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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Packet 2026-01-15 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: JANUARY 8, 2026 SUBJECT: UPCOMING CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING – JANUARY 15, 2026 This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Conservation Board (CB) is Thursday, January 15th at 5:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is enclosed (see the back of this memo). The draft minutes from the November 6th and December 4th meetings are attached. Please email me any spelling, grammatical, or other minor edits you have prior to the meeting. At this meeting, we will take some time to discuss the CB’s activities and accomplishments from 2025, the 2026 work goals, and the 2026 committee assignments. Please review these attached draft documents for additions or modifications. The CB will also continue the discussion on ways to support the Town’s parks, trails, and preserves. Attached is a copy of the updated draft sign. At this meeting Eva will also provide a brief recap of the scenic resources sign project. The CB will also need to discuss a potential new Conservation Board member and a recommendation to the Town Board for the appointment. As a reminder to everyone, please start thinking about nomination ideas for the next Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award. The deadline is February 28, 2026. The nomination information (eligibility details, nomination requirements, selection process, nomination form, etc.) can be found on the Town’s website at https://townithacany.gov/richard-fischer-award/. Eva is signed up to take minutes at the January 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), James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Richard Martinez ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD 5:30 p.m., Thursday, January 15, 2026 ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 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 November 6, 2025 & December 4, 2025 6. Discussion of: - Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Activities & Accomplishments for 2025 - Conservation Board 2026 Work Goals - Conservation Board Committees 2026 7. Continue discussion of ideas to support the Town’s parks, trails and preserves 8. Recap of the scenic resources sign project (Eva) 9. Regular reports and updates (6:30 pm) a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva) b. Communications Committee c. Tompkins County EMC d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) 10. Other Business (6:50 p.m.) - Discussion of potential new CB member 11. Review 2026 Work Goals (Frank) / Discuss February Agenda 12. Adjourn (7:00 p.m.) Page 1 of 2 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Meeting November 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Drat Minutes Members Present: Lori Brewer, James Hamilton, Frank Cantone Staff Present: Michael Smith (Senior Planner) Guests: Richard Martinez (via Zoom) 1. Persons to be heard: None. 2. Members Comments/Concerns: a. Ingrid Zabel has resigned; Lindsay Dombroskie will remain thru the end of 2025; Eva Hoffmann will return in December 2025. b. Verizon is suing the Town for height variance (119 feet) of the construction of a cell tower at Wiedmaier Court. The lawsuit is in federal court. 3. Environmental Review Committee Update: None. 4. Chair & Coordinator Reports: Coordinator report: a. Tompkins County received funding from the DEC to perform stream assessment, watershed, erosion, and water quality for Six Mile Creek. The project will also include historical data and interviews. Not much Town area in project. b. The Town will be submitting an application to DEC to renew the deer management program. The Town identified eight locations. c. Zero Waste Ithaca (ZWI) lost the lawsuit against Cornell University and the Town for the Game Farm Road athletic field. The judge informed ZWI that after two tries, they can’t submit any additional suits for this project. Third party testing indicated that the plastic carpet did not contain any PFAS before delivery to the site. 5. Approval of Minutes from September 2025 Meeting: The Board accepted the minutes, but it was unable to approve them due to a lack of quorum. 6. Regular Reports and Updates: a. Scenic Resources Committee: No activity for scenic view sign at Snyder Hill and Pine Tree Roads. The Pine Tree walkway has been officially closed for a while. There have been hazard traffic cones and plastic net fencing around a caved-in storm drain near the proposed view sign site. Do we need to remind Cornell of our request for posting the view sign? Page 2 of 2 b. Communications Committee: Often we depend on members of the CB to submit nominations of someone or some organization for the Fischer Award. Please consider making a nomination, and ask around to see if you can find anyone to recommend a good nominee for the 2025 award, which will be the 23rd we’ve given to deserving tree huggers. c. Tompkins County EMC: Trying to get a resolution prohibiting the application of biosolids. The Committee is also working on a strategic plan. d. Six Mile Creek (SMC): Community Science Institute at Langmuir Labs is holding weekly “Biomonitoring