The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2020-04-09Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting Thursday, April 9, 2020 Members Present: Eric Bowman John Cartwright Jennifer Knox Ted Watson Tom Barrie Don Rickard Richard Rekker Brenda Metcalf Les Caswell Henry Zekveld Councillor Zwart Regrets: Ben Eastman Staff: Amy Burke and Faye Langmaid - Planning Services; Sean Bagshaw and Ron Albright — Engineering Services Guests: Mayor Foster; Stacey Jibb and Allison Brown, Region of Durham Planning and Economic Development; Carolyn Puterbough, OMAFRA Due to COVID 19 restrictions and to ensure social distancing, the meeting was held via conference call. Eric welcomed all to the meeting, with introductions. Roundtable of information sharing with members of the Committee providing their perspectives on the experience and/or anticipated impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on local agricultural operations (summary attached). Declarations of pecuniary interests - Don Rickard and Les Caswell each noted a potential conflict with capital projects included in the 2020 Capital Projects listed provided to Committee members and expected guests prior to the meeting. Adoption of Agenda 020-09 Moved by Don Rickard, seconded by Tom Barrie That the Agenda for April 9, 2020 be adopted. Carried Approval of Minutes Amendment to March 12, 2020 minutes identified. John Cartwright to be added to the list of individuals interested to participate in a working group for consultation by the Clerks Department / Municipal By-law Enforcement on the development of an on -farm special events by-law. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington April 9, 2020 020-10 Moved by John Cartwright, seconded by Ted Watson That the minutes of the March 12, 2020 meeting be approved, as amended. Carried Presentation MPP David Piccini (Northumberland — Peterborough South) — Postponed (date to be determined). Sean Bagshaw, Engineering Services — 2020 Capital Projects A list of capital projects planned for initiation in 2020 was circulated to the committee members prior to the meeting. Sean provided an overview of the rural area projects and addressed questions from Committee members. The placement of guide rails was amongst the topics further discussed by the Committee. Provincial standards have been amended to allow for wider placement of guide rails to accommodate farming equipment. In the rural area, Engineering Services will use the new Provincial standard (21') as a minimum and will add additional width, where possible. Engineering Services will also reach out to appropriate Committee members to review preliminary design plans for a couple of projects and seek some additional feedback (e.g. guide rail project planned for Bragg Road at the CPR line and the review of a potential pinch point). Ron Albright, Engineering Services — Enniskillen Traffic Calming Pilot Project Ron provided an update on the Enniskillen traffic calming pilot project and the new measures to be implemented for trial in 2020. The bollard arrangement trialed in 2019 will be replaced with a two-step approach involving i) semi -permanent installation of a larger speed/radar message board north of the school zone to remind drivers entering the area of their speed and the speed limit; and ii) the installation of temporary speed cushions (seasonally installed outside of winter and shoulder seasons). Photos of the products were circulated to the committee members prior to the meeting. Information is also available on the product website: https://trafficlogix.com/speed- cushions/?qclid=EAlalQobChMlwPTtrNW46AIVCLbICh1akgwtEAAYASAAEgiYt D Bw E Prior to the installation, Engineering Services is seeking a participant from the area for a demonstration / trail with farming equipment. This would involve setting up the speed cushions in a municipal parking lot and having one or several pieces of farm equipment and implements drive over the speed cushions and provide feedback. Interested individuals can contact Ron at ralbright(@clarington.net Delegations None. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington April 9, 2020 Business Arising from Minutes On -farm Special Events By-law: Comment deadline extended to April 30, 2020. Clerks will be reaching out directly to the individuals who volunteered to participate in a working group for further discussion relating to the development of the by-law. To learn more about the proposed rules, visit https://www.clarington.net/en/town- hall/proposed-on-farm-special-events-by-law.asp, email bylawenforcement(a-clarington.net, or contact Duncan Anderson at 905-623-3379 ext. 2110. Correspondence, Council Items and Referrals None. Liaison Reports Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee: Meetings cancelled until further notice. Durham Region Federation of Agriculture: Richard provided an update from the March 18 DRFA meeting in his e-mail to all prior to the meeting. No further questions from Committee members. Durham Farm Connections: Program and event cancellations and postponements occurring in response to COVID 19 measures. Clarington Board of Trade: CBOT is actively reaching out to members / local businesses to better understand the impacts that are being felt as a result of COVID 19 and the support and resources that are needed. A virtual Town Hall event with Mayor Foster scheduled for April 3. Regional Chair John Henry will host a virtual Town Hall