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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-05ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES SEPTEMBER 5~ 2002 CITY OF KITCHENER The Environmental Committee met this date Chaired by Mr. R. dal Bello, commencing at 4:05 p.m., with the following members present: Ms. Y. Fernandes, Ms. N. Sonder and Messrs. R. Nandakumar and P. O'Toole. Mr. J. Kos was in attendance for part of the meeting. Officials Present: Ms. B. Steiner, Ms. J. Billett and Messrs. T. Boutilier, G. Meincke and G. Richardson. This meeting of the Environmental Committee commenced without a quorum present. 1. DTS-02-187 - REVIEW OF EARTH WEEK 2002 AND PROPOSAL FOR EARTH DAY 2003 The Committee was in receipt of Development and Technical Services Department report DTS- 02-187 outlining activities undertaken during the 2002 Earth Week Festival held from April 20 to 22, 2002. Mr. T. Boutilier was in attendance to provide an overview of the activities held and to present the financial report for the event, as outlined in report DTS-02-187. Mr. Boutilier further noted that results of the litter audit undertaken by the Region's Waste Management Division, in conjunction with students of Eastwood Collegiate, will be presented at a future meeting. Mr. J. Kos entered the meeting at this time and a quorum was now present. Mr. Boutilier raised concerns respecting the financial implications of staging Earth Day activities on weekends and the current format for major events relative to the cost and organization involved in staging public community events. In this regard, he advised that the Earth Day working group is seeking direction prior to development of the 2003 Festival. He requested Committee members to consider ideas to address the concerns raised and put forward their suggestions for discussion at the Committee's October meeting. The Committee then entered into a general discussion during which several ideas were put forward, including funding community projects in conjunction with Community Associations and relying on public relations rather than advertising; display booths in local malls; focus on work- oriented projects such as tree planting; provisions for time-in-lieu for staff rather than overtime payment; and staging of events throughout the year as opposed to only during Earth Week with a schedule of events to be announced on Earth Day. Mr. Boutilier received the suggestions and encouraged Committee members to continue to think of additional ideas and bring these forward for discussion at the Committee's next meeting. RESOLUTION - TOWN OF LEAMINGTON - REQUEST TO RE-ESTABLISH PROVINCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPENSATION FUND The Committee was in receipt of correspondence dated August 1, 2002 from Mr. Brian Sweet, Director of Corporate Services of the Town of Leamington, outlining an incident involving the dumping of used oil into a catchbasin. The incident resulted in the municipality incurring an expenditure of over $40,000.00 in clean-up costs due to the inability to identify the party(s) responsible and accordingly, the municipality was unable to take action to recover its costs. The correspondence further advises that a Provincial Environmental Compensation Fund, to which municipalities could apply to assist with funding the cost of environmental clean-up, has been discontinued. Mr. Sweet advances the opinion of the Council of Leamington that discontinuing the Provincial fund places an undue hardship on municipalities and accordingly, requests endorsement of the following resolution, namely: "WHEREAS the Ministry of Environment formerly had an Environmental Compensation Fund which would assist a municipality in paying the cost of cleaning up an oil spill if the cost was not recoverable against the person causing the spill; and, WHEREAS the discontinuance of this fund by the Provincial Government has placed an unfair and onerous burden upon municipalities; ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES SEPTEMBER 5~ 2002 - 28 - CITY OF KITCHENER RESOLUTION - TOWN OF LEAMINGTON - REQUEST TO RE-ESTABLISH PROVINCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPENSATION FUND (CONT'D) THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Ministry of the Environment be requested to re- establish an Environmental Compensation Fund to be used to reimburse municipalities for the clean-up of spills once other sources of recovery of funds have been exhausted; and, FINALLY THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this resolution be circulated for support to all other Ontario municipalities." In response to a question from Mr. P. O'Toole, Mr. Boutilier suggested that the City's experiences under similar circumstances were rare; however, provided an example of a contaminated site for which the City did incur clean-up costs. Mr. O'Toole questioned the potential for municipalities to abuse such funding to which Ms. J. Billett suggested that municipalities making application would be required to provide supporting documentation and would have to meet the criteria as set out by the Province prior to receiving any compensatory funding. Ms. Y. Fernandez questioned the need to reinstate the Provincial fund given that regardless of the funding source the cost is ultimately borne by the taxpayer. Ms. B. Steiner commented that the difference is relative to use of Provincial income tax revenue verses municipal property tax revenue. For information, Mr. G. Meincke pointed out that the City's Stormwater Management Policy makes provision for implementation of preventative measures and as an example cited installation of equipment in storm drains that will reduce the spread of oil spills and in turn minimize the cost of clean-up. Several members of the Committee indicated that they would not support endorsing the resolution given that the need to utilize such a fund would appear to be limited. Ms. N. Sonder spoke in favour of endorsement, noting that the fund is important to the environment in assisting municipalities with restoration of lands impacted by contaminate substances and saw no harm in asking the Province to reinstate the fund. A motion was introduced by Ms. Sonder to endorse the resolution of the Council of Leamington requesting the Minister of Environment to re-establish the Environmental Compensation Fund. Ms. Sonder's motion was put to a vote and the motion was lost. 3. STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION - PRIORITIZATION OF RECORDED ACTIONS The Committee was in receipt this date of a listing of recorded actions specific to four main categories, compiled during previous Strategic Planning sessions. At the request of Ms. B. Steiner, the Committee took time to review the listing and after choosing 3 actions from each category, ranked their choices in a preferred order of priority. Following the conclusion of this exercise, Mr. dal Bello agreed to compile the results and provide same to Ms. Steiner. Ms. Steiner advised that she would then review the results and bring forward to a future meeting suggestions that will enable the Committee to decide how they wish to proceed with implementing actions identified as a high priority. ADJOURNMENT On motion, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m. J. Billett, AMCT Committee Administrator