Open Lab” volunteer BMI analysis sessions again, to sort, identify, and analyze populations from preserved samples creek bottoms in SMC and other creeks in the Cayuga Lake watershed. Cayuga Lake Harmful Algal Bloom monitors have found toxic HABS along the lake shore considerably later this year than usual. From September 7 to November 6 this year, 178 HABS were reported! You can see the database recording these reports at communityscience.org’s website. e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program: Volunteers collected ginseng seeds in a secret site near Greek Peak to propagate plants for a planned Cayuga Indigenous garden cooperation; trimmed trails and removed woody invasive species from Edwards Lake Cliffs Natural Area in Lansing south of Gulf Creek; removed deer exclosure cages and stakes from trees planted years ago in Park Natural Areas so the cages could be reused for a lingering ash study in fields without deer exclosure fences. Also, we prepared cloned ash at the Plant Production Facility near Flat Rocks by weeding and putting rodent protection sleeves around the base of those saplings; transplanted those cloned saplings in two different deer- fenced fields by Ringwood and Turkey Hill Roads. Scoped out a possible connection between two dead-end trails in the Ringwood Ponds Natural Area to make a larger loop trail through beautiful woods. Finally, we Collected rare fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) seed pods in Etna for propagation efforts. 7. Other Business: a. The Town intern completed a draft of an orientation guide that is being reviewed currently by staff. Plan to distribute at the beginning of the year. b. The ethnobotanical event in September had 12 people participate in a guided walk thru the plantings. 8. December Agenda: a. Joe Talbut will be joining us for a Q and A. b. Ingrid completed a draft of a poster that would be posted in various park kiosks. It is intended to highlight other parks and trails in the Town. James will review and share with CB members. 12. Adjourn: at 6:54 pm Minutes drafted by Frank A Cantone 1 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board December 4, 2025 5:30 pm (In Person at town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) Draft Minutes Members Present: Lori Brewer, Frank Cantone (via Zoom), James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann (via Zoom) Staff Present: Michael Smith (Senior Planner) Guests: Pete Loucks, Richard Martinez (via Zoom), Joe Talbut (via Zoom) 1. Discussion with Joe Talbut, Town of Ithaca Parks Superintendent: Joe explained he has been working with the Town for 7 years now, with five full-time employees to maintain, improve, and develop the Town’s parks, preserves and trails. He can also find help from the town’s water and sewer department’s more than 20 workers when needed. In winter, there is a lot of trail clearing and salting to do. His budget contains about $50,000 for this work, and he finds volunteer help when he can. For example, one volunteer has been great help working on removal of young transplanted trees’ deer protection tubes and invasive removal along the Pew Trail. Student groups’ help is also much appreciated. He explained that the County had recently replaced collapsed culverts in a storm drain under the Pine Tree walkway, which is on Cornell Property. Our CB’s scenic resources committee has been waiting for Cornell approval to post a third view sign near the corner of Pine Tree and Snyder Hill Roads near the recently repaired culvert, but Cornell has been very difficult to work with. Eva complained that the Scenic Resources Committee’s view sign project has been held up for years, waiting for Cornell permission. The Pine Tree walkway is one of several Town trails that gets cleared of snow and ice. Joe noted that the Town has been experimenting with brine for ice clearing, as it sticks to asphalt instead of bouncing off, and could cause less injury to plants along the trails. James asked what Joe thought of Ingrid’s draft poster for town trails, parks, and preserves kiosks. Joe has seen a draft and enthusiastically supported further development. Mike could get a first attempt suited to a particular kiosk printed and laminated for posting once we get a trial version ready. As such posting would be a way of increasing traffic to certain locations, or even of decreasing it elsewhere, members wondered how such traffic could be measured. Mike and Joe noted the Town has been using three trail counters, now set up at South Hill Rec Way, Forest Home Walkway, and the Gateway Trail, giving them a good idea of how much foot traffic moves there. He would like the Town to get more counters, since they’re not expensive, and gives more use to the software that works with them. Richard Martinez thought the Gateway Trail should be tagged on Google’s map, and volunteered to look into doing so. Joe said the Babcock Preserve would soon get contract help building trails. The preserve, once its new work is finished, would be a fine place to promote with a kiosk poster elsewhere, as few people would know it was there. Richard would like his Boynton students to help with whatever park job they might be able to do, and Joe would be very glad to get such help whenever possible. 