ENVIRONMENT & TRANSPORTATION
COMMITTEE
2002-05-27
Meeting No. 6
Attendance
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M. F.
Turner, Commissioner of Development
Services
J. Baird,
Acting Commissioner of Development
Services
J. Sales,
Commissioner of Community and
Fire Services
A. Brown,
Director of Engineering
S. Bertoia,
Director of Environmental Services
P. Ingham,
General Manager, Roads
A.
Mukherjee, Manager, Transportation/
Engineering
B.
Nicholson, Manager, Capital Assets
E. Lui,
Manager of Municipal Design
Jane
Clohecy, Senior Project Coordinator
P. Veiga,
Waste Management Program
Coordinator
J. Kee,
Committee Clerk
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The
Environment & Transportation Committee convened at the hour of 1:05 p.m.
with Councillor J. Virgilio in the Chair, without quorum. A quorum was reached at 1:55 p.m.
DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST
None declared
1. UNIONVILLE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN
(5.14)
Moved by
Regional Councillor G. Landon
Seconded by
Councillor E. Shapero
That
the report from the Director of Engineering, dated May 27, 2002, entitled
"Unionville Traffic Management Plan", be approved in principle,
subject to a Public Information Meeting being arranged to receive input from
residents of the Unionville area;
And
that the matter be brought back to the Council Meeting to be held on June 25,
2002 for final approval.
CARRIED
2. HIGHWAY
407 AND WOODBINE AVENUE
INTERCHANGE (13.4 & 5.12)
Moved by
Councillor E. Shapero
Seconded by
Councillor A. Chiu
That the
Director of Engineering's May 27, 2002 report entitled "Highway 407 and
Woodbine Avenue Interchange", be received;
And that the
Town of Markham endorse the proposal by the Ministry of Transportation to
realign and reconstruct the intersection of Miller Avenue and Burncrest Road,
at a location further south from Highway 407, and to signalise the intersection,
all at the Ministry's expense;
And that the
Town of Markham endorse the Region of York's agreement to finance the
installation of traffic signals at the intersection of Shields Court and
Woodbine Avenue through the Regional Capital Budget;
And that the
original proposal to extend Scholberg Road north to Burncrest Drive be
considered upon redevelopment of lands in the Burncrest Drive area;
And that the
407 ETR be requested to construct and dedicate to the Town a cul-de-sac at the
north end of existing Scolberg Road, on land owned by the Province;
And that A.
Sweetnam of SLF, P. Ruttan of 407 ETR, B. Stevenson of the MTO, and P. May of
the Region of York be advised accordingly;
And that the
Director of Engineering update Council on the schedule for the opening of the
remaining Highway 407 and Woodbine Avenue ramps, as further information on
timing becomes available.
CARRIED
3. GTA CLEAN AIR COUNCIL - SMOG SUMMIT III
(5.7)
Moved by
Regional Councillor B. O'Donnell
Seconded by
Councillor A. Chiu
That Council
endorse the 2002 Inter-Governmental Declaration on Clean Air;
And that
Council endorse Markham's 2001 Progress Report on Commitments, and the
initiatives proposed for 2002 as recommended by the Markham Clean Air Working
Group;
And that Ward
II Councillor Erin Shapero attend Smog Summit III to sign the
Inter-Governmental Declaration on Clean Air on behalf of the Town of Markham;
And that the
Mayor and other Members of Council be encouraged to attend Smog Summit III to
be held in Toronto on June 21, 2002.
CARRIED
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4. FIVE-YEAR TRANSIT SERVICE PLAN
MOBILITY PLUS (5.14)
Ms. Irene
McNeil, Manager of Planning, Region of York Transit, was in attendance and made
a presentation with respect to the Five-Year Transit Service Plan for Mobility
Plus, which included recommended service structure and operations, and service
plan and budget summary. This concluded her presentation from the April 29,
2002 meeting of the Environment & Transportation Committee.
5. MARKHAM'S ON A ROLL! (5.1
& 12.2.6)
Councillor
Jack Heath had requested that the issue of the "Markham's on a Roll"
pilot project be placed on the agenda.
Members had before them a copy of the Extract of the Environment &
Transportation
Committee meeting held on April 29, 2002, a petition with sixty-five (65)
resident signatures, and numerous communications from residents expressing
disappointment that the Town is cancelling the Markham's on a Roll split cart project,
and requesting that the project be continued. A further petition with 53
resident signatures, and copies of additional communications from residents
were distributed.
Councillor
Heath advised that a community meeting had been held on May 22 at Markham
District High School with Waste Management staff, Council representatives and
residents, to discuss the results of the pilot project, and many of the
residents that attended advised that they wished the project to continue while
future solutions are examined.
Mr. Alan
Dickson, 5 Sir Gareth Court, was in attendance and distributed copies of a
letter expressing anger and disappointment at the cancellation of the Markham's
On a Roll program and requesting that the project remain in place while future
solutions are examined.
Mr. Brian
Millar, 112 Sir Lancelot Drive, was also in attendance and advised that the
project has been a great success and requested that the Town consider an
alternative to the complete removal of the program.
