HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 16, 2009
City 00 Minutes / Meeting Summary
Sustainable Pickering Advisory.Committee
i i September 16, 2009
PICKERI 2:00 pm
Main Committee Room
Attendees: Mayor Ryan
Doug Dickerson, City Councillor, Ward 2 (Chair)
Jennifer O'Connell, City Councillor, Ward 1 (Vice-Chair)
Tom Melymuk, Director, Office of Sustainability
Catherine Rose, Manager, Policy
Lynn Winterstein, Manager, Marketing & Business Development
Chantal Whitaker, Coordinator, Sustainability
Deborah Wylie, Senior Planner - Policy
Jack McGinnis - Durham Sustain Ability
Marla Shim, Executive Assistant, Council (Recording Secretary)
Absent: David Pickles, City Councillor, Ward 3
Item / Details & Discussion & 'Conclusion Action Items % Status
Ref # (summary of discussion) (include deadline as
appropriate)
1. Welcome & Introductions
Councillor Dickerson welcomed everyone to the meeting and
passed regrets from Councillor Pickles.
2. Green Energy and Green Economy Act Update
D. Wylie provided an overview of the Planning & P&D staff will monitor
Development Department's comments to the Ministry of the the EBR website and
Environment's proposed regulations to remove local barriers report back to the
to renewable energy installations. Some of the comments Committee.
included: ~
P&D staff to send an
• That the Ministry continues to enforce a tree protection/ electronic copy of their
preservation by-law. Trees provide significant reduction comments to SPAC
in energy consumption and green house gas emissions members.
• The Province will setup a licensing/regulation regime to
assist municipalities P&D staff to send a
• Next step is the approval of regulations and posting on copy of their
the EBR (Environmental Bill of Rights) website comments to Verdian
for their information.
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3. Letter'to the Region re: Waste Divdirs'id"w4br. Business
A draft letter addressed to the Region of Durham regarding
waste diversion within the IC&I sector was circulated to
members. It is in response to an email that Councillor
Pickles received from a resident who was concerned about
the lack of recycling in local restaurants.
Members discussed and agreed that the letter should be sent The letter will be sent
to Cliff Curtis, Commissioner of Works with a request that it to the Commissioner of
be forwarded to the Region's Works Committee for Works at the Region of
endorsement before it goes to Regional Council. Durham.
4. Thermo-Chemical Storage of Solar Energy
T. Melymuk informed Committee members that the City of
Pickering has been asked to partner with SAIC Canada for
their thermo chemical storage of solar energy system
submission. It is a renewal energy source that captures solar
energy, storing heat in the summer for use in the winter. It is
.an efficient alternative to fuel and a potential marketable
product for the future.
He feels that it is a good opportunity for the City to become
involved in a potential nationally recognized program and
advised that our Chief Building Official is especially interested T. Melymuk will
in the source, from a building perspective. The University of provide detailed
Toronto Institute of Technology, University of Ottawa and information of the
other firms are also involved in the technical component of project to members.
the project.
5. Idling By-law
The City of Pickering's Idling of Vehicles By-law Review was
distributed to members.
C. Whitaker advised that the by-law was adopted in 2004.
Since then, several other municipalities have made revisions
to their by-law. Staff researched 29 Ontario municipalities
and made suggestions for improvements to Pickering's By-
law. Some of the future recommendations included:
• Reduce the idling time for both individual and transit
vehicles and add boats
• Add an extreme temperature component during the winter
• Include a set fine
• Develop a comprehensive education campaign to target
various sectors of the community
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• Engage schools so that students can assist in educating
their parents/guardians
• Add idling free zone signs near schools, libraries,
community and recreation centres and the Pickering Civic
Complex
• Send businesses an email/e-postcard asking that they
remind their employees, delivery service providers and
customers about the revised idling by-law
• Engage Durham Region Transit and GO Transit to ensure
that their operators are aware of the revised by-law
Discussion ensued and the following was agreed upon:
• Explore the extreme temperature component, but include
a range. Investigate if there was resistance in other
municipalities.
