MARKHAM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Ontario Room

JUNE 23, 2005

7:00 PM

MINUTES

ATTENDANCE

Members:	Staff:
Brent Mersey, Chair Joan Jenkyn Jean-Pierre Bombardier Stephanie Sokolyk Krista Olins Councillor Erin Shapero Mike Hough Romila Verma River He Mary Hopperton	Judi Kosch, Committee Clerk Regrets John O’Gorman Regional Councillor Jack Heath Lindsay Turko Karen Volpe Joan Maddock

1. CALL TO ORDER

Brent Mersey, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm.

2. CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

3. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM CONSERVATION

COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON May 26, 2005 (7:17 – 7:20 pm)

Moved by Mary Hopperton

Seconded by Stephanie Sokolyk

THAT the minutes of the Markham Conservation Committee meeting held on May 26, 2005, be adopted.

CARRIED

4. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

a) Communities in Bloom (CIB) Update (7:20 – 7:26 pm) – Catherine Harrison provided a brief update on the progress to date – the Judges Tour will take place on July 18 & 19; the Judges are Dennis Flanagan and Betty LaMont; the tour will start at the Civic Centre and then on to Thornhill – there will be a tea at the Heintzman House from 2:30 to 3:30 – all members invited – hosted by the Thornhill Horticultural Society; Monday evening there will be an event at the Markham Theatre to recognize all those involved in preparation for this event – it will include a 1 hour slide show followed by a Wine & Cheese reception. On the 19^th, the Judges will tour Markham Village, Unionville and Milliken. Catherine will ensure MCC is e-mailed a detailed calendar of events for CIB. A suggestion was made to have signage put on the properties being nominated for Susie and Eco-Susie Awards in advance of the tour to potentially encourage more applicants.

Councillor Shapero, on behalf of MCC and Council, thanked Catherine Harrison and her group for their tremendous efforts in preparation for Communities in Bloom.

5. NEW BUSINESS

a) York/Durham Sewer System (7:27 – 7:35 pm) – Councillor Shapero spoke of the recent Region of York meeting where Regional Council approved the construction of a sewer pipe across 19^th Avenue to Richmond Hill through the aquifers in the Oak Ridges Moraine – she pointed out that Deputy Mayor Frank Scarpitti and Regional Councillor Jack Heath voted against this motion. There was general discussion on the implications of this approval and its impact on the water supply to municipalities throughout York Region. It was agreed that the Chair, on behalf of MCC, forward a letter to Premier McGuinty voicing strong concerns over the impact of this proposed sewer pipe and subsequent dewatering implications in light of the experience of similar construction across 16^th Avenue.

On a motion by Joan Jenkyn, seconded by Mary Hopperton and unanimously carried, Brent Mersey, Chair of MCC, will forward a letter voicing strong concerns over the proposed construction of the York/Durham Sewer System across 19^th Avenue to Richmond Hill through the Oak Ridges moraine and its potential impact on the aquifers supplying drinking water to municipalities throughout York Region as well as the implications of dewatering to the municipality given what has been experienced with the 16^th Avenue Sewer construction.

b) Pesticide By-law (7:35 – 7:47 pm) – Councillor Shapero provided an update on the progress of pesticide reduction on Town properties; a staff report was forwarded to General Committee recently in support of proceeding with a pesticide by-law for the Town modelled after the City of Toronto Pesticide By-law – public information meetings will be held this summer. This report is going to Council next Tuesday, June 28 – Committee members were encouraged to attend. There was discussion on the role MCC could play in promoting this important initiative at any public information meetings as well as through the Community Outreach and Education subcommittee.

c) Idle-Free Day (7:47 – 7:50 pm) – Romila Verma, on behalf of MCC, expressed congratulations to Jean-Pierre Bombardier on the success of the Idle Free campaign – Markham won!

d) Environmental Advisory Committees of Ontario Symposium (8:50 – 8:55 pm) – Brent Mersey read a notice pertaining to an upcoming symposium being hosted by the Region of Durham relating to Environmental Planning in Ontario – a copy of the notice will be forwarded to all members. The Chair encouraged members to attend this event.

e) Notice of Public Meetings (8:55 – 8:58 pm) – There were concerns raised regarding MCC being made aware of upcoming Public meetings on items of particular interest/concern; Jean-Pierre Bombardier agreed to speak with Corporate Communications to try to obtain notice of upcoming meetings in advance.

6. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

a) Procedural By-law (7:50 – 7:52 pm) – Brent Mersey spoke on the importance of following a set procedure to ensure that all members are given an opportunity to provide input.

b) Markham Conservation Committee Goals 2005/2006 (7:52 – 8:03 pm) – Brent Mersey reviewed goals provided by Romila Verma – a professional integrated ‘face’ to both the public and the Town; a web page to be updated routinely to make MCC more visible to the community and potentially attract more members. It was agreed that Romila, Stephanie and Krista would work together over the summer on developing a web page, in conjunction with the Town’s Corporate Communications department, which would outline the role of MCC as well as issues and events that it is involved with.

Two items are to be added to the September agenda – MCC budget and MCC logo for the proposed web page.

c) Milne Park Sewer Project – deferred to September meeting

d) Tree By-law (8:03 – 8:17 pm) – Krista Olins provided an information sheet that had been prepared by the Town’s consultant working on the proposed Tree by-law; a public consultation process will begin over the summer; concerns raised over a number of issues including the disparity in size requirements between Heritage areas and the rest of the Town; educating Hydro/Bell on the proper way to cut tress; inappropriate placement of certain types of trees in hydro corridors, etc. There will be a further report prepared in September to the Development Services Committee on the proposed by-law.

e) Mission Green Bin Update (8:17 – 8:27 pm) – Romila Verma gave an update on the preparations for the launch of the Mission Green Bin launch slated for July 4^th; more volunteers are needed in a number of venues, i.e. Markville Mall, Pacific Mall; there will be a training session for the volunteers June 29 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Romila will provide Mary Hopperton with necessary information to get student volunteers lined up to assist in this event. A number of questions were raised concerning tables, location – inside stores or outside – what happens if inclement weather conditions arise; what if material runs out – how to get more; the question might be asked as to where the material will be shipped – clarification requested from Claudia Marsales. The suggestion was made to keep a tally sheet of number of people volunteers speak to and make a report back to MCC in September.

On a separate issue, Brent Mersey and Mike Hough attended a recent meeting in Richmond Hill dealing with alternatives to landfill; this is a very complex issue dealing with material that at present is being shipped to Michigan and needing a “Made in Ontario’ solution – will be a long drawn out process to find and implement alternatives to landfill. The Chair indicated that he is on a mailing list to be kept apprised of this critical issue.

f) Parks, Roads & Streams – deferred to September meeting

7. REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES

a) Waste Management (8:27– 8:57 pm) – Joan Jenkyn requested the Chair to provide Jean-Pierre Bombardier and Joan Maddock with the video relating to Kyoto.

b) Community Outreach and Education (8:43- 8:50 pm) – Stephanie Sokolyk indicated that the subcommittee will be meeting over the summer to proceed with preparing an MCC web page and working with the Town contact; Jean-Pierre Bombardier agreed to coordinate with the Town on this initiative.

8. REPORTS FROM RELATED COMMITTEES

a) Environmental Issues Committee – The Chair advised there was no report at this time as the Committee was not meeting until June 24^th.

9. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 7:00 pm in the Ontario Room.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, it was moved by Joan Jenkyn and seconded by Jean-Pierre Bombardier, that the meeting be adjourned at 9:00 pm

CARRIED

ConservMin050623.doc