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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 10, 2011 • Citq oo Minutes/Meeting Summary i-i Sustainable Pickering Advisory Committee CAO Boardroom oill ~j 1 I IN Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:30 am i 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 Page 1 CORP0228-2/02 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: Page 2 I CORP0228-2/02 I • 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, Page 3 CORP0228-2/02 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. Page 4 CORP0228-2/02 i i 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 Page 5 CORP0228-2/02 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 • Page 6 CORP0228-2/02