2. Persons to be heard: none. 3. Member comments/concerns: Frank wondered if Richard had been approved as a CB member. Lori noted we would get to that under Agenda item 8’s Other Business. As Eva had not met Richard before, she explained how she’d been working with the importance of scenic resources to the Town. Richard introduced himself as a Life Sciences teacher at Boynton Middle School, though he’s only been in Ithaca for a year. His background is in aquatic resource studies. 2 4. Environmental Review Committee Update: No new projects have needed review. 5. Chair and Coordinator reports: Lori received an email from Zero Waste Ithaca asking for CB support with legislation that would allow diners to bring their own containers for taking food home from restaurants. She will forward that request, which seemed sensible to members present. Mike noted that the South Hill trail extension southeast past Burns Road was getting cleared by a group of volunteers on its way through Caroline, Danby and Dryden. Consultants will be hired soon to start looking at concept designs for the Burns Road to Banks Road section. The Town’s deer program would be getting permits and approval for eight bait and deer stand bow shooting locations for February and March next year. Members would be getting their annual stipends around December 30th. And members should consider attending a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) webinar on December 15th via Zoom from 6 to 8 pm. As many town development projects require SEQR attention, this might be a good opportunity for us to learn more about such technicalities. 6. The July 3, 2025 minutes were approved, with James so moving, Lori seconding, all in favor. Eva thanked Abby Homer for taking over these minutes that Eva wasn’t able to finish. The November 6, 2025 minutes have not yet left Frank’s desk. 7. Regular reports and updates: a) Scenic Resources Committee: as noted earlier, we’re still waiting on CU easement/license approval for the view sign near Snyder Hill Rd and Pine Tree Road intersection. b) Communications Committee: James will try to get a final draft of a Park, Trail, Preserve Kiosk poster suitable for posting at some particular trailhead kiosk. Mike could get it printed and laminated for such use. c) Tompkins County’s EMC meeting, held via Zoom, impressed Pete with its connection to the County Legislature, as a legislator attended the meeting. He plans to attend the next EMC meeting, too. d) Six Mile Creek’s volunteer monitors took a synoptic sample at 13 locations on November 12th last month. Flow was not quite as high as median flows for that day of the month, so the desired storm-level creek did not get sampled this year. Preserved Benthic Macroinvertebrate samples from Six Mile have not yet been processed, though volunteers are now working their way through other such summer creek samples stored in Community Science Institute’s lab at Langmuir. Adrianna Hirtler, who won the Fischer Award a couple years ago, is helping volunteers turn the stored samples into creek health data at the lab on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 pm. e) Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas volunteers have worked planting young trees on Mann Library slope above Beebe lake. These trees were grown at the Plant Production Facility near Flat Rocks from seed collected from nearby natural areas in previous years. After planting the trees, we collected seed from native goldenrod and asters below the Foundry on Fall Creek’s south bank, and further downhill past Chi Psi fraternity. Volunteers also weeded out invasive privet, honeysuckle, buckthorn, barberry and bittersweet in Upper Cascadilla gorge below Oak Ave. The east end of Park Park, near Varna, needed some trails cleared, invasives removed, and a big box elder branch cleared from a picnic table it had fallen on near Fall Creek’s south bank. 3 8. Other Business: a) The proposed 2026 meeting schedule was approved, with a new earlier meeting time from 4 to 5:30pm and the January meeting schedule for January 15th. If this earlier time doesn’t work out, we can change it as needed next year. b) Lori and Frank agreed to continue in their jobs as Chair and Vice-Chair, getting thanks for the fine job they’ve done this year and unanimous approval by all present. c) Our potential new CB member, Richard Martinez, was likewise unanimously welcomed by all members. Our recommendation for his appointment will get officially approved at the next Town Board meeting in January next year. d) Members also urged Pete Loucks to make his interest in joining us official by filling out a Conservation Board application form. Mike will email him the application link. 9. For January’s Agenda, Lori wants us to focus on developing a Parks Trails and Preserves poster for a kiosk. Eva might also present us with a historic review of the Scenic Resources view sign project. We will also look at the CB accomplishments for 2025 and the proposed 2026 work plan. 10. We adjourned at 6:54 PM. Draft Minutes by James Hamilton (12/04/2025) January 5, 2026 Conservation Board Committees - 2026 _____________________________________________________ Environmental Review Committee (review of applications for site plan