I Committee Administration

A Call to Order
 
        Vice Chair Peter Penniman called the meeting to order at 2:10 PM.

B Agenda Changes

Ed asked to add two categories to his Commissioner’s Report:  Advisory Board Support and Local Government Assistance.  Martha asked to add public land.  Kathy had an additional advisory board appointment for the committee to consider.

Dooley arrived at 2:14, but asked Peter to continue leading the meeting due to laryngitis.
C Approval of Minutes

Motion by Nancy to approve the minutes of 10/17 (regular), 10/17 (special) and 10/30 (special).  Seconded by Martha.  Martha submitted some minor changes and the minutes were approved unanimously.

Kathy pointed out to committee members that the 10/17 special meeting minutes have a comment made by Ken Miller on page 4 that Onondaga, Broome, and Monroe defeated the Neighbor Notification Law.  The minutes reflect what Mr. Miller said at the meeting, but the information was not accurate.  Kathy pointed out that although Onondaga did defeat NNL, the Broome County EMC did not recommend opting in (as this committee was informed in 2001), and the Monroe County EMC recommended opting in, but the legislature has not addressed it.

D Announcements

Dooley announced that Tompkins Community Action took seriously the need of the public to gather information about choice of electricity suppliers.  TCA had a workshop on Saturday, 11/16, with representatives from MEGA, NYSEG Solutions, and Community Wind.  No representative attended from ESCOS.  TCA intends to set up another meeting on 12/7.  Also, EMC Energy Committee will prepare a news article for the Ithaca Journal.  Peter said he hired someone to check into this for his business purposes, but does not have their report yet.

Dooley asked committee members to consider a name for the Neighborhood Notification Law.  The choice for a name should be established by next Monday, 11/25.  There will be another NNL stakeholders meeting on 11/22 at 9 AM.

E Advisory Board Reports Discussion

Ed asked if it is okay with committee members to stop having EMC and WRC on the agenda monthly for routine updates.  All committee members already get agendas and minutes from these two advisory boards.  Staff members would still answer any questions and bring information to the committee about special projects.

It was agreed to eliminate EMC and WRC routine staff updates at committee meetings.  Kathy will contact SWCD and other liaisons to get written information to be distributed with the Planning Committee agenda, as those reports have been rare, although Dan Winch has provided some.

II Environmental Management Council

Nancy and Heather reported that the City of Ithaca will begin sending a person to EMC from their Conservation Advisory Council.  Peter asked if Ulysses and Trumansburg were currently represented.  Heather said Ulysses is, but Trumansburg is not.  Ideally, that seat should be someone from the Trumansburg CAC.  Heather noted that she received an application from a Cornell University student for an at-large seat.  The Nominating Committee has nominated Herb Engman and Steve Nicholson for Chair.  Both are currently Vice Chairs.  The Council will vote at the December 11th meeting.  Vote on new Vice Chairs will be held in January.

Dooley expressed concern about WRC Chair being a member of the BOR.  Joan said technically Frank doesn’t represent the Board of Representatives, but the Board of Health.  Nancy said she had this concern before when Board members chaired advisory boards.  This concern should be referred to the Government Operations Committee.

Martha said there was discussion at the Ag & Farmland Protection Board recently on horse trails. She requested that use by horses be added to the Unique Natural Areas committee review of impact by users on trails through UNAs.  She noted trails identified for use by riders might be part of an attractive package for tourism.  Heather said her letter to the UNA committee chair mentioned snowmobiles and other uses.  She will add horses to the review.  Ed and Dooley both mentioned they have heard comments from riders on the shortage of trails for use with horses.

III Intermunicipal Organization

G Call for Cooperation

No copies of the original document have been located.  Dooley has obtained a copy of last year’s agreement signed by Cayuga Heights.  Dooley thought the new form received by Tompkins County was worded as an initial agreement for the formation of an IO.  Martha suggested editing to say “continue participation in” instead of “form and send representatives to”.   Members noted typos*.

Martha made a motion to adopt the agreement with the change, contingent upon approval of the agreement by County Attorney Jonathan Wood.  Seconded by Dooley.  Passed 4:0.

