Cafeteria
ATTENDANCE
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Members: |
Staff: |
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Brent Mersey, Chair Krista Olins Joyce Chau Philip Ling Mylene Batista Bezerra Regional Councillor Jack Heath Councillor Erin Shapero |
Regrets
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1.
CALL TO ORDER
Brent
Mersey, Chair, called the meeting to order at
2.
CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
3.
ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE
The
Chair read the Council resolution from the
On a
motion by Councillor Erin Shapero, seconded by Krista Olins and unanimously
carried, it was agreed that Markham Conservation Committee request to be part
of the meetings between the Clerk’s Department and Town staff pertaining to the
structure of environmental committees, MCC terms of reference and current
activities.
Moved
by Joyce Chau
Seconded by John
O’Gorman
THAT the minutes of the
Markham Conservation Committee meeting held on
CARRIED
4. ITEMS
FOR INFORMATION
a) Welcome to New Members – The
Chair welcomed two new members, Sandra McEleney and Thomas Rado to the
Committee.
b) York Region Waste Diversion
Strategic Plan – The Chair welcomed Mike Birett, Region of York Waste
Department, John Smith, LURA Group (consultants) and Claudia Marsales, Manager,
Waste Management, Town of Markham. Mike
Birett gave an overview on the Region’s Waste Diversion Strategic Plan as it
relates to the environmental assessment process; the Region’s partnership with
the Region of Durham on waste related issues; the successes – 34% diversion
rate in 2004 compared to 24% for many years prior; and the Region’s plans to
upgrade the infrastructure which will make programs easier to implement.
John Smith, LURA Group,
reviewed the parameters of their study – cognizant of the uniqueness of each of
the nine municipalities, plus the Region, and their commitment to
implement/participate in waste diversion initiatives; consensus on type of
strategy; and a target of 60% diversion.
It is the aim to have a report back to Regional Council in the fall.
Claudia Marsales spoke of
Markham’s accomplishments: first municipality in Ontario, and Canada, to launch
diversion strategy; only 2% contamination in green bins; a recent audit showed
success with the organics but some confusion over what goes in blue boxes; the
secret to Markham’s success: people driven. The audit has also shown that the 3-bag limit
could be changed to 2-bag; there should be stronger enforcement, with a fine,
for those not participating. Claudia
went on to speak of an application made for a grant of $70,000 to carry out
focus groups over the summer to help educate the public on this vital
initiative. The bottom line from the audit – residents love the program!
5.
NEW BUSINESS
a) MCC
Mandate – Deferred
6.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
a)
b) MCC
Budget – Deferred
7. REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES
a) Waste
Management – Refer to Item 4 (b)
b) Community Outreach and Education -
Lindsay Turko briefly reviewed the recent meeting and outlined the program for
Earth Day slated for
On a motion by Krista
Olins and seconded by John O’Gorman, approval was given for the expenditure of
an amount not to exceed $1000.00 to cover the expenses for the upcoming Earth
Day event to be held at Markville Mall on Saturday, April 29, 2006.
c) Cycling & Pedestrian Committee –
The Chair advised that Sandra McEleney had indicated an interest in serving on
this sub-committee and called for a motion to elect Sandra as the MCC rep.
On a motion by Philip Ling, seconded by
Mike Hough and unanimously carried, it was agreed that Sandra McEleney would be
the Markham Conservation Committee representative on the Cycling &
Pedestrian Committee.
8. REPORTS
FROM RELATED COMMITTEES
a) Environmental
Issues Committee (EIC) –Philip Ling attended the meeting on behalf of the
Chair and advised that as a new MCC member he found the EIC meeting, which
covers a broad spectrum of issues, very interesting. He went on to state that he feels there are a
number of areas where MCC could assist in ‘getting the word out’, i.e.,
promotion of the use of rain barrels; pesticide by-law education. He stated that a consultant has been retained
to assist in educating the municipality on what can be done to impact climate
change. The Markham Environmental
Sustainable Fund application was also discussed at the meeting but was deferred
to the next EIC meeting. MCC members
discussed their earlier offers to EIC to assist potential applicants complete
the application forms.
9.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the
Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for
There being no further
business, it was moved by Krista Olins and seconded by Mike Hough, that the
meeting be adjourned at
CARRIED
ConservMin060223