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TOMPKINS COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL 121 East Court Street Ithaca, New York 14850 Telephone (607) 274-5560 http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/emc 1 Final Minutes 2 September 8, 2016, 4PM 3 Tompkins County Old Jail Conference Room, 125 E. Court Street, Ithaca, NY 4 5 Attendance 6 Members 7 Name Representation Linda Spielman P Village of Dryden Ron Szymanski A Village of Freeville Roger Yonkin A At-Large Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Jose Lozano A Associate Member Scott Doyle P EMC Coordinator Dan Klein P Associate Member Anna Kelles P Legislature Liaison 8 9 10 11 A quorum was not present. 12 Others: Jaime Cone, Ithaca Times 13 14 Call to Order – Chair Nicholson called the meeting to order at approximately 4:05 PM. 15 16 Privilege of the Floor – No speakers. 17 18 Agenda Review/Changes – The agenda was accepted as distributed. 19 20 Approval of Minutes – The July 14th Minutes were discussed and minor changes to the Environmental Review Committee 21 Report were suggested though due to a lack of quorum no formal vote was taken on the minutes. 22 23 Committee Reports The following committees gave reports. 24 • Energy Committee – Brian Eden: report included the status of local building projects noting most projects are 25 built to traditional building practices using fossil fuels; Maplewood Redevelopment however proposes not using 26 any natural gas. Town of Ithaca determined the DEIS was not yet adequate and the consultant was addressing 27 added concerns. • Update on the status of the County and City microgrid projects. • Potential improvements to the 28 Dominion Pipeline compressor system expansion. Anna Kelles clarified that a request has been made to hold a 29 Name Representation Steve Bissen E Town of Dryden Kenny Christianson P At-Large John Dennis P Village of Lansing Brian Eden P Village of Cayuga Heights Bill Evans A Town of Danby Pegi Ficken E Town of Groton John Hertzler E Town of Ulysses Roy Luft A At-Large Jim McGarry A At-Large Vladimir Micic P Town of Ithaca Steve Nicholson P Town of Caroline Susan Riley P At-Large Tom Shelley P Ithaca CAC formal public hearing to address potential air quality as well as water quality impacts. The current public 30 comment period extends through September 12th. Dooley further noted that a study for pipeline leakage is further 31 being examined. • Advocacy continues for the Geothermal Tax Credit Bill for New York State • Heatsmart 32 Tompkins Program Update: About 100 contracts were signed last year, proposal advancing with the Park 33 Foundation this year and are considering different outreach approaches. NYSERDA is further being engaged for 34 ideas on marketing the program. • West Dryden Road pipeline continues to spark discussion regarding 35 alternatives. Related discussion over concerns of the Dakota Access pipeline expansion. • Discussion of clean 36 energy standard that requires 50% renewables by 2050 with substantial subsidies for nuclear energy and the 37 release of the County Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory which notes either a 21% reduction in GHG emissions 38 or an 83% increase due to natural gas methane leakage. • Black Oak Wind Farm continues to slowly advance 39 forward. The Town of Newfield adopted an updated wind ordinance this summer which requires much larger 40 footprint. • Notation of the electric car show occurring next week Saturday afternoon in front of the State Theater. 41 • Cornell received grant to study smart meters centered on a consumer oriented approach. • Discussion of local 42 government reactions to General Municipal Review 239 recommended modification from the County. 43 • Environmental Review - John Dennis: report included a request for added membership on the committee. • 44 Update of coal ash landfill and its leaching to the lake. Questions as to the conditions of the permit that allows for 45 the operation of this landfill. Kenny Christianson asked what the best solution to dealing with the coal ash would 46 be. John thought instead of capping it, sealing it in containers on site might make more sense. Other regions of 47 New York State require treatment of leachate. Cayuga Power further continues to burn coal. One of the hotspots 48 for sulfur dioxide emissions is located just north of this location. • Brian Eden then outlined several other projects 49 including: issues related to microplastics in the lake and suggested presentation from Jose Lozano on this issue in 50 the future; the Governor asking that private water resources be tested for water quality, the proposed Cargill mine 51 shaft expansion, Chainworks District comment period, the City of Ithaca dredging of siltation basin, the solid 52 waste management plan, EPA coal tar sealants, the Town of Lansing comprehensive planning process, and the 53 Lansing Rod and Gun Club lead contamination hearing set for September 14th. 54 • Unique Natural Areas – Steve Nicholson reported: The committee hadn’t heard from Cornell regarding the 55 proposed updated boundary expansion to Sapsucker Woods until just recently. Cornell Real Estate expressed 56 concerns over proposed boundary changes and asked for meeting with UNA committee prior to a formal vote on 57 those changes. This UNA boundary is likely to be considered along with the remaining 2016 updates including 58 Bell Station. 59 • Executive Committee: Speaker set for November 2016. Some discussion on EMC annual reports and how to 60 distribute to the Legislature and the website. 61 62 Municipal Reports – 63 • Steve Nicholson mentioned that Caroline is entering into an agreement with several other entities to invest in a 64 solar farm and the Town is also looking into air source heat pumps as replacement for their aging natural gas 65 furnace. 66 • Brian Eden discussed the Village of Cayuga Heights consideration of Cayuga Medical proposal at Community 67 Corners. Local concern has been related to traffic concerns. Brian expressed his support for the infill project. 68 • Tom Shelley discussed City of Ithaca projects including the Maguire proposal, potential impacts to the waterfront 69 and community gardens. 70 71 Chair’s Report – No specific Chair’s report. 72 73 Staff Report – Scott Doyle reported that: the agriculture and farmland bus tour is set for next Friday, the County 74 budget currently includes support for UNA outreach in 2017, the WRC/EMC recruitment effort currently 75 underway and noted the recent climate redlining article. 76 77 Adjournment - Chair adjourned the meeting at 5:40 PM. 78 79 Prepared by Scott Doyle, Senior Planner, Tompkins County Planning Department 80 Approved by Board October 13, 2016. 81