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Home My WebLink About2008-03-14 Minutes 1-4 CLARINGTON AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, March 14, 200S ....",'",,"" Tom Barrie Gary Jeffery Brenda Metcalf Jennifer Knox Mark Bragg Eric Bowman Ted Watson Donald Rickard Henk Mulders Mary~~n Found G,Ot:lficillo~N:~ord Robinson MEMBERS PRESENT: GUESTS: .. .' <,_....."'."00'<"" , ~ Staff Sergeant Pat Sayer,'Qurh;a ,n.,,,,,,,., _. ". ,. --.. "'''''<'',""," <.-.,.,."",,-., "''''0'__''''''"-.",,,,,,'' STAFF: ABSENT: I:' n"o';. '-"', Faye.,Llilngmaid . ,-'Y'.," ,~ Ross McMaster Orwin Bandstra '; .. ." " Chair calledth~ meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. . . .. ,- .' ,- Adoption of Agenda i 9,S-06 lMoved by Gary Jeffery, seconded by CThat the Agenda March 14, 2008 be , "-,,"" Approval of Minutes ;"""'j',-,,,,,;,,,,;,,,-;~-,,~~-,-,_,~,,-, os-os Moved;j)>,DonaltjRii;~atd, seoontjed byJ t t~:~J;:;:l;,;:;J;~::;;~~:~i:;-~..~;'}:)''"t'~b:~;''-;}:>!): . 'That the minut~s ofthe:Januar'l~tJ, 2008' Moyed by,Brenaa M(#c~/f, seconded by Eric E}bWman ,,-,~- '>'i',;:OO"'i",.,.<",..".-m,d-"'- ~__'"''-'' .. _.<~_._~:~~'~"~~~,:<:_"" ... :;:?i;;:_;_:~:"" "Tffatll?e minutes of the February-11, 2008 meeting be approved;'! .7'.....'..'.......';;._,.". "~-.",,,;..-..' , OS-07 Guests: Staff Sergeant Pat Sayer, Durham Regional Police Sergeant Sayer is attending to answer general questions from Committee not specific cases. If you have incidents or issues please call police. Keep a record of the call. Urgent cases have immediate response time, otherwise, they will get to you as soon as possible. Police will act were necessary. Repeat calls should be noted. The biggest struggle for 16 Division is staffing. When officers leave for new assignments or go on leave they are not immediately replaced. Is there a way of tracking rural/farm calls? There is a crime analyst on staff. There is no specific tracking for rural or an a farm issues. However, they can track calls to specific areas.. .eg: within a quarter mile of 8th concession there may be X number of calls last year. How do you assess how hard you pursue a case? If they can catch kids committing acts of vandalism they will. When required the helicopter can be called into service, however the situation would be very serious as this is costly. With the urban boundary coming closer to the rural, kids are not growing up with respect for farm equipments and incidents are rising. Would it be worth it to start tracking. Yes, it would. However the police need to know about these incidents to track them. You can't say the police don't come if you don't call them You have to call and report it. There is concern about bio-security. Some operations are very strict about it. How much do officers know? Are they educated on bio-security? There is no individual training for officers. Areas with bio-security issues should be well signed to indicate so. If an officer responds to a call and the area is not well marked, any resulting injury could be libelous to the farmer. When officers come on to a property to search and results in crop damage, should they notify the owner or do they have the right to trespass? Common sense indicates that officers should in fact advise the property owner. What is the number of officers in northern Durham Region, verses the southern portion? They are relatively the same. The South (Bowmanville) has slightly more. In rural communities and resident homes are broken into, what should home owner ask for when calling? Call 9-1-1 even if they culprits are long gone. You want an officer to attend. Sometimes, when report is taken over the phone and it is determined that evidence may be present an officer will come right out. Officers are encouraged to attend and look around, gather evidence. This is how they get convictions. How can this committee get the message to officers? The number one thing to do.... ......if you have an issue......call!!! Call even if it's to say you are not happy. Committee could make a list of the Top 10 Things to Know about a Farm. Have it sent to the Dave Selby, Communications Officer. If we make this list can it be set up to be part of the annual training? Yes. The Education Officer can include it in her presentation. AACC March 14, 2008 Business Arising from Minutes 150th for Bowmanville- Plans for the celebration are well under way. Planed for the July long week-end, there are lots of events and activities planned. The agricultural area of the 150th celebration will be nicknamed "Cow Town" based on the article in the Museum newsletter by Charles Tawes about the by-laws from the 1800's which allowed cattle to wander in the town. The agricultural display will look at agriculture from four different perspectives; people, animals, land and technology. Fire Chief Gord Weir will write an article for the quarterly insert relating to the regulations concerning burning and burn permits in the municipality. Moved by Brenda Metcalf, seconded by Gary Jeffery; 08-09 WHEREAS net farm income levels have not grown in proportion to the manufacture and processing incomes for the products produced on the farm; AND WHEREAS farmers' net income continues to be a major challenge for the agriculture sector as the expectation of profit is negligible; AND WHEREAS farmers in the Municipality of Clarington and across Ontario are facing higher costs in order to comply with safe water requirements (Clean Water Act), the Nutrient Management Act and other land use restrictions, such as the Greenbelt Plan and Act; AND WHEREAS urban fringe farmers are experiencing escalating assessments and are being unfairly penalized; AND WHEREAS farmers also face higher input costs, particularly for hydro, fuels, labour, transportation and fertilizer; AND WHEREAS the future of farmers in Clarington and throughout Ontario have been devastated by fallout from SSE, the loss of export markets for livestock and other food products, as well as lower prices for farm commodities; AND WHEREAS farmers who are willing to innovate and incorporate alternative energy sources, such as Biogas, Solar (photo voltaic), Wind, etc as integral and value added aspects of their farming business are experiencing uncertainty as to how this activity will be classified under the Assessment Act; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Minister of Finance clarify that within the Assessment Act these alternative "green" energy sources, when developed as an integral part of the farm operation should be treated as "Machinery" as defined in Section 3, 17 and 18 and exempted from assessment, regardless of the end user of the produced power, AACC March 14, 2008 AND FURTHER that this Resolution be circulated to all agricultural advisory committees and local municipalities within Ontario and John O'Toole, MPP. "CARRIED" Reports from Committees 407 -no meeting since last meeting DAAC-.no meeting since last meeting. Durham Federation of Agriculture DRFA has their trailer funded for this year. The name will be "Why Farming Matters". Scheduled appearances include 6 fairs, Archibald's, and Bowmanville 150th celebration. Farm Connections now has a new logo and website. Please check out www.durhamfarmconnections.ca. Future additions to the site include a "speakers corner". People who are available to speak to groups will be able to register themselves. There will be a "what's happening in Durham Region" as well. April 2nd, 6 to 9 p.m. there will be an open house for the general public at the Luther Vipond Area in Brooklin. Some of the issues on the agenda for the DRFA this year: Oshawa Harbour, Ethanol Plant, health and safety workshops, property expropriation, farm income, clean water act, property assessment and the green belt. Other Business Originally passed in 2005 and up for renewal in 2010 Clarington Council has authorized the Finance Department to undertake a partial review of the Development Charges By- law. Current development charges do not sufficiently cover the cost that actual works (construction costs). There will be four public meetings held on the Sign By-law review. Once confirmed the dates will be reported back to Committee. Members are encouraged to attend these public meetings. If current members of committee may have suggestions as to where we require "active farming" signs. Please forward these to Faye. Request from member that thanks be sent to Operations Department for their efforts in snow clearing this winter! Future Agendas April Chris Duke of OMAFRA on Anaerobic Digesters (biogas) May Mary Jane Conboy of Well Wise Centre on Well regulations and funding for decommissioning Moved to Adjourn Eric AACC March 14, 2008