MARKHAM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

 

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Ontario Room

MAY 25, 2006

7:00 pm

 

MINUTES

 

ATTENDANCE

 

 

Members:

Staff:

Brent Mersey, Chair

Krista Olins

Sandra McEleney

Joyce Chau

Philip Ling

Mylene Batista Bezerra

Lindsay Turko

Thomas Rado

 

Judi Kosch, Committee Clerk

Lilli Duoba, Planner, Policy Planning/Environment

Claudia Marsales, Manager, Waste Management

Lorenzo Mele, Traffic Demand Management Coordinator

 

Regrets

John O’Gorman

Joan Maddock

Romila Verma, Vice Chair

Councillor Erin Shapero

Mike Hough

Regional Councillor Jack Heath

1.      CALL TO ORDER

 

Brent Mersey, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:08 pm.

 

2.      CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

 

a)   Under Item 4, Presentation by Lilli Duoba, Planner, on Policy Planning/Environment; Presentation by Claudia Marsales, Manager, Waste Management, on Incineration and Environmental Assessment; and under Item 5 – Budget Sub-Committee update.

 

3.      ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM CONSERVATION

COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON APRIL 27, 2006

     

      The Chair advised that adoption of the minutes of the April 27, 2006 meeting would be deferred to the June 29th meeting due to lack of quorum.

 

4.   ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

 

a)   Cycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (CPAC) Presentation (7:10 – 7:45) - The Chair introduced Lorenzo Mele, Traffic Demand Management Coordinator, who has recently taken over from Phoebe Fu, as the CPAC coordinator and bike/pathway initiatives.  L. Mele provided a power point presentation on “Cycling Culture in Markham” (a copy is attached); he stated that the Region of York is undertaking a similar study and the same consultant is handling both projects.  He went on to point out that monies to help cover the cost of the signed bicycle routes have been allocated from the ‘gas tax’ given to all municipalities by the Federal government.  L. Mele stated that S. McEleney, as MCC’s representative on CPAC, will ensure the Committee is kept informed on the progress of this important initiative.

 

b)   Policy Planning/Environment (7:45 – 8:10) – Lilli Duoba, Planner, gave a power point presentation (copy attached) on nine different areas that are currently being addressed as part of the Environmental Policy Program and will all require Official Plan Amendments.  These are:

1.      Rouge Park

2.      Small Streams

3.      Greenbelt Plan

4.      Source Water Protection

5.      Rouge Watershed Strategy

6.      Little Rouge Corridor Management

7.      Special Policy Area Policies

8.      Environmental Policy Review and Consolidation

9.      Tree By-law

 

L. Duoba went on to explain that all these areas are of vital concern and will take several years to complete.

 

c)   Incineration and Environmental Assessment (8:10 – 9:00) – Claudia Marsales, Manager, Waste Management, circulated a copy of a letter (copy attached) that was recently sent to Andrew Campbell, Director, Solid Waste Management, at Region of York, and Mirka Januszkiewicz, Director, Waste Management Services at Region of Durham, with respect to the Durham/York Residual Waste Study.  She expressed grave concerns with the process and the selection of the thermal treatment of mixed waste with recovery of materials from ash as the least supported option as it does not include the recovery of recyclables prior to processing.  She urged the Committee to lend its voice and forward a letter of objection to the Region.  Following considerable discussion, the Committee unanimously supported the letter sent by C. Marsales and agreed to forward their support and concerns to the appropriate bodies.  The Chair indicated that he would take the correspondence to the meeting on May 30th and ensure the concerns are noted.

 

The Chair deferred the remainder of the Agenda to the June 29th meeting due to time constraints.

 

5.      NEW BUSINESS

 

a)   MCC Mandate –

 

6.      MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

 

a)   Markham Conservation Committee Goals 2006

 

7.   REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES

 

a)   Waste Management –

 

b)   Community Outreach and Education - 

 

c)   Cycling & Pedestrian Committee –

 

8.   REPORTS FROM RELATED COMMITTEES

 

a)   Environmental Issues Committee (EIC)    

 

b)   Regional Environment Advisory Committee - update

 

9.   NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting of the Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 7:00 pm in the Ontario Room.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

      There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.

     

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