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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-01-14ENVY1998-01-14 JAN UARY 14, 1998 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES CITY OF KITCHENER The Environmental Committee met this date commencing at 4:00 p.m. with the following members present: Mayor C. Zehr and Councillors T. Galloway, J. Haalboom, Jake Smola, M. Yantzi and Ms. A. Coffey, D. Hartman, D. Luhowy and Messrs. K. Cenerelli, J. Kay, P. Kay and M. Schmitt. Councillor J. Ziegler entered the meeting after its commencement. Officials Present: Ms. D. Arnold, L. Pasternak and Messrs. B. Stanley, T. Clancy, D. Daly, C. Ford, J. Moore, T. Boutilier and L.W. Neil. Mayor C. Zehr welcomed those attending the meeting and requested that Committee and staff members introduce themselves. Following the introductions, Mayor Zehr called for nominations for the position of Committee Chair and Committee Vice-Chair. 1. APPOINTMENTS - ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE CHAIR On motion by Councillor T. Galloway - it was resolved: "That Councillor Jake Smola be appointed Chair of the Environmental Committee for a term to expire November 30, 1998." On motion by Mr. J. Kay - it was resolved: "That Councillor Tom Galloway be appointed Vice-Chair of the Environmental Committee for a term to expire November 30, 1998." Mayor C. Zehr then vacated the Chair which was assumed by Councillor Jake Smola who conducted the remainder of the meeting. 2. COMMITTEE MEETING DATE SCHEDULE The Committee considered a proposed schedule of meeting dates outlined in the agenda. On motion by Councillor J. Haalboom - it was resolved: "That the Environmental Committee approve holding its 1998 meetings at 4:00 p.m. on the dates listed below: Wednesday February 4 " March 4 April 1 " " April 22 Wednesday June 3 Wednesday October 7 " July 8 " November 4 August (none) " December 2" " September 16 3. REPORT - PESTICIDE USE ON CITY LANDS The Committee considered a report respecting pesticide use on City lands dated December 24, 1997 prepared by Mr. D. Daly, Manager of Parks Operations. He advised that on September 29th a delegation approached City Council expressing concern about the use of pesticide on City lands and related health implications and requested that the City ban the use of pesticides on its own property. Council referred the request to the Environmental Committee for consideration of a staff report addressing the entire issue which was attached to the agenda this date. Mr. Daly indicated that he would make a presentation that would highlight the main points of his report and acknowledged that the pesticide issue was a sensitive topic as well as a complex one. He reviewed the Provincial and Federal Legislation that deals with pesticides and the City's current Pesticide Spraying Policy set out in Council Policy 1-309 which he noted has served a very useful purpose for a number of years. Mr. Daly commented that the City has not acted in isolation with regard to the application of pesticides and has been an active participant with other municipalities in working toward reduction of use. In this regard he pointed out that the City has a turf care program that encourages healthier lawns in order to lower pesticide use. ENVIRONMENTAL MINUTES JAN UARY 14, 1998 COMMITFEE -2- CITY OF KITCHENER REPORT - PESTICIDE USE ON CITY LANDS (CONT'D) Councillor J. Ziegler entered the meeting at this point. Mr. Daly referred to the ongoing education and training that staff have undertaken in respect to turf care programs and explained how parks have been classified into three categories, being: higher maintenance types, medium maintenance types and lower maintenance types. He then took the Committee through section 5 of the report dealing with current use of pesticides on the various categories of City lands covering general parkland, golf courses, cemeteries, heritage greens, cul- de-sacs/boulevards/rights-of-way, green houses, fire halls, utility substations and City buildings. In summary, Mr. Daly referred to section 6 dealing with comments, issues and conclusions and pointed out that no municipality in Ontario bans pesticides and that the City of Waterloo was utilizing them on a minimal use basis. He noted that the public perception of pesticide use as being very risky is high compared to the risks that are actually determined by scientific experimentation. Further, he pointed out that the crop protection industry continues to develop less dangerous products. Mr. Daly stated that the City of Kitchener was committed to further reduction of pesticide use but was opposed to a total ban that would have significant cost implications to the municipality. A slide presentation was then shown outlining the various range of City properties that fell under some category of turf maintenance