HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 5, 2009
Citq Minutes I Meeting Summary
Sustainable Pickering Advisory Committee
March 5, 2009
I ERI 10:00 am
Main Committee Room
Attendees: Doug Dickerson, City Councillor, Ward 2 (Chair)
Jennifer O'Connell, City Councillor, Ward 1 (Vice-Chair)
David Pickles, City Councillor, Ward 3
Tom Melymuk, Director, Office of Sustainability
Neil Carroll, Director, Planning & Development
Catherine Rose, Manager, Policy
Lynn Winterstein, Manager, Marketing & Business Development
Chantal Whitaker, Coordinator, Sustainability
Jack McGinnis - Durham Sustain Ability
Marla Shim, Executive Assistant, Council (Recording Secretary)
Item / Details & Discussion & Conclusion Action Items /Status
Ref # (summary of discussion) (include deadline as
appropriate)
1. Welcome and Introductions
The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed everyone
2. Sustainable Development Guidelines
Neil noted that the Sustainable Development Guidelines
booklet had previously been distributed to Members of
Council. It is also available to the public on CD by
request, or through our website. The guidelines took
some time to develop, but still needs to be modified to a
simpler format for the general public to comprehend.
Catherine showed an updated Power Point presentation
and explained the guidelines in detail.
General discussion ensued and the following points were
discussed:
• Committee members and staff discussed the need for an
updated edition of the Guidelines; possible matters to reflect
in the next edition include the 2009 Building Code changes;
pre-consultation becoming mandatory; new examples of
technology available under 'explanations', etc.
• Committee members commented that the guidelines should
be more user-friendly, perhaps more of a check list; this
Page 1
CORP0228-2/02
could be examined in the next edition as well
• Staff clarified that the required elements must be met prior
to even being eligible to achieve a Level I, 2 or 3 rating;
Committee members commented on the importance of the
requirements, as well as the optional elements that enable
development proposals to achieve points, being very clearly
expressed
• It was noted that an important role for the SPAC is to have
input to establish the desired level of sustainability to be
achieved for development in the City; consideration should
be given to whether the same level would apply City-wide
• Discussion ensued by the Committee about simplifying the
scoring system; discussion also occurred about the merits of
using a recognized rating system / brand (e.g. LEED; Green
Globes; LEED-ND; LEED for Homes) as opposed to our
Pickering-specific guidelines; further, some members
suggested using an arms-length reviewer to keep
evaluations neutral
It was noted that there are some flaws with the LEED rating
system; people can cherry-pick 'easy' points; for example,
some small items (like installing a bike rack) get the same
point value as major items (remediation of a site; reuse of a
heritage building); there is also a cost to register, and the
requirements to demonstrate compliance are quite onerous
In discussing LEED, it was noted that the City's Guidelines
were patterned after the draft LEED-ND system from the
US, and the final rating system was released about the
same time as the City's Guidelines (mid 2007); a number of
pilot projects are now testing the final LEED-ND system;
staff commented that the City's guidelines are more
sophisticated than most, and that they reflect the Southern
Ontario/ GTA planning context
• It was noted that "sustainable place- making" is the context
for sustainable development; thus, it is inappropriate to
select one criteria related to sustainability, such as
increased density, and ignore other factors that contribute to
creating good places (such as urban design, uses, street
relationship, etc.)
• A detailed Q & A session occurred about the basis for
identifying some criteria as "required": is it by law,
regulation; practice or desire; some of the City 'desires' are
identified as required, and should be re-examined as to
Page 2
CORP0228-2/02
whether they should be converted to optional and points
assigned; would need a corresponding increase in points to
reach equivalent levels in the original scoring system
P & D staff to continue
• A suggestion was made to create more levels with fewer to refine and update
points between categories; some members suggested four the guidelines and to
levels would be appropriate; others suggested five or more identify alternative
scoring / rating
• The Committee members expressed concern that they didn't categories for
yet understand how easy or difficult it was to reach the discussion at an
various levels. It was suggested that a "walk-through" of the upcoming SPAC
scoring arrived at for the Mattamy (Duffin Heights) draft plan meeting.
