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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2025-06-05 1 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Meeting June 5, 2025, 5:30 pm (In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Final 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 noticed town walking is different from city walking. 2. Member comments/concerns: Frank noticed that construction has begun on the new sports field near Game Farm and Ellis Hollow Roads. He shares our disappointment with the plastic carpet about to be installed there. 3. Environmental Review Committee Update: Few new projects require review. A June 17th Planning Board meeting will look into a 2-lot subdivision, but there is no other new business. 4. Chair and Coordinator reports: Lori and Ingrid attended the County Environmental Management Council meeting at Stewart Park in early May. Ulysses has recently become a “Bee City,” with intent to promote pollinator habitat (https://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’ orientation guide that would provide specific duties, particular legal details, resources and general information that could help a new member. Lori remembers a recent member, Elise, made a power point presentation 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 Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) to become the present Conservation Board, with “enabling legislation” 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 Recreation Way from Burns Road, heading southward through Danby and Caroline. He showed us a draft 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 illustrating plants important to Cayuga culture. Lori wondered if Mike knew anything about cameras she has noticed 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 Planting 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 certificate 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 2 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 Committee: we’re still waiting on CU easement for the Pine Tree Rd view sign. b) Communications Committee: Ingrid reported that she, Lindsay, and James had met Sunday to discuss committee 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 time to do this. Perhaps we could post Park/Preserve/Trail signs promoting greater awareness of our many different Town opportunities for outdoor recreation on the trail-head signs the Town uses to identify 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 conservation organizations compiled as a good new resource for people looking to help in conservation efforts. d) Six Mile Creek’s recent March 19 synoptic water sample results have been posted at https://communityscience.org/, the Community Science Institute’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-potting” 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 irrigation will keep them growing in the larger pots until 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 meeting, but will wait until our July 3rd meeting to make this official. For our July agenda, Eva wants to bring some Scenic Resources Committee 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 left a record of our making this move in 1993. 10. We adjourned at 6:57 PM. Minutes drafted by James Hamilton.