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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-11-04ENVY1992-11-04 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 4, 1992 The Environmental Committee met this date commencing at 4:00 p.m. under the Chairmanship of Alderman C. Weylie with the following members present: Alderman M. Wagner, Alderman G. Leadston, Dr. J. Kay, Mr. S. Cook, Mr. D. Hilker and Mr. J. Maine. Mayor D.V. Cardillo and Aldermen T. Galloway and C. Zehr entered the meeting shortly after its commencement. Others Present: Mr. B. Stanley, Mr. B. Liddle, Mr. L. Masseo, Mr. T. Clancy, Mr. C. Ford and Mr. L.W. Neil. 1. MINUTES On motion it was resolved: That the minutes of the meetings of the Environmental Commmittee held on August 19 and September 10, 1992, as mailed to the members, be accepted. 2. CORRESPONDENCE/INFORMATION The Committee was in receipt of correspondence/information relative to the following matters: (a) I.C.L.E.I.- Program for the 1993 IULA World Congress, Toronto-June 14-17/93 (b) Healthy Communities Program Mr. B. Stanley indicated that he was attempting to obtain information from the Canadian Institute of Planners on this topic. (c) Earth Day Ontario (d) State of the Environment Conference, November 18, 1992 - North York (e) Sustainable Development Conference, June 1993 - Regional Municipalityof Waterloo (f) I.C.L.E.I. - Local Agenda 21 Update CRITERIA RE NEW INDUSTRIES LOCATING TO THE CITY (RESOURCE CONSUMPTION AND INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS) Alderman C. Weylie advised that she had a copy of By-law 1-90, the Sewer Use By-law for the Region of Waterloo, and Dr. J. Kay agreed to take the By-law for review and report to the Committee relative to the subject of resource consumption and industrial pollutants. Mr. B. Stanley advised that both the City and Regional Official Plan have policies and guidelines that regulate industrial location and commented that these policies should also be reviewed in respect to the above subject. Mayor D. V. Cardillo entered the meeting at this point. Dr. J. Kay raised the matter of water consumption by "old" style toilets. Mr. D. Hilker raised the question of the importation and dumping onto the Canadian market of inefficient toilets from the States where they are prohibited. He questioned if there was anything that could be done to prohibit this practice. Dr. Kay advised that he would investigate if present regulations address the matter of six-litre toilets and advise the Committee. Alderman C. Zehr entered the meeting at this point. Alderman G. Leadston commented that plumbers break up old toilets and arrange for recycling of the porcelain and questioned if the same could be done in respect to disposal of old toilets by residents. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 34 - NOVEMBER 4, 1992 CRITERIA RE NEW INDUSTRIES LOCATING TO THE CITY (RESOURCE CONSUMPTION AND INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS) (CONT'D) Mr. B. Stanley was requested to inquire into the disposal procedure. 4. CORPORATE PRINTING POLICY/GUIDELINES Alderman C. Weylie raised the matter of volumes of printed material originating within City Hall and the need for required material to be printed on two sides as much as possible. As an example of waste in respect to this practice she referred to the Continuous Improvement Document that was recently provided to City Council. The secretary suggested that if the Committee wished to address printing issues in depth that the Deputy City Clerk and the Manager of Printing Services be invited to attend a future meeting to address the subject. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (a) Special Council Meetinq (Sept 21, 1992) It was noted that a copy of the Minutes of the Special Council Meeting held September 21, 1992 dealing with the Strategic Plan for the Environment was mailed to lay members of the Environmental Committee for their information. (b) Jeb Bru,qmann It was agreed that the Chairman would write a letter to Mr. Jeb Brugmann to express appreciation for his presentation at the September 21 st Special Council Meeting dealing with the Strategic Plan for the Environment. In regard to the IULA June 1993 World Congress in Toronto, Alderman C. Weylie questioned if there were any costs that would be assessable against the City in connection with any presentation or submission respecting the City of Kitchener's Strategic Plan for the Environment. Mr. C. Ford advised that at this time it was not known what the costs would be for delegates to attend nor was it known what fees, if any, there might be in respect to presentations. He indicated that a format for the agenda has been developed and he could provide a list of headings and topics and inquire into the issue of costs. (c) Bud,qet Consolidation Mr. C. Ford indicated that he was working on a summary of capital budget items relative to environmental issues so that Council would have a comprehensive picture of their actions respecting projects involving environmental initiatives. It was agreed that this matter would be raised at the Committee's next meeting for further discussion. (d) Prioritization of Strategic Plan Priorities Mr. L. Masseo commented that all affected divisions of departments have been requested to ensure that environmental issues arising from the Strategic Plan are included in their 1993 budgets. 