MARKHAM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Ontario Room

MAY 26, 2005

7:00 PM

MINUTES

ATTENDANCE

Members:	Staff:
Brent Mersey, Chair John O’Gorman Jean-Pierre Bombardier Joan Maddock Krista Olins Regional Councillor Jack Heath (7:20 pm) Lindsay Turko Romila Verma River He Mary Hopperton Karen Volpe	Judi Kosch, Committee Clerk Regrets Joan Jenkyn Stephanie Sokolyk Councillor Erin Shapero Mike Hough

1. CALL TO ORDER

Brent Mersey, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm; he spoke briefly on rules and procedures; he circulated the updated Council procedural by-law and indicated that members should be prepared to discuss at the next meeting. The Chair went on to outline the protocol for the meetings as well as the importance of making valuable use of everyone’s volunteer time.

2. CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA (7:25 – 7:27 pm)

The following items be added to the agenda: under Items for Information – Searching for Council agendas; move item 6 (f) Mission Green Bin to follow after Searching for Council agendas.

3. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM CONSERVATION

COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON APRIL 28, 2005 (7:27 – 7:28 pm)

John O’Gorman pointed out that under Item 5(d), the proper name for the EAC committee is: Regional Environmental Advisory (not Assessment) Committee.

Moved by Joan Maddock

Seconded by Regional Councillor Jack Heath

THAT the minutes of the Markham Conservation Committee meeting held on April 28, 2005, be adopted, as amended.

CARRIED

4. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

a) Searching for Council Agendas (7:28 – 7:35 pm) – John O’Gorman spoke of the recent Council/General Committee meetings where there were a number of issues raised of interest to this Committee; he called on the Chair to ask for 2 volunteers to routinely monitor agendas for both Council and General Committee meetings and bring any items to this Committee’s attention. Joan Maddock and John O’Gorman agreed to work together on this issue.

6 f) Mission Green Bin (7:35 – 7:50 pm) – Regional Councillor Jack Heath provided an update on this initiative – bins are all ordered, material ready and a target date of June 13 for delivery of all material and program launch of July 4; he also advised of a recent meeting at the Region of York where approval was given to expand the type of materials acceptable for the blue bins. Considerable discussion followed on the ambassador program and it was agreed that Romila Verma would contact Sandy Kahn to arrange a meeting with Claudia Marsales and Committee members, at the earliest possible opportunity to set in place the details for the upcoming launch.

b) Correspondence (8:57 – 9:00 pm) – Brent Mersey briefly reviewed material he just received from the Region on “State of our Environment” which he will review and provide a synopsis for the members via e-mail; he mentioned a York Region State of the Environment meeting on May 31, 7 to 9 pm and will forward details to members. Brent also spoke of an upcoming meeting between the Region of York and Durham Region to discuss waste issues – he will research further and forward details.

5. NEW BUSINESS

6. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

a) Markham Conservation Committee Goals 2005/2006 (7:50 – 8:02 pm) – Brent Mersey briefly reviewed goals received from Committee members to date and encouraged everyone to submit their goals at their earliest opportunity. Romila Verma and Joan Maddock will work on material for the web page and provide an update at the next meeting. The Committee was asked to provide the Chair with names of possible speakers to attend future meetings to discuss items of mutual interest/concern. The Chair also encouraged the establishment of sub-committees that would meet anytime or place on a wide variety of issues.

b) Milne Park Sewer Project (8:02 – 8:04 pm) – John O’Gorman gave a brief overview of his presentation on this sewer project at the recent Council meeting. The request was made to hold a Public Meeting but it had little success. Council referred the matter to staff for follow-up. A letter is to be drafted by MCC to be forwarded to the Regional Works Department proposing alternate routes for this sewer. A further update will be provided at the next meeting.

c) Town Kyoto Project (8:04 pm) – This item is to be dropped from the agenda until such time as there is more activity.

d) Tree By-law (8:05 – 8:14 pm) – John O’Gorman advised he was at the recent General Committee meeting when Linda Irvine discussed the by-law in detail. Agreement was reached to hold a Public Meeting in September to further discuss the revised by-law; John will attempt to get copies of the redrafted by-law. There was considerable discussion amongst Committee members on the importance of the by-law and John was agreeable to continue to monitor its progress and will report again at the next meeting.

e) Regional Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) (8:14 – 8:27 pm) – Krista Olins provided a brief update on the recent Regional EAC meeting in Newmarket – Newmarket’s committee is highly organized and into a wide variety of environmental initiatives including public seminars at local libraries on a broad range of topics, such as recycling, anti-idling etc. Krista also made mention of an upcoming event, Windfall Ecology Centre, June 11 and 12, and will e-mail members the details.

g) Parks, Roads & Streams – deferred to next meeting.

7. REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES

a) Waste Management (8:44 – 8:57 pm) – Joan Maddock provided a handout and spoke to the issue of the addition of numbers 4 to 5 plastic containers to the blue box initiative. There was general discussion where concerns were raised over the cost and impact of such a move. Regional Councillor Jack Heath indicated that the initiative will be closely monitored and a further look will be taken at the process in October to address any issues or problems. The Chair called on the re-establishment of the Waste Management Sub-committee and Joan Maddock and Jean-Pierre Bombardier agreed to co-chair and will contact all members to establish membership as well as meeting dates.

b) Community Outreach and Education (8:58 pm) – deferred to next meeting.

8. REPORTS FROM RELATED COMMITTEES

a) Environmental Issues Committee (8:37 – 8:44 pm) – John O’Gorman attended this meeting on Brent Mersey’s behalf and provided a brief update on the status of the Pesticide By-law – City of Toronto was taken to court by an industry provider and won the case due to the extensive efforts they had made prior to enacting the by-law to justify the stance they had taken in implementing it. It was John’s understanding that a Public Meeting would be called prior to enacting the Town’s by-law to discuss and educate residents, businesses, etc. on this important issue. The Chair suggested that MCC should get involved again in the Pesticide Reduction Sub-Committee.

9. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, June 23, 2005 at 7:00 pm in the Ontario Room.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, it was moved by Lindsay Turko and seconded by John O’Gorman, that the meeting be adjourned at 9:00 pm.

CARRIED

ConservMin050526.doc