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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC-05/06/2026 a 1` �QSu�Fot�c Carol Brown,Chairperson Town Hall,53095 Route 25 Lauren Standish,Secretary ��®1 � P.O.Box 1179 Southold,New York 11971-0959 Fax(631)765-1823 Telephone(631)765-1889 CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL TOWN OF SOUTHOLD MINUTES Wed., May 6, 2026 4:30 PM Conference Room and Zoom Online Platform A meeting of the Southold Town Conservation Advisory Council was held on Wed., May 6, 2026 in the Town Hall Conference Room and via Zoom. Present were: Carol Brown, Chairperson Maggie Merrill, Member Inga Van Eysden, Member Nancy May, Member Barbara Friedman, Member Alexa Annunziata, Member Phoebe Faint, Student Member Brian Mealy, Town Board Liaison Lauren Standish, Secretary Absent: Burke Liburt, Member Eric Sepenoski, Board of Trustees Liaison Trevor Fitzgerald, Student Member Guest: Anne Murray, NFEC CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Carol Brown called the meeting to order at 4:30pm. ANNOUNCEMENTS Carol Brown shared her enthusiasm with the members on all they have accomplished over the past months ie. Town Hall Native Garden, Environmental Expo and the YETI Trail Clean-ups. 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Alexa Annunziata, seconded by Maggie Merrill, to Approve the Minutes of April 8, 2026. REPORTS Youth Environmental Council Update —Trail Clean-up and Next Steps Phoebe Faint reported that members of the YETI participated in a trail restoration at Arshamomaque Preserve. Thank you to John Sepenoski for bringing the materials for the clean-up. The full story can be found in the East End Beacon. YETI will begin working on their Oyster Reef project soon. Future trail clean-up projects will take place on May 16th at Pipes Cove and June 13th — location TBD. John Sepenoski will attend the next YETI meeting on May 27th,at 6:30pm at the Peconic Community Center. Nancy May attended the Board of Trustees Meeting held on April 15th. She reported the application made on behalf of 1090 First Street, New Suffolk was quite contentious and subsequently denied. The application made on behalf of 10715 Soundview Avenue, Southold was also denied. Inga VanEysden offered to put together an outline for the CAC members attending future meetings of the Board of Trustees. CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITIES PROGRAM-UPDATES CSC Pledge Letter Update-Councilman Mealy confirmed the letter was received by the Town Board. He will remind them to review the letter and report back to the CAC. NEW AND CONTINUED DISCUSSIONS/UPDATES • Environmental Expo Evaluation — Carol Brown reported that there were over 200 people at the expo and 13 organizations overall. 41 people brought items for repair, 91 items brought in, and 81 were repaired to advice given on what to do or what part to get next. A total of 8 bicycles were repaired, 13 articles of clothing repaired, 7 lamps, 8 tools/appliances, and 42 knives/shears/scissors were sharpened. Thank you to Theresa Dilworth, North Fork Audubon, and Taralynn Reynolds, GFEE for the donation of supplies. Alexa Annunziata will send out a Google Survey for feedback, which will be available for review at the next meeting. Looking ahead for next year, Maggie is going to put the call out earlier, work with NFEC and Nick Krupski on a date for 2027 (April 3rd)? • Planting of Town Hall Native Garden and Scheduling Maintenance— Inga VanEysden will send an e-mail to Supervisor Krupski requesting town employee assistance with the watering of the newly planted native garden. She will then poll the CAC members to schedule a regular garden maintenance day, which will take place one a week for one hour. Erick Haas from the Dept. of Public Works 3 has agreed to install a fence around the garden. There was also a discussion regarding the possibility of getting a rain barrel for watering. • Skip the Stuff Presentation — Councilman Mealy said the presentation to the Town Board was well-received as a first step. They were in agreement that there should be an education component, but there was concern with enforcement capacity. The CAC agreed that they were interested in moving forward with education, the Surfrider Petition and come up with a model policy. Alexa will ask Brody and Jenna about public outreach through local groups ie. Greenport BID. Alexa will work on a request from the CAC to the Town Board to support an education campaign, with additional information from the Surfrider Foundation. • Resident's Guide —The CAC received a list of edits from the Water Advisory Committee. Alexa will need some time to review the edits and integrate into the draft. She will re-send the draft to the CAC members for review prior to the June meeting. Once the CAC has finalized the document it will be forwarded to the Town Board and the Town Attorney for their review. • Land/Tree Clearing Code —The CAC members reviewed a draft Land Disturbance Ordinance from the Town of Southampton, which was discussed by the Town Board at their work session on May 5th. What does the committee want to see in a tree code? What infrastructure does the Town need to manage this? The members will read the draft and come back with their recommendations. Phoebe will share the draft with the YETI members. Moved by Alexa Annunziata, seconded by Maggie Merrill it was RESOLVED to cancel the regular monthly meeting of the Conservation Advisory Council scheduled for Wed., August 5th Vote of Council: Ayes: All Motion Carried The next meeting of the Conservation Advisory Council is scheduled for Wed., June 3, 2026 at 4:30PM in the Conference Room. There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Lauren M. Standish, Secretary Conservation Advisory Council