• Explore the feasibility of Part 1 and Part 2 tickets C. Whitaker will
• Investigate if signage could also be installed near railway prepare a report for
crossings SPAC.
• Determine if special status can be provided to Pickering
Town Centre security officers so that they could enforce a
revised by-law on their property.
• Prepare a report to SPAC with the findings and
recommendations. SPAC to discuss and consider
recommending to Council
5. Google Analytics for Sustainable Pickering Website,
YouTube, Flickr and Next Steps
C. Whitaker provided a demonstration and overview of
Google Analytics service on the Sustainable Pickering
website. She advised that Google Analytics (a
comprehensive tool that allows us an in-depth look at traffic
that is accessing our website) has been added. It tracks
website traffic from all over the world and provides a
breakdown of the number of visits vs. unique visits. It also
provides information about how people are finding the site
and what pages are most frequently visited. This information
will enable us to make improvements and also assist in
marketing the site.
C. Whitaker also demonstrated the new Sustainable
Pickering YouTube and flickr sites and a few new features on
the website, such as the accessibility section.
C. Whitaker advised that arrangements have been made to
have the videographer from Sustainable Pickering Day
videotape Councillor O'Connell, Sustainable Pickering
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sponsors and a few City staff. They are scheduled to be at
City Hall on September 28th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
6. Mea'S rin Sustainabili Progress Re0ort
T. Melymuk and J. McGinnis provided an update on our
Measuring Sustainability Progress Report. They advised that
we are now at the stage where we are ready to measure and
monitor our progress. The information is being gathered and
will be available as an online document.
They advised that 19 of the 32 indicators (including
community and corporate green house gas emissions) are
proposed to be measured. The Report will be ready in the
spring.
After discussing, the following recommendations were made:
• SPAC would like to discuss the indicators and review the
spreadsheet for comments to find out if additional items C. Whitaker will
could be measured for this report. Also look into what the prepare a spread
issues are for those that cannot be measured.at this time. sheet of the indicators
Staff to ensure that detailed reports are provided to the that shows the data
Committee before they are released to the public. source (or lack of) and
• This will be a "living document" recommendation.
A discussion arose with regards to the previous work at the C. Whitaker to compile
Recreation Complex with "Global Emissions Systems Inc." the information and
and the resulting reduction in emissions from the ice send an email to
equipment. C.Whitaker indicated that she would find out the SPAC.
status of the proposed 2010 initiative (pending budget
approval) to retrofit additional fleet vehicles with the same
equipment.
7. OtherBusiness
T. Melymuk reported that yesterday's meeting with Durham
Sustain Ability and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure T. Melymuk will notify
was successful. It was an introductory meeting to table an committee members of
idea. any future meetings
with the Province.
After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that a request would
be made to the Province for a follow-up meeting with A request will be made
committee members. Interested staff members will also be to hold the meeting in
invited to attend. Pickering.
J. McGinnis provided an update on the Brock West Project.
The original proposal, discussed last year with Council, is
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focused first on,the City of Pickering assuming community
control over the closed landfill site, which will continue to be
owned by the City of Toronto (as part of their obligation for
perpetual care). A photovoltaic solar project has been
proposed for part of the 250 acre site and nature trails could be
developed throughout much of the northern and eastern sides
of the site. A number of other community-use components are
being considered. Most recently, it has been suggested that
this site could be ideal for the creation of a "recycling museum"
- something in particular to mark the creation and growth of the
Blue Box. More details will be brought to the Committee, as
available.
C. Whitaker to send an
Due to the fact the meeting was running late, C. Whitaker email to SPAC about a
informed members that she will be sending an email to solicit proposed Corporate
feedback on the idea of a Corporate Sustainability Policy & Sustainability Policy &
Procedures. Procedures.
8. Next' Meeting
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Meeting Adjourned: 4:10 pm
Copy: City Clerk
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