MARKHAM CONSERVATION
COMMITTEE
Ontario Room – Markham Civic Centre
JUNE 26, 2003 – 7:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE |
|
Members: |
Staff: |
Richard Jarrell (Chair) John O’Gorman Stephanie Sokolyk Councillor Jack Heath |
Regrets
Councillor Erin Shapero David Cheng |
Donna Sardone Karen Volpe |
|
1.
CALL TO ORDER
Richard Jarrell, Chair, called the
meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2.
CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
Election of Vice-Chair under 4.
3.
ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE
MARKHAM CONSERVATION
Seconded by Stephanie Sokolyk
THAT the minutes of the Markham
Conservation Committee meeting held on May 22, 2003, be adopted.
CARRIED
4.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
a) Environmental Sustainability Fund
– Councillor Heath stated that the Committee will have involvement with the
administration of this fund; but, also the report has yet to go before Committee;
Vicky McGrath is preparing a policy to identify projects eligible to receive
monies from the Fund. There followed
general discussion on the work involved to get the fund set up and running.
b) Don
Watershed Survey Report – The Chair agreed to speak to Vicky McGrath on
this issue.
c) Town Kyoto Project – Councillor
Heath advised his report is complete but it must go before Community Services
before coming to MCC; he also advised that Vicky McGrath’s report is still
outstanding. Councillor Heath also
informed Committee that he and Councillor Shapero have discussed the changes on
the environmental side.
d)
Attendance – The Chair advised that David
Cheng has resigned due to an extremely heavy work schedule; he also encouraged
John O’Gorman to complete and mail in his application. Councillor Heath advised that he would get
Council approval for the appointment of Eric Wong.
e)
June
Workshop and Smog Summit Forum: The Chair advised the turnout
for both events was small but successful.
Committee agreed with the proposal that a letter be sent to Council
strongly endorsing that the Town of Markham host the 2004 Smog Summit and that
a letter should be forwarded to the appropriate parties at the City of
Toronto. It was suggested that funds
from the Environmental Sustainability Fund could possibly be used to offset the
costs to host the Summit.
f)
New
Members: Refer to item 4(d) above.
g)
Election
of Vice-Chair: The Chair advised that he would be stepping
aside as Chair for the remainder of the year and as approved at an earlier
meeting, Donna Sardone would take over.
There followed general discussion on who would be Vice-Chair. It was agreed that Joan Jenkyn would assume
the Vice-Chair role.
It was moved by Valerie Burke and
seconded by Gary Atkins that Joan Jenkyn would assume the role of Vice-Chair.
CARRIED
5. NEW
BUSINESS
a) Summer Executive – Following
discussion it was agreed that the new Chair and Vice-Chair along with Romila
Verma would make up the summer executive if any issues should arise until regular
meetings resume in September.
6. REPORTS OF
SUBCOMMITTEES
a) Waste Management – Joan Jenkyn reviewed the ongoing discussions
with the Community Outreach members relative to ‘Garbage as Art’ initiative –
while there were numerous ideas presented, no decision had been reached. The Subcommittee also raised the following
issues: a) who will be controlling the Recycling Depots if waste management is
transferred to the Region of York; b) why isn’t it advertised that damaged blue
boxes will be replaced at no cost; c) the brochures published by the Town on
recycling mention tetra pack drinking containers. Councillor Heath advised that the Region of York has turned down
implementing the 3-stream program this year; he also agreed to obtain the
voting results from the Regional meeting to ascertain how the Regional
Councillors voted; he also advised that the Town is looking at other options
without Regional involvement on furthering waste reductions. Councillor Heath briefly mentioned the
possibility of a Workshop on this topic sometime in the fall.
b) Community Outreach and Education
– Karen Volpe that she is working on the website and have it operational this
summer; she will provide further details on financial matters, etc. in the
fall. Karen also advised that the group
will be meeting to re-organize the group and is asking for more members
c)
Fundraising
– Nothing to report
at this time
d) Natural Resource Management
Subcommittee – Nothing to report at this time.
7. REPORTS FROM RELATED
COMMITTEES
a)
Markham
Pesticide Reduction Steering Committee – Valerie Burke advised that she had
been to a Council meeting where it was agreed to continue with the pesticide
free area in Wart 2. Councillor Heath
advised that he will oppose any Regional by-law on Pesticide control/reduction;
he wants the Town to have its own Pesticide By-law.
8.
ITEMS FOR INFORMATION
Joan Maddock spoke of her meeting
with the Manager responsible for the fish ladder work in Milne Park – very
encouraged by the meeting and feels that the work is progressing well.
The Chair spoke of the Tree by-law
in light of the recent destruction of trees at Verclaire Gate and Highway 7 and
that there is even more incentive now to get a by-law in place. Councillor Heath spoke of the difficulties
with enforcement issues relative to the by-law and also that Linda Irvine is
working on terms of reference for a consultant to prepare a by-law.
The Chair advised that he had been
at a Development Services Committee meeting where the Rouge Park North OPA was
discussed – he spoke of concerns now with small streams in Markham, as there
was little mention of them in the revised OPA.
Councillor Heath spoke at length on the problems being encountered
relative to the Rouge Park Management Plan and feels it will be appealed to the
OMB.
Valerie Burke spoke of the Town’s
Commemorative Tree Program – if someone is wishing to have a tree planted in
memory of someone, they should contact the Town’s Park’s Department who will
make the arrangements and they in turn would provide the person with a
certificate.
There was brief discussion on the
East Markham Strategic Review report going to Council on July 8; there are
plans to expand Rouge Park in the east end, amongst other projects in the area;
a park north of 16th Avenue; and the preservation of heritage homes
in east Markham.
Gary Atkins addressed his
disappointment in the lack of activity by the TRCA relative to the Backyard
Naturalist – nothing has been done and the year is almost over – there are
funds available to implement projects.
Joan Jenkyn spoke briefly of the
Doors Open Markham initiative, which entails touring heritage buildings not
normally open to the public.
The Committee gave a resounding
round of thanks to Richard Jarrell for his efforts on behalf of conservation in
Markham over his tenure as Chair.
9.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Markham
Conservation Committee is scheduled for Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 7:00
p.m. in the Ontario Room.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
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