HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-17Samuel Wilmot Nature Area Management
Advisory Committee
MINUTES
September 17, 2024
Municipality of Clarington Building
Room 1 C
If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility
Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131.
Participation:
Y/N
Person
Y/N
Person
y
Brian Reid (Past Chair)
Y
Leanne Fernandez
Carmen Aeillo
R
Leo Blindenbach
y
Councillor Margaret Zwart
(Council Liaison)
R
Y
Patrick Bothwell
Kayla Stevens
R
Kate Potter Chair
Y
Tom Hossie Vice Chair
Y
Ken Mercer (Staff)
R
Rod McArthur
Y
Leah Bourgeois
Y
Meg Vanbail
Agenda Items
1. Call To Order And Welcome - in Kate's absence, Vice -Chair Tom chaired the
meeting and welcomed everyone, including guest Jennifer Smith, Manager of
Park Services.
Tom also read the land acknowledgment.
2. Additions To The Agenda / Adoption Of The Agenda — moved by Meg , seconded
by Leah - CARRIED
3. Adoption Of Minutes Of Previous Meeting
a. [June 17, 2024, no quorum for Aug meeting]
Moved by Carmen, seconded by Leah - CARRIED
4. Committee Administration
a. Annual report to Council —Kate [on hold until next meeting]. Tom suggested
that Kate could use some assistance in pulling relevant material together.
He will assist and Kayla offered to assist as well. Our blog is a good record
of what we have done for the past several years.
5. SWNA Workplan:
a. Q3 and Q4
• Moth week Event— Tom provided details of another successful
moth week which included identifying 122 species of moths, some
of which are new to the SWNA and five of which are species of
concern in Ontario. A summary of this year's moth week and its
findings is contained in the blog article posted last week.
• Monarch tagging event — Tom, Brian et al. — by all accounts this
was another successful event with a strong public turnout . The
original date was to have been September 7th but poor weather
forced postponement to the 14th. Despite posting notice of
postponement on our various social media platforms, some
persons did show up on the 7th. We will take steps to ensure
additional notification measures are taken should this situation
arise again in the future.
The number of monarchs tagged during the event itself was quite
low. However, everyone seemed to enjoy the event. It was pointed
out that later that same day, Tom and Brian tagged 100 on the
Cobbledick side and over the next two days, with minimal time
spent, another 125 were tagged by Carmen, Brian and Deb.
Members who still have tags were urged to make use of them while
the favourable weather pattern continues
Consideration will also be given to holding the event on the
Cobbledick side of SWNA next year since the numbers of
monarchs there is much higher than along Lakebreeze Drive.
Additional planting of goldenrod or other late blooming plants next
spring was suggested as a way to increase the number of
monarchs found along Lakebreeze.
It was also suggested that we acquire additional nets to
supplement our current number. Ken believes he could cover the
cost from the Operations budget. Brian and Tom will identify the
vendor and advise Ken accordingly.
• Atlantic salmon — Leah [2pm October 20th @ Diane Hamre]
Advertising, logistical support & member availability — Leah
reported that only some of the logistical issues remain to be
sorted out: > she will design and distribute a poster
>Ken will arrange for the appropriate a/v equipment to be
available
> Leah and Ken will confirm start time and setup time required
by the speaker
> Meg indicated that her daughters will staff an information
table with things like colouring sheets etc for children
attending
> Brian will contact the Orono Times
Members ( so far ) indicating they can attend are: Tom, Leah,
Brian, Carmen, Kate, Marg, Meg
• Bird box maintenance (fall) — on track for early November
• Christmas bird count — Brian has initiated contact with someone
responsible for the count in this part of the region. Details will be
available closer to the time of the event, likely to be the first week
in January, 2025
b. Last quarter (Q1)
• LEAF program — on hold
• SWNA codes — stickers etc. are all still in place without damage.
Tom will update the Committee quarterly on user volume
c. 2025 workplan ideas?
• Stormwater pond path / trail — Tom enquired about the possibility
of "formalizing" the current haphazard trail that runs around the
storm water pond, noting the area has recovered nicely and hosts
a variety of plant and animal species that are of interest. He also
pointed out that defining the trail more clearly would prevent
damage to the area from trampling etc.. Staff pointed out that there
are potential liability and maintenance issues associated with
designating something as an actual "trail " but will investigate
further. A variation or alternative could be a small platform, possibly
placed to the south of the Baldwin Cairn , to allow for viewing the
area.
6. External Projects:
a