HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 10, 2011
• Citq oo Minutes/Meeting Summary
i-i Sustainable Pickering Advisory Committee
CAO Boardroom
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1 I IN Wednesday, August 10, 2011
11:30 am
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Attendees: Doug Dickerson, Chair, City Councillor, Ward 2
Peter Rodrigues, Regional Chair, Ward 3
Tom Melymuk, Director, Office of Sustainability
Chantal Whitaker, Coordinator, Sustainability
Terry Green, President, Green Path
Carol Redmond, (Acting) Executive Assistant, Council Office (Recording Secretary)
Absent: Mayor Ryan
David Pickles, Vice-Chair, City Councillor, Ward 3
Lynn Winterstein, Manager, Marketing & Business Development
Item/ Details Discussion & Conclusion Action Items/Status
Ref # (summary of discussion) (include deadline as '
a ro riate
1. Seaton Sustainable Placemakin Guidelines T. Mel muk
T. Melymuk distributed the draft Sustainable Place-Making
Guidelines for information and review. This draft includes
photos, scorecards and enhancements.
T. Melymuk advised that once finalized, the Guidelines will be
forwarded to Council for approval. This should be done
before the end of the year, prior to the Seaton OMB hearings
now scheduled for January, 2012.
T. Melymuk commented that the Guidelines are specific to
Seaton, but once finalized, they can be utilized as a basis for
drafting draft citywide guidelines next year.
Councillor Rodrigues asked if the Guidelines will include
Duffins Creek. T. Melymuk advised that Duffins Creek will be
included in the citywide guidelines.
Councillor Rodrigues suggested that, when naming levels to
use clear labels such as Sustainable Silver or Gold.
Councillor Dickerson arrived at the meeting at 11:43 am.
Councillor Dickerson asked if the Guidelines could be
• adopted citywide. T. Mel muk responded that the Seaton
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Guidelines can be used as a basis for citywide guidelines that
could be prepared next year.
Councillor Dickerson commented that the City has to start
somewhere and suggested they not wait a year for the
citywide guidelines to be implemented. T. Melymuk advised
that he felt it would be a matter of three or four months as the
document requires careful review to ensure the language is
appropriate for all neighbourhoods in the City
Councillor Dickerson suggested that the Sustainable T. Melymuk to ask
Pickering Advisory Committee be acknowledged in the consultant to include
Guidelines. acknowledgment of
SPAC in the
Guidelines
2. Schedule for Measurin Zustainabil Report C. Whitaker
C. Whitaker advised that she will review the work plan schedule
with committee members and that T. Green will provide an
overview of the survey results. She advised that work on the
new indicators is 90% complete and updates to the existing
indicators will be completed in the next two weeks.
C. Whitaker distributed copies of a table which outlined the
twenty-nine indicators. She advised that the items marked in
yellow indicate the indicators were new or revised. For
example:
• number 2 merged two tree related indicators
number 13 fills in the community participation gap
from the first report
• number 14 - fills in the community perception of
sustainability gap that we needed the survey to
address
• number 24 was originally specific to solar energy
but now includes any renewable energy resource
C. Whitaker advised that they have reengaged Philippa
Campsie to assist with the organization and writing of the final
document. Once they are satisfied with the text, it will be sent to
the designer for layout and inclusion of photography. They are
reviewing new ways to show the report online. They are still
looking for a fall release followed by a comprehensive
marketing campaign.
T. Green provided an overview of the survey and advised. that
overall he was happy with the participation. He reported the
• following:
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• 234 participants in all with a 90% completion rate
with a good cross-section of demographics
• youth and those with less education were under
represented
• university graduates participated twice as much but
this may have to do with the fact that overall
Pickering residents have a higher level of education
than the national average
• 55% of the participants heard about the survey
through newsletter networks and emails
• 75% of the participation came through the City's
website
• 9% through social media
• 19% from local newspapers
• 16% from local facilities
Perception of City Services
• participants were happy with fire, police, recreation
activities and dissatisfied with transportation,
pedestrian routes especially sidewalks
Councillor Dickerson commented that Council has been
pushing for sidewalks and these results will be helpful.
Terry continued with the overview of the survey.
