MINUTES

CORNELL ADVISORY GROUP

November 9, 2009

Members Attending Jack Heath - Deputy Mayor Gord Landon – Regional Councillor John Webster – Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes – Cornell Ratepayers Assoc. Susan Taylor – Cornell Ratepayers Assoc. Al Bishop – Landowner Rep. Cornell Niomie Massey – Landowner Rep. Cornell Dan Leeming – Consultant - The Planning Partnership Duncan MacAskill – York Region Planning Jessica Peake – YRDSB Christine Hyde - YCDSB Carolyn Woodland – TRCA Guests Attending Joe Chawla, Markham Stouffville Hospital Duff Balmer, Shore Tilbe Architects Jeff Greene, Gatzios Planning & Development Farid Motamedi, Farid Motamedi Architect Inc Sal Crimi, S.C. Land Management Corporation

Staff Attending Valerie Shuttleworth – Director of Planning & Urban Design Marg Wouters – Manager, Development – East District Doris Cheng – Senior Planner, East District Jan Bright – Administrator Henry Tse – Community Services Debbie Walker, Markham Public Library Warren Rupnarain – Accessibility Coordinator Regrets: Robert Baird – Sherwood-Amberglen Ratepayers Assoc Phil Howes –Markham Village Business Assoc. David Clark – YRRTC Kevin Huang - TRCA Mac Cosburn – Markham Stouffville Hospital Allan Wells – Rouge Park Alliance (TRCA) Wendy Bond – Administrator

The Cornell Advisory Group meeting convened at 6:00 PM with Councillor Webster in the Chair.

1. MINUTES FROM THE June 15, 2009 CORNELL ADVISORY GROUP

The minutes of the June 15, 2009 meeting were adopted with the addition of the following under the Markham Stouffville Hospital discussion:

“Bob Baird noted that the construction schedule as presented posed some problems for 9^th Line residents. There is a ban on trucks on 9^th Line north, and residents at the south end have been lobbying for some years to extend the ban to the south. As construction traffic is exempt, residents will have to endure another three years of heavy truck noise and pollution. He asked if alternative trucking routes could be investigated.”

Moved by Councillor Webster

That the Minutes of the Cornell Advisory Group meeting held on June 15, 2009, as revised, be adopted.

CARRIED

2. Business Arising from the Minutes:

Open Space at Hwy 7/9^th Line: Marg Wouters provided an update regarding the status of the open spaces at the northwest and southeast corners of Hwy 7 and 9^th Line, and along the west side of 9^th Line south of Delmark Blvd. It has been confirmed that the Region owns the two parcels at the Hwy 7/9^th Line intersections and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) owns the lands south of Delmark Blvd. The Town’s Cycling and Pathways Master Plan shows a pathway through the MTO lands connecting to the Rouge River to the west.

In order for the Town to acquire any of these lands, either the Region or MTO would have to declare them surplus. The lands would then have to be reviewed by the Town’s Environmental Acquisition Committee to compare them with other acquisition priorities. If determined to be a priority, Council authorization would be required through a staff report.

In order to landscape the blocks (i.e., without acquisition), approval would be required from MTO and the Region for both landscaping installation and maintenance. A source of funding would need to be identified for the landscaping, e.g., identification of the projects as an item in the Capital Budget.

MSH – Alternate Truck Route: Joe Chawla from Markham Stouffville Hospital provided information on the financial impact of re-routing construction trucks to avoid 9^th Line. He indicated that most truck traffic would be coming from the west along Highway 407, and that cost consultants had estimated an additional $750,000 to $1,000,000 in costs over a 5-year period for diverting trucks further east to the Donald Cousens Parkway interchange and doubling back to the MSH site. The approved construction access for the Hospital expansion is from 9^th Line at the south limit of the property. The only alternative accesses to the MSH property are from Church Street, which would interfere with normal Hospital operations, or from the new community centre driveway off Bur Oak Avenue. Further information was requested regarding specific alternate routes, particularly Old Markham By-Pass. Joe will ask Mac to respond.

3. Town of Markham Accessibility Policy

Warren Rupnarain provided an overview of the Town’s Accessible Customer Service Guide which was prepared in response to the provincial Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The Act requires that all public and private sector organizations in Ontario identify, remove and prevent barriers to accessible customer service, and that all Town staff, Council members, volunteers, board and advisory committee members be trained on how to provide accessible customer service by the end of 2009.

A copy of the Town’s Accessible Customer Service Guide was provided to all Advisory Group members in attendance, and each member confirmed through signature, that they would read the document to satisfy the training requirement.