6. LAY COMMITTEE MEMBERS - AREA OF EXPERTISE Alderman C. Weylie asked that the Committee consider if it wishes to make recommendations to City Council concerning the area of personal expertise that should be sought in regard to future lay committee member appointments to the Environmental Committee. She also asked if the Committee wished to consider recommending that a Regional E.E.A.C. representative be added as a member of the Environmental Committee or ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE - 35 - NOVEMBER 4, 1992 MINUTES 6. LAY COMMITTEE MEMBERS - AREA OF EXPERTISE (CONT'D) whether the Committee wished to make arrangements to convey its proceedings to a Region of Waterloo representative of the Regional E.E.A.C. Committee. Mr. D. Hilker commented that he has attended a few E.E.A.C. meetings and that he thought someone from E.E.A.C. should attend the City's Environmental Committee Meeting. Mr. B. Stanley pointed out that at the Regional level there were actually two Committees dealing with Environmental issues, being the E.E.A.C. Committee and a Regional staff committee. He noted that the Regional E.E.A.C. had a very narrow focus and suggested that it would be appropriate that E.E.A.C. be made aware of the Environmental Committee proceedings by sending agendas and minutes. Mr. T. Clancy commented to the Committee on Regional involvement in environmental issues and pointed out that the Region was in the process of gearing up their staff to be more involved in environmental policy matters. He suggested that it would be sufficient that Regional staff be on the mailing list of the Environmental Committee in order to flag any matters of Regional significance. Mr. L. Masseo pointed out to the Committee that when the Environmental Committee was first established, E.E.A.C. advised that at that time they did not think there was a need for a member of their organization to sit on the Environmental Committee but that they were willing to advise the Environmental Committee on an as required basis. It was agreed that the Commissioner of Planning and Development for the Region of Waterloo be provided with a copy of the City's Environmental Committee Agendas and Minutes so that matters of concern to the Region could be referred to E.E.A.C. or the Regional Staff Environmental Committee. Alderman G. Leadston stated that he would like to see all existing lay members of the Environmental Committee remain on it in 1993. Mr. S. Cooke suggested that it would be beneficial for the Committee to also have as a member someone with a Communications type of background to assist the Committee in respect to publicity matters. Alderman Leadston commented that it would be desirable to have a representative from each school board participating on the Committee. Mr. T. Clancy suggested that the matter of assistance from representatives of the school boards would more appropriately be limited to specific task situations and suggested that a copy of the City's Strategic Plan be sent to the school boards for their information and request their assistance as an outside resource on specific occasions. He indicated that there were certain individuals from the Waterloo County Board of Education and the Separate School Board who would be such ideal resource persons for the Environmental Committee. Finally the comment was made that the Committee could utilize someone who was environmentally conscious and skilled in communications so as to foster public participation in environmental initiatives. 7. LEAF COMPOSTING Alderman C. Weylie suggested that a policy should be developed respecting recommended to City Council as in her view current practices relative composting were not working effectively. leaf composting and to leaf pick-up and Mr. T. Clancy commented that the most effective way to deal with the leaf collecting and composting problem was through mulching at the source. He stated that the City's goal should be that there be no leaf pick-up whatsoever and that mulching and composting address the issue. Mr. D. Hilker questioned if someone from MTD Products could make a presentation to the Committee on the subject of mulching and how it could benefit City operations and the environment. He noted that there should be ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 36 - NOVEMBER 4, 1992 7. LEAF COMPOSTING (CONT'D) legislation in place to prohibit dumping of leaves onto right-of-ways due to the slippery and hazardous conditions leaves create for both motorists and cyclists. Mr. T. Clancy indicated that some networking ideas on the mulching issue were needed so as to provide concrete examples of how people handle their mulching. Mr. D. Hilker agreed to approach MTD Products Ltd. to discuss the company making a presentation to the Committee on the technology of equipment available to deal with mulching. 