Twelfth Meeting
CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN
INTERMUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION (IO) MEETING
2/23/00, 7:00 – 9:00 P.M.
LEDYARD TOWN HALL

MINUTES


Attendees:
David Morehouse (Town of Ledyard)-R*
Chuck Howell (Town of Scipio)-R*
Sylvia Hurlbut (Town of Ledyard)-RA*
Don Franklin (Town of Genoa)-R*
Kathy Bertuch (CNY RPDB)
Katrina Greeley (Town of Lansing)-R*
Ken Zabriskie (Village of Aurora)-R*
Bruce Johnson (Village of Freeville)
Craig Schutt (Tompkins Cty. SWCD)
David Zorn (GFLRPC)
Linda Wagenet (Cornell Center for the Envir.)
Sharon Anderson (Tompkins Co.)-RA*
Barbara Stewart (Village of Interlaken)-R*
Jeff Warrick (Town of Seneca Falls)-R*
Dan Winch (Tompkins County)
Deb Grantham (Town of Dryden)-R
Kevin Millington (NYS DOS)
Jose Lozano (City of Ithaca)
Kate Hackett (Tompkins County Planning)
Katrina Greely (Town of Lansing)-RA*

R = designated representative for municipality
RA = designated alternate rep. for municipality
*Municipality has signed and submitted the “Call For Cooperation” (intermunicipal agreement)

I. Welcome, Introductions, Approval of Minutes: Meeting began at 7:00 P.M. S. Hurlbut
welcomed everyone. Introductions were made of all attendees. Acceptance of minutes from 10/27/99 and 12/15/99 meetings moved by D. Morehouse. Seconded by J. Warrick. All voted in favor. Motion carried.

II. Municipal Cash Contributions: S. Hurlbut circulated a sheet on which each municipal
representative was asked to indicate the cash amount and expected contribution date their municipality has agreed to. Noting that villages have not yet completed their budget processes no deadline has been established for cash contributions to be made during the 2000 calendar year. Contribution commitment letters and payment vouchers will be sent to each municipality via U.S. Mail. It was noted that the Village of Freeville will contribute at a level different from the requested level and that their contribution will be accepted.

III. Tompkins County Sound Science Initiative: J. Lozano stated that the Initiative is an
attempt to make scientific watershed research and findings known by those who will benefit from its use. The Initiative grew out of the watershed approach to natural resources management and environmental compliance which is based on watershed level, multi-disciplinary, multi jurisdictional partnerships, defensible management strategies and sound management techniques based on science and technology. Increasingly, grants require functional relationships between academic researchers and municipalities. L. Wagenet stated that the partnership between Cornell University and the Town and City of Ithaca is unique. Its hoped that this initiative will help raise awareness among watershed researchers about other watershed research projects they might not otherwise be aware of. The initiative is the basis for a proposal that has been submitted to the National Science Foundation for the development of a Lake Institute for the Greater Finger Lakes Region (including Onondaga and Oneida Lakes). Private funds are also being pursued. Several major academic institutions support the proposal. K. Hackett stated that there is a real need to coordinate the many projects underway in the watershed. This Initiative offers many opportunities for collaboration between researchers. J. Lozano requested that the IO vote on becoming a partner in the science based initiative. L. Wagenet indicated that it is important that the Initiative not appear to be solely Tompkins County/Ithaca based. Having the IO as a partner will open it up to the entire watershed. D. Grantham questioned what responsibilities the IO would have as a partner. L. Wagenet replied there would be none. The immediate objective is to keep people communicating. B. Johnson stated that data gathering is not science. L. Wagenet responded that the name of the Initiative is not firmly established and that it is intended to act as a bridge that will bring science (physical, biological and social) to the public. A motion was made by D. Morehouse for the IO to become a partner in the science-based initiative. D. Grantham seconded. No discussion. All in favor. Motion carried.

IV. Proposed IO Bylaws: S. Hurlbut Asked for volunteers to serve on a Bylaw Committee.
The Committee is expected to review previously proposed bylaws and comments submitted by IO members and report back to the IO in March. At that time it is expected that the Committee will have developed a comprehensive set of IO bylaws based on all input received. D. Morehouse and D. Grantham volunteered to serve on the Bylaw Committee and conduct their review by conference call. D. Kieffer later volunteered (by phone on 2/29/00) to also serve on the Committee. D. Morehouse asked if the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network should be represented on the Bylaw Committee due to the fact that the bylaws of the two organizations will be similar and the Network’s experience might be beneficial. B. Johnson suggested formalizing the IO before attempting to join the two organizations. D. Zorn stated it is wise to resolve any outstanding issues between the two groups before asking for Network input related to IO bylaw issues. J. Lozano suggested that because the objectives of the two organizations are different despite similar goals, it is best to maintain separate rules. B. Johnson stated that the IO might be requested to endorse future Network proposals and so should remain separate to maintain the appearance of objectivity.

V. Watershed Steward: D. Morehouse stated that the first year of the Network’s Watershed
Steward grant will be used to set up an office and pay the Steward’s salary. A schedule has been established for filling the Steward position and a Search Committee (Chaired by Bill Shaw) has been established. The Search Committee is scheduled to recommend finalists for the Steward position to the Network during April/May. It was noted that the search process is running behind schedule and that the position has not formally been advertised. The candidate search will be focused primarily in the Central New York region. The exact role of the Steward has yet to be determined. The Steward will be an employee of the Network but it is possible that there will be a tie in with an as of yet unnamed university. If this is the case the university will become the payee of the Network and administer the Steward’s contract. The point was raised that if a university be nmed as the payee then that university may want to have input on the selection of the Steward. D. Morehouse replied that a vacancy still exists on the Search Committee.