4. East Markham Community Centre & Library

Doris Cheng, Senior Planner and Duff Balmer, Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners Architects, presented the site plan application for the East Markham Community Centre & Library. Doris provided an overview of the site plan, including the status of the application and relationship with surrounding development. Duff Balmer, the project architect, provided details regarding materials, programming etc. Although there has been a reduction in the amount of space required for the medical library, the total library area is still 25,000 sf with the reduction in the medical component being made up in general purpose rooms within the library.

Questions were asked about the naming of the community centre and the timing of construction. The design work is nearing completion and the project is expected to go to tender in January 2010, with Council approval for awarding of the tender by June, 2010. Construction is expected to begin in the summer, and take approximately 2 years. In response to a suggestion by Andrew Keyes that the community centre be named Cornell Community Centre & Library, the Chair indicated that the naming of the facility would be most appropriately dealt with by Council through General Committee.

There was also discussion regarding green technologies being used and the use of public art. The facility is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification and includes the use of rainwater harvesting for irrigation and flushing toilets. The project team expects some funding to be available for public art and has recently met with the Town’s Public Art Committee.

Andrew Keyes requested images from the presentation for posting on the Cornell Ratepayers Association website. Town staff will consult with Corporate Communications regarding materials to be provided to the Association.

5. Chartwell Retirement Home Application

Marg Wouters and Jeff Greene, Gatzios Planning & Development presented an overview of the Chartwell retirement residence site plan application on the north side of Church Street. The site plan and zoning applications are expected to be brought forward for Council approval in December. The proposal is for a 5-storey retirement residence with surface parking which will be linked with the existing Woodhaven long term care facility.

Questions were asked about the difference between the existing and proposed facilities, the height of the building, the setback of the building from Riverlands Avenue, the potential for private open space on site, and the potential impact of the future public square on future residents in the facility. Farid Motamedi, the project architect, explained that the building height is very similar to the existing facility and was varied in order to reflect the rooflines of the residences on the north side of Riverlands, i.e., to give the building a more residential look. He also indicated that a shadow study undertaken to assess the impact of the height and setback of the building found no shadow impact on the homes on the north side of Riverlands Avenue. With respect to additional open space, there is a private open space on the north side of the building, and the residents will also have access to the open space areas of the community centre. The proximity to the future public square south of Church Street is not expected to be an issue for facility residents. Chartwell is in discussions with Markham District Energy regarding hooking into the MDE system that will be built as part of the Hospital expansion.

6. Springhill Macwood Subdivision Application

Doris Cheng and Sal Crimi presented an overview of the Springhill Macwood plan of subdivision at the northwest corner of Hwy 7 and Cornell Centre Boulevard, which is expected to be brought forward for Council approval in December or January. The plan consists of a number of medium and high density residential development blocks on a series of public roads.

In response to a question re: timing of construction, the applicant indicated they hoped to begin construction of one of the proposed apartment buildings which is currently under site plan approval in the fall of 2010. Servicing allocation is not available for development of all of the development blocks within the subdivision.

7. Deferral No. 2 – Cornell Secondary Plan (Update)

Marg Wouters provided an update to the status of Deferral # 2 of the Cornell Secondary Plan. This deferral relates to the lands north of Hwy 7 between 9^th Line and Bur Oak Avenue. The landowners had asked for a deferral of these policies prior to the Secondary Plan being approved by the Region in order to explore the possibility of a comprehensive wellness-related development in the area. The landowners have requested an extension of the deferral for another year, based on recent progress in preparing a subdivision application for the lands. Staffs are supporting the extension of the deferral for one more year.

8. School Board Plans for Cornell

Jessica Peake (YRDSB) and Christine Hyde (YCDSB) provided an update of school facility timing in Cornell. Christine indicated that they did not receive funding for a Catholic elementary school for Cornell even though it was requested, and that the Ministry felt there was greater need in other areas of the Province for funding.

As the public board owns its Cornell SS site; in the event that a comparable site in terms of size, shape, cost and proximity to communities served was proposed, the board would consider relocating the site designation. The Public Board stated that it takes roughly 5-6 elementary schools to create a viable secondary school. Therefore as Cornell has only 2 existing elementary schools, the timing of a public high school is unknown. However, the timing is a least 5 years plus.

The Public Board has a new public elementary school site on its 5 year Capital Strategy with a proposed opening of 2013. The Board’s Capital Strategy is reviewed yearly.

Jessica and Christine were asked to determine if the Town could help in any way to get the Province to place a higher priority on new school funding in Cornell.

A copy of the presentation was distributed at the meeting.

9. Other Business

There was no other business.

10. Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for December 14, 2009. Members will be advised if the meeting is cancelled.

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 pm.