ဟံၣ်My WebLinkဘၣ်ဃးဒီး2016-05-25 PAB Minutes Final5/25/16 1 PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD 2 Wednesday, May 25, 2016 3 SCOTT HEYMAN CONFERENCE ROOM 4 125 East Court Street 5 6 FINAL MEETING MINUTES 7 Members Attending: 8 Name Representation Martha Robertson P Planning Committee Monika Roth P Agriculture Kathy Schlather P Human Services Rob Steuteville P Built Environment Design Andy Zepp A Land Pres/Public Land Mgmt Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Others Present Katie Borgella P Deputy Commissioner Ed Marx P Commissioner of Planning Pam Pariso P Administrative Assistant 10 11 Call to Order & Changes to the Agenda – Chair was not available at time meeting started, so member Rob 12 Steuteville volunteered to lead. He called the meeting to order at 9:10 AM. No changes to the Agenda. 13 14 Introductions -- Pam Pariso, new committee secretary, was introduced. 15 16 Proposed Tompkins County Green Infrastructure Capital Project: 17 18 Commissioner of Planning Ed Marx passed out his draft proposal for review and discussion before it goes to 19 the County Legislature for budget approval in June. This five-year Green Infrastructure Capital Project 20 requests $200,000 a year. It focuses on protection of natural systems to help mitigate the impacts of heavy 21 rainstorm and flooding events, by easement, restoration and/or stabilization of upper watershed forests and 22 wetlands; stream corridors, floodplains and aquifer recharge areas. This project has water quality benefits as 23 well as flood prevention benefits. This plan helps the community invest in systems now to prevent future 24 problems, if/when a major flooding situation happens. 25 26 The draft proposal outlines specific projects that could be partially or totally funded, if approved. These 27 include easements or land acquisition to reconnect and protect natural floodplains, acquiring/monitoring 28 easements of private forest land, water corridors, ditch management and stormwater runoff issues. Likely 29 projects include: 30 • Sediment mitigation for areas preventing waterflow to natural flood plains. One likely area is Cayuga 31 Inlet between Buttermilk and Robert Tremain State Parks 32 • Stream restoration 33 • Demonstration projects for county highway ditch work. 34 35 The Board discussed state and other matching-fund projects for more costly projects, inter-community/ 36 municipal collaboration, and tax advantages to landowners who voluntarily comply with easements. Planning 37 has a tentative map targeting major project areas, and that map will be refined if or when the project moves 38 forward. 39 40 Name Representation Martha Armstrong P Economic Development Todd Bittner E Natural Environment Joe Bowes P Housing Sue Cosentini P Business Fernando de Aragón P Transportation John Gutenberger P Education Dave Herrick P Facilities/Infrastructure Ruth Hopkins P At-Large Rod Howe P Historical/Cultural Resources David Kay E Local Planning (urban) Darby Kiley P Local Planning (non-urban) Gay Nicholson P At-Large Monika Roth asked if there was a planned collaboration with the City and the Cayuga Watershed, because all 41 area water eventually comes down to the lake. Ed said yes, the City is taking on dredging in the inlet. Monika 42 said we’re probably not going to acquire every easement, and landowner education will help motivate 43 approval. Floodplain education needs to be an important part of getting this funding approved and the 44 community’s support. There was also a discussion about selling the idea with a cost analysis and emphasis 45 on prevention and protection of the community’s water supply. Gay suggested emphasizing the economic 46 impact to the community if this Capital Project was not approved, like the cost of flood damage. Avoidance 47 or best practice data could help push it through. Ed said perhaps data from flooding in Ludlowville could be 48 presented as an example. 49 50 Other discussed topics were: who should “own” the project if is approved; what could happen if there was 51 serious flooding and Route 13 were cut off; vegetation buffers could help solve sediment issues; and 52 potential flood damage effects to Cayuga Lake tourism and recreation. Committee agreed that Ed has a good 53 proposal, but his “sales pitch” could be strengthened by using data and emotion to address the pain of what 54 would happen to the community if we had a major a flood and they had not approved this project. 