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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Packet 2026-02-05 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 29, 2026 SUBJECT: UPCOMING CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING – FEBRUARY 5, 2026 This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Conservation Board (CB) is Thursday, February 5th at 4:00 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is enclosed (see the back of this memo). The draft minutes from the January 15th meeting are attached. Please email me any spelling, grammatical, or other minor edits you have prior to the meeting. At this meeting, we will 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 . 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/. Pete is signed up to take minutes at the February 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, Pete Loucks, Richard Martinez ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ TOWN OF ITHACA CONSERVATION BOARD 4:00 p.m., Thursday, February 5, 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 January 15, 2026 6. Continue discussion of ideas to support the Town’s parks, trails and preserves 7. Recap of the scenic resources sign project (Eva) 8. Regular reports and updates (5:00 pm) a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva) b. Communications Committee (James) c. Tompkins County EMC (Pete) d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James) e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James) 9. Other Business (5:20 p.m.) 10. Review 2026 Work Goals (Frank) / Discuss March Agenda 11. Adjourn (5:30 p.m.) 1 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board (CB) Meeting January 15, 2026, 5:30 p.m. (In Person at Town Hall and via Zoom Video Conference) DRAFT Minutes Members present: Lori Brewer (Chairperson), Frank Cantone (Vice Chairperson), James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, and Richard Martinez. Staff: Michael Smith, Senior Planner. Guests: Peter Loucks, who has applied to become a board member and has been interviewed. 1. Persons to be heard: None 2. Member Comments/concerns: Frank made several comments about the Conservation Board Orientation Guide of Jan. 8, 2026, prepared by a student intern for the Town. Mike will update this document at the beginning of each year. The general consensus seemed to be that we should all get familiar with it and try to use it, especially for Environmental Review Committee (ERC) work, as we continue that. James said that we usually get an address list of our membership each year and that he would like to get that again as our membership has been changing. 3. Environmental Review Committee Update: Lori had nothing new to report. Mike said a sketch plan review for a solar project on Troy Road would be coming in. It is on a vacant property of open land, which has had several residential proposals in the past, but it is hard to develop because of NYSEG power lines crossing the property. This one would be 20 to 30 acres, the same size as the one being developed right now on Mecklenburg Road. The developer, Nexamp, would not purchase the land, but lease it. 4. Chairperson and Coordinator reports: Lori asked if any of us could attend the Webinar about Emerald Ash Borers, that Mike emailed to everyone. James and Eva have heard or read about both green and black ash trees which appear to be resistant to the borers and show promise for the future, probably in The Cornell Chronicle. Mike updated us about the Town’s deer management program. The town has received a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and will set up 8 sites: 3 on Town preserves, 3 in the City’s Six Mile Creek area and 2 private ones. The season goes from February 1 through the end of March. They have tried to assign 2 to 4 people to each site. Mike also reminded us about the Town’s Virtual Attendance Policy. If you know you will not be able to attend a CB meeting at Town Hall, you need to contact Lori or Mike to let them know that. With the current membership of 7, there have to be 4 members present in person to have a quorum. If there is a quorum, other members can also be present by Zoom and they can then also vote, but only if there are 4 other ones present in Town Hall at the same time. This new regulation came about during the Covid period about 5 years ago. 2 5. Approval of minutes from November 6 and December 4, 2025: James made a motion to approve both sets of minutes, Frank seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved with a minor change. 