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Members Present:  Martha Robertson (Chair), Jim Dennis, Kathy Luz Herrera, Frank Proto, Tyke Randall

Other Legislator Present:  Greg Stevenson

Staff:  John Andersson, T C Environmental Health; Valeria Coggin, Director of T C Assessment; Heather Filiberto, TCPD; Joan Jurkowich, TCPD; Jackie Kippola, T C Administration; Ed Marx, Commissioner of Planning & PW; Kathy Wilsea, TCPD

Visitors: Martha Armstrong, Tompkins County Area Development; Beverly Baker, STPB; Fred Bonn, Convention & Visitors Bureau; Carol Chock, STPB;   Chrys Gardener, Cooperative Extension; Jean McPheeters, Chamber of Commerce; Steve Nicholson, EMC; Stu Stein, Strategic Tourism Planning Board;   Scott Wiggins, STPB; Judy Willis, Gadabout
 
1 Call to Order & Agenda Changes– Chair Martha Robertson called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM with members Jim Dennis, Kathy Luz Herrera and Frank Proto present.   There were no changes to the agenda version that was revised 9/19.  Martha announced she attended a conference this morning sponsored by Ithaca College on livable communities for the aging population.  Nodal development and walkable communities, as supported in the Tompkins County Comprehensive Plan, also serve the elderly population.

2  Gadabout
a)  Request for Emergency Funding – Judy Willis was present.  She distributed 2005 ridership and mileage statistics.  She said the estimate of $54,000 over budget that was in her letter to the County (8/29, attached to agenda) may now be a little high because gas prices are coming down.  The money that Gadabout gets from the County comes through the TCAT budget.  The amount has been the same for ten years, and there is no mechanism to request extra funds in the budget process.  Gadabout also gets money from some municipalities who are willing to support it, according to their ridership, as the only service for non-ambulatory elderly and citizens with disabilities.  Gadabout hasn’t approached remaining municipalities because they have low ridership.  Judy has asked the City of Ithaca for more funding, but is not sure yet of results.  It was noted that this could be a good topic of discussion for the Council of Governments.  The current fundraising drive has raised $17,000.  Jim moved to draft a resolution to grant Gadabout $20,000 from the contingency fund, which was seconded by Kathy.  The Planning Department will draft the resolution, which will also go to the Budget & Capital Committee and be contingent upon receipt of copies of the Gadabout budget and ridership information by municipality.  Gadabout will discuss future budget needs with TCAT.  Passed by 4:0 vote.

3  Tompkins County Planning Department
a)  Interim Program Guidelines for Capital Reserve Fund – Ed Marx said the fund was established in 2005 to implement some components of the Comprehensive Plan, and the fund now has $32,000 from 2005 and 2006 rollover.  $25,000 may be added from sale of lands to NY State Parks.  He has already been approached for two projects.  Kathy moved the resolution, Jim seconded.  Jim asked if it might apply to a dog park, and Ed said that type of use was not precluded.  These are interim guidelines, and any changes will come to PDEQ.  Expenditures will be recommended by the Planning Advisory Board to PDEQ, and a resolution by the full Legislature will be required for expenditures.   Informing municipalities is part of the process and, because the program is cooperative in nature, Ed expects municipalities to participate or sponsor projects.  Guidelines were passed by vote of 3:1 (Proto).

b)  Resolution:  Authorizing Public Hearings for Housing, Public Facilities, and Economic Development Needs for the Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program – Resolution moved by Jim, seconded by Kathy.  Heather Filiberto reported the last set of public hearings for CDBG were for the 2005 Homeownership application.   [Tyke Randall arrived at 3:37 PM.]  Three hearings are required for the economic development program since NYS took it over from HUD.  Information was filed for an ED project and they have been invited to file a preliminary application.  If that passes the state’s review, they will then be invited to submit a full application.  Resolution passed by unanimous vote.

c)  Resolution:  Expanding the Tompkins County Homeownership Program to Allow Participants to Purchase New Homes – Heather provided an amended resolution and more information based on questions voiced by Legislators at the last Legislature meeting.  There are specific guidelines for recapturing grants, including interest, if the homebuyer sells within five years of closing on the home purchase.  Kathy asked to see specifics on recapture.  Heather said the homeownership program has stayed essentially the same since it began in 1993.  Tyke objected to the exclusion of doublewide mobile homes on permanent foundations from consideration for the program.  Heather said the Homeownership Oversight Committee felt strongly that mobile homes should be restricted as they depreciate quickly, have less stringent building standards, and do not build equity.  Tyke felt it was discriminatory and created a double standard, since they’re allowed in the existing homeownership program.  Doublewide mobile homes have only depreciated a lot in isolated cases, and they meet federal codes.  He was willing to compromise by excluding singlewide mobile homes but including doublewides on permanent foundations, per the current guidelines for purchase of existing homes.  Tyke moved to strike “and double wide” from the explanation in the memo from Heather and add the four bullets from the memo as an Explanation in the amended resolution.  Seconded by Kathy.  Amendment passed by unanimous vote.  Amended resolution passed by unanimous vote.

d)  Commissioner’s Report – Ed Marx announced the Scenic Resources Inventory vote will be next week, 9/27, at the Women’s Community Building.  Voting is also possible on-line.  The full list was more than 600 locations; from that list, 110 have been selected and the goal is to get down to 20 to 50.  Ed attended a meeting at City Hall yesterday on dredging of Cayuga Inlet.  Senator Winner organized agencies for the meeting.  Senator Winner was emphatic that dredging will happen within two years.  Ed also attended the Mayor’s meeting on 9/11 on affordable housing issues.  Tompkins County is pursuing a renter survey, infill development, working with municipalities, and development of model zoning regulations.  The Town of Ithaca is already looking at incentives in zoning that can lead to more affordable housing development.  Cornell University and Better Housing for Tompkins County are working together to review CU property.  The advisory team for the Route 13 Corridor Study will have their first meeting next week.  Similar issues are coming up on Route 96, and Ed has offered to partner with municipalities on this, but has had no response yet.  Ed recently attended a conference in Syracuse on eco-system based management, which was organized in response to a new NYS law that requires a management approach for the Great Lakes, Hudson River estuaries, and Long Island Sound.  Ed found it very interesting that a speaker on the Lake Superior Management Plan said they are working to eliminate burn barrels because they are the number one global source of dioxin; he commended the county for having already taken that step.

e)  Review of Health Department’s role in housing approvals – John Andersson had provided information with the agenda.  He said he works with terms as they are specifically defined for his job.  Funds for the well inspection program are in the request for the 2007 budget.  Martha asked what John views as constraints to housing density in rural areas, and John said minimum lot sizes are set to assure room for sewage systems and wells.  The existence of natural features is also considered when granting permits.  If the goal is to maximize density, problems are sometimes encountered.  He offered an example of a public water system in a mobile home park that is legal, but has had many headaches over 40 years.

4  Environmental Management Council
a)  2006 Update – Steve Nicholson said this is his 4th year serving as chair.  He is also on the board of directors for NYS Association of EMCs and will be treasurer for that organization next year (Mikel Shakarjian is president.).  EMC is currently enjoying great membership, with all at-large seats filled and municipal vacancies existing only for the villages of Dryden, Freeville and Trumansburg.  Jim Dennis is the liaison from the Legislature.  The burn barrels project won NYSAEMC’s project of the year award last year.  EMC participated in Earth Day, is conducting a bagless shopping campaign, and provides care for an Adopt-A-Highway area.  He reviewed the 2006 committees: Energy, Environmental Review, Invasive Species, Unique Natural Areas, Website and Air Quality.  EMC provides liaisons with Lake Source Cooling, Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Organization, and Ag & Farmland Protection Board.  He reviewed guest speakers they have heard from this year, and noted that he received the most positive feedback in his years as chair after Jon Bosak of T C Local spoke at EMC.  He recommends that PDEQ and/or the full Legislature invite Jon to do a presentation.

5  Strategic Tourism Planning Board – Jackie Kippola noted the Celebration Grants application round is open, and the Ithaca Journal did not publish information from her press release.  9/29 is the application deadline, and if PDEQ members know of anyone who might be interested, she asked that they have them call her.

i)  Review of Programs and Board – Carol Chock distributed the budget page that is part of the evaluation reports for grant recipients.  STPB actions work toward drawing tourists and providing a sense of place.  They have collected $1.3 million in room tax revenue since the start of the program, although the economic return is much higher than that (local sales tax and additional spending by visitors).  The questionnaire that was included with the agenda was developed to rate the effectiveness of grant programs and oversight provided.  This will be used in a review process for updates and improvements to STPB programs.  Questionnaires are due 9/22, and then the committee will review them.  They expect the economic impact analysis to require a professional review.  Survey results will be brought to PDEQ and the Legislature.

ii)  Review Administrative Fees to CVB, CAP and TCAD – Scott Wiggins said 10% of total grant program costs go to the administering agencies.  There are no admin fees for marketing, new initiatives, and Celebrations.  Beautification is sometimes over 10%, is currently 14%, which is being reviewed to see if it can be brought back to 10%, although he feels they earn every penny.  The County also gets admin money.  STPB feels it’s time to start looking at having more staff at the County or elsewhere to manage the programs.  As the programs grow, so does the administration.  Frank said he would like to see dollar amounts of administration, time expended on them, and grant amounts.  Jackie will provide that information.  Carol said the evaluation process involved dialog with administrators, and STPB was impressed with their work and workload.  Scott said the STPB also has a Budget Committee that reviews admin expenses.

iii)  Review Beautification Grants – Jean McPheeters said the Chamber of Commerce started Beautifications Grants in 2000, before the room tax was increased.  Stu Stein worked for the increase in the room tax when he was on the Board of Representatives, and when it was instituted the Beautification program expanded.  Last year it changed to making payments to the municipalities and having them arrange the in-kind workers.  Chrys Gardener provided a handout on background, new format, recommendations, and the process.  She said the changes this year have led to positive feedback.  Jean pointed out Beautification is actually two types of programs: grants (and administration), and hands-on work and signage.

6  Tompkins County Area Development
a)  Zone Administration Board --  Copies of applications received to date were distributed.  Martha Armstrong said other counties have recommended that we keep the administration board small.  Expansion can occur later if it is warranted.  Creation of a six-person board would get our Empire Zone up and running, and qualify us for incentives.  The Planning Commissioner is the ex-officio Chair, per local law.  Administrators will need training.  73 people have provided email addresses in order to be kept informed on our EZ.  Kathy said she wanted the board to be more diverse and include some downtown residents, although she was not opposed to the names suggested.  It would be a disservice to the community to act to quickly.  She asked if there is time to collect more applications.  Tyke agreed the process has moved too quickly.  Martha Robertson apologized for the rush, and set a deadline of 9/27 for applications.  A special meeting will be held at 4 PM prior to the 10/3 Legislature meeting to review and select appointments.  Bylaws are not written yet, and will establish terms of service.  Frank asked that a summary of EZ rules and advisory board functions be provided to the Legislature.  Martha Robertson said TCAD’s website provides that information.  Frank asked if TCAD is the only entity that can oversee the EZ.  Martha Armstrong said this is Tompkins County’s Empire Zone, and the Legislature can establish any oversight agency they choose.

7  Tompkins County Assessment
a)  Discussion on Land Banking – Valeria Coggin, Director of Assessment, provided copies of her overview memo from last year, when PDEQ had different membership.   She explained that what is known as land banking is a situation when a not-for-profit organization holds exempt property (particularly if that property is not in their service area), then sells it for a profit.  This is not a big issue in Tompkins County.  Our county has lots of exempt properties in the mandatory class – schools, churches, and municipalities.  There are very few properties that are in the “permissive” exempt class.  She offered as an example YMCA property on Mecklenburg Road that is used for summer day camp.  YMCA could sell it, but they would probably use the income for their programs, so it wouldn’t constitute land banking.  Even the sale for development of the Cascadilla School property, which was mandatory exempt, was what Valeria categorized as “small potatoes”.  About 49% of Tompkins County properties are exempt, most in mandatory exempt categories.  Tompkins County could explore what Sullivan County did to limit permissive exemptions.  It would probably be a vicious cycle, as the agencies that are now in the permissive exempt category (like Planned Parenthood and Suicide Prevention) would be paying property taxes but approaching the County at budget time and requesting funds to keep operating programs that are of value to our community.  The Assessment Department plans to enforce the ag penalty strictly in coming years.  This is where a buyer of land which has had ag assessment does not intend to use it as ag land, and thus is required to pay the difference between ag assessment taxes and new category assessment taxes for the eight years prior to the sale.  In recent years, Assessment has not pursued this on properties of less than 5 acres.

8  Committee Administration
a)  Approval of minutes from August 30, 2006 – The minutes were moved by Jim, seconded by Frank and passed unanimously as submitted.

b)  Meeting time – It was agreed that future meetings will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 PM.

9 Adjournment – the meeting was adjourned at 5:37 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Wilsea, Secretary
Tompkins County Planning Dept.