VI. Finance and Grant Committee: D. Allee, D. Morehouse, K.Greely, S. Hurlbut and J.
Lozano will serve on the Finance and Grant Committee. S. Hurlbut stated that the DOS has awarded $179,000 for the 3rd-year of the Cayuga Lake Management Plan project and that local match is currently being sought. The Finance and Grant Committee will look for avenues of funding and will help coordinate funding issues across the watershed so that no actions take place without the knowledge of all interested parties. By virtue of his expertise in the area of finance, S. Hurlbut nominated J. Lozano as Chair of the Finance and Grant Committee. D. Zorn will provide an overview of available funding sources to the Committee at their first meeting.

VII. Agricultural Committee: The Agriculture Committee has met twice. Membership is made
up of representatives from the Cortland, Schuyler, Tompkins and Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation Districts and NRCS. Membership will soon include farmers from the watershed. Farmer membership was postponed until their role on the Committee could be clearly defined. Watershed farmers are being nominated for membership by local agency staff as they are familiar with members of the agricultural community and are in the best position to identify best-suited representatives. S. Hurlbut stated that sections of the draft Characterization pertaining to agriculture have been compiled by D. Zorn. Farmers on the Agricultural Committee will respond to the compilation and develop a plan for addressing the Ag. related issues. The response plan will be incorporated into the Management Plan. D. Zorn congratulated C. Schutt for doing a great job getting the Agriculture Committee up and running.

VIII. Public Participation Update: Sharon Anderson was congratulated for doing a great job on
the 3 public participation meetings. Media coverage was good and total turnout for the 3 meetings was estimated to be 155. Approximately 520 comments were collected from the small group discussions at the meetings as well as through the mail and by e-mail. Some comments are more appropriate for the management plan and will be carried forward. The Cornell Lake Source Cooling (LSC) project drew a lot of attention. It was noted that the IO should be represented on the LSC data sharing group once it is established. L. Wagenet stated that all available information regarding the project will be made available on the Internet so as not to exclude any group or interested party from having full access to all data. D. Franklin stated that an agreement to form a Citizen Based Committee exists, but the Committee has not met. Cornell intends to provide full access to all data. It was noted that $50K over a 10 year period has been made available by the Town of Ithaca for someone to check the LSC data. Concern was raised that if the current data exists only to satisfy DEC permit requirements then it may not answer many ecological questions. B. Johnson stated the importance for open data sharing at a level the public will understand. S. Hurlbut asked if anyone was interested in serving on data review. D. Winch will talk to his contacts at LSC and report back to the IO. The question of whether the Technical Committee would be best suited to serve on review was raised. D. Zorn will relay D. Winch’s report to the Technical Committee. J. Lozano received a 7-page data summary report that he will forward to D. Zorn for review by the Technical Committee.

S. Anderson felt that recent outreach efforts were weighted toward the Ithaca area and challenged the IO to become more involved in public participation. S. Hurlbut asked for final comments on the draft Characterization. D. Zorn noted that comments will strengthen the report and feels the public participation meetings helped move the process into the management-planning phase. He thanked the Technical Committee for their long and hard work and noted that L. Wagenet was the only member of the Technical Committee to attend all 3 public participation forums. D. Grantham suggested that groundwater receive greater attention and noted the existence of an aquifer study in Tompkins County as a source of additional groundwater data. D. Franklin stated that the public participation meetings allowed people to understand the process a little better and that there is a need to always have an active Education Committee. D. Morehouse suggested that there is a need to incorporate data on MTBE into the report. He suspects MTBE will emerge as a major issue within one year. He also suggested that the Seneca/Cayuga landfill be addressed. D. Zorn stated that there is commitment to addressing the landfill and associated issues but because it is outside of the watershed, it is outside of the DOS contract. K. Hackett stated that the Characterization is a luxury with or without the existing data gaps. B. Stewart stated the Village of Interlaken ran out of drinking water a few years ago and is having a difficult time obtaining grants to address very basic, very critical issues yet an estimated $3 million was made available for the Owasco Lake watershed study.


IX. Set Date and Agenda for Next IO Meeting The next regular IO meeting will be held at

7:00 P.M. on Wednesday 3/22/00 in Seneca Falls. Refreshments will start at 6:30. At that meeting the Bylaw Committee will review their proposed product; D. Winch will provide a LSC data review update; the Grant and Finance Committee will report on their actions; and municipal representatives will be asked to finalize their financial commitment.

D. Zorn stated that in the absence of changes to the Bond Act funding process, the Technical Committee will be required to submit interim implementation recommendations. He suggested that municipalities should begin to develop their project lists for the Technical Committee to review. Project lists should be complete by May.


D. Grantham and L. Wagenet have been involved in developing a series of T.V programs devoted to environmental issues for homeowners. The programs will be shown on WSKG from 10:00 to 10:30 on Saturday mornings through April 1. A survey has been developed to test how effectively the programs have communicated the issues to homeowners.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.


SUMMARY OF VOTES


ITEM
 OUTCOME
Vote to accept the 10/27/99 and 12/15/99 IO meeting minutes.
Carried (unanimously)
Vote for the Intermunicipal Organization to become a partner in the science based initiative sponsored by Tompkins County.
Carried (all in favor)


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Contact the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization.
Call 315-364-5707 or email info@cayugawatershed.org

CLW IO 2000