on Wednesday April 22. New Business Highway 407 Materials Clean-up: Committee members commented that a number of metal bases from temporary construction signs and sandbags remain along the roadsides and within the roadside ditches in the vicinity of the 407, which may be difficult for Municipal mowing equipment to see in the coming months. Ron Albright will submit a request to Blackbird Construction for the roadsides to be checked and all remaining signage and other equipment removed. Bowmanville REKO Network: This is a Facebook-based network for direct sales of farm products from producers to customers. Sales are done online and pick-up occurs at a pre -determined location on a weekly basis. A new Bowmanville REKO group is starting up and involves many vendors from the Newcastle Farmers Market. The local coordinator is consulting with Engineering Services and Community Services regarding the use of the Garnet B. Rickard parking lot for a weekly, one -hour curbside pick-up window beginning in May. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington April 9, 2020 Next Meeting Thursday, May 14, 2020 @ 7:30 pm Kathy Macpherson, The Greenbelt Foundation Future Agendas: David Piccini, MPP, Northumberland — Peterborough South Philip Lawrence, MP, Northumberland -Peterborough South Hon. Erin O'Toole, MP, Durham Region of Durham Works re: 2020 capital projects Clarington Engineering Services (Building Division) re: National Building Code changes for farm structures anticipated for 2020 (once the changes have been confirmed) Brianna Ames of Fairlife (Coca-Cola) Simon Gill, Durham Region Economic Development & Tourism re: an update on the Durham Region Agricultural Strategy and Durham Region Broadband Strategy Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington April 9, 2020 Aocultural Advisory Committee of Claringtor Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting Note: April 9, 2020 Summary of Experienced and/or Anticipated Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Local Aqricultural Operations • Uncertainty regarding whether new farm building construction projects can proceed or whether projects underway will be shut down prior to completion. Foreign supplied component parts (e.g. cages for chickens) no longer have an assured delivery date. Farmers have already purchased and scheduled the delivery of poultry / livestock. • Equipment installation may require labour/ trades/ specialists from the manufacturer which is a company with employees from outside of Canada. • Longer lead times for the ordering of parts and arranging for / making product deliveries. • Livestock sale barns seeing decreased attendance and are being held less frequently. Risk of livestock processing plant closures due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Resulting backlog of livestock in the supply chain contributing to lower sale prices, increased costs to farmers, risk of culling and delay in getting beef and pork supply on the shelves for consumers. • Beef farm -to -table sales have increased and several new customers. New call ahead, no -contact curbside pick-up procedure developed. • Increased farm gate egg sales and local retailer egg sales. • Dumping of milk necessary as an emergency measure due to the shutdown of food service providers and the hospitality industry. • Change in milk product type/size demands - more household sized bags and cartons and less 250 ml and 20 L cartons. This results in the need for processing line changes, both now and when regular operations resume in the future, which take time and have associated costs. Wholesale plant supply operations severely impacted by the cancellation or significant reduction in orders from large retailers, such as Costco and Canadian Tire. Input costs had already been incurred with plant production well underway before the pandemic was declared. With diminishing opportunities to sell, the potential loss is significant ($millions). • Production chain for products, such as turkey, which begin today or in the coming weeks to be sale- ready by fall, halted; the full effect will be not realized by the consumer until the product is needed on the grocery store shelf and the reason for the supply shortage may not be realized by the customer. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington • Restrictions and limitations at International borders and flight restrictions, combined with mandatory quarantine periods result in a shortage of needed migrant workers. The window for some types of work to be done may be closed or closing quicker than the limited number of workers available can reasonably do. • Pick -your -own component of farm market operations likely not able to open in 2020. Large annual seed purchases for pick -your -own products planted each year (e.g. pumpkins) will be a loss. • Potential loss of employment opportunity for local students employed at many local farm operations. • Closure of local farmers markets has lead to the start up of a REKO network in Durham Region where food producers advertise their good through a social media group, customers pre -order what they want online, and a curbside pick up date is set at a location in the community. Circulation: Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Members & Advisors Mayor and Members of Council MPP David Piccini (Northumberland — Peterborough South) MPP Lindsey Park (Durham) Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington