ဟံၣ်My WebLinkဘၣ်ဃးဒီး05-11-17 EMC Final Minutes1 TOMPKINS COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL 121 East Court St, Ithaca, New York 14850 Telephone (607) 274-5560 http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/emc 1 Final Minutes 2 May 11, 4PM 3 Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court St, Ithaca, NY 4 5 Attendance 6 Members 7 8 Member Seat Member Seat Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Ron Syzmanski P Village of Freeville John Dennis P Village of Lansing Dooley Kiefer E Legislative Liaison Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Susan Allen-Gil P Associate Member Bill Evans E Town of Danby Karen Edelstein A Associate Member Pegi Ficken P Town of Groton Anna Kelles P Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Cait Darfler P Associate Member John Hertzler P Town of Ulysses Dan Klein E Associate Member James Knighton P At-Large Jose Lozano A Associate Member Roy Luft A At-Large Nidia Trejo A Associate Member Vladimir Micic A Town of Ithaca David Weinstein A Associate Member Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline Robert Wesley A Associate Member Susan Riley P At-Large Roger Yonkin P Associate Member Tom Shelley P Ithaca CAC Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator Linda Spielman E Village of Dryden Kristin McCarthy P Administrative Assistant 9 A quorum was present. 10 Guests – Marie McRae 11 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm. 12 Privilege of the Floor – There were no speakers. 13 Agenda Review/Changes – None 14 Minutes approval (April 13, 2017) 15 2 Action: Steve Bissen moved to approve the April minutes. Tom Shelley seconded. The minutes were approved 16 with minor editorial changes. 17 Committee Reports 18 A. Climate Adaptation – James Knighton 19 20 21 22 • The committee met for the first time this week. Meetings will be held the second Monday of the month, 23 10 am to 12 pm, in the Old Jail Conference Room. 24 25 • Members talked about their areas of interest in climate change adaptation and came up with these 26 general topics: drought, flooding, air temperature, and ecological challenges. They came to the 27 conclusion that for such a small group it might be overly ambitious to try and make headway on all of 28 those fronts. 29 30 • The members then looked at climate change adaptation initiatives already under way in the County. 31 Flooding seemed to have the most momentum, so they decided to focus their efforts on that issue. 32 33 • The first step was to list and catalog work already being done on flooding in the County and then reach 34 out to the individuals involved to learn what is already happening so they don’t have to start completely 35 from scratch. 36 37 • The Group discussed where they could fit in and how they could contribute. They came up with a pitch 38 to create a catalog or database of historical flooding events in the County to get a sense where they 39 should focus their efforts geographically. 40 41 • They also talked generically about how the Environmental Management Council (EMC) could function 42 as an outreach group to educate people on an individual level on ways to reduce the risk of flooding. 43 44 • Brian Eden added that the Committee is looking to work closely with Scott Doyle and the County 45 Planning and Sustainability Department as there are funds available for such projects. In the long term, it 46 would be great to identify shovel-ready projects that can be ready to roll out when the next funding cycle 47 starts. 48 49 • B. Eden mentioned in particular two or three funding opportunities available for green infrastructure. 50 Anna Kelles asked if these sources are available through the County, and Brian said yes. 51 52 • J. Knighton queried whether the Committee should sketch out a 12-month action plan and establish 53 formal goals. The answer in both cases was yes. 54 3 B. Environmental Review – Brian Eden 55 • The State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) revision comments are due Friday, May 19. There are 56 two issues. First, they reduced the ability to add information to the scoping portion of projects after the 57 scoping hearing has taken place. The problem is many times people are just starting to hear about the 58 project when the scoping is under way, so there will be no opportunity to introduce new ideas after the 59 hearing. The second concern involves the expanded Type 2 list, as very few Environmental Impact 60 Statements are already being done in New York State. 