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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-07-14ENVY1993-07-14 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES JULY 14, 1993 The Environmental Committee met this date commencing at 3:00 p.m. under the Chairmanship of Alderman C. Weylie with the following members present: Alderman M. Wagner, Ms. N. Finkle, and Mr. J. Maine. Alderman C. Zehr, Alderman T. Galloway and Mr. D. Hilker entered the meeting after its commencement. Officials Present: Mr. S. Klapman, Mr. T. Clancy, Mr. B. Stanley, Mr. C. Ford, Mr. G. Nixon, Ms. D. Arnold and Mr. L.W. Neil. The Committee was advised Dr. J. Kay was on vacation, Alderman G. Leadston was attending to other city business, and Mr. S. Cooke was unable to attend the meeting due to his work with the G.R.C.A. 1. MINUTES On motion by Mr. J. Maine, it was resolved: "That the minutes of the regular meeting of the Environmental Committee held on June 16, 1993, as mailed to the members, be accepted." 2. STARTING TIME OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Committee agreed to change its meeting time back to 4:00 p.m. from 3:00 p.m. for all future meetings due to members not being able to be present for the 3:00 p.m. start time. 3. REPORT RE MEETING OF WARD CO-ORDINATORS Ms. N. Finkle reported on a meeting of Ward Co-ordinators held last night relative to the following matters: - recruitment of volunteers has been difficult and she anticipates no further recruitment until September - safety kits/sharps kits have been provided to each Ward Co-ordinator who each must have a training session and then train their own volunteers - work on an operations manual is proceeding - discussion took place as to how Ward Co-ordinators will be working with environmental consultants of each school board - volunteer certificates and qualifying criteria were discussed. A sub-committee was formed to develop some ideas for presentation at the next Ward Co-ordinators meeting. - presently seven Ward Co-ordinators are in place and co-ordinators are needed for the two downtown wards and Chicopee Ward - a list of Ward Co-ordinators was distributed - several Ward Co-ordinators plan to attend the Ontario Parks Association Conference in Kitchener - method of volunteer identification is under discussion - Ward Co-ordinators meeting dates are the first Tuesday of each month with the tentative location being Victoria School at 7:00 p.m. - it was agreed Alderman C. Weylie would present the Strategic Plan to the Ward Co- ordinators on November 2nd Alderman C. Zehr entered the meeting at this point. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 42 - J U LY 14, 1993 3. REPORT RE MEETING OF WARD CO-ORDINATORS (CONT'D) On the matter of volunteer identification, it was suggested that adhesive name tags with the environmental logo be used rather than plastic name tags. Alderman M. Wagner advised that he would determine who supplied such adhesive tags for the Labatt Briar and Ms. N. Finkle indicated she would review the suggestion with her Ward Co-ordinators. Mr. J. Maine questioned what kinds of plans were under consideration respecting volunteer recruitment. Ms. Finkle advised that as many sources as possible would be utilized, including neighbourhood association newsletters, leisure magazine and press releases. Alderman T. Galloway entered the meeting at this point. 4. USE OF CITY'S ENVIRONMENTAL LOGO Ms. D. Arnold, Assistant City Solicitor attended the meeting to present her concerns relative to use of the City's environmental logo which has copyright protection and in particular wide spread use such as for letterhead requested by the Ward Co-ordinators. She stated her primary concern was that the City was owner of the logo and with it appearing at the top of letterhead an impression would be conveyed that the material appearing under the logo was policy of the City. She indicated that the logo would be viewed similarly to that of the present City crest. Ms. Arnold suggested that the Committee may wish to consider developing guidelines on use of the logo or allow use on a pre-approved basis. A lengthy discussion took place concerning possible guidelines on use of the logo and the merits of limited or widespread use of the logo. Following the discussion, it was agreed that no guidelines relative to the use of the City's environmental logo would be established at this time. As requested by the Committee, Mr. C. Ford provided quotations for the following quantities of letterhead with the environmental logo: Quantity Quotation 1000 $ 351.00 2000 $ 440.00 5000 $ 635.00 10000 $1004.00 On motion by Alderman T. Galloway, it was resolved: "That an inventory of 1000 letterhead with the City's environmental logo be acquired at the cost of $351.00 plus taxes." Alderman T. Galloway suggested that consideration be given to incorporating the environmental committee logo on all other City letterhead with either colours of black and white or one of the colours that is presently used in the City's existing letterhead but at no additional cost other than initial setup. On motion by Alderman T. Galloway, it was resolved: "That the Management Committee consider inclusion of the City's environmental logo on all City stationery provided it could be done at no additional on going cost." 5. ONTARIO PARKS ASSOCIATION MEETING, JULY 20-23, 1993 Mr. T. Clancy confirmed that there was space available in seminar sessions of the Ontario Parks Association meeting being held in Kitchener, July 20-23, 1993. He pointed out that there were several good sessions that had environmental themes and asked that any Committee members with an interest in the sessions contact Ms. R. Willms of the Parks Division. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 43 - J U LY 14, 1993 Mr. D. Hilker entered the meeting at this point. 