different varieties to sell. The,,,gap in/:w, lesale sell' ed up the possibility to expand seller open within, so the timing may work out well. He talked about a pro gram"tonave a particular type of rose, growing it from cuttings and portion of its sales going toed pro gram,.:He noted there does not seem to be many new rose nurseries coming into the business,,,,/1"H,,)`,,,,", able to "h*p his stock to other count Q is rt s I I nes although there has been international interest. Claire reported a normal year on Forest Family Farm;,-e specially the peaches.Fragile crop without a lot of profit. She talked about a NYSEG contractor c'cutting trees nearby her farm and.although it's appreciated., there is le,ssvnri'vacy. Other trees are heathy around the fannhouse. She asked about the changes in Wash ingto' ll what effects will it have,"on local farmers'.)Is there support from the incoming Federal AdminiAr on? Is USDA a NRCS still going to exist? All agreed those are needed programs and it would be unwise for the Federal,Government to not continue financial support to them. The labor force being ley forI pInNfarm production was also noted. Claire mentioned problem she had wIth the paving of her road and she was,encouraged to follow up with DPW. Chn*stianne reported a good year at S eep Hollow Farm. She is thankful for the neighbor and fanner plants and harvests corn on the : eds. A family member is helping with deer management during the season and shared that the fofeqpo/ llinators thrive when there are fewer deer because the deer eat native plants but not invasive species.Native pollinators need native plants. She is on the lookout for baby Hemlock trees in hopes of regeneration and has seen a few. She noted.receiving a notice from the County Assessment office regarding updates to the soil map and qualifications for the Agricultural Assessment exemption. Lee did not receive one nor did.Claire,Matt will check with the main farm. She was not concerned about losing the exemption because more land is farmed currently. The maps will be updated with the help of Tompkins County Soil and,Water Conservation District. She also noted concern after a recent fire at the neighboring farm. She was not onsite but was contacted by a state forester and the summary was that the first responders from 3 agencies did an amazing job controlling the travel of the fire from what could have been devastating to the forest and neighbors in the area. The long stretch of dry weather contributed to the rapid spread from the neighboring fann bum pit. 2. Persons to be heard-none 3. Chal*r(Matthew) and Coordl*nator(Mike) reports/updates: Mike reported,the annual farm tour with the Town Board.took place in late October and it was combined with a public works projects tour as well. Der Rosenmeister Nursery hosted the Town staff as well as Mehra cyan Nursery on Seven Mile Drive for the faun portion. The two new p�ending Ag conservation easements are still in progress. The Hayts Road ea,70 avers should be finalized in January of 2025 and the other one should also be finalized in 2025. There are natural streams and forested land along with open farms fields that will be protected from future development. A flier was passed around.for the upcoming Tompkins County Safe Streets and Roads project(SS4A). A joint safety action was developed with the municipalities within and there are two upcoming public information sessions, one virtual and.one in person at the Town Hall if anyone on the committee was interested in the project or attending.Mike also shared the website for more Wormation and,for feedback. Mike also mentioned the Town using the local Westhaven Farm at EcoVillage Ibt"its Town Hall and. DPW employee CSA shares as part of the wellness prq All were pleased.with,,,, fruits and vegetables received. 4.Ithaca Town Board (Rich) report l update: Rich was unable to attend but he e-mailed.updates.Mecklenburg Road solar project was mentioned as being in in the p ermit phase and con structionf,ocov ity beginning soon. He noted the farmer who leased the fields for crops invested f, and was not aware that the owner had signed a lease with a ,,or yeajs"intp the land, I I solar company. For futu solar on i it was possible to amend the law to require the X s, projects, he quest ed if owner and farmers who 1�eose the land,,to be notified,;'before the project is already approved to maximize the harvest and,prevent to crops. crops., M The second updat was the sewer exe currently urrently there is considered to be a Town- '' e wide sewer distn*ct"'and,those who wish to not c'6Ae4, due 1,;to no lines being present or having an existin,-,,- septic system) are required,to request a"a',exemption't main unconnected if they have to replace their old system or if new construction is beyond,the limits of the current lines and,its too cost prohibitive to extend. The exemption process takes a lot ofstaff time and Board action as well, so the regulations are being looked into to exempt requiring exemptions and requiring connections only to e t certain areas from're qu the areas currently or ctosely served by the infrastructure already. The committee was in favor of requiring the farmers who lease the land,to be notified if a mplor solar project comes in for approval and,with adequate time to find new land. They asked.how the Town supports Agricultural use of land,versus solar use'.)Mike explained how the large scale map was created for the Solar law and.how some consider solar as a temporary preservation of the land.in the way that the equipment can be removed after its useful life and the land would be usable again for other uses. He noted, the Town Purchase of Development Rights Program as well as Finger lakes Land Trust as other ways to preserve the Ag lands as well. 5.Acceptance of ml*nutes—Claire moved to accept the March minutes;Lee seconded. The March 26, 20241, minutes were accepted.. 2 6.Farm Identifficafion SI*gns-Mike shared examples of signs to identify farms within the town which was previously brought up by the committee in the Spring.An intern that worked with the town came up with three basic designs using the Town Logo and colors. Printed.copies of 3 different options were passed around, shared on Zoom and discussed. He recommended that the Town could send an offer to all the Town Farms to see how many would be interested and.then have a final design completed by a graphic consultant before producing the physical sign.Most were not in favor of the "Welcome To" version of the sign, but the other two "We are a Town of Ithaca Fan'n" and"Proud to be a Town of Ithaca Farm" seemed reasonable or even just"Town of Ithaca Family Farm"or"This is a Town of Ithaca Farm" as long as there was it did not imply that it was a Town owned farm. Claire mentioned not wanting her fan-n marked with a sign for privacy,reasons. hristianne mentioned how signage can confuse people if not worded correctly and her farfti:, not set up to engage the public either on an ongoing regular basis either. It was noted,again that ihe',,'signs would be optional, not mandatory. Some farms are set up for onsite farm sales and I"W signs would be welcomed, at I, y the s* those types of farms. Increasing awareness and promoting agp"c'ulturc,in"and around the town is the vison of the signs. Matt mentioned,how crossing the cows on his road is hard sometimes with all the traffic and no speed limit signs posted. Most were in favor of pursuing the interest and.designing further for the signs to identify (optional) Town of Ithaca Farms. 7. Other Busl*ness: Lack of quorum for resolutions., Recommendation of Chair and Vice-Chair for 20275,.,,Matt wIas,Willing to continue until January or when a formal vote could be taken. Claire thank Matt for doing a good job. Approval of the 2025 Meeting Schedule. January,2'8'th I's`;th',,, xt meeting, a formal vote on the full schedule would be taken at the that time,if there is a qubfu'm' . Training/Educational Opportuniti",e,,�,,,,,,,,,,Mile noted there was one member this year who took a town fuWO'class and plans to''$4mm` an*ze her learning to the rest of the committee at the January meeting. He will continue to share additional training/educational opportunities in the new year. Pala from Ithaca Equestrian Center contacted Mike about attending an AR committee meeting to discuss Farm Bureau information. He encouraged her and will follow up for the next meeting. Next meeting January 28, 2025 6:00"P.M. 8.Adjourn. The meeting was ad iburned at 7:15 P.m. Minutes were drafted by Planning Admmi Staff Abby Homer 3 PROPOSED RESOLUTION: Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Schedule of Meetings for the Year 2025 Agriculture Committee Meeting, March 25, 2025 Motion by. Seconded by: L BE IT RESOLVED, that the Agriculture Committee of the Town of Ithaca adopts the following schedule of' meetings for the Agriculture Committee for the year 2025., The Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee will meet on d'ate,s" and: times listed below, in the Aurora Conference Room in the Town of Ithaca Town Hall. THE 2025 SCHEDULE-I&AS FOLLOW,,,,S,-,,.- �March 251,61.:00 p.im�.), July 29 (7i,"00,p.m.)_,,-' Novem�ber 25 (6"jj, *M'1*11' A vote on the motion was as follows." Ayes.- Nays-1 Abstentions: PROPOSED RESOLUTION: Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee 2025 Agriculture Comm� ittee Chair and Vice-Chair Recommendation to Ithaca Town Board �March 25, 2025 Motion by: Seconded by: L BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town of' lthaca Agriculture Committee recommends to the Town Board that be appointed as Chair of the Agriculture Committee for the year 2025, and AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee recommends to the Town Board that be appointed as Vice - Chair of the Agriculture Committee for the year 2025. A vote on the motion was as follows: Ayes: Nays: Abstentions-,