FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Stuart Taylor, Director, Strategic Services
	PREPARED BY:	Victoria McGrath, Manager, Environmental Leadership
	DATE OF MEETING:	2006-Jan-23
	SUBJECT:	Report on Spending of 2005 Markham Council Grants for Rouge River and Don River Watersheds

RECOMMENDATION:

That the staff report entitled “Report on Spending of 2005 Markham Council Grants for Rouge River and Don River Watersheds”, dated January 23, 2006, be received;

And that Council defer providing further grants to the Don River Watershed until such time as the Don Watershed Regeneration Council reports back on projects completed in Markham using the $75,000 already granted for 2003, 2004 and 2005 which are being held by the Town of Markham in a capital based account.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to provide details on how the $50,000 grants, approved through the annual budget process to fund capital projects in the Rouge Park and Don Watershed, were spent and what projects were undertaken in Markham as a result of the grants.

BACKGROUND:

During the 2003 budget process, it was recommended that a grant of $50,000 be provided annually for Rouge Park and Don Watershed improvements. The recommendation included a requirement that each organization procure matching funds and that a summary report be submitted to Committee, outlining how the grants were spent. This report identifies the 2005 program for the Rouge Park that has now been completed. The Don Watershed Regeneration Council (DWRC) has not yet used their grants for 2005, 2004 or 2003.

DISCUSSION:

Reporting Requirement

To ensure accountability, both the Don Watershed Council and the Rouge Park were to submit a written report to the Town of Markham through the Manager, Environmental Leadership as to how the grant was spent. The report was to include, but was not limited to:

· Location of the Project

· Monitoring

· Future requirements for the Project

Rouge Park

Council committed $25,000 to projects in 2003, 2004 and 2005 to projects located in the Rouge Park.

The attached report Summary (Appendix 1) from Rouge Park staff describes the projects undertaken in 2005 and the location of the projects. The $25,000 grant was used for the Markham Green Neighbourhoods Program, the Rouge Watershed Redside Dace Habitat Rehabilitation Initiative, the Range Valley Park Restoration Project and the Austin Drive Park Naturalization Project Phase 1.

The Financial Summary (within Appendix 1) shows that $25,000 from the Town was spent together with other sources and community “in kind” for the two projects for a total value of $100,000. This information demonstrates that the Rouge Park has leveraged the Town’s grant contribution from 2005, so that for every $1.00 contributed by Markham, approximately another $3.00 worth of work was implemented.

Rouge Park Alliance representatives advise that ongoing monitoring is being undertaken for these projects. The Rouge Park has met all commitments related to receiving the annual $25,000 grants for 2003, 2004 and 2005 and staff recommends that they continue to receive the annual grants.

Don Watershed

Council committed $25,000 to projects in 2003, 2004 and 2005 located in the Don River watershed. The Don Watershed Regeneration Council (DWRC), formerly the Don Watershed Council, has not used the grants ($75,000) made to them in 2003, 2004 or 2005.

The DWRC have submitted a letter each year outlining how they may use the aggregated grants for development and installation of river crossing signs and potentially a large project (see Appendix 2). By aggregating the grant funds, the DWRC will have $75,000 to leverage with other partners to secure additional funding, in addition to the matching funds provided by the TRCA. The DWRC has therefore requested that the grant money from 2003, 2004 and 2005, plus any additional funds offered, continue to be held by the Town of Markham in a capital account until an appropriate project is established.

The Town will be undertaking the Pomona Mills Creek Erosion Restoration and Habitat Enhancement Study soon for the Pomana Creek component of the Don River and the DWRC has expressed interest in a large-scale project upon implementation of the study results. Initiatives and funding requirements proposed by the DWCR in this area should be co-ordinated with that study and submitted to Markham Council for approval.

Prior to issuance of a cheque to DWRC, a report on the completed project must be presented to General Committee. Staff recommends that Council wait until the DWRC has implemented projects in Markham using the $75,000 grants prior to providing further grants.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Funds have been dedicated for these initiatives in a capital account from taxed based funding. The attached financial summary from Rouge Park representatives provides details on the projects and illustrates that the condition of procuring matching funding has been satisfied.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Finance, Planning and Engineering staff have been consulted in the preparation of this report.

ATTACHMENTS:

Appendix 1 – Rouge Park Project Summary 2005

Appendix 2 - Letter from DWRC dated November 21, 2005

Stuart Taylor, Director, Strategic Services Department

Jim Sales, Commissioner, Community and Fire Services

Q:\Strategic Services\Shared Data\Environmental Leadership\Reports\2005 Reports\Rouge and Don grants report to F & A 01 23 06.doc