6. PROPOSED SCENIC - HERITAGE ROAD POLICIES At the Committee's June 16th meeting, Mr. B. Stanley distributed a memorandum containing proposed Scenic-Heritage Road Policies which he asked be tabled at that time and considered this date. It was pointed out in his memorandum that the Environmental Committee on February 17th requested that the revised policy and scenic road definition come back to the Environmental Committee following review by the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee. Mr. Stanley noted that LACAC endorsed the policy at its June 11th meeting and that regional staff were in support of the policies. Mr. Stanley stated that at the present time there were no Scenic Roads Policies in the Official Plan which just references three specific roads. He referred to several studies that were done a number of years ago respecting the issue of scenic roads and noted that they related primarily to rural roads. In this regard he commented that in analyzing scenic roads, a scenic road could begin to score negatively when it encounters urban roads. Accordingly he suggested that it was necessary to develop criteria relating to scenic roads that were rural and those that were urban and that each road may have different characteristics. At this point he quoted the proposed definition of new Scenic-Heritage Road Policies being: Scenic-Heritage Roads are roads which, because of their unique structural, topographic and visual characteristics; as well as abutting vegetation, built environment and cultural landscape, historical significance, or location within a Heritage Conservation District are intended to be maintained in their existing state and are to remain open to vehicular traffic. Discussion of aspects of the definition took place that focused on the width of the road as it related to the right-of-way and the actual carriage way and the related policies. Alderman T. Galloway expressed concern regarding the last part of the definition which reads "to remain open to vehicular traffic". He questioned if the definition would preclude the City from closing the road and Mr. Stanley advised that closure would require an Official Plan Amendment. Alderman Galloway stated that he had no problem with this as long as it did not encumber de-commissioning of the road in future. Mr. Stanley advised that a policy could be added that would deal with transition so that in the event a scenic road is to be closed a mechanism would be in place to deal with this entire question. It was agreed that Mr. Stanley would prepare a policy on such transition. Mr. D. Hilker questioned how a scenic road would be identified to the average person and whether such identification was necessary. Mr. B. Stanley advised that designation would be in the plans but signing could be considered. Alderman M. Wagner stated that it was appropriate to sign a scenic road illustrating that it is a designated scenic road. Mr. Stanley then reviewed policy 8.3.3 and questions were raised regarding the numbered statements. In reference to number four, Alderman T. Galloway expressed concern about underground services crossing scenic roads. Alderman C. Zehr questioned if the policy was in conflict with intensification policies and Mr. Stanley replied that he did not think there was any conflict. Mr. J. Maine questioned the intended use of scenic roads, how they would be accessed and used and also what linkage scenic roads had to other local features. Mr. B. Stanley referred to number seven and commented that it is necessary to get down to the design stage of a proposed development to decide how a scenic road was going to be used. In this regard, he suggested that the onus was on the city to do additional planning and design work. Mr. Maine questioned how this intent could be integrated into the planning and Alderman M. Wagner stated that it would happen with approval of the policy which developers are very supportive of. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES - 44 - J U LY 14, 1993 6. PROPOSED SCENIC - HERITAGE ROAD POLICIES (CONT'D) In reference to number five and comments by Mr. D. Hilker and Mr. B. Stanley, it was pointed out that the policy would limit access to scenic roads, particularly through the use of back lotting development that abuts a scenic road. On motion by Alderman C. Zehr, it was agreed to approve the scenic road heritage policies with a revision dealing with transition relative to road closure. Mr. B. Stanley stated that this revised policy would be incorporated into the new Municipal Plan. Alderman M. Wagner questioned if the Municipal Plan would name the designated roads. Mr. B. Stanley stated that it depends on timing sequence respecting planning issues. He stated that if the Doon South Transportation Plan could be brought forward at the same time the roads could be named and designated all at once. Finally Alderman Wagner extended appreciation to the Department of Planning & Development for its efforts in developing the scenic-heritage road policies. 7. OTHER BUSINESS It was noted that the next Goods Exchange Day is September 11, 1993. A copy of the City of Cambridge "Green Strategy" was given to Mr. S. Klapman. Alderman C. Weylie advised that she had received a letter which she would pass to Ms. S. Frenette concerning excessive spraying on properties owned by Kitchener Housing Inc. Alderman C. Weylie gave a copy of an environmental plan from a City in England to Mr. S. Klapman for review. She noted that she had a video tape on the subject which required conversion to North American standards. Alderman M. Wagner stated that grants of $50 to $5,000 were available from Shell Canada for environmental projects and passed the information to Mr. C. Ford to review. Mr. G. Nixon provided an update with regard to item 2.1 Forest Land Management of the Strategic Plan and advised that the department currently has two environmental students investigating and creating a database relative to this subject. He also commented that private land owners had been enthusiastic about this initiative. 8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEM Alderman M. Wagner requested that transportation incentives for Kitchener staff to use Kitchener Transit be added as a future agenda item for discussion. He suggested that a greater effort needs to be made respecting investigation of this initiative and pointed out that the Mutual Group has been doing it for years and still is. 9. NEXT MEETING It was agreed that the next meeting would be held in September at the call of the Chairman. 10. ADJOURNMENT On motion, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. L.W. Neil, AMCT Assistant City Clerk