55 Ludlowville’s flood could be used as recent historical example for flood damage and costs after the fact. 56 57 Approval of Minutes from April 27, 2016 -- No changes proposed. Martha Robertson motioned they be 58 approved, seconded by Rod Howe. Motion approved by majority vote. Dave Herrick abstained. Final 59 minutes will be available on the Planning Department website: www.tompkins-co.org/planning/ under 60 advisory boards. 61 62 Agricultural District Revision: 63 64 Scott Doyle presented a proposed change to the Agricultural Map for Ag District 2. He showed a map where 65 a small portion -- 42 acres in the Town of Newfield -- will be removed because it’s on a slope, it hasn’t been 66 farmed, it’s under new ownership and it will probably never be farmed. This change was made on the request 67 of the new owner who wants to connect it with other parcels. Dave made motion to approve; Gay seconded. 68 Unanimously approved. 69 70 Energy and Economic Development Task Force Update: 71 72 Deputy Commissioner of Planning Katie Borgella presented the results of the Energy and Economic 73 Development Task Force, formed at the request of the Tompkins County Legislature, who asked TCAD – 74 Tompkins County Area Development – to work with the County to create a group with a charge of 75 identifying ways to implement the County’s greenhouse gas emissions goals while supporting job and 76 economic growth. This 19‐person task force is chaired by Sciencenter Executive Director Charlie Trautmann, 77 and made up of a mix of people with expertise in renewable and traditional energy resources, business 78 operation, real estate development and other aspects of the community. The task force presented six major 79 recommendations at two public meetings, which encouraged public input. The PAB is urged to check out the 80 full report and give feedback at the TCAD website at www.tcad.org. by Friday, May 27, 2016. 81 82 Katie distributed copies of the report and reviewed its six key recommendations. She reported that the public 83 meetings fostered good communication, education and cooperation, with less conflict than a year ago. One of 84 the key issues is the pipeline on West Dryden Road, a focus of the report and the public’s interest. One big 85 recommendation to be done immediately is to shave peak demand to potentially avoid the need to build the 86 pipeline, with the caveat that if it doesn’t happen quickly, the natural gas pipeline probably does need to be 87 built because of huge demand for energy in that area. 88 89 The Board discussed how to balance changes in the way we produce energy with the practical needs of local 90 industry, especially high-tech businesses that have clean rooms. Martha Robertson said these things are all 91 possible, but who pays? She said there needs to be mandates or incentives for NYSEG to do things 92 differently. Group discussed ways to help – or at least not hurt – economic development while meeting the 93 county’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. Rate payers want heat pumps and solar panels. A lot of 94 industry needs natural gas and isn’t equipped for electrical power sources. We want the jobs here, but we 95 want to move to more progressive energy use. Katie said we have a moratorium on natural gas in the Cornell 96 Technology Park, and we can’t accommodate those businesses. Gay asked if there are engineers looking at 97 this. Katie said that a conclusion from the task force is a growing awareness of the problems and a 98 willingness to look at it as a group. Other topics discussed were transition to EVs, better bussing for people 99 who can’t afford EVs, residential energy scoring, creating an energy strategy for the next several years, and 100 working better with NYSEG. The group discussed EVs, shuttles, transportation issues, and Katie replied that 101 those issues were beyond the focus of this task force. Ed said there’s been a lot of time spent on examining 102 the issues – we had two years to create the roadmap, then a year for the task force to focus on solutions: now 103 is the time to act. 104 105 Commissioner’s Report – Ed’s report was not presented as the committee ran out of time, and another 106 group was waiting for the room. 107 108 Announcements – None. 109 110 Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 AM. 111 112 Respectfully submitted, 113 114 Pamela Pariso 115 Administrative Assistant 116 Tompkins County Planning Department 117