6. Discussion of: a. Town of Ithaca Conservation Board Activities & Accomplishments for 2025: Everyone was pleased to see the list of what the CB has accomplished in 2025. b. Conservation Board 2026 Work Goals: i. Lori added developing a document for “standard operating procedure” to the first goal on the list, which she stewards. ii. Eva and James do not feel any change is needed to the second goal. They also agree that they do not want to prepare or pay for any sign until we know that we can place it in the location that has been chosen and publicized. iii. For the third goal about outreach and communications, Lori asked what the effectiveness of media outreach is. The CB already uses Facebook, Instagram and the Town’s monthly newsletter. A discussion followed about using other media like newspapers and radio, or additional digital media Richard asked what we would want to get out of such outreach and communication. One response was awareness of the existence of our board and help with recruitment of members. Richard said he could do limited postings on our social media, but was hesitant to take on doing it regularly iv. The rest of the goals got very few comments. Your secretary for the evening, Eva, would like to request that lists like this get either a number, or letter, in front of each section, instead of nothing or a “bullet”. It would make it so much easier to refer to them when writing the minutes. Also when referring to them generally and talking about them at a meeting. c. Conservation Board Committees 2026: Richard agreed to join the Communications Committee. 7. Continue discussion of ideas to support the Town’s parks, trail and preserves: Mike had provided a nice draft information sheet with color photos for us about this project. James feels labels under the photos would be a good idea. We will discuss this topic more at the February meeting 8. Recap of the Scenic Resources sign project. Eva requested that we postpone this presentation to another meeting when she will have more time to describe the whole project. 9. Regular reports and updates: a. Scenic Resources Committee (Eva): Eva had nothing new to report. Mike shared that Cornell cannot offer any new easements at the moment and that this sign request has not been forgotten. b. Communications Committee (James): James stated that he needs another member for this committee, as he doesn’t have a phone for posting to Instagram nor the skills to use his computer to post there; Facebook has lately been allowing him to use his account, but often locks him out for not having two-factor authentication security there. ComCom’s main job is the Fischer Award. He’ll be nominating Cornell On Fire for their environmental activism in 2025. Other members should consider nominating someone or something else. Deadline for nominations is Feb 28th. c. Tompkins County Environmental Management Committee (EMC): Pete has been attending 3 EMC meetings already and would be available to continue doing that. d. Six Mile Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program (James): Community Science Institute’s water lab at Langmuir, near the airport, is holding benthic macroinvertebrate processing sessions on a different night this year: Wednesday evenings, 6-9 pm, until all of the 2025 preserved samples have been analyzed. Volunteers new to the science can get trained to help; experienced volunteers are much appreciated in a bigger better lab space. Adrianna Hirtler has built a beautiful website explaining and documenting water quality biomonitoring business at communityscience.org/biological-monitoring-2/. e. Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas Program (James): Volunteers missed several Tuesday afternoons of work due to holidays and bad weather, but did manage to plant a dogwood hedge by Cascadilla Creek on campus where a new cooperative arrangement between Cornell’s Grounds crew and Natural Areas volunteers replaced an invasive Euonymus (burning bush) hedge planted years ago to screen a parking lot near the east end of Oak Ave. Grounds workers used a backhoe to dig up the evil landscaping shrubs, leaving loosened soil in which volunteers transplanted a couple dozen native red osier dogwoods (Cornus sericea), and installed a deer exclosure fence around them. Volunteers spent another Tuesday pulling up Euonymus weeds in the Fall Creek North Natural Area on both sides of the Cayuga Trail upstream of Flat Rocks. Wet weather makes Euonymus easier to pull out with puller bears, weed wrenches, and Pulaski axes. Volunteers weeded honeysuckle and buckthorn from woods around fens in McLean Bogs, a National Natural Landmark limited to the public for educational purposes by permission only. This work followed the “clip and drip” protocol, cutting stumps level close to the ground followed by glyphosate treatment, which limits soil disturbance and kills more invasives in less time than pulling them up does. 10. Other business: Discussion of potential new member. We resolved to recommend to the Town Board that Pete Loucks be appointed a new CB member and that he be selected as the Town liaison member to the Tompkins County EMC. All voted in favor of this. 11. Review 2026 Work Goals (Frank)/ Discuss February Agenda: Continue the discussion about the Parks, Trails, Preserves and Scenic View Sites project and schedule the Scenic View project presentation. 12. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 PM. Respectfully submitted by Eva Hoffmann, January 28, 2026 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. Tutelo Park South Hill Recreation Way East Ithaca Nature Preserve NYS Route 96B Overlook