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The Tompkins County Council of Governments ial Gas Drilling Impact(TCCOG), by unanimous vote of those present, agreed to commission a land use analysis and impact assessment project, examining the effects horizontal gas drilling could have on Tompkins County.

The analysis, entitled “Community Impact Assessment:  The Potential Impact of Hydrofracking on Land Use, Community Character, and the Economy in Tompkins County,” will be based on a similar land use study for Middlefield, NY, conducted by the firm GREENPLAN, Inc., and was recommended by TCCOG’s Gas Drilling Task Force.

The Council approved securing professional services of GREENPLAN to complete the study, for a fee not to exceed $10,000, on the condition that funding for the study can be secured from various sources, such as private foundations, individuals, and other local entities.  TCCOG also approved formation of a steering committee to negotiate the contract, secure necessary funding, oversee the study, and act as principal local contact for the consultant.

Gas Drilling Task Force member Art Pearce said the intent of the study is to provide an information source that will serve as a “reasoned and careful assessment “ for decision makers, such as landowners, municipal officials, educators, business owners, and economic development agencies, so that they can make sound choices relating to the issue.  Pearce noted that much of the project will involve compiling work that has already been done, adding the outside prospective of the consultant.  Building upon the framework of the Middlefield study, it will incorporate updates in expected State regulations, based on the most recent regulatory document from the Department of Environmental Conservation.  Although a countywide study, the assessment will include also examine anticipated impact on individual municipalities within the county.

Next month, TCCOG will consider whether to contribute to the cost of the study and, if so, at what level.  It was proposed that the Council might wish to allocate $2,000 from its 2011 fund-in-reserve (made up of contributions from Council municipalities).  By TCCOG rules,  a vote on the matter cannot be taken before next month.

The Council also heard an update from County Administrator Joe Mareane on the County’s proposed Road Preservation Law, under study since early this year, that would regulate “high intensity, high frequency” truck traffic from temporary projects—such as but not limited to the type of traffic that would be generated by gas drilling—that would carry the potential to damage County roads.  The proposed local law will be put to public hearing before the County Legislature at its next meeting on August 2.

Administrator Mareane also asked TCCOG members to review a draft proposal which would seek advice from engineering firms concerning how such potential road damage could be determined and estimated, in a fashion that is “practical, defensible, and consistent” among municipalities, instead of having a “patchwork” of rules and practices.

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