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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-21 MinutesI - 1 'O~AFRO~ Sri ~.:12~10 Draft minutes -Not vet approved by Committee NOTES OF MEETING OF SAMUEL WILMOT NATURE AREA MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELD ON TUESDAY MARCH 21, 2006 AT 7:00 P.M. Present: Allan Hewitt, Chair (Voting) Jim Cleland Greg Wells Arthur Burrows Joe McKenna Also Present: Peter Windolf, Staff (Non-Voting) Dianne Graham, Secretary Regrets: Karin Murphy David Best Absent: ~ Cathrine McKeever 1. Introduction Warren May, GRCA Leanne Sobol Councillor Don MacArthur Warren May from the Ministry of Natural Resources was introduced to the members of the Committee. Warren May and Peter Waring will be the representatives for the MNR. Both will be distributed the minutes and meeting notices. Allan welcomed him to the Committee. 2. Agenda Additions ~i:.~~" '~`_l~ Other Business -Capital Budget for SWNA 2006 ~ `'`~`~ `~` -` """""'~""'~""~ ~ ACK. ~i Acceptance of Agenda ~ OfC~ wtAlw _ MOVED by Arthur Burrows, seconded by Joe McKeever l~~ f0: THAT the agenda for be accepted. CARRIED 3. Minutes of February 14, 2006 Corrections There were no corrections to the minutes. +~i~ r• Approval of Minutes MOVED by Joe McKeever, seconded by Jim Cleland THAT the minutes of February 14, 2006 be approved. CARRIED 4. Issues arising from the Minutes There were no issues arising from the minutes 5. Updates Shelter Construction, Viewing Machine and Benches The shelter has been prefabricated in Kraco's shop and will be ready to install as soon as weather permits. In any case it will be finalized the week of April 17. The viewing machine. will be delivered one week prior to Earth Day. It will be fastened to the concrete base by the Operations Department. The two benches under .the shelter will also be installed the week of April 17 by the bench manufacturer. DEAC Nomination Letter attached to agenda from Durham Environmental Advisory Committee advising of their awazds ceremony on April 20 for 2006 Environmental Achievement Awazds. The SWNA .Committee has been nominated in the Communication and Education Category. Cathrine and Joe attended last yeaz. Joe has confirmed he will also attend this yeaz. If any other members wish to attend they should contact Dianne or Peter by April 5 so that the Region can be notified. This is the third year the SWNA has been nominated for an award. Bride Repair - MNR Response The SWNA committee identified the bridge erosion problem as a priority for repair several years ago. MNR has also been aware of it through Tom Rance their original representative on the committee. Recent photos of the bridge abutment erosion were sent to Peter Warring at MNR to illustrate the extent of the problem. His response was attached to the agenda and was explained by Warren May. Warren will continue to make the urgency of this project known to MNR staff as we aze hopeful that they will contribute towazds the costs of the erosion repair. Warren May will be in the azea on Thursday March 30 and may look at the site then. Kaitlin Pond- Water Discharge to wetland Although there isn't any water being pumped at this time, there is evidence that water was being dischazged into the wetland from the pond. The developer has been informed that this cannot continue and that they should repair the damage to the woodchip trail. Arthur will notify Peter if he sees it happen again. 6. Earth Day The location of this yeaz's event was discussed at length. It was decided that the Cobbledick Road side would be best this year. Most of our Capital construction work has been done on this side including the shelter, viewing machine, and the Newcastle Memorial Forest. The Lion's Club is arranging their own grand opening of the Memorial Forest so we will ask the Mayor to cut the ribbon on the shelter as part of this yeaz's event. This year's theme will be fish and fisheries biology. Two speakers have been confirmed. GRCA Presentation -Mark Dejardin Mazk Desjardin from GRCA will speak about the fish currently in the creek and in the wetland. Greg Wells spoke to Mark and he will go out one week before to see if there are any interactive opportunities at the creek or wetland edge. The committee generally agreed that it would be beneficial to have some live fish in a lazge container for kids to see up close. David Best has volunteered to try to catch fish on the morning of the event. The logistics of a live display will be investigated further. Newcastle & District Historical Society -Leslie Wilson Leslie Wilson from the Newcastle and District Historical Society will also speak on Earth Day. Her talk will focus on and Samuel Wilmot as the pioneer of artificial breeding of Salmon and the history of the original Wilmot Fish Hatchery. Tree Planting in Lake Meadow & Clean-U,.p Other events will include a litter pick-up and a tree planting in the Lake Meadow. Greg will arrange to have approximately 50 small trees available for planting. Members should bring shovels for planting. Peter will arrange to have bags available for the clean-up. Dianne will prepare a sign up sheet for the event for anyone interested in being added to our distribution list. Because of the Newcastle Memorial forest project Terry Graham from the Newcastle Lions Club should be added to our distribution list 7. Newsletter The winter newsletter has been mailed out. The location of this year's Earth Day event has since been changed to the Cobbledick Road side. The invitations for Earth Day will be mailed out two weeks prior to the event with the proper location prominently displayed. Arthur will also distribute additional newsletters at the Wilmot Creek community. The location will be changed on the newsletter to avoid any confusion. In case anyone shows up at the Toronto Street side on Earth Day either a sign or volunteer will direct them to the Cobbledick side. In the past Lee Ann has also distributed the newsletter into the Port of Newcastle subdivision. Arthur and Leanne will be called when the revised newsletter is available for distribution. 8. Other Business Arthur advised the committee that there are deer to be seen early in the morning on the east side of Cobbledick Road north of the 401, also on the west side of Cobbledick Road the first big tree there is an owl which can be seen around noon. Jim asked that we distribute our 2006 Capital program to the committee at the next meeting. He also asked for a breakdown of 2005 spending. The Finance Department will be asked to prepare a breakdown of commitments against the. Capital account for the project. Jim also said that there were several bags of garbage dumped on the Toronto Street side. It is not clear if .they are on Municipal or private property. F they are on municipal property Operations will be asked to pick them up. Adjournment: 8:30 P.M. Next Meeting: Tuesday April 11, 2006 7:00 p.m. Meeting Room lA Notes prepared by D. Graham