approval, subdivision approval, rezoning, special permits and zoning variances for the PB, ZBA, TB) Lori Brewer – Chair Eva Hoffmann Frank Cantone _____________________________________________ Scenic Resources Committee (interpretative view signs, scenic views map and guide) Eva Hoffmann – Chair James Hamilton _____________________________________________ Communications Committee (Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award, Town newsletter, CB website, Facebook & Instagram pages, recruitment, education & outreach) James Hamilton – Chair ____________________________________________ Other Appointments: Tompkins County Environmental Management Council – Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program – James Hamilton Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program – James Hamilton Town of Ithaca Conservation Board 2026 Work Goals Goal and Supporting Actions Conduct and improve environmental review process to better promote environmental conservation. Make field trips to application sites. Promote awareness of the importance of scenic resources. • Get permission to place the third view sign on Cornell land at the intersection of Snyder Hill and Pine Tree Roads. Refine and finish earlier draft language and design for this sign and get approval of the draft from the whole CB. Send the design to our local design firm for final layout before sending it to the manufacturer of the earlier signs. Work with the Town Highway Department to get the sign located the optimal way at the site. • Update the Scenic Views map and guide brochure. Continue outreach through both traditional and new social media methods, including Facebook and Instagram pages and newsletter articles to encourage and foster more public participation in conservation of our resources and environment. • Post 4-5 times per month articles and events of interest. • Generate novel text periodically. • Solicit input at outreach events and on Facebook from residents on environmental issues that are important to them. Goal Steward Lori Eva Ingrid 2 • Outreach can focus on topics like land & water conservation, bluebird boxes, invasive species & other pest management, promoting biodiversity, and converting lawns to pollinator gardens. Continue ongoing activities such as Fischer Award, Earth Day (April 22nd), Invasive Species Week. • Nominate and select Fischer awardee! • Plant a tree and host a rollicking party! Conduct quarterly and a year-end review of goals and accomplishments. • Track progress on goals. • Communicate accomplishments to the public and the Town Board. Conservation Board recruitment and public engagement • Tutelo Park Ethnobotanic Trail grand opening event • Lawn to pollinator garden in a Town park public event and/or signage Revised 01/05/2026 James Frank Lori January 5, 2026 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Activities & Accomplishments for 2025 Awarded its 22nd annual Richard B. Fischer Environmental Conservation Award to Richard Schoch and held a tree planting ceremony in the Town’s Culver Road Preserve where a Shagbark Hickory tree was planted; Environmental Review Committee continued to provide comments on 2 site plan projects, including the Mirabito Redevelopment project and the Ithaca College running track; Provided support to the Town’s Deer Management Program ; Continued to update and monitor the Conservation Board Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/IthacaConservationBoard) and the Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/townofithacaconservationboard/); Reviewed and provided feedback on the Town’s draft Local Law for Flood Damage Prevention; Finalized the ethnobotanic trail at Tutelo Park, which features biocultural information on 11 native plants, and hosted a guided walk in September of the new trail (https://townithacany.gov/tutelo-park-plant-walk/); Hosted guests on various topics including Caroline Marschner (Invasive Species Extension Associate), Hilary Swartwood (Town of Ithaca Sustainability Planner), and Joe Talbut (Town of Ithaca Parks Superintendent); Recruited one new full member in 2025. Visit the Town of Ithaca’s Parks, Trails, Preserves, and Scenic View Sites Town Parks The Town of Ithaca maintains a system of twelve neighborhood parks, one community park, and several yet to be developed park sites. Town Multi-Use Trails The Town owns and maintains approximately seven miles of off-road multi-use trails for walking, running, bicycling, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and commuter alternatives. Town Preserves Five preserves in the Town of Ithaca include a mix of habitat types that support a wide range of plants and animals. Many preserves include walking paths and places to sit and enjoy nature. Scenic Views To preserve Ithaca’s spectacular vistas enjoyed by Ithaca’s residents and visitors, the Scenic Resources Committee of the Conservation Board works to assure that building development won’t mar, and might even enhance, our landscape. Information on Town of Ithaca Parks, Trails, Preserves, and Recreation: Information on Town of Ithaca Scenic Views: Help us protect these wonderful resources by joining the Town of Ithaca Conservation Board! Please contact conservationboard@townithacany.gov for more information.