and rezoning applications, with members of the previous
evaluation team and the SPAC members, would help the Catherine to arrange a
Committee members understand the categories and how meeting to go through
easy/hard it is to get points a sample scoring
3. 2009 Sustainable Pickering Work Plan
Copies of the 2009 Sustainable Pickering Work Plan were
distributed to members
• Lynn formally introduced and welcomed Chantal as our
new Coordinator, Sustainability
• The Work Plan will assist in taking the City to the next
level of the Sustainable journey and enhance the City's
position as a recognized leader in sustainability
• A Sustainable Challenge will be launched in the first half
of 2009. It will engage residents, businesses, community
groups, schools, builders/developers and staff in
sustainable programs
• Currently working on a new enhanced and updated
Sustainable Pickering website that will be more interactive
and designed as a fully accessible platform for the
Sustainable Pickering Challenge
• Need to do some rewriting on the content before bringing
to the committee - gathering all imagery and checking for
quality assurance
• Goal is to have it ready by the end of May and propose to
have a launch on June 13th for Sustainable Pickering Day,
being held at the Pickering Town Centre (to be confirmed)
• Councillor Dickerson noted that he would like to have a
Page 3
CORP0228-2/02
photograph of the Sustainable Pickering Advisory
Committee members on the opening page
• Councillor Pickles suggested adding wording for each
Council member on the committee
• Councillor O'Connell would prefer that Sustainable
Pickering Day not be held during the summer in future,
due to fewer people being in the mall at that time of the
year
• Jack advised that staff and advisers held a meeting a few
weeks ago to work on principals and purpose and feels
that the program will be very user friendly
• Essential to have engagement and participation of the
public, with the City providing leadership
• Tom advised that staff will be working on a concept for the
First Sustainabilit Progress Report
Copies of the Sustainable Pickering Sponsorship Initiative
spreadsheet were distributed to members
• Chantal advised that letters were sent out to the listed
companies
• A commitment of $12,500 has been received of which
$10,000 has been received to date
• Hopeful that the business community will provide Councillor Dickson will
further sponsorship dollars contact SNC
• Will follow-up with companies that have not responded Councillor O'Connell
will contact Home
• Councillor O'Connell contacted Canadian Tire, but did Depot
not receive a commitment
Staff to provide a new
• Tom noted that staff will create a new list for the list to the Committee
Committee to consider before additional letters are
mailed out
4. Earth Hour
• Scheduled for March 28th from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm
• Last year's participation was remarkable
Page 4
CORP0228-2/02
• The goal is to have one billion participants this year\
• Will advertise on the website in multiple locations, LED
Board, event calendars, community page, display at
libraries, Municipal Matters, display board at
Environmental Leadership Forum, and as an email
broadcast to various distribution groups
• Fire codes and health and safety issues must be
considered and will determine which facilities can or
cannot shut off their lights
• Fire Hall is eager to participate
• A photo contest will be held to allow communities to show
how they participated
• Photographs will be posted on our website and also
showcased in the City's lobby during Earth Week
• A second release will be prepared to advertise the photo
contest, along with safety tips
• Sustainable Committee members will be invited to
participate on the selection panel that will choose the
contest winners
• Merchandise already in place to give out as prizes
5. Eastern Power
• Notices have been posted on the City's website and
Eastern Power is open for additional comments
• Councillor O'Connell advised that the Toronto Zoo is
currently working on implementing a large bio mass
program and would like to arrange a meeting with Zoo
staff to have a better understanding of their program
• A question was raised as to if it is necessary to have a
further meeting with Eastern Power
6. Other Business
• Chantal advised that a Workshop was held last year with
community groups to determine what resources are
required, and what issues are being encountered. As a
result, Environmental Stewardship Pickering is hosting an
Page 5
CORP0228-2/02
Environmental Leadership Forum to help groups address
these issues
• The Environmental Leadership Forum is being held on
March 28th
• Speakers were obtained at a very low cost
• A detailed outline of the forum will be provided to
Members of Council next week
• Jack advised that the new EcoDriver program, part of Green
Communities Canada, has been received well by local
businesses. DSA staff are offering "lunch & learn" sessions
to teach EcoDriver techniques
• DSA has also launched a new program focused on
sustainable transportation, funded by MOST (Moving On
Sustainable Transportation), under Natural Resources
Canada
7. Next Meeting
To be determined
Meeting Adjourned: 12:10 pm
Copy: All Members
Chief Administrative Officer
Directors
City Clerk
Page 6
CORP0228-2102