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Home My WebLink About2011-11-10 Minutes CLARINGTON AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 MEMBERS PRESENT: Ted Watson Councillor Wendy Partner, Don Rickard Tom Barrie, arrived 7:45 p.m. Mary7Ann Found i John Cartwrig i Les Ca Ga rye . Br, Metca I! owmaA STAFF: # } aye Langmaid ,4S _ r GUESTS: O'Toole, Mayor Adrian REGRET f Mark Bragg� y� - Marlene Werry 4- Jenni Knox G ed all tot Imeeting, everyone introduced themselv I 3 A A ends ' �•�r 01. oved by Eric Bowman, seconded by Ma rn R; I ` IE A inutes�. i. 011-22 "That the menu es 7 7 meeting e approve CARRIED Guest: John O'Toole, MPP John informed the Committee that he monitors the minutes of the AACC to stay in touch on items that are important to the local agricultural committee. A couple of items from the last minutes he has noted are: Support for the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation - sending a letter along to the Premier and others is important as they have been trying to amalgamate the ORMF into the Greenbelt and that may not be the best solution. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington November 10, 2011 Wildlife compensation - knows it is an important item and a letter from the Minister was circulated to the minute for committee information. Load restrictions - this is an important issue for the local farming community. The only roads that the province has regulation over are 400 series highways and 35/115. The remainder are the responsibility of either the local or regional municipalities. Restrictions do not apply to emergency vehicles, waste disposal trucks and vehicles used exclusively for perishable products (e.g. milk trucks). 407 Highway - John has heard from a number of the affected families in Clarington. John takes their message onto the Minister; however, he is concerned that there is not one overall umbrella group that speaks for those being affected. It is unlike the commodity groups or DFRA and the fragmentation may be affecting how the land owners are being dealt with. John is worried that the process does not appear to be working in the favour of the families and also that it is very emotionally trying on the families. There is still uncertainty of when the portions in Clarington are going to be constructed and what the exact design of the road within the right of way will be. There are many acres of land within the right of way but they will not be part of the initial construction and the question of what will happen to them and whether people will be allowed to continue to farm them has not been addressed. There is no land exchange program where farmers land could be replaced with other lands. There does not appear to be a process for allowing first right of refusal for leaseholders or former owners and this is troublesome to some farmers as it severely impacts their business and that is not being considered in the compensation and appraisals. There is a difference in land values, but that can be accounted for depending on the future potential of the land. Some homeowners have been offended by the fact that the appraisers do not even want to see the interior of the home. The rental agreements between many owners and farmers have been handshake agreements for years, now MTO wants a 17 page agreement. There is concern in the rural community over the boarded up and abandoned houses, they become vandalism issues. John is taking forward these concerns to the province but would like the group to be aware of the feedback he has gotten. Another concern that John has is the resolution from AMO about increasing the farm taxation rate to more that 25%. Discussion General discussion on how stopping at Harmony causes a major problem for Clarington, options explored are that the link should be built as two lanes to 35/115, and link to 401 at Courtice to service New Build. To farmers the land is like gold, they are not making more of it, but to contractors it is a commodity, they are not worried about the top 6 inches just the square footage. If the government is really serious about protecting agriculture they would be directing bureaucracy to have more care for it in their dealings with farmers and land. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington November 10, 2011 Some of the decisions of government on MDS and Nutrient Management are making it harder to farm near urban areas, there is not a great understanding of the need for buffers and distance to allow for farming to continue to happen. Regulations like those coming from MNR on PSW's and Source Water that are being enforced by Conservation Authorities are provincial policies. Business Arising Oak Ridge Moraine Foundation Following last meeting Gary sent a letter off to the Premier voicing the committee's support. Ontario Wildlife Damage Compensation clarification was in the minutes. Trees for Rural Roads Flyers for the program are being distributed and a press release was issued. There has been tremendous response and there will be other articles upcoming in the newspaper. Guidelines have been drafted and an application form. The Municipality would fund the trees from the environmental stewardship account and the land owner would provide in-kind labour for the planting, maintenance and also the site along the roadway. Council Referrals — None Mayor Foster—just attending to hear the discussion but also wanted to thank the committee for their resolution on the whitebelt/greenbelt. It is very helpful knowing what the opinion of the agricultural community for these types of issues is. Liaison Reports DAAC — Eric passed around the Region's report on Community Climate Change for Local Action http://www.durham.ca/default.asp?nr=/community/climate change/climate inside.htm One of the goals is to ease legislation to allow things to happen. Discussion on comprehensive retrofit that could be added to tax bill so that you pay it off over time and it carries to the next property owner. Indoor year-round farmers market. DRFA — OFA AGM is November 21, 22. Trillium funding for advance leadership program -12 young farmers from Durham is working out well. Workshop for farmers on media training is Feb Td. Farm Connections is scheduled for April Td 4th and 5th in Brooklyn, new committee members are welcome. CBOT — working on a roundtable discussion with new Minister of Agriculture; March/April timeline. Important role for committee is to keep educating people, getting united voice is difficult as farmers are very individualistic and their operations are different, especially across commodity groups. Mayor suggested that local agricultural community do a buyer's forum, so that other members of CBOT are aware that they are one of the largest purchasing groups and what their needs are. Inform the members of the economic opportunity agriculture is for them. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington November 10, 2011 Other Business Farmer's Parade of Lights is December 7th starting at 6p.m. in Enniskillen and will be to Tyrone by 7:30 p.m. Scholarships available from Soil and Crop and also Beef Commodity Group have not had many applications, hard to give them away. Spread the word. General discussion on how important education of the general public is and that farming community does not have the PR people in place to counteract the media or correct inaccuracies in articles. Commodity reserves used to be enough for a year now they are 2-3 weeks. If crops fail there are major ramifications for society immediately unlike in 50's and 60's. Future Agendas Suggestion of Richard Marceau from UOIT about education opportunities in agriculture that UOIT and Durham College could pursue. Ken Knox also suggested as future speaker. John Cartwright moved to adjourn. CARRIED Next Meeting December 8th , 2011 Martin Vroegh from St. Marys on their algae/biodiesel project. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington November 10, 2011