It was noted
that Council had directed at its meeting held on May 14, 2002, that the
Markham's on a Roll pilot project be decommissioned effective June 15,
2002. Mr. Stan Bertoia, Director of
Environmental Services, advised that staff had been directed to bring back a
report in the fall of 2002, which will compare the results of the bag-based and
cart-based collection pilot projects.
Committee
noted that because of the June 15 deadline date, there was some urgency for a
report from staff to address the concerns of the residents. It was agreed that the matter of scheduling
a date to receive a staff report regarding the "Markham's on a Roll"
pilot project would be placed on the agenda of the Council Meeting to be held
on May 28, 2002.
(Note:
Subsequently, at the May 28, 2002 Council Meeting, it was directed that the
staff report would be presented to the June 11, 2002 Council, Committee of the
Whole meeting.)
6. UNIONVILLE INFILTRATION STUDY (5.14)
Ms. Jane
Clohecy, Senior Project Coordinator, and Mr. Arup Mukherjee, Manager,
Transportation/Engineering, made a presentation relating to the Unionville
Traffic Management Plan report being presented this date, and presented
information with respect to developing strategies to reduce potential traffic
infiltration in the Unionville area.
Moved by
Regional Councillor G. Landon
Seconded by
Councillor E. Shapero
That the
presentation of Jane Clohecy, Senior Project Coordinator, and Arup Mukherjee,
Manager, Transportation/Engineering, on the Unionville Infiltration Study, be
received.
CARRIED
7. U-TURN PROHIBITION - NINTH LINE-HIGHWAY
407
RAMP TO HIGHWAY 7 (5.10)
Moved by
Regional Councillor B. O'Donnell
Seconded by
Councillor E. Shapero
That the
Region of York report of May 1, 2002 regarding the U-Turn Prohibition on Ninth
Line in the vicinity of Highway 407, be received;
And that staff
continue to update Committee on the status of the Ninth Line/Highway 407
interchange.
CARRIED
8. CORRESPONDENCE: STEELES AVENUE EAST/
GO TRANSIT GRADE SEPARATION (5.10 & 5.14)
The
Director of Engineering was requested to forward a memorandum to the Region of
York with respect to the status of the Boundary Road agreement.
Moved by
Councillor A. Chiu
Seconded
Regional Councillor G. Landon
That the City
of Toronto report of March 25, 2002 regarding Steeles Avenue East/GO Transit
Grade Separation, be received;
And
that further to the Markham Council resolution of September 25, 2001, in light
of the most recent report about the grade separation at Steeles Avenue, east of
Kennedy Road, by the City of Toronto, that Markham Council re-affirm its
position supporting traffic signals at the Redlea Avenue/Pacific Mall
Drive/Steeles Avenue intersection, and given that the warrants and the on-going
safety concerns are satisfied, that these lights be installed as soon as
possible;
And that staff
continue to update Committee on the status of the Steeles Avenue/Stouffville GO
line grade separation.
CARRIED
9. FLETCHER'S FIELD - REQUEST FOR
EXEMPTION
FOR ON-STREET PARKING RESTRICTION
ON 19TH AVENUE - JUNE 8 TO 29, 2002 (2.10)
Moved by
Councillor J. Heath
Seconded
Councillor E. Shapero
That an
exemption to the Town's Parking By-law No. 336-88, as amended, be granted to
allow for parking on the south side of 19th Avenue from Woodbine Avenue west to
Highway 404, on
June
8 and June 29, 2002;
And that
Fletcher's Field Limited procure the services of paid duty police officers to
monitor traffic movements on 19th Avenue at the entrance to their site;
And
further that this matter be referred directly to the Council Meeting to be held
on
May
28, 2002 for consideration.
CARRIED
10. LITTLE
ROUGE RIVER BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION (5.7 & 5.10)
Mr. Edmond
Lui, Manager of Municipal Design, was in attendance to explain the Town's
rationale for the replacement of the bridge over the Little Rouge River on
Reesor Road north of 16th Avenue.
Committee discussed concerns relating to traffic calming, bridge
deterioration and frequency of accidents.
Moved
by Regional Councillor G. Landon
Seconded
by Councillor E. Shapero
That
the memorandum from
Regional Councillor G. Landon forwarding letters from
Mr. John Kay and Mr. Murray D. Pearson with respect to the bridge
replacement over the Little Rouge River on Reesor Road north of 16th Avenue, be
received and referred to Community Services Commission staff.
CARRIED
11. CONTROL OF WEEDS - THORNHILL (5.7)
Members
expressed concern regarding the influx of weeds in the Thornhill area this year
and queried ways of both controlling them and of turf maintenance without
pesticides. The Commissioner of
Community and Fire Services advised that staff would be requested to
investigate the situation and to forward a memorandum to Members of Council on
possible control alternatives, such as over-seeding and frequent cutting.
For the
information of Members, Councillor E. Shapero advised that the meeting of the
Pesticide Reduction Steering Committee scheduled for May 29 had been
re-scheduled to June 12, 2002.
………………………………..
At
2:45 p.m. Committee recessed in-camera to discuss a confidential matter and
reconvened at 2:55 p.m.
………………………………..
ADJOURNMENT
The
Environment & Transportation Committee meeting adjourned at the hour of
3:00 p.m.