MARKHAM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

 

TOWN OF MARKHAM

Ontario Room 

MARCH 31, 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

 

 

Karen Boniface, Parks Planner

Judi Kosch, Committee Clerk

 

Regrets

Joan Jenkyn

Stephanie Sokolyk

River He

Lindsay Turko

 

Romila Verma

Councillor Erin Shapero

Karen Volpe

 

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 – 7:15 pm)

 

The following items be added to the agenda:  under New Business – Committee Membership; under Matters Arising – Tree By-law; under Reports of Subcommittees – 3-stream Issue; and under Items for Information – Wood Duck Project, Pitch-In Canada National Civic Pride Recognition Program.

     

3.      ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM CONSERVATION

COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON FEBRUARY 24, 2005 (7:11 – 7:14 pm)

 

The Chair requested a correction to the minutes – Item 4 (e) second paragraph, first sentence, be amended as follows: “Council Environmental Issues Committee has requested staff..…” .

 

Moved by Krista Olins

Seconded by Joan Maddock

 

THAT the minutes of the Markham Conservation Committee meeting held on February 24, 2005, be adopted, as amended.

CARRIED

     


 

4.      NEW BUSINESS

 

a)   Regional EAC (7:17 – 7:33 pm) – Brent Mersey spoke of his recent meeting with Bruce Lindsay, Chair of the Newmarket Environmental Assessment Committee (EAC), who has extensive community experience and is encouraging meetings between the EACs throughout York Region.  There was mention of an upcoming meeting, Wednesday, May 11, 7 – 9:30 p.m. at the Town of Newmarket where all EACs are being asked to make a brief presentation on what the issues are in their community

 

b)      Sub-committee Structure (7:33 - 7:47 pm) – Brent Mersey briefly discussed the sub-committee structure and asked for feedback from Committee members relative to their areas of interest; he will continue to be involved with the Pesticide, Waste and EAC.

 

c)   Idle-Free Day  (7:47 – 7:55 pm) – Jean-Pierre Bombardier reviewed the launch of the Idle-Free program at the Civic Centre earlier in the day – all community centres, libraries, the Theatre, Civic Centre and Unionville High School – have been declared idle free zones.  Regional Councillor Heath encouraged Committee members to be involved in this initiative through promotional events and by encouraging residents to participate by turning off their vehicles when parked.  This item will be discussed again at the April meeting.

 

d)   Committee Membership (7:55 – 7:59 pm) – Brent Mersey called on Regional Councillor Heath for an update on the status of applications received for membership on MCC; Regional Councillor Heath requested that the applications be re-sent to him and he will ensure interviews are arranged as soon as possible.

 

5.      MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

 

a)   Markham Conservation Committee Goals 2004/2005 (7:59 – 8:02 pm) – Brent Mersey asked for commitments from all members and indicated that he will be contacting each member to ascertain their areas of interest and to finalize the Committee’s goals for 2005.

 

b)   Town Kyoto Project:  Deferred to April meeting

     

c)   Markham Environmental Sustainability Fund (MESF) (8:02 – 8:16 pm) – The Committee was advised that the Environmental Issues Committee was disappointed in the lack of applications received for this Fund.  There was general discussion and it was agreed that a more intensified campaign is needed to make this Fund more widely known.  It was agreed that it was a good role for MCC to play – there will be promotional material at the Earth Day event in April.  A suggestion was made to place a notice in the spring Parks & Recreation guide to advertise the MESF.  It was agreed that members would become familiar with the applications and provide assistance to potential applicants by assisting in completing the forms.

 

c)      Banned Materials (8:17 – 8:24 pm) – Joan Maddock stated there is still no indication where the twelve banned items are going; it was mentioned that the items were banned only from landfill sites and some have been re-directed to recycling depots; mention was also made of the construction of a facility in Newmarket that will produce pellets from these banned materials.

 

d)      Tree By-law (8:24 – 8:36 pm) – John O’Gorman spoke of his recent meeting with Linda Irvine with respect to the draft tree by-law; he provided Linda with the Committee’s feedback on areas of concern in the by-law; a further re-draft will be done and provided to MCC.  It was agreed that John O’Gorman would draft a letter to be sent to each member of Council indicating MCC’s support in principle of this by-law.

     

6.   REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES

 

a)   Waste Management (8:36 – 8:45 pm) – Regional Councillor Jack Heath mentioned the upcoming launch of Phase 2 of the Mission Green initiative, on July 4; he called on Committee members to once again participate as Ambassadors in promoting this program throughout the rest of the Town – it was recognized that many more volunteers would be needed.  It was agreed that letters would be sent to all Councillors requesting names of potential volunteers to act as ambassadors for a period from June 10th to July 3rd to assist in educating residents of this important program.  The Mission Green item will be placed on the agenda for the April meeting of MCC.  On a separate issue, Joan Maddock circulated a recent article on excessive packaging.

 

b)   Community Outreach and Education  (8:45 – 8:47 pm) – Regional Councillor Jack Heath indicated that he would make the necessary arrangements for tables and easels for the Earth Day event to be held at the Markville Mall; Brent Mersey stated he would be able to transport the material to the Mall and return to the Town.

 

7.   REPORTS FROM RELATED COMMITTEES

 

a)      Markham Pesticide Reduction Steering Committee:  This item will now fall under the Environmental Issues Committee umbrella.

 

8.   ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

 

a)   Communities in Bloom (8:49 – 8:51 pm) – Karen Boniface requested a second volunteer from MCC to assist Romila Verma; Joan Maddock volunteered.

 

b)   Celebrate our Environment (8:47 – 8:49 pm) – Karen Boniface circulated the final draft of the flyer for this event and urged members to get any additional information for inclusion in the flyer to her as soon as possible.  Once the final version is printed, she will be calling on members to assist in attaching them to the Earth Day posters.

 

c)   Eco Susie Awards (8:51 – 8:53 pm) – Karen Boniface circulated a draft pamphlet for this event which will include a registration form; she indicated that she would bring them to the next meeting and encouraged members to get involved in Eco Susie section of this program.

 

d)   Pitch-In Canada National Civic Pride Recognition Program (8:53 – 8:55 pm) – Karen Boniface presented the background information and descriptions on this Program; Joan Maddock agreed to prepare a draft letter of support to accompany the application.

 

e)   Wood Duck Project (8:55 – 9:00 pm) – Krista Olins spoke of a Toronto and Region Conservation Committee initiative to place nesting boxes for wood ducks on private lands; one has been installed on a creek near her home – as the area is public property, there was no charge for the installation; she stated she would e-mail members the contact names along with photos of the boxes and site.

 

f)    Newsletter  - deferred

 

9.      NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting of the Markham Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 7:00 pm in the Ontario Room.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

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

      CARRIED

 

ConservMin050331.doc