61 62 • A waterfront zoning proposal was discussed at a City of Ithaca meeting on Wednesday night. There are 63 225 acres being rezoned into four different districts. The proposal doesn’t address the floodplain much, 64 except to say it should be included in the site plan review. A. Kelles: Is the Climate Adaptation 65 Committee thinking of doing outreach to the government too about adaption and response in response to 66 flooding? It is a relatively new concept in the County. S. Doyle: It is a topic that can always be 67 addressed better. Some jurisdictions have a better sense than others, but work still needs to be done. 68 69 • B. Eden: Related to flooding concerns, S. Doyle has done some outreach on behalf of the County to 70 municipalities through the County’s FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan. The EMC will consult 71 with member J. Knighton on this issue, given his expertise and research, to make the most of his 72 presence on the Council, as well as reach out to people who have helped before such as Tom Whitlow, 73 who worked with us on the inlet dredging project. 74 75 • Through the Complete Streets program, the City and Town of Ithaca have just received $1.4 million in 76 federal money to redo Hector Street with 4100 feet of sidewalk and bicycle path. 77 78 • Five or six years ago, the EMC tried to generate a discussion around using biological controls to 79 eradicate Hydrilla, instead of always opting for the most toxic treatment methodology. There are not 80 many nontoxic solutions available at this time, and Brian is unsure how much research is going into 81 exploring biological controls. More and more municipalities are identifying Hydrilla in their waterways, 82 and the funding Tompkins County has received to fight it will be spread across several communities. 83 84 • Bergen Farms, which has a CAFO just across the border in Schuyler County, wants to put in a water 85 withdrawal pipe to extract water from Taughannock Creek and a manure slurry pipe, which would run 86 under or through the creek. Brian has not seen an Environmental Review yet for the project. M. Henry: 87 Bergen Farms also bought out Holub Farm, in Pony Hollow, last year and has begun spreading 1,600 88 gallons of slurry per acre each time they spread. A recent sampling showed e-coli bacteria at just below 89 the safe level for swimming. 90 91 • New York State is receiving $117 million from the Volkwagen settlement and is going to install electric 92 vehicle charging stations along I-90, I-86, and I-95, as well as in towns and cities along the way. 93 94 • Tompkins County was named a Clean Energy Community under NYSERDA, which qualifies our 95 community for more funding. 96 4 C. Unique Natural Areas – Steve Nicholson 97 • The committee met on April 17th, after the last EMC meeting. 98 99 • They organized a field trip to the proposed Piper Road fen for Tuesday, May 16, at 1pm. 100 101 • Members talked about the next round of revisions; there are 72 UNAs left to revise. Their consultant, 102 Robert Wesley, has identified 12 sites that he’d like to visit. It looks like they will be able to review all 103 195 UNAs, something they weren’t sure about when they started this process. 104 • S. Doyle is working with the Committee to get a budget together for next year. 105 106 • 500 postcards need to go out to the landowners connected to the last batch of revisions. 107 108 • In terms of public outreach, the Committee plans to give each town hall a poster of a map with all the 109 UNAs in their municipality. S. Doyle commented that County GIS specialist Sharon Heller is working 110 on mock-ups of the poster. 111 112 • There are two County foreclosures with UNAs on the property. S. Doyle spoke about one of them, a 113 gorge/creek on the parcel connected to Crispell’s Garage, at 1920 Slaterville Road (route 79) in Dryden, 114 near the border of Caroline. He advised the County Legislature’s Government Operations Committee 115 that there should be a deed restriction of at least 100 feet to buffer the creek if the parcel goes to auction. 116 However, he’s not sure the County will even want the title because it is valuable land and because it has 117 a checkered environmental past. (Crispell’s was in the trucking business, so there were diesel spills, coal 118 tar, gas pumps, etc. on the property.) 119 120 • They are still debating whether to change Nut Ridge to Cuddeback Cliffs or Cuddeback Point. The 121 Committee is researching the history of the name Cuddeback in the area. 122 123 • John Dennis had been perusing the NYS DEC website and came across a mapped “Natural Areas” 124 section. He wondered if the DEC could map the UNAs as well. 125 126 • B. Eden reported that new associate member Cait Darfler had made them aware of the DECinfo Locator, 127 a prototype GIS mapping tool that allows users to view and download data on the environmental quality 128 of specific sites. C. Darfler said the DEC is looking for feedback. S. Doyle commented that the County 129 Planning and Sustainability Office would email a link to the Locator to the members. 130 D. Executive 131 • B. Eden met twice with Kristin McCarthy to discuss the 2016 EMC Annual Report. 132 133 • In regards to presentations, members should consider what subject matter they’d be interested in 134 learning about. A. Kelles commented that she would like to hear J. Knighton speak about his work. 135 136 5 • Three years ago, the EMC hosted a public education event at the Tompkins County Public Library on 137 climate adaptation and stormwater management. They invited the people associated with the Onondaga 138 Rain Project to speak. B. Eden said he would forward information on the Rain Project to A. Kelles. 139 Staff Report – Scott Doyle 140 • S. Doyle attended the national conference of the American Planning Association in New York City. 141 Climate adaptation was a hot topic on the agenda; for instance he toured a resiliency park in Hoboken, 142 New Jersey, which is under construction. The first such park in New Jersey, it will have recreational 143 space on top, green infrastructure (such as rain gardens and porous pavers), and an underground 144 detention system to reduce stormwater runoff and localized flooding. 145 146 • He is also wrapping up a habitat connectivity report that two Cornell regional planning graduate students 147 have been helping him with. He plans to share their findings with the EMC at a later date. 148 149 • Several municipalities are developing and implementing laws for regulation of small- and larger-scale 150 solar arrays. The majority support solar energy. A. Kelles asked if there is any work sharing taking place 151 between municipalities. S. Doyle said one key outreach tool the County has been developing is a best 152 practices report to share with local communities. He will show the report to the Council once it is 153 finalized. 154 155 • Ron Szymanski announced that the Village of Freeville recently passed a wind and solar energy law. 156 157 • Commissioner Ed Marx is retiring from the Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 158 in August. 159 Update: Cargill’s Proposed Shaft #4 – Cait Darfler, John Dennis, and Brian Eden 160 B. Eden, J. Dennis, and C. Darfler spoke to the Council about the latest work on Cargill’s proposed Shaft 4 161 expansion project. 162 • B. Eden: They were disinvited to a Cargill Open House by the national headquarters, and other people 163 were turned away as well when they tried to attend. 164 After the so-called open house, Cargill did extend an invitation to them for a private meeting. The 165 meeting, which was attended by nine representatives from Cargill, went terribly. Cargill’s attorney did 166 95 percent of the talking, and they were informed the company would answer none of their questions 167 and would fight any FOIL requests. They also refused to do a DEIS, even though American Rock Salt 168 might complete one for their mine expansion project in Livingston County. 169 Last week they met with Region 7 staff from the DEC’s office in Syracuse. 170 Also, NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton wrote a letter on their behalf to the DEC Commissioner 171 Basil Segos, and they’ve asked her to write another one to the NYS Attorney General. Moreover, they 172 would like a meeting with the Attorney General. 173 6 • J. Dennis: Crestwood announced the company would not expand natural gas storage in salt caverns 174 along Seneca Lake. It has not, however, abandoned plans to store liquid propane gas in salt caverns. In 175 his view, the risks posed to Cayuga Lake are in order of magnitude greater than any risk posed to Seneca 176 Lake by natural gas storage. 177 178 J. Dennis next introduced C. Darfler, who gave most of the presentation to the group. She is a geologist 179 with a decade of experience working for several renowned engineering firms. J. Dennis also passed 180 around a letter to DEC Commissioner Segos for the members to review and sign if they were so 181 inclined. 182 183 184 • C. Darfler: Most of the presentation comes from one they did for the DEC on May 1. Being new to the 185 project, she is still catching up on all the details, so J. Dennis can speak to the technical pieces and she 186 will give an overview. Some highlights from their talk appear below: 187 188 o Their singular focus is on persuading the DEC to deny Cargill a permit for the Shaft 4 expansion 189 until a draft EIS is completed. They want to stay on point with that instead of branching out to 190 address other mine issues, though they are of course often integrated. Their technical team is 191 growing, with many eminent geologists within their ranks. 192 193 o Cayuga Lake is already twice as saline as it should be, so one of the long-term concerns is 194 whether the lake will be salinized after this mine is flooded. 195 196 o Using the slides as reference, J. Dennis pointed out areas with brine leachate and other forms of 197 degradation in the Cargill mine facilities. 198 199 o In terms of area employment, Cargill is a relatively small player within the County. It pays about 200 $10 million in wages, whereas Cornell pays $800 million. Also, revenue from lake-related eco-201 tourism in the area is estimated at over $1 billion. We should keep these figures in mind when 202 considering the economic impact on our community if Cargill’s actions destroy the lake. 203 204 o The DEC gave a neg dec to this project in part because Cargill claimed that the new 94-foot shaft 205 would be invisible or have a negligible impact on area scenery. However, in the fall with no 206 leaves on the trees, this tower would be visible from Taughannock State Park, one of the premier 207 state parks in central New York. 208 209 o Their team is hoping to get a copy of a $1.5 million seismic study from last year done by Cargill. 210 211 o The permit was segmented into tunnel digging and Shaft 4. Only the tunnel so far has been 212 approved by the DEC. 213 7 • Anyone interested in getting involved can sign up to join CLEAN (Cayuga Lake Environmental Action 214 Now) at CayugaLakeEANow@gmail.com. 215 Dryden Solar PV Facilities - Brian Eden and Marie McRae 216 • M. McRae: There are proposals for solar arrays at two sites in the Town of Dryden. One site is owned 217 by Cornell. The developer will lease it from Cornell. The Town will receive some income from a PILOT 218 Agreement. Currently the land produces no revenue as it is tax exempt. Cornell will benefit as the 219 project will contribute to their zero omissions goals. 220 221 • A. Kelles: All of us have heard about the pushback from some Dryden residents. Is it enough to block 222 the project? 223 224 • M. McRae: The potential impact on the cemetery has been the issue of most concern to the opponents. 225 Developer has met with neighbors and other concerned residents on several occasions; He has made 226 several revisions to the original plans (e.g. greater setbacks along Dodge Road). Dryden has delayed the 227 completion of the SEQR review until all agencies with jurisdiction file letters of approval. 228 229 • B. Eden: The Environmental Review Committee provided comments on the project that were supportive 230 of approval. 231 232 • M. Henry: How many non-residents have talked about using the energy from the project? 233 234 • M. McRae: Of those who have spoken at public meetings, a fairly significant percentage of residents are 235 in favor. Some non-residents have attended but rarely have spoken and are present mostly to indicate 236 support. 237 238 • S. Bissen: Most members of the Town of Dryden Conservation Board approve the project. However, 239 they did find some things lacking on the environmental assessment form ─ it seemed rushed. 240 241 • John Hetzler: Win over Amy Dickinson. She is on the radio arguing in favor of protecting the Willow 242 Glen Cemetery and her facts are wrong. Can’t they show a mockup to people so they’d know what it 243 would look like once they plant trees to block the cemetery? 244 • B. Eden: Tompkins County could become known as a community that is hostile to renewable energy. I 245 think we have a general consensus that the EMC supports the community solar arrays in Dryden, and 246 they fall within our jurisdiction. Between now and the next meeting, it would be good to figure out how 247 we might translate that support into concrete action. 248 249 • M. McRae: I’m fairly confident that the Town Board will approve the project. 250 251 • Susan Allen-Gil: When will the Town Board decide? 252 253 8 • S. Doyle: Maybe early next month; somebody needs to go U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and wait for 254 the letter. 255 256 EMC Outreach and Communications – Strategic Planning Team 257 The report was deferred until the June meeting because of time constraints. 258 Member Items/Municipal Reports 259 • Steve Nicholson: It has been standing room only at Town of Caroline board meetings lately, with 260 people both in favor of and against the proposed extension of the South Hill Recreation Way (SHRW) 261 showing up. While the Town decided last month not to do anything until the legal issues are resolved, 262 people are still attending each board meeting, even when the SHRW isn’t on the agenda. 263 264 • S. Bissen: The Dryden Rail to Trail project, in contrast, is going smoothly. The majority of the 265 easements for it are in place. 266 Adjournment 267 Action: Chair Brian Eden moved to adjourn the meeting, and Tom Shelley seconded. The motion was 268 approved unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm. 269 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 270 Approved by EMC: June 8, 2017 271 272