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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-12-13 Minutes Draft minutes – Not yet approved by Committee NOTES OF MEETING OF SAMUEL WILMOT NATURE AREA MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELD TUESDAY DECEMBER 13, 2016 7:00 PM Present: Suzanne Land Patrick Bothwell Jim Cleland Brian Reid Kate Potter Leo Blindenbach Tom Hossie Regrets: Councillor Corinna Traill Paul Davidson Melanie McArthur Absent: James Hodge 1. AGENDA MOVED: by Suzanne Land SECONDED by Patrick Bothwell THAT : the agenda for December 13, 2016 be accepted CARRIED 2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Approval of Minutes MOVED: by Patrick Bothwell SECONDED by Kate Potter THAT : the minutes of November 8, 2016 be approved. CARRIED SWNA December 2016 Minutes 2 3. ITEMS/UPDATES New member Tom Hossie Tom Hossie was appointed by Council to the SWNA Committee at their December 12 meeting. Tom is a resident of the Port of Newcastle and frequent user of the SWNA. He is a conservation biologist and Postdoctoral Fellow at Trent University. Tom has previously organized a monarch butterfly tagging program at the SWNA and has a particular interest in preservation and rebuilding habitat for monarchs at the SWNA. Clarke High School Community Outreach projects The parent council at Clarke High School is interested in increasing the visibility and promoting a positive image of the school. As part of that initiative the school art department has agreed to paint ten 45 gallon drums for use as garbage containers at the SWNA. The drums have now been delivered to the school. Drafts of the artwork were reviewed by the committee and ten designs from the 26 submitted were chosen. The school art teacher will be notified of the 10 preferred designs and will thanked for their participation on the project. Monarch Butterfly Pledge Clarington Council endorsed the Mayors Monarch Pledge which is a continent wide initiative to take action to help save the Monarch Butterfly. The pledge was directed to the SWNA Management Advisory committee to identify 3 (or more) actions to create and enhance monarch butterfly habit and educate citizens about how they can make a difference. Kate Potter reviewed the list of items that could be applicable to Clarington. The committee chose the following actions as potential initiatives in 2017; - Issue a Proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. (Complete) - Launch a public communication effort to encourage citizens to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (Spring Orono Times news article and Clarington web site) - Communicate with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants. (Newcastle Horticultural Society spring plant sale) - Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort. (Some seeds already collected for fall planting) SWNA December 2016 Minutes 3 - Launch a program to plant native milkweeds and nectar plants in school gardens by engaging students, teachers and the community. (Schools to be contacted about growing milkweed in the classroom for future transplanting outdoors) - Initiate or support citizen-science efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health. (Late August monarch tagging program to be held at the SWNA) - Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances. (Milkweed is not part of the provincial noxious weeds list) In addition to the above actions Peter Windolf will discuss ways to modify turf maintenance on some sites to enhance monarch habitat with the Operations Department. Great Lake Guardian Funding application The municipality has applied to the Great Lakes Guardian Community fund for a project to replace the deteriorated woodchip trail leading to the lake with a limestone trail. The application was modified from previous versions to put more emphasis on community involvement and tree planting. A decision isn’t expected until the spring. Regional Trail Map The interactive map produced by the Region of Durham does not include all of the trails within the SWNA, such as the limestone/woodchip trail leading to the lake from the Toronto Street parking lot. The municipality has the opportunity to provide updates annually on the Regions trail map and will bring this up with them for the next update. Trees for Nature grant program Kate Potter provided an internet link to the Trees for Nature grant program that provides trees to community organizations. The actual application form and requirements could not be found on the link but it will be investigated further to determine if we should apply to the grant. Spring 2017 Clean-up The spring clean-up at the SWNA is scheduled for Saturday April 29. Leo Blindenbach will be coordinating the SWNA event along with a Port of Newcastle clean-up with the Operations Departments as part of Pitch-In week. More details will be announced at a future meeting. 4. MOTION TO ADJOURN MOVED: by Suzanne Land SECONDED by Leo Blindenbach THAT: the meeting be adjourned. SWNA December 2016 Minutes 4 CARRIED Adjournment 8:20 PM Next Meeting: Tuesday February 14, 7:00PM Notes prepared by: P.Windolf