level. Finally, Mr. Daly asked that the Committee refer to the recommendation contained in his report for discussion purposes. Mr. T. Clancy pointed out that staff have constantly reviewed the issue of pesticide use over the years and that Kitchener's program was very similar to that of the City of Waterloo, which he noted Mr. B. Detzler was prepared to confirm to the Committee. Committee members raised such issues as water run off containing pesticides, biodegradability of pesticides, volume of pesticide spraying and development of non toxic herbicides. Mr. Daly indicated that he believed there were some such herbicides on the market now. Councillor M. Yantzi commented that the City of Waterloo seemed to have a more proactive philosophy in respect to the pesticide issue and Mr. T. Clancy responded that the City of Waterloo packages their product differently than the City of Kitchener. Mr. James Kay indicated that he has looked at this issue in depth and it was his opinion that the City of Waterloo was overstating their position in respect to this matter. Mayor C. Zehr left the meeting at this point. Ms. Michele Cadotte appeared as a delegation in support of her submission dated January 10, 1998 distributed to the Committee this date. Ms. Cadotte advised that she was speaking for the Victoria Park Green Team to request changes to the City's pesticide spraying practices and policies. She took the Committee through her report highlighting main aspects. In particular she objected to Victoria Park receiving as much pesticide treatment as it does given that 18% of the park was treated whereas the average for the City's general park land was 1%. She noted that 96% of residents in and around Victoria Park were in support of the Victoria Park Green Team's initiative and wish spraying eliminated. She acknowledged that public expectations for park maintenance were high but suggested that health expectations were of a higher order. Ms. Cadotte suggested that the government approval process in respect to matters involving pesticides was less than ideal and stated that it was her belief the matter was a public health issue and that the City should work to protect the health and safety of its residents and employees. She discussed the issue of a ban on pesticide use and suggested that the City of Waterloo had a goal to eliminate pesticide use and that she had every confidence that Kitchener staff could eliminate use of pesticides. She asked that the Committee support their community based initiative to discontinue the use of pesticides in their neighbourhood park and reviewed the 5 recommendations contained on page 3 of her report. In conclusion, Ms. Cadotte commented that the issue was not about whether anyone believes pesticides were safe or not safe but that a message be made clear that pesticides were not wanted. Members of the Committee posed a number of questions to which Ms. Cadotte responded. She advised that one on the initiatives of the Green Team was to make apartment building owners/operators aware of alternatives to pesticide spraying and that in the spring they would undertake a program to inform people in regard to toxic free lawn maintenance with the focus 3. REPORT - PESTICIDE USE ON CITY LANDS (CONT'D) ENVIRONMENTAL MINUTES JAN UARY 14, 1998 COMMITFEE -~- CITY OF KITCHENER being on turf maintenance and public health issues so as to ensure safe public space for all. Mr. K. Cenerelli questioned if staff could predict what the spraying program would be in Victoria Park for 1998 and Mr. D. Daly advised that there was a good chance that no spraying would be required in 1998. Mr. T. Clancy pointed out that generally for such areas staff had been able to restrict spraying to sometime within a 3-5 year cycle. Ms. Susan Koswan appeared as a delegation to oppose the use of pesticides by the City and utilized an overhead presentation in this regard. She commented on the higher incidence of cancer experienced by those individuals exposed to pesticides and the danger of 2,4-D. As well, she referred to its incidence in water and related effects. Ms. Coswan then commented on fungicides and pointed out that synthetic chemical pesticides are poison, stressing that there are proven safe and cost effective alternatives. She suggested other municipalities have eliminated the use of or are at least working toward the elimination of pesticide spraying. Ms. Coswan listed a number of golf courses that do not use pesticides. She made the following requests: that the City eliminate the use of all synthetic chemical pesticides on most of its property, that the City eliminate use on golf courses, green houses and cemeteries by the year 2000 and that the City become part of a region wide Committee dedicated to educating homeowners and businesses in alternatives to lawn chemicals. Following her presentation, Ms. Coswan