8. X-MAS TREE ORNAMENTS (ENVIROBALL) For the information of the Committee, Alderman C. Weylie circulated a Christmas Tree ornament called an Enviroball that is made in the City of Waterloo. Purchase of the ball helps raise the funds for school projects and environmental projects in Canada and she noted that various groups were selling it as fundraisers. 9. KITCHENER TRANSIT RE MAGIC CARD SYSTEM For the Committee's information, Alderman C. Weylie advised that City Council was recently in receipt of documentation respecting a Magic Card system (cashless fare) that could be incorporated into buses of Kitchener Transit. She indicated that the system could become an alternate to purchasing a transit pass every month and would be coming up for discussion during budget deliberations of City Council. 10. ADAPTIVE RE-USE OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS SUB-COMMITTEE For the information of the Committee Alderman C. Weylie informed them that the City has undertaken to form an Adaptive Re-Use of Industrial Building Sub-Committee to deal with finding new uses for vacant industrial buildings. Preservation of such buildings is considered to be an environmental benefit and information relative to the terms of reference of this sub-committee will be made available to members of the Enviromental Committee. 11. CITY OF WATERLOO BROCHURE - ENVIRONMENT FIRST POLICY Alderman C. Weylie circulated a copy of the City of Waterloo's brochure "Environment First Policy" and suggested that the brochure could serve as a model for publicizing the City of Kitchener's Strategic Plan. It was agreed that further consideration of the brochure be referred to a future agenda of the Environmental Committee for discussion. 12. STRATEGIC PLAN PRESENTATIONS TO NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS For the information of the Committee Alderman C. Weylie advised that she has written to all neighbourhood associations offering to make the same presentation on the City's Environmental Strategic Plan as she did at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Montreal this past summer. 13. UNADDRESSED (JUNK) MAIL For the information of the Committee the address of the organization to write to in order to stop delivery of unaddressed mail to residents was provided and is: The Canadian Direct Mail Marketing Association 1 Concord Gate North York, Ontario M3C 3N6 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 37 - NOVEMBER 4, 1992 14. PROPOSED SHOWERS FOR CYCLISTS IN THE DUKE STREET PARKING GARAGE The Committee referred to discussion that took place recently at City Council regarding the issue of proposed showers for use by cyclists to be installed as part of renovations to the Duke Street Parking Garage. Dr. Kay suggested that the cost avoidance savings achieved as a result of encouraging bicycle use should be considered within the overall costs of the proposal. Some discussion took place and Alderman M. Wagner commented that there were many aspects to the issue that merit further consideration. Alderman C. Zehr pointed out that an alternate and much less expensive solution would be going forward to City Council for its consideration. It was suggested that the Committee deal with this shower proposal at its next meeting and make a recommendation to City Council based on the environmental merits of encouraging more bicycle use. Dr. Kay advised that the university was renting a type of weather-proof bicycle locker to cyclists which provided the cyclist with a sealed structure for security and protection from the elements. Alderman T. Galloway volunteered to inquire into the costs to buy and rent these bicycle lockers and advise the Committee. Mr. D. Hilker commented that in Europe and now in the City of Toronto bicycle areas on streets are designated by painted strips. Alderman M. Wagner noted that actions are now underway relative to various cycling matters and this was an issue that would be addressed in plans that are being developed. 15. SILTATION OF SEWERS For the information of the Committee Mr. B. Liddle advised that the Public Works Department was in receipt of a complaint letter from a resident of Misty Crescent expressing concern over erosion from water run-off and subsequent siltation of the sewer system. He indicated that Mr. D. Suzuki has replied to the letter and attempted to satisfy the residents concern in this regard. Mr. Liddle noted that one of the policies in the Strategic Plan is to provide for policing of such situations involving new construction and erosion/siltation. 16. ADOPTA PROGRAM UPDATE Alderman M. Wagner advised the Committee that he would provide an update respecting progress made with respect to his Adopt A Program concept for community Environmental Initiatives. 17. NEXT MEETING - DECEMBER 2, 1992 It was agreed that the next meeting would be held on Wednesday, December 2, 1992 commencing at 4:00 p.m. 18. ADJOURNMENT On motion, the meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. L.W. Neil, AMCT Assistant City Clerk