MARKHAM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

 

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Canada Room 

FEBRUARY 24, 2005

7:00 PM

 

MINUTES

 

                                        ATTENDANCE

 

 

Members:

 

Staff:

Brent Mersey, Chair

John O’Gorman

Joan Jenkyn

Joan Maddock

Krista Olins

Romila Verma

Councillor Erin Shapero

Karen Volpe

Regional Councillor Jack Heath

Stephanie Sokolyk

 

Karen Boniface, Parks Planner

Judi Kosch, Committee Clerk

 

Regrets

Jean-Pierre Bombardier

River He

Lindsay Turko

 

 

1.      CALL TO ORDER

 

Brent Mersey, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm 

 

2.      CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA (7:10 – 7:11 pm)

 

Joan Jenkyn asked that the following items be added to the agenda:  under New Business - Changes to the Town’s Standing committees, Issues from the Environmental Issues Committee and Cycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee; along with one item under Matters Arising – Banned Material

     

3.      ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM CONSERVATION

COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 27, 2005 (7:11 – 7:14 pm)

 

Joan Jenkyn pointed out a correction to the minutes under Item 4 (c) relating to the Province’s proposed Accessibility Bill with the insertion of ‘advisory committees’ between the words ‘accessibility’ and ‘across the province’.  The Chair requested Joan Jenkyn to follow-up with the Province’s contact on this Bill to monitor its status.

 

Moved by Romila Verma

Seconded by Stephanie Sokolyk

 

THAT the minutes of the Markham Conservation Committee meeting held on January 27, 2005, be adopted, as amended.

CARRIED

     


 

4.      NEW BUSINESS

 

a)   Celebrate our Environment (7:14 – 7:27 pm) - Karen Boniface provided a handout of the summary of programs, websites and events and indicated the final copy would contain more detailed information on the various activities.  She called on MCC to provide input/suggestions.  Councillor Shapero requested that Pesticide Free tips be added to the flyer, and that these tips should come from Sari Merson of the Pesticide Reduction Committee.  Karen Boniface asked that the tips be received by Tuesday, March 1st. 

 

Karen Boniface also showed the poster for Earth Day and asked for MCC’s assistance in attaching local event information to the bottom of the poster.  Karen will notify Brent when this information is available, and Brent will notify the members for volunteers to attach this information and distribute it to local retail businesses such as Tim Horton’s and local grocery stores.

 

Karen Boniface spoke briefly of the national initiative, Pitch-In Canada, where she will be working with the Waste Management Department to apply for two program initiatives; the Civic Pride Program and, the Clean World Award.  She requested a letter from MCC indicating its support of the Town for the Clean World Award.   Joan Maddock agreed to follow up and draft a letter. 

 

Joan Maddock also reported that she received a call from Claudia Marsales requesting participation in the Mayor’s 20 Minute Makeover.  This is where residents take 20 minutes on Earth Day, April 22 to conduct a clean up of their neighbourhood.  Further information will be forthcoming.

 

b)      Judges for Eco Susie Garden Awards (7:27 - 7:35 pm) - Karen Boniface circulated the proposed judging sheet for the event which will be held over a period from July 3 to 18; she called on MCC to provide volunteers to judge – Krista Olins and Regional Councillor Jack Heath volunteered.  Karen Boniface also asked MCC for their input in selecting/registering gardens to be recognized.

 

c)      Communities in Bloom update (7:35 – 7:47 pm) – Karen Boniface provided a brief update on this initiative – upgrading of existing shrub beds at intersection corners along with the planting of native plants; the northeast corner of Kennedy and Steeles has also been targeted for improvements.  R. Verma indicated willingness to be MCC’s contact on Communities in Bloom and will follow up with Catherine Harrison. 

 

The proposed clean-up of a tributary to the German Mills creek will be looked into further and reported on at the March meeting.

 

d)   Small Streams Study (8:03 – 8:11 pm) – Councillor Erin Shapero advised that the Study is well underway; the final draft has been presented to Council; there has been a lot of feedback/opposition to the proposal and pressure from developers is mounting to not proceed with the this initiative; she called on MCC to make a motion of support for this Study.

 

      On a motion by Romila Verma, seconded by Karen Volpe, and unanimously carried, the Markham Conservation Committee commends Markham Council for undertaking the Small Streams Study and its endorsement of this important initiative in the very near future.

