The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2018-05-10 MinutesAgricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting Thursday, May 10, 2018 Members Present: John Cartwright Brenda Metcalf Don Rickard Eric Bowman Tom Barrie Jennifer Knox Ted Watson Les Caswell Regrets: Richard Rekker, Henry Zekveld, Wendy Partner Guests: Blackbird, -Dennis Katic,-Melvin Ramcharitar-Erin Jankovich MTO: -Chris Brown,-Dawnett Allen Public: Ken Knox, Libby Racansky Staff: Amy Burke, Faye Langmaid, Planning Services; Ron Albright, Engineering Brenda welcomed all to the meeting, with introductions. Adoption of Agenda 018-10 Moved by Eric Bowman, seconded by Ted Watson "That the Agenda for May 10, 2018 be adopted" Carried Approval of Minutes 018-11 Moved by Don Rickard, seconded by Tom Barrie "That the minutes of the April 12, 2018 meeting be approved" Carried Blackbird representatives provided an update on Phase 2A which is complete and opened on time. They acknowledged there are deficiencies and they are being addressed. The schedule for the remainder of the 407 to 35/115 and 418 are to open in the fall of 2019. They are planned to both open at the same time. Half of the bridges are complete, there is still approximately a million cubic metres of soil left to move. MTO representatives updated that existing farm leases are continuing for 2018 and most likely will for 2019 as well. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington May 10, 2018 Committee members expressed frustration with the lack of carry through from the information garnered during the EA that does not appear to have made it into the contract. It was acknowledged that there have been many personnel changes at MTO and admission that items and details have been lost in the translation. BBC and MTO can only work within the limits of the project so items outside the project limits are having to be addressed in a different manner. The protocol that MTO and BBC outlined for complaints and issues to be addressed is to report either via the 1-888-860-2763 or http://www.407eastphase2.ca/ or Email: info@407eastphase2.ca. This way the complaint is logged and can be called up to determine how it was addressed. There is a lack of respect of the time being spent by the complainant to address issues that were highlighted during the EA and property negotiations. It is estimated that 25% of some property owners time has been expended over the past couple years dealing with site specific issues because the initial construction did not meet what was committed to in the EA, Community Value Plan and public input garnered during the process. MTO and Blackbird do not have agricultural experts to call upon to deal with tile drainage, agricultural fencing standards, field access and drainage issues. There has been crop damage by contractors as they view the fields as vacant. The damage now includes areas of fields that have lost productivity because of silting over (from dust blowing), water ponding, compaction from heavy machinery, sites that have yet to be revegetated and access limitations at critical times for crop planting, spraying and harvesting. These items need to be addressed in the field in a timely manner. The property owners on the committee indicated that this process is cumbersome, has not resulted in timely responses nor satisfactory results. Blackbird could not answer the question of when a "resolution is satisfactory" and how that is communicated to the complainant and to whose satisfaction the resolution is? Also there was no answer to how crop damage claims are being determined and settled. Overall the efficiencies of the contracting and reporting system is failing the adjacent property owners. There was discussion of a number of specific areas as follows: x Bethesda Road condition and repair x Run-off of fine clay that is silting over fields and causing crop damage x Dust complaints x 6t" Concession and Regional Road 42 the water drainage into the ditch x Solina and Rundle Road drainage issues x The need for ditching of local roads to address the silt accumulation x Fencing across the reach of the 407 extension construction that does not meet agricultural standards and will not hold back livestock x Excessive signage at the Enfield Road interchange, well exceeding signage in place at major Highway 401 interchanges, that poses a challenge for the movement of farm equipment and is not in keeping with the character of the community. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington May 10, 2018 MTO committed to complete a review of the fencing and gate specifications in their agreement with BBC in contrast to agricultural needs in order to determine whether changes to the agreement are needed. BBC committed to reviewing whether the area superintendent's direct contact information can be released to agricultural property owners who require an immediate response to address dust issues where dust poses a significant risk for crop loss. Also this could facilitate access for movement of farm equipment between properties rather than taking long detours. Business Arising Broadband — Report circulated to the group, please provide comments directly and have questions ready for next meeting. Region see Phase 1 report going to Council in next few weeks. Phase 2 will involve further consultation with lower tier municipalities. Correspondence and Committee Reports Non -Farm Member of Committee — Two applications, member will be decided by Council at their May 22 meeting. If you have ideas for members half of the committee membership will be appointed when the new Council is elected. Talk to your colleagues and the candidates about the importance of the advisory role. Durham Climate Change Task Force for Agriculture Don Rickard and Eric Bowman are on this task force. Next meeting is September. Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee: -Working on DAAC Tour for September 13th at Reesor's to involve equipment dealers. Durham Region Federation of Agriculture: (no meeting) Clarington Board of Trade:- New directors sworn in at AGM included Kirk Kemp. Jenny Knox received the 2017 Community Leadership Award. Ag Summit had 65 in attendance approximately 20 farmers. Considered a success as all attending enjoyed the day and many business operators wanted to learn more about how to network with and service agricultural industry. A number of follow-up connections have occurred. Suggestions for future years are welcome. New Business Durham Farm Connections will receive the Irene Kock Education award from DEAC on May 30th. This is in recognition of the invaluable educational work of the group over the past 10 years. Normal Farm Practices— there have been some protests such as PETA at Farm Connections and others examples where normal farm practices are not understood by the general public. Alternatively an agenda is being promoted through social media posts. This can be very damaging to individual farmers and in many cases is unwarranted. The commodity groups are well informed and should be consulted should Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington May 10, 2018 an issue arise. There is also a concern regarding trespass, bio -security and stressing animals especially during mating and birthing times. Political candidates — The groups' role is advisory to Council. Candidates can attend meetings as they are open to the public. The committee is not a forum for political campaigning or debate. Complaints — there have been some complaints from farmers and residents. Garbage blowing into fields, odour and burning are recent examples. When received these complaints are reported to and addressed by the appropriate agency also normal farm practices are explained to the complainants. John Cartwright moved to Adjourn. Next Meeting: Thursday, June 14th, 2018 @ 7:30 pm, Nancy Rutherford from Durham Region on Broadband Strategy and Chris Evelyn from WISP. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington May 10, 2018