ဟံၣ်My WebLinkဘၣ်ဃးဒီး2019-05-09 EMC Final MinutesEMC Final Minutes 1 May 9, 2019 4:00 p.m. 2 TCAT, 737 Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14850 3 Attendance 4 Member Seat Member Seat Steve Bissen P Town of Dryden Jonathan Zisk E At-Large Maureen Bolton P Town of Enfield Amanda Champion P Legislative Liaison Cait Darfler P Town of Ulysses Susan Allen-Gil P Associate Member John Dennis P Village of Lansing Karen Edelstein A Associate Member Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Bill Evans A Associate Member Pegi Ficken P Town of Groton Anna Kelles A Associate Member Michelle Henry P Town of Newfield Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Anne Klingensmith E Town of Danby Dan Klein P Associate Member Laurel Lynch P At-Large Jose Lozano P Associate Member Vladimir Micic P Town of Ithaca Osamu Tsuda P Associate Member Steve Nicholson E Town of Caroline David Weinstein A Associate Member Susan Riley E At-Large Robert Wesley A Associate Member Tom Shelley P City of Ithaca Roger Yonkin A Associate Member Genny Shipley E At-Large Darby Kiley P Planning Staff Don Smith E At-Large Kristin McCarthy P Planning Staff Regi Teasley P At-Large Guests – Fred Howe, Ken Jaffe, Anne Koreman, Hilary Lambert, Mike Merchant 5 6 Call to Order – Chair Brian Eden called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m. 7 8 Privilege of the Floor – None 9 10 Agenda Review/Changes – No quorum so approval of the minutes was moved to later in the meeting. 11 12 Presentation: Rescue of the American Chestnut – William Powell, SUNY-ESF 13 Professor Powell spoke about the precipitous decline of the American chestnut due to an invasive blight 14 fungus (Cryphonectria parasitca) and the efforts of his research team at ESF to restore it through 15 biotechnology. Researchers with the American Chestnut Project are inserting a single gene that creates 16 an oxalic oxidase enzyme, commonly found in wheat and other plants, and introducing it into the 17 American chestnut genome to produce trees that can successfully tolerate blight infections. See the 18 EMC website for Professor Powell’s PowerPoint presentation. 19 Approval of the February and April Minutes – Regi Teasley moved approval of the Feb. 14th minutes. 20 Cait Darfler seconded. Motion carried. Tom Shelley made a motion to approve the April 11th minutes, 21 and Maureen Bolton seconded. Motion carried. 22 23 Committee Reports 24 Climate Adaptation: Michelle Henry 25 At the last meeting, Michelle Henry used ArcGIS to give a presentation on the different types of soils 26 available locally for land cover, slopes, and agriculture, as well as where in the local landscape it might 27 make sense to use these assets for mitigation, carbon sequestration, and other conservation measures. 28 29 Environmental Review: Brian Eden 30 Brian gave updates on various topics, including the City’s Flooding Hazard Analysis presentation, 31 City’s approval of the Arthaus housing project without consideration of its location in the floodplain, 32 potential EMC resolutions in opposition to discharge of lead pellets into the Salmon Creek floodplain 33 by Lansing Rod & Gun Club members, a resolution in favor of making Tompkins County a pollinator-34 friendly community, PFOA/PFAS a toxic contaminant in fire-fighting spray foam, and continued 35 concern with local use of the herbicide Roundup (Glyphosate). 36 37 Unique Natural Areas: Brian Eden 38 EMC will host a public meeting (June 12) on the County Forest Management Plan at TCPL. Contract 39 for the UNA consultants is still awaiting approval from the County. 40 41 Waste Reduction: Tom Shelley 42 Tom contacted County Recycling and Materials Management about partnering on public outreach. 43 Committee hopes to collect reusable bags from local businesses to distribute for free at area events. 44 45 Water Resources Council (WRC) Liaison: Michelle Henry 46 Tee-Ann Hunter, Chair of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization (IO), spoke about the 47 IO’s history, current activities, and goals. She discussed the recent drafting of new Watershed Rules and 48 Regulations for Owasco Lake and how similar work might be undertaken for Cayuga Lake. 49 50 Executive: Brian Eden 51 Former EMC member Madison Wright recently passed away at age 95. Mayor Svante Myrick 52 released a proposal for a Green New Deal for the City of Ithaca. Sunrise Movement Ithaca had a 53 huge turnout for its Green New Deal Town Hall at the TCPL. 54 55 Staff Report – Darby Kiley 56 Two properties on the County Foreclosure List contained UNAs: a 5-acre parcel in the Town of Caroline 57 and a 3-acre one in the Village of Groton. No conservation partners want to purchase the Caroline parcel 58 due to its small size, and the Town has no mechanism for preserving land, so it remains on the auction 59 roster (for June 17). The Groton property owner paid her taxes today (May 9). 60 61 Review and Approval of 2018 Annual Report 62 Action: Pegi Ficken made a motion to approve the 2018 EMC Annual Report. Regi Teasley seconded. 63 Vladimir Micic abstained. Motion carried. 64 65 Environmental Bill of Rights Passes in NYS Senate and Assembly – Next Steps? 66 Given the NYS Legislature’s recent passage of this bill A. 2064/S.2072, efforts on the municipal and 67 County level to pass supportive resolutions can be deferred. Since it is a proposal for a constitutional 68 amendment, it will need to pass the NYS Legislature again during its next session. Then it will be placed 69 on the election ballot to be approved by voters. 70 71 Municipal Reports and Member Announcements 72 Volunteers are needed to staff the Waste Reduction Committee table at community events. 73 74 Chair Brian Eden adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m. 75