IV Water Resources Council

The two agenda items were not finalized at the WRC meeting on 11/18, so will appear on the December Planning Committee agenda.

Peter Penniman asked that the personal watercraft recommendations be distributed to committee members with the next WRC minutes.

V Planning Department

J Commissioner’s Report

GML 239 Review Highlights – Ed said most of the 239 reviews have been routine.  Recently the City of Ithaca submitted their telecommunication tower zoning for review.  The Planning Department made comments on clarity of intent, but they passed the law without change.  Staff recently reviewed subdivision and SEQR laws for Trumansburg, and met with municipal staff, which was very helpful.  Staff has been in contact with the Village of Groton on zoning and administration.  There are attempts to clarify what needs to be submitted for the review process.  Planning Department staff intends to develop local agreements to limit the types of §239 actions that the Department will need to review.

Ed said he just received the draft environmental impact statement on the City of Ithaca Downtown Development project, which includes all of Cayuga Green and Cornell Ciminelli; comments are due December 20th.  He said the City voted last night to fund the parking project.  Peter said IDA hasn’t voted yet on tax abatement for the Ciminelli project.  Now the City will come for help with the parking garage.  Nancy said the difficult issues of process continue, and are nothing new.  She wondered if a generic message can be issued regarding City procedure.  Ed said it’s relevant for the County to comment regarding impact on County facilities, too.  The City voted to progress the Cayuga Green parking design work and, to some extent, the not-to-exceed price, which implies the project will proceed as scoped.  Dooley noted an increase in parking is necessary for the Ciminelli project to proceed.  Ed said there are very legitimate questions on the timeline.  The SEQR review was arranged by the City staff.  Peter asked if all parties can meet regarding the overall environmental and fiscal impacts.  He asked if there will be any venue for public comment.  Ed said there will be a comment period on the SEQR.  The court system and County facilities downtown create demand off-site for about 450 parking spaces, so parking issues impact County government.  He wondered if it would be appropriate for the BOR chair to contact the mayor to institute opportunities for staff and elected officials to meet.  With respect to process, Dooley said it was considered a victory to put both projects in the same environmental impact statement.  She noted that being briefed on and brought up to speed on transportation and parking issues were included in the Planning Committee goals for this year.  She just received the County parking guidelines from Steve Whicher.  Ed said the Space Needs & Location Committee is also looking at County parking.

Peter suggested a joint meeting of the County and City Planning Committees.  This could focus on downtown development.  Nancy felt it belonged with the Space Needs & Location committee.  Martha said Thys VanCort and Gary Ferguson recently came to a Space & Location meeting.  In her view there are two problems – how to intelligently respond to the EIS and how to speed up the process.  Peter said Ed is our link for economic development and planning, and would be the appropriate person to begin setting up a joint meeting.  Ed said he can talk to Tim Joseph and see about setting up something.  He noted Barbara Mink is still chair of IDA, and she and Tim Joseph have had discussions with the City on some of these issues.  Dooley commented that while the County has a Planning Committee, the City Council committees have had little to do with these projects under discussion.  The projects came from the executive office.  Because of the way things have been done in the City, it may not be as productive to bring the two committees together, but she, too, favors such a meeting.  Peter said some education needs to be done on the EIS, issues relating to space needs, and economic development/tax base.

Ed will contact Tim Joseph about arranging a meeting, but noted any such meeting would need a clear agenda.

Flood Hazard Mitigation – The final details of the contracts are being ironed out with Milone & MacBroom of Connecticut.

Comprehensive Plan – The last meeting in the series to gather input will be held tonight.  Results will go to the Planning Advisory Board, then this committee.  Those steps will be followed by  gathering of municipal perspective and community groups’ perspective, and a public comment period.  Major issues so far have been water, land use, open space, and transportation.  Attendance has been sparse.  The Municipal Officials Association has formed a group that will be used for this and other purposes.  The City will be included in any meeting with TCPD.  Ed wants to coordinate on the agenda, and TCPD will facilitate meetings on the Comprehensive Plan.