provided a copy of her submission for printing and circulation to the Committee. Ms. Wendy Rose appeared as a delegation representing the Urban Pest Management Council of Canada and distributed a folder of various information including the submission she presented this date. She noted that her organization was the urban arm of the Crop Protection Institute of Canada. Ms. Rose then made remarks on the following: - the number of perceptions in regard to health and safety of pesticides - pesticide application has a direct relationship to geography - the fact that there are natural toxins in the environment - a recent "paper" of the Cancer Institute dealing with public exposure to pesticides - when properly used, pesticides play an important role while acknowledging that improper use dangerous - under Canadian law, pesticides require more testing than medicines - contrary scientific reports on risk are always the case, but the major question should relate the weight of evidence - reference was made to long term study of 2,4-D and the importance of the most current science in that regard - research results could be obtained from Health Canada and the Guelph Turf Grass Institute - what is acceptable in one City is not necessarily acceptable in another in terms of pesticide requirement - Mr. B. Detzler of the City of Waterloo does not recommend a ban on pesticides and maintains that what is important is Integrated Pest Management - pesticide technology continues to evolve - her organization strongly supports Integrated Pest Management, with use of the right products is to Due to insufficient time to conclude this matter at this meeting, Councillor Jake Smola advised that consideration of this issue would continue at a special meeting of the Environmental Committee to be held at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday January 21st. Councillor J. Haalboom suggested that the Committee designate a day in May to deal with environmental issues. LEGAL REPORT - ENFORCEMENT OF THE ONTARIO PESTICIDES ACT The Committee was in receipt of a report dated December 31, 1997 from Ms. D. Arnold, Assistant City Solicitor dealing with enforcement of the Ontario Pesticides Act. Her report discussed: a) b) c) d) current legislation and its enforcement legislative authority pesticides advisory committee naturalization lot maintenance by-law LEGAL REPORT - ENFORCEMENT OF THE ONTARIO PESTICIDES ACT (CONT'D) e) conclusions that summarize the approaches discussed her report ENVIRONMENTAL COMMII-FEE MINUTES JAN UARY 14, 1998 -4- CITY OF KITCHENER Ms. Arnold provided the Committee with a brief summary of her report and stressed the following: - that the Province of Quebec can override local municipal by-laws dealing with pesticides use - Ontario maintains a policy of consistent rules province wide for pesticides use and there was no provincial support to delegate pesticides regulation to the municipal level - anyone proposing that the Pesticides Act be changed should approach the provincial governments pesticides advisory committee No questions were forthcoming at this time. 5. UPDATE ON ENVIRONMENTAL HANDBOOK It was agreed that this matter would be referred to the February 4th meeting for consideration. 6. LANDSCAPING OF REGIONAL ROADS The Committee was in receipt of a copy of page 67 of the December 8, 1997 Public Works and Transportation Committee minutes containing discussion and a resolution that was ratified by City Council on December 15, 1997 which referred the matter to the Environmental Committee. On motion by Councillor J. Haalboom - it was resolved: "That we refer the following Public Works and Transportation Committee resolution ratified by Council on December 15, 1997 to the Staff Environmental Study Group February 10th meeting for detailed consideration and report to the Environmental Committee: "That the staff of the Department of Public Works and the Department of Parks & Recreation be instructed to prepare a report containing recommended policies for landscaping of Regional roads, including the incorporation of native trees and ground cover, for presentation to the Environmental Committee at its meeting to be held on January 14, 1998." 7. INFORMATION ITEMS The following information items were attached to the agenda. a) Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing - News Release - Regulation clarifies Municipal User Fees b) Canadian Soft Drink Association - Letter dated September 23, 1997 plus attachments c) The Brewers of Ontario - Report on the Environment - Public Opinion Survey, 1997 d) City of Kitchener Environmental Strategic Plan for the Environment - copy previously distributed to new members only - Plan is currently being updated 8. ADJOURNMENT On motion, the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. L. W. Neil, AMCT Assistant City Clerk