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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-04 MinutesTask Force for Attracting Higher Education Facilities Minutes of Meeting Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 7:30 a.m. Meeting Room lA Present Were: Paul Halliday Deborah Patrick Dorcas Gordon (Left meeting at 8:45 a.m.) Valentine Lovekin Staff: Faye Langmaid, Manager of Special Projects, Planning Services Linda Coutu, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Regrets: Mayor Jim Abernethy Pierre Tremblay Bill Humber Special .Guest: Dr. Ron Stead, Holburn BioMedical Corporation Valentine Lovekin chaired the meeting. ADOPTION OF MINUTES I-1 Moved by Dorcas Gordon, seconded by Deborah Patrick that the minutes of the meeting held on January 21, 2010, be approved. "CARRIED" 2. ADOPTION OF REPORT Valentine Lovekin suggested that the committee adopt the Interim Report which was presented to the General Purposed & Administration Committee meeting on February 1, 2010. Moved by Paul Halliday, seconded by Dorcas Gordon that the Interim Report be approved. "CARRIED" Paul Halliday gave an overview of the Interim Report in order for Dr. Stead to familiarize himself with the Committee's mandate and accomplishments to date. 3. SPECIAL GUEST, DR. RON STEAD, HOLBURN BIOMEDICAL CORPORATION Dr. Stead provided the committee members with a detailed overview of Holburn BioMedical Corporation and the facility located on Bennett Road. Dr. Stead continued by advising of his discussions with UOIT pertaining to UOIT's space requirements for their Health Sciences Program, The Holburn facility consists of general lab areas as well as "clean rooms" which are defined as a high standard sterile lab. Dr. Stead elaborated on the partnership between Holburn, Lakeridge Health and UOIT and advised that a Letter of Intent had been signed and a business plan has been prepared. The business plan is focused on a Centre of Excellence (in pathology) at the Holburn facility, including expansion on the 50 acres of land that Holburn owls surround the present facility. Dr. Stead continued his presentation by advising that some recent staffing changes at Lakez-idge Health have slowed down negotiations while new staff is brought up to date. Concurrently, a portion of the Holburn building has been leased to a private laboratory, Gamma Dyna Care. 25% of all laboratory testing in Ontario is by Gamma Dyna Care. Gamma Dyna Care is interested in expanding the partnership with UOIT and has been successful in getting one course into UOIT curriculum. Dr. Stead was thanked for his presentation and stayed at the meeting to participate in a question period and further discussion. Discussion ensued pertaining to the advantages and disadvantages for students if a UOIT medical laboratory program was held at the Holbunl facility. Some of the challenges facing the Bennett Road location are transportation issues and land servicing issues. It was also mentioned that remote operations do not provide the same level of student services as the main campus and it comes at a higher cost, Faye Langmaid advised that there are other sites that the committee members may not be aware of and she offered to prepare a presentation of these sites for the next meeting. Paul Halliday suggested that the committee invite Mr. Brian Desbiens, Retired President of Sir Sandford Fleming College, to the next meeting. Mr. Desbiens maybe able to share his experience from the College's business perspective on how expansion decisions are made and what satellite campuses in different communities means from the educational institution's perspective. Dr. Stead commented that, although his presentation was focused on health sciences, it might be more logical for the committee to focus on energy related programs in support of the OPG New Build at Darlington and the Energy from Waste facility. Deborah Patrick suggested that Frank Gerencser, President of TriOS College, be invited as a guest speaker at a future meeting. 4. NEXT MEETING(S) Dorcas Gordon volunteered to Chair the next meeting. Paul Halliday agreed to contact Dr. Brian Desbiens. Deborah Patrick agreed to contact Franlc Gerencser. Faye Langmaid agreed to prepare a presentation on potential sites. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:10 a.m. I-1 Task Force for Attracting Higher Education Facilities Minutes of Meeting Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. Meeting Room lA Present Were: Mayor Jim Abernethy Bill Humber Paul Halliday Dorcas Gordon Valentine Lovekin (arrived at 8:13 a.m.) Staff: David Crome, Director, Planning Services Linda Coutu, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Regrets: Pierre Tremblay Deborah Patrick Mayor Abernethy called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Moved by Dorcas Gordon, seconded by Bill Humber that the minutes of the meeting held on November Stl' be approved. "CARRIED" 2. SELECTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIR (Cat7ied over from meeting of November Stn) Discussion ensued pertaining to the position of Committee Chair. Moved by Dorcas Gordon, seconded by Bill Humber that the position of Committee Chair be filled on a rotating basis. "CARRIED" Paul Halliday agreed to chair the remainder of the meeting. ASSIGNMENTS (Carried over from meeting of November Stn) There was a brief discussion about the different approach that each committee member took to outline their topic. Further discussion ensued pertaining to what is the potential of each subject and what action might be required. Bill Humber provided an overview of his topics which were Water Sustainability and Food. Discussion followed and several ideas evolved. The food aspect can be considered an economic development strategy which can be linked with the agricultural industry. Several colleges already offer culinary programs such as organic farming at Sir Sanford Fleming. It was decided that the Committee would need to confirm their focus before committing to a specific topic. The Water component of Bill Humber's presentation was also discussed since water is increasingly becoming a much sought after resource. It was agreed that this subject would be more inclined to be a University research and education program. This is a multi dimensional topic as a result of source water protection plans and jurisdictional issues. Valentine Lovekin presented his overview on Health Care. Discussed followed pertaining to the partnership between Lakeridge Health, UOIT and Holburn. There was also some concern about Oshawa being the largest site of Lakeridge Health and any expansions would most likely occur in and around Lakeridge Health Oshawa. Further discussion ensued pertaining to the need for serviced lands in Clarington. The Municipality is working with the Region of Durham to move this item forward on their forecast. Valentine Lovekin left the meeting at 8:55 a.m. Pierre Tremblay will be asked to provide an overview of his presentation at the next meeting. Paul Halliday provided a brief overview of a Community Education Foundation. There was a lot of discussion about this and the members present thought that this initiative could be pursued using similar guidelines as the "Valleys 2000" organization, which is a charitable organization. The Valleys 2000 committee operates at arm's length from the Municipality and elects its own board. It was felt that the public could provide input into how this Community Education Foundation could become a reality. Dorcas Gordon provided her overview on continued education models. Discussion followed and it was agreed that a physical address is important when trying to attract programs and/or satellite campuses. It was agreed that there were other universities and colleges who have succeeded with expansion projects and their models could be followed in Clarington. 4. ONE-DAY CAMP 30 SUMMIT -SUMMARY BY DAVID CROIVIE David Crome provided a brief overview of the summit that was held in November to invite the public to share their ideas for possible uses of the Camp 30 site. The site is privately owned, however, there is a strong community will to have the site recognized nationally as an historic site. There were a lot of suggestions brought forward at the summit which include using the buildings as a campus. David has also received a recent proposal prepared by a group of Ryerson College Students and copies will be distributed to committee members. 5. OTHER It was agreed that the members are starting to narrow down the focus of the committee and the Camp 30 site is an exciting possibility. The members were reminded that the Municipality does not own the property and that Council would not likely support a request for funding. There is, however, a "Friends of Camp 30" group who are looking at possible fundraising initiatives in order to ensure the buildings are preserved for historical value. Martha Rutherford-Conrad, who is the Administrator of the Clarington Museums and Archives, is part of this group. The members thought that it might help to invite Martha to a future meeting. The members present also thought that Ron Stead of Holburn should be invited to a future meeting. Bill Humber agreed to Chair the next meeting. The committee was reminded about its first interim report to Council, which is due early in the New Year. It was agreed that the next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. in Committee Room lA. Subsequent meeting dates suggested were Thursday, February 25th and Thursday, March 25111 but they were not confirmed. 6. ADJOLJRNIVIENT Moved by Bill Humber, seconded by Paul Halliday that the meeting adjourn at 9:50 a.m. "CARR~D"