PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
CANAAN, NY 12029

FEBRUARY 16, 2009



The meeting was called to order at 7:07pm and all Board members were present.

Boundary Line Adjustment for Jon & Dena Harty for property on Route 22

This was carried over from last month. Mr. Harty was unable to be present so he authorized his wife to appear before the Board. The Board went over the outstanding items from last month.
1. Show the old house removed okay
2. Show the driveway okay
3. Need a copy of the original map okay
4. Show the well, septic and electric lines okay

The Board found everything in order.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENT- Ian Hooper
Second-Michael Belknap All in Favor

Roll call Chairman Davis-yes
Ian Hooper-yes
Jennifer Mickle-yes
Pierre Gontier-yes adopted
Joe Davis-yes
Michael Belknap-yes

A fee of $50.00 was collected.

Review and Approval of the December 15, 2008 minutes
MOTION TO APPROVE AS AMENDED-Ian Hooper Second-Joe Davis

Roll call Chairman Davis-abstain
Ian Hooper-yes
Jennifer Mickle-abstain
Pierre Gontier-yes adopted
Joe Davis-yes
Michael Belknap-yes

Review and Approval of the January 19, 2009 minutes

MOTION TO APPROVE AS AMENDED-Joe Davis Second-Pierre Gontier
Planning Board Minutes February 16, 2009 Page 2


Roll call Chairman Davis-yes
Ian Hooper-yes
Jennifer Mickle-yes
Pierre Gontier-yes adopted
Joe Davis-yes
Michael Belknap-abstain

In House Training with Jeremiah Carroll-NYSEG Forester

Mr. Carroll had held a training class for the Board previously in December 2007. He went over a synopsis of what he had previously covered and then continued. He went over a Forest Management Plan and said timber production is the primary goal of that plan. Recreational use can be another goal. In creating a plan, different “crops” are identified such as pulpwood and firewood. In creating a plan, the forester would make sure no endangered species or plants were disturbed. Fishing habitats would be identified. He would plan for soil disturbance, avoiding erosion and identify wetlands. Ian asked if NY State encourages landowners to manage their land and Mr. Carroll said yes that it is promoted for water quality and to keep erosion down. Both Ian and Michael said they had problems with this program. Ian said it was bureaucratic and Michael said he had been enrolled in the plan and withdrew, stating it was too much trouble. Pierre asked about clear cutting and asked if that meant you clear all trees and remove all stumps. Mr. Carroll said no, clear cutting is taking down all of the trees in a specific area but leaving the stumps behind. Michael said there is a life cycle to trees and they should be cut on that basis and asked if that was a good thing. Mr. Carroll said young viable healthy trees are good but some people like the older trees kept.

Mr. Carroll said in creating a plan, an assessment is done by counting the basal level of the trees to determine the action needed (if any). There may be no action at this time or maybe only taking out junk trees and leaving the best. He stated the landowner would need to get a stream crossing permit from DEC when crossing a stream for a timber harvest. Mr. Carroll went over several insects and invasive species which can greatly effect forest protection. Some of these included: the Asian longhorn beetle and giant hogweed. He spoke about maintaining property boundaries and said this would help prevent timber theft. He said the harvest of trees is usually a 15 year program. He showed the Board several pieces of equipment which he uses to collect data for a management plan; these would include a GPS system, a prism, a diameter tape, a compass and a tree scale stick. This concluded his training (which lasted 1 and ½ hours).

This training completes the requirement for the Planning Board for this year since each of the Board members had attended a Pace University class for 7 hours. Four of those hours were credited to 2008 and the remaining 3 were credited for 2009.

Planning Board Meeting February 16, 2009 Page 3


Correspondence
1. Notice of the Columbia Land Conservancy breakfast on March 28th at Time & Space in Hudson.
2. Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna’s bill for December 2008.
3. Erdman, Anthony bill for services from 11/2/08-1/10/09.
4. Copy of an email sent from C. Ciolfi to D. Everett on 1/30/09 re: resolution.
5. Letter dated 1/26/09 from Clerk to the Town Clerk re: appointment of the Deputy Chairman.
6. December 30, 2008 ZBA minutes.
7. January 2009 ZEO report.
8. Talk of the Towns Jan./Feb issue.
9. Packet of material on windpower from Green in Greene.

Additional items
1. Ron updated the Board on the last bills sent to Mariner. Mr. Ciolfi’s boss had a problem with the estimated price of the last review by Linda Stancliffe for the geological study and the actual construction site.

2. The Board talked about windpower again since a representative from Green in Greene had approached the Board this evening and left his materials. Ron thinks there should be a committee formed and thinks a letter should be sent to the Town Board requesting this. Pierre feels a committee would be a bad idea and feels the Planning Board can do this on their own. Ron thinks the Town Board went over their authority. Ron asked Michael and Ian to draft a letter for this Board to look at in March. Pierre feels if the Planning Board is going to do that it should be in conjunction with ridgeline protection.

3. Ron said he had spoken to Pat Pulver and Mr. Pulver feels the fee schedule for permits etc. should be revised. He cited the cell tower fee as an example. Canaan’s fee is $50.00 and New Lebanon’s is $5000.00. Mr. Pulver thinks it should be between $350 and $500.

There was no more business before the Board.

MOTION TO ADJOURN-Ian Hooper Second-Jennifer Mickle All in Favor
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50pm.


Respectfully submitted,


Tammy C. Flaherty
Planning Board Clerk

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