Perception of community safety
• based on scenarios, 96% felt safe in the daytime
• 91 % felt safe at home at night
• 25% felt unsafe if alone after dark, walking, in a car
parking lot or using public transit
Perception of Pickering as a place to live since moving here
• 44% say no change
• 28% thought it was better, 26% worse
Perception of neighbourhood
• 92% were satisfied with their neighbourhood
• only 2% were very dissatisfied
Councillor Dickerson commented that the favourable results
may have to do with personal contact with staff, Council and
Customer Care.
Leisure, social and cultural activities
• participants were satisfied with parks, trails,
conservation areas, waterways, libraries, golf,
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concerts, plays, places of worship
• not satisfied with shopping, movie theatres and local
newspapers
Sustainability efforts
• 82% very or somewhat satisfied
• 96% made sustainable choices in their households
Locally grown food
• 86% awareness of locally grown food
50% were frequently buying locally grown food
• 1 /3 buying from local farmers
Community volunteerism
• 2/3 did their volunteering in Pickering, averaging 49
hours each per year, 61 hours total in and outside of
Pickering
• 45% of residents volunteer
• 20% do fundraising
Downtown revitalization
• participants felt that more green space and trees
were most important followed by: walkability, sense
of vitality, unique food and drink establishments,
places to sit and people watch
• at the bottom of the list were, unique architectural,
entertainment, architectural design , cultural
attractions and gathering places
Councillor Dickerson commented that this will be a good
document to share with other municipalities.
Councillor Dickerson commented that feedback is an important
issue for the next survey. Councillor Rodrigues agreed and
commented that corrective feedback is also important.
Councillor Dickerson commented that it would be good to
capitalize on the results and incorporate the findings in Council
newsletters.
3. 'Pickerifi Farmers Market C. Whitaker
C. Whitaker advised that Lorna Murphy from the Pickering
Town Centre was extremely pleased so far with the Pickering
Farmers Market. They currently have twelve vendors and six
more that would like to participate.
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The market days are going well and although it is hard to get a
formal count, there are hundreds of people coming to it weekly.
Many vendors report selling out of certain items by the end of
the day. They plan to continue with the weekly themes i.e.
organics, sustainability, safety. 350 items have been collected
so far for the food bank.
Councillor Rodrigues commented that they should start the
market earlier next year.
4. Contribution` Program C. Whitaker
C. Whitaker advised that since they last met they have received
one additional contribution from Brookdale Homes. To date
they received a total of $12,000.
5. Bike to Work and Clean Air Commute events C. Whitaker
C.Whitaker advised that the focus in May and June was on
sustainable transportation and staff engagement.
They have installed a new bike rack to replace the one that was
removed from the underground parking garage. Staff have
been advised that if they bike to work they can shower at the
Recreation Complex without having to purchase a membership.
Councillor Dickerson asked if there was a bike rack at the C. Whitaker to action.
Recreation Complex. C. Whitaker will check.
C. Whitaker advised that 11 staff participated in Bike to Work
Day. She commented that Ajax had 8 staff participate and that
the Region of Durham had 42.
C. Whitaker commented that several staff advised her that they
would have participated, but did not feel safe riding their bikes
on Kingston Road, Brock Road, Finch or Bayly. C.Whitaker
commented that on the Canadian Cycling Magazine online
survey about the worst (and best) places to cycle, Durham
Region is getting quite a few people commenting that it's in the
"worst" category.
An Emergency Ride Home program has been recently
implemented, so if staff carpool to work and for example, need
to leave suddenly, the City will pay for a taxi ride home. They
will also be installing two priority spots in the south parking lot
for staff that carpool.
C. Whitaker advised that 22 staff artici ated in the Car ool
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Lunch & Learn.
The Clean Air Commute saw 51 staff participate which is an
increase of last year and percentage wise, averaged more
participants than the Region.
They also hosted a "learn to ride a segway" Lunch & Learn and
developed a new Smart Commute section on the Intranet.
Councillor Dickerson commented that they had a good program
going and would love to see more than one Sustainable
Pickering Day a year, on a regular basis such as at the
Recreation Complex or another venue. Tom responded that
they could do another blitz as more initiatives arise.
6. Other Business All
Councillor Dickerson thanked Committee members for all of
their hard work.
Next meeting date to be scheduled.
Meeting Adjourned: 1:17 pm
• Copy: CAO
City Clerk
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