Enfield Economic Development – TCPD helped Enfield apply for a technical assistance grant through the Governor’s Office for Small Cities.  This will develop an economic development strategy.  TCPD agreed to supply staff support, and had hoped to do so under the proposed municipal assistance agreement program.

Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund – Three pre-applications were received.  Applicants have been interviewed, and Ed expects one or two to proceed to full applications and have at least one business get a loan.  This proceeds through the Economic & Workforce Development Committee and then to the BOR for approval.

Municipal Assistance – This was discussed at the Planning Advisory Board this week.  The proposed program would provide budget planning plusses for the County and municipalities.  The municipalities would experience less initial cost, and have the contract phased over three years.  With the current status of having a staff vacancy, Ed requested firm direction from the Board.  Peter said he is opposed to the County funding a position for local technical assistance.  He felt the plan itself was excellent.  If possible, he would like to see agreements worked out with municipalities, but doesn’t want to subsidize it.  He thinks the municipalities are in better fiscal positions than the County.  Nancy said there is a need to have coordination and communication between the municipalities and corresponding BOR members.  She felt some members of the BOR are not aware of the functions of the Planning Department.  Ed said he needs to have something to propose and begin the dialogue with municipalities when they have an agenda item to work on with TCPD.

Peter left at 3:30 PM, and Dooley took over chairing the meeting.

Dooley said at the PAB meeting, they learned about the range of fees that had been charged in the past for Circuit Rider services.  The funds from this program would support half of a staff position.  Joan said the dollar figures mentioned at PAB would be the range under the new program.  In the past, fees have sometimes been larger than $6,000 for one project.  The fees collected only paid salary and fringe for staff person(s) assigned to the project – no overhead.  Under the new program, if all municipalities except the City and Town of Ithaca signed up, the combined revenue would support half of the salary and fringe for one staff position.  This is meant to smooth out budget issues for the department and the municipalities.  What Peter mentioned as “subsidize” would be the County budget support for the rest of that staff position.  Rollovers would start the program when only some of the municipalities sign up at the beginning.

Martha sought to clarify that the Planning Department wants to know if the BOR will cut more staff, because if that is the scenario this program would not be started.  Ed and Joan said that is correct.  Dooley asked which municipalities are ready now.  Ed speculated that Enfield, Danby, Village of Lansing, and Town of Dryden are likely, plus Caroline just created a Planning Board.  Joan said Groton is ready to work on a comprehensive plan.  Dooley felt it would be helpful if the municipalities would speak with their BOR member of the importance of having this available.  Ed said he did not want to speak out of turn and put any municipality on the spot.  Martha suggested drafting a cash flow chart.  Dooley felt since the Democrats have a majority of the Board, they need to address this as a group.

Dooley provided some comments on the sheet Ed handed out.  She would like to see listed the standard services that will continue.  She questions VIII D – not providing support for grant applications.  Ed said that would be available for an additional fee, and maybe he can flesh out what was meant there.  Dooley felt the proposal needed to mention that a variety of expertise will still be available, and that the contract didn’t cover contact with just one staff person.  Ed said it is important not to overcommit the department’s resources.  Dooley asked if Ed had taken the Sr. Planner vacancy to the fiscal management committee.  Ed said he hasn’t, as he and Joan haven’t figured out yet how to implement the newest $20,000 cut.

Advisory Board Support – Ed said Kathy Wilsea will begin doing agendas, minutes, and routine support for EMC, WRC, and PAB.  This will free up some more time for substantive work by planning staff.

Addition to Agenda – Public Land:  Fleming Meadows

Martha Robertson reported that she spoke with Mac Larson about the Coreorgonel site discussed last month.  Mr. Larson thought it was a great idea to sell it to the State Park system.  He noted  there is a Tutelo Indian site in the Town of Ithaca, which the Town plans to make into a park.  He suggested contacting Jack Rossin at Ithaca College.  Ed said it was probably not the site of the village.  He felt the State would be a good steward.  Katie Borgella noted the parcel has no access.  Martha said Mr. Larson thought the location was once cultivated land.  Dooley mentioned she has had difficulty accessing an appropriate person at Cornell’s American Indian program.

