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Home My WebLink About2021-07-08Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting Thursday, July 8, 2021 Members Present: Eric Bowman Jenni Knox Don Rickard Tom Barrie Henry Zekveld Brenda Metcalf Ryan Cullen Richard Rekker Jordan McKay John Cartwright Councillor Zwart Regrets: Ben Eastman Staff: Amy Burke, Faye Langmaid, Cooper Howieson - Planning & Development Services Guests: Doran Hoge, Planning & Development Services; Brett Novak, Public Works Observers: Stacey Jibb, Planning & Economic Development, Region of Durham, Carolyn Puterbough, OMAFRA Due to COVID 19 restrictions and to ensure social distancing, participation in the meeting was electronic (using Microsoft Teams) and by conference call. Eric welcomed all to the meeting, with introductions of Committee members. Declarations of Interest None. Adoption of Agenda 021-016 Moved by Don Rickard, seconded by Tom Barrie That the Agenda for July 8, 2021 be adopted. Carried Approval of Minutes 021-017 Moved by John Cartwright, seconded by Brenda Metcalf That the minutes of the June 10, 2021 meeting be approved. Carried Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington July 8, 2021 Presentation Doran Hoge, Planning & Development Services Department — Clarington Corporate Climate Change Action Plan: Doran Hoge provided a PowerPoint presentation as an overview of the Clarington Corporate Climate Action Plan. Doran explained that Council had approved the plan on March 1, 2021. He explained that Clarington is already seeing the effects of climate change and that the impacts are expected to continue. He described the process used to develop the actions and outlined the main goals of the plan. He provided the adaption and mitigation framework guiding the implementation of the plan. He described that 70% of municipal staff contributed to the plan and that the 199 risks were identified by staff. He outlined the risks and actions breakdown by municipal department and provided figures illustrating the Municipality's contributors of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and energy consumers. Lastly, Doran outlined the monitoring and evaluation process and the next steps of implementation. Committee members asked how the effects of the plan are going to be measured and how we know that human activity is causing climate change. Doran responded that municipal building performance, damage and staff injuries will be tracked to assess changes, and that GHG emissions can be easily measured. Doran explained that we know climate change is being caused by humans and explained that atmospheric carbon levels have skyrocketed since the industrial revolution. He emphasized that the models used to develop the plan were scientifically rigorous. Regardless of the causes, we know that the climate is changing, and the goal of the plan is to adapt to these changes and mitigate the negative impacts. Lastly, regarding on -farm carbon sequestration opportunities, Doran noted it is something under investigation by Durham Region and others; specially how incentive structures could be developed. Brett Novak, Public Works Department — Update: Emerald Ash Borer - Tree Removal Rural Area Plan: Brett Novak provided a brief update on the ongoing Emerald Ash Borer and Rural Tree Removal. He said that they are moving out of the urban areas, as work there is complete, and are now prioritizing rural areas. He noted that more funding has been received this year through the budget for rural tree removal and they have allocated more areas for removal. They have completed work in North Courtice and are currently working with purchasing to put out a tender for the new work. He outlined that Public Works will continue to work on the removals. The Committee inquired about what happens to the removed trees and if there was a publicly available list of roads where trees are to be removed and the timeframe. Brett responded that residents where trees were removed have first come first serve to the trees but that the remaining are chipped and used for municipal operations. Brett described that trees are tracked within an ArcGIS application, which currently includes approximately 1500 trees requiring removal. The public can contact Public Works at operations(a_clarington.net or 905-263-2291 to enquire about specific trees and locations. A committee member raised the issue of gypsy moths and how it is affecting vegetation. Once the foliage of treed areas on farm properties are consumed, the caterpillars are migrating to feed on and damage farm crops. It was also mentioned that Belleville has Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington July 8, 2021 a public surveillance program in place to track effected areas and spread and questioned whether Clarington has considered something similar. Brett responded that the department has not received many calls concerning gypsy moths and has no program in place but will potentially look into it. Faye Langmaid described that the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority is monitoring gypsy moths within areas under their regulation, as are other CAs. In surrounding municipalities there have been sprays undertaken to address the larva. Delegations None Business Arising from Minutes Official Plan Amendment 127 (Special Study Area 2): On June 14, 2021, Council approved the deletion of Special Study Area 2 from the Official Plan. The appeal period expired on June 22, 2021. No appeals were received. The decision of Council is now final. Municipal Economic Development Services: Staff updated the Committee on the outcome of Council's consideration of CAO-003-21 Economic Development Services in Clarington and the decision of Council. Greenbelt Foundation Study on Municipal Capacity to Support Agriculture: This study was originally introduced to the Committee by Kathy Macpherson of the Greenbelt Foundation at the May 2020 Committee meeting. The complete study report is now available at https://www.greenbelt.ca/municipal capacity. The report identifies 10 opportunities to build the capacity of planners, economic developers, elected officials, and other municipal and provincial staff to support agriculture. Municipal Staff are reviewing the findings. Correspondence, Council Items and Referrals Recreation Vehicle and Trailer Storage Study: A copy of Resolution #PD-207-21 was circulated to the Committee in advance of the meeting. Staff provided an overview of the background and recommendations approved by Council from the Recreation Vehicle and Trailer Storage Study. Specifically, the topic of On -Farm Diversified Uses and guidelines for such uses has been referred to the Committee for their input. Staff will prepare a draft set of guidelines for review and discussion with the Committee at a future meeting. The materials previously reviewed by the Committee when providing input on On -farm Diversified Uses in 2017 for the comprehensive zoning by-law project will be recirculated to Committee members by Staff. An On -farm Diversified Use does not have to relate to the primary agricultural operation, but it must be secondary and of limited scale. Nutrient Management Act Regulation — On -farm RNG Production: The Province has announced regulatory changes under the Nutrient Management Act that will enable new on -farm biogas systems and expansion of existing systems to be approved more readily. The Province indicates the changes will provide greater opportunity for farmers Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington July 8, 2021 to use on -farm materials as well as other types of off -farm food and organic waste materials in on -farm regulated anaerobic digestion facilities. A significant uptake locally of the opportunities brought by these regulations was not anticipated at this time due to the scale of operation that is needed for a viable business case. Liaison Reports Durham Agriculture Advisory Committee: No update. Next meeting is Sept. 14, 2021. Durham Region Federation of Agriculture: Richard Rekker provided an update from the July 6 DRFA meeting. The meeting focused on providing comments and input on the Envision Durham Proposed Policy Directions, specifically the Thriving Rural System policies. DRFA strongly supports promoting a full range of agriculture, agriculture - related and on -farm diversified uses, and encourages more flexibility on the property size limitations for on -farm diversified uses. Durham Farm Connections: Brenda Metcalf relayed that virtual platforms for educating and information sharing continue to be developed. The Celebrate Agricultural Gala takes place virtually on October 28. Nominations for Celebrate Agriculture Awards continue to be accepted. Contact DFC to sponsor or donate to the virtual auction that is planned to coincide with the Gala event. Clarington Board of Trade: Jenni Knox indicated that virtual events hosted by CBOT are continuing. CBOT has partnered with the Province, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Municipality to distribute approximately 15,000 rapid testing kits to small and medium sized business, helping them to reopen safely. Visit www.cbot.ca/rapidscreening for more information including how business can sign up for the program. New Business None. Next Meeting Thursday, August 26, 2021 @ 7:30 pm (Virtual Meeting) Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington July 8, 2021