ECC Meeting Minutes – February 2021

Town of Rochester Environmental Conservation Commission
Minutes for Tuesday, March 30, 2021 – 6:30pm
Video recording can be viewed on YouTube: www.bit.ly/TORECC-YouTube

In attendance:
Madeline Russo (ECC Chair)
John Messerschmidt (ECC Vice Chair)
Mark Diedrich (ECC member)
Heather Eckardt (ECC member)
Judith Karpova (ECC member)
Absent:
Tim Ganon (ECC member)
Guests:
Ann Belmont (public)
Todd Anderson (public)

Public Hearing Re: Proposal to Amend TOR Comprehensive Plan
Follow up discussion regarding the public comments received at last week’s public hearing. Ann Belmont brought to the ECC the concern that the public has not been properly informed on the subject and that the ECC could be effective in helping to address concerns, many of which were related to the Critical Environmental Area proposal. ECC members discussed reviewing the letters (if they are made public by the Town), identifying the main points of concern, and preparing responses to those concerns to help build support.
Upcoming Events
> Earth Week Clean-Up (TOR Rec Dept.): April 17-18 and April 24-25
> Riversweep: May 1st on Berme Road (same location as tire pull)
> Watershed Educational Park Clean Up: May 22nd canceled
> June Tire Pull: June 19th
> Third Thursday Nature Series Presentations: Note from Madeline: Technical issues with uploading this month’s bird watching presentation by Mark Diedrich and Scott Baldinger, but hope to fix soon. Upcoming schedule of speakers:
April: Watershed Educational Park
May: Laura Chávez Silverman of The Outside Institute (Intro to Foraging)
June: Judith Karpova (energy efficiency)
July: John Thompson of CRISP (invasive insects)
August: Chris Spratz (wildlife tracking)
Wildlife Corridor/209 Underpass Animal Tracking:
Chris Spatz of Rosendale sent his report on tracks found at each of the underpasses/corridors that Judith listed in her survey earlier this month. Discussion of soliciting “citizen scientists” to share their wildlife/trail cameras with us, or put them up themselves and let us know what they find. Will consider advertising in our upcoming ECC e-newsletter. We also need to reach out to Wawarsing ECC for collaboration on this as well.
44/55 Wawarsing ECC Beautification Co-Project Update:
Mikala updated the group that she is now working with Hank Alicandri on the project since person that Mikala was working on this with has moved away. They are working on obtaining a maintenance agreement with the DOT, as well as preparing for permitting process and cost estimate updates.