 

e)   Pesticide Reduction (8:11 – 8:33 pm) – Councillor Erin Shapero provided an update on the status of pesticide reduction in Ward 2 – in 2004 weed cover was done by approximately 20 – 25%; she went on to state that sports fields across the Town are pesticide free – while the cultural practices work is more labour intensive – it is expected that the program will continue through 2005.  The Councillor went on to advise that further education camps will be set up in Ward 2 and also mentioned a calendar that has been produced which sets out what needs to be done on a monthly basis to ensure success of weed reduction without pesticides; Councillor Shapero indicated she would bring the material to the next MCC meeting. 

     

The Environmental Issues Committee has requested staff to prepare a pesticide by-law over the next two months modelled after the Toronto by-law; they have also agreed to the hiring of a consultant to look at all public lands across the Town to assess the state of these lands and turn them into pesticide free areas.  Both Councillors called on MCC to continue their pivotal role in this critical issue by promoting the reduction in pesticide use.  Joan Jenkyn will monitor this initiative and also request that the calendar that has been provided to Ward 2 residents be circulated to all town residents. 

 

f)    Tree By-law (7:50 – 7:59 pm) – There was a brief discussion on the draft by-law and it was agreed that J. O’Gorman would co-ordinate MCC’s comments and provide them to L. Irvine as soon as possible.

 

g)   Changes to Town’s Standing Committees (7:59 – 8:03 pm) – Joan Jenkyn read a notice that appeared in The Thornhill Liberal on January 25, 2005, pertaining to changes recently implemented to the Town of Markham’s standing committee meetings:  “The Council of the Town of Markham has approved changing the Standing Committee structure to a General Committee System.  All members of Council sit on a new General Committee that incorporates the Finance & Administrative Committee, Transportation Committee and Community Services & Environment Committee.  The General Committee meets on alternating Mondays of the month at 9:30 a.m.  General Committee, Development Services Committee and Council meetings are open to the public.”

 

h)   Issues from Environmental Issues Committee – deferred to next meeting

 

i)    Cycling & Pedestrian Advisory Committee – deferred to next meeting

 

5.      MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

 

a)   Markham Conservation Committee Goals 2004/2005 (8:55 – 9:00 pm) – The Chair stated more input was needed from all members along with clarification as to what sub-committees there should be; he indicated that all members have indicated an interest in the Community Outreach subcommittee; the Chair will continue to work on this issue and report back at the March meeting.

 

b)   Town Kyoto Project:  Deferred to March meeting

     

c)   Markham Environmental Sustainability Fund (MESF):  Deferred to March meeting.

 

d)   Compensation for Committee Members – Deferred to February meeting.

 

e)   Banned Materials (8:55 – 8:58 pm) – Joan Jenkyn stated that in conversation with C. Marsales, no one knows where the banned material, that has been turned away from the Michigan waste site, is being sent; Joan will continue to monitor this issue.

     

6.   REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES

 

a)   Waste Management (8:44 – 8:55 pm) -   J. Maddock spoke of a recent stakeholders’ workshop that she, B. Mersey, K. Olins, and J. O’Gorman attended at the Region of York where C. Marsales reported that the 2 worst waste management offenders are the schools and small businesses; she recognized the work being done by the Waste Management Department in relation to one small business that had been continually putting out 30 – 40 bags of waste (including confidential medical documents, medical waste, etc.) and in order to renew their parking permit has been forced to improve their waste handling.

 

b)   Community Outreach and Education  (8:33 – 8:44 pm) – S. Sokolyk gave an update on the Earth Day event scheduled for April 23 at Markville Mall; the Muskoka Wild Life Centre has agreed to participate at a cost of $454.75 including GST; Markville Mall has agreed to set-up and take down the sound system at a cost of $25.00 including GST; there were other miscellaneous costs for photographs, prizes, printing, etc. totalling approximately $300.00.  S. Sokolyk also requested Committee approval for the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $1000.00 to cover the expenses for this event.

 

      It was also suggested that Loblaws and the Region of York be invited to participate in the Earth Day events at Markville Mall.

 

On a motion by Joan Jenkyn 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 23, 2004.

 

7.   REPORTS FROM RELATED COMMITTEES

 

a)      Markham Pesticide Reduction Steering Committee:  Refer to Item 4 (e).

 

8.   ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

 

 

9.      NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting of the Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, March 31, 2005 at 7:00 pm in the Ontario Room.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

      There being no further business, it was moved by John O’Gorman and seconded by Krista Olins, that the meeting be adjourned at 9:05 pm

      CARRIED

 

ConservMin050224.doc