HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB packet 2025-07-03
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING
215 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca NY 14850
607-273-1747
www.townithacany.gov
TO: CONSERVATION BOARD MEMBERS
FROM: MICHAEL SMITH, SENIOR PLANNER
DATE: JUNE 26, 2025
SUBJECT: UPCOMING CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING – JULY 3, 2025
This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Conservation Board (CB) is Thursday,
July 3rd at 5:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is enclosed (see the back of this
memo).
The draft minutes from the June 5th meeting are attached. Please email me any
spelling, grammatical, or other minor edits you have prior to the meeting.
At this meeting Eva will provide a brief recap of the scenic resources sign project and
we will continue to discuss ideas for a plant walk event at Tutelo Park.
Eva is signed up to take minutes at the July meeting.
If you have any questions prior to the meeting or are not able to attend, please contact
me at msmith@townithacany.gov or 607-273-1747.
Conservation Board Members and Associates (*)
Lori Brewer (Chair), Frank Cantone (Vice-Chair), Lindsay Dombroskie*,
James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Ingrid Zabel
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TOWN OF ITHACA
CONSERVATION BOARD
5:30 p.m., Thursday, July 3, 2025
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Aurora Conference Room
215 N. Tioga Street
Ithaca, New York 14850
(The rear entrance is handicapped accessible)
(607) 273-1747
Members of the public are welcome to attend in-person at Town Hall
or virtually via Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/6750593272).
AGENDA
1. Persons to be heard
2. Members comments / concerns
3. Environmental Review Committee Update (Lori)
4. Chair and Coordinator reports
5. Approval of minutes from June 5, 2025
6. Recap of the scenic resources sign project (Eva)
7. Plan for a Tutelo Park plant walk event (Ingrid)
8. Regular reports and updates (6:30 pm)
a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva)
b. Communications Committee (Ingrid)
c. Tompkins County EMC (Ingrid)
d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James)
e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James)
9. Other Business (6:50 p.m.)
- confirm cancellation of August 7th meeting
10. Review 2025 Work Goals (Frank) / Discuss September Agenda
11. Adjourn (7:00 p.m.)
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Town of Ithaca Conserva on Board Mee ng
June 5, 2025, 5:30 pm
(In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference)
Dra Minutes
Members Present: Lori Brewer, Frank Cantone, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Ingrid Zabel
Staff Present: Michael Smith (Senior Planner)
Guests: Pete Loucks, Evan Ogata
1. Persons to be heard: Evan noted that he walks a lot and has no ced town walking is different from
city walking.
2. Member comments/concerns: Frank no ced that construc on has begun on the new sports field near
Game Farm and Ellis Hollow Roads. He shares our disappointment with the plas c carpet about to be
installed there.
3. Environmental Review Commi ee Update: Few new projects require review. A June 17th Planning
Board mee ng will look into a 2-lot subdivision, but there is no other new business.
4. Chair and Coordinator reports: Lori and Ingrid a ended the County Environmental Management
Council mee ng at Stewart Park in early May. Ulysses has recently become a “Bee City,” with intent to
promote pollinator habitat (h ps://beecityusa.org/). Perhaps Ithaca could join this movement?
Mike noted that a new summer intern has just started in the Planning Department. He wants the intern
to create a new CB members’ orienta on guide that would provide specific du es, par cular legal
details, resources and general informa on that could help a new member. Lori remembers a recent
member, Elise, made a power point presenta on of CB business that had a flow chart visualizing the
work we did that could help clarify our job. Eva thinks there ought to be a record of what happened to
allow the previous Conserva on Advisory Council (CAC) to become the present Conserva on Board, with
“enabling legisla on” that ought to be explained in a members’ guide. Edward Dubovi, of the Lansing
CAC, wants to know what they need to do to become a CB. Mike noted that the Towns of Ithaca, Dryden,
Danby and Caroline have finalized the easement with NYSEG for the extension of the South Hill
Recrea on Way from Burns Road, heading southward through Danby and Caroline. He showed us a dra
of a new Tutelo Park sign that will be put up to show some Tutelo history of their Coreorgonel village.
When this new sign is installed, the CB should host a party to celebrate the new ethnobotanic trail
illustra ng plants important to Cayuga culture. Lori wondered if Mike knew anything about cameras she
has no ced on Hanshaw Rd and at Cass Park. Mike said the Town had installed some cameras and
sensors on streetlamps that the Town uses to monitor the need for snow plowing at certain areas of the
town, but didn’t know about the cameras Lori referred to.
5. The May 1, 2025 minutes were approved, with Ingrid so moving, Eva seconding, all in favor.
6. Mike reported that Joe Talbut had found a big shagbark hickory for Rich Schoch’s Fischer Tree Plan ng
Award party coming up next week: Wednesday, June 11th, 5 pm, at the Culver Road Preserve. As this
tree is larger than most trees we’ve planted, Joe will have a hole augured for it. Lori signed the cer ficate
for Rich’s award; Mike had the award plaque tag printed with Richard Schoch named as the 2024
awardee; James has the hang tag from Cornell’s Botanic Garden tag printer; we will find parking near the
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upper farm road entrance to the preserve along the shoulder of Culver Rd. Evan asked about the criteria
for the Fischer Award; James said they were posted on the Town’s website in its CB pages.
7. Regular reports and updates:
a) Scenic Resources Commi ee: we’re s ll wai ng on CU easement for the Pine Tree Rd view sign.
b) Communica ons Commi ee: Ingrid reported that she, Lindsay, and James had met Sunday to
discuss commi ee business. We hope to host a grand opening party to celebrate the ethnobotanic trail
at Tutelo Park. We’ll ask Mike Roberts when he thinks would be a good me to do this. Perhaps we could
post Park/Preserve/Trail signs promo ng greater awareness of our many different Town opportuni es
for outdoor recrea on on the trail-head signs the Town uses to iden fy such places; she’ll ask Joe how
he’d like such cross-referencing to work.
c) Tompkins County’s EMC networking party at Stewart Park was very chilly. Ingrid was impressed by a
county directory of conserva on organiza ons compiled as a good new resource for people looking to
help in conserva on efforts.
d) Six Mile Creek’s recent March 19 synop c water sample results have been posted at
h ps://communityscience.org/, the Community Science Ins tute’s website. A misplaced German Cross
Road Benthic Macroinvertebrate sample was recently found on a shelf in the CSI lab; volunteers
managed to get it analyzed and Adrianna Hirtler will soon have the 2024 BMI results posted.
e) Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas volunteers have worked “up-po ng” trees and shrubs grown
from seed collected in CU NAs as they’ve outgrown the pots and flats they’ve been growing in. A new
rank of drip irriga on will keep them growing in the larger pots un l they’re ready to be transplanted in
natural areas that will fit them. Volunteers also worked in Monkey Run and the Fischer Old Growth
Forest, trimming the blazed trails in those NAs.
8. Other Business: none.
9. Frank checked to see how we were doing with the list of Work Goals. We figured we could skip the
August CB mee ng, but will wait un l our July 3rd mee ng to make this official. For our July agenda, Eva
wants to bring some Scenic Resources Commi ee material to show newer members that might not be
familiar with the project. Ingrid will Invite Edward Dubovi to see if we can help Lansing’s CAC move to CB
status. Eva remembers that John Whitcomb has le a record of our making this move in 1993.
10. We adjourned at 6:57 PM.
Minutes dra ed by James Hamilton.