K SEQR Policy

Katie Borgella had additional copies of the three documents available, although the draft documents were unchanged from the last meeting.  Ed said IDA staff have had some discussions on the topic.  He said Jonathan Wood remains opposed to writing policy for IDA in a County document.  It is his opinion that most IDA projects requiring County Board approval are not subject to SEQR or are Type II actions.  Also, IDA is currently reviewing their procedures.  Dooley said Jonathan Wood agrees with Bond Counsel about the need for the review only to be consistent with Internal Revenue Service code, but when she reviewed the Bond Counsel memo, that states that if as a policy matter the County deems it necessary or prudent to make its own finding under SEQR, that is appropriate but they don’t want the project delayed.  That is consistent with comments by DEC last year.  Dooley spoke with Mike Stamm and his comment was that IDA hopes to rely on TCPD expertise.  She would like IDA to set its procedures in place before the County adopts a policy without reference to IDA responsibilities.  Ed said he is chose to be guided by/defer to the County Attorney.  IDA will not finish their review before the County hopes to adopt SEQR policy changes.  Nancy said she is not confident that the same concerns are being addressed.  The IDA seems to view SEQR as excess baggage.  Nancy needs to be assured things will be addressed.

Martha asked if Jonathan Wood thought paragraph #3 in the current draft was not necessary.  Ed said Jonathan’s comment was that it “shouldn’t” be included.  Since IDA is an independent agency, Tompkins County has no business telling it what to do.

Martha made a motion to include a reworded paragraph 3:  “Actions of the County IDA which require County Legislature approval should follow the procedures as indicated herein for a County department or agency.  When the only involved agencies for the action are the IDA and the County Legislature, the IDA shall be the lead agency.”

Ed said Jonathan’s point was that the County is establishing policy for an independent agency.  Dooley suggested adding “until such time as the IDA has its own SEQR policy in place.”  Joan said an IDA project submitted through Economic & Workforce Development Committee would trigger checks.  The committee can require the County to do their steps as established in the policy.  Katie offered Lake Source Cooling as an example of a SEQR review that was poorly done.  Martha wanted to make sure the SEQR requirements are met in a timely fashion.  Ed said the policy can require IDA to include documentation of SEQR review.  They have a responsibility to review.  Lots of agencies have no policy, but follow the law.  Dooley said documentation submitted might merely be a statement that they reviewed someone else’s SEQR EAF on the project, with no consideration of the steps or points reviewed.  She would consider that inadequate.

Katie went on to discuss language used later in the draft.  In paragraph 9, the issue was that the old policy gave EMC 15 working days for review, and the draft changes that to 30 days.  Jonathan Wood wanted that to remain at 15 working days.  The other issue was the mention of all Unlisted or Type I actions taken by the County should go to EMC and other appropriate advisory board.  The question is whether or not all Unlisted actions should go to the EMC if they clearly do not have environmental significance, and she sought clarification for who would make that decision.  Joan and Katie felt that could be decided at the Planning Department.

Ed noted all Type I and major Unlisted actions will be  subject to County project approval process.  That process could have its own criteria.  Dooley said if that’s a dollar criterion, it is not satisfactory.

Motion regarding rewording of paragraph 3 was seconded by Nancy.  Vote on motion was 3:0.

Nancy left at 4:20 PM.

Ed sought approval to share this draft with other departments and board members to gather input.  He said Steve Whicher wants to see it move forward this year.  Ed proposed sending copies to BOR, advisory boards and department heads.  Ed will draft a cover memo and ask that comments be directed to the Planning Committee.  Katie asked which versions should be distributed.  Dooley said the original and the current draft (without the strikethroughs).
 

VI Appointments

Due to lack of a quorum, appointments were not reviewed.  A special meeting will be scheduled before the 12/17/02 BOR meeting to address these appointments and the slates of WRC and EMC.  Dooley asked Kathy to get Ron Updike’s attendance records from Soil & Water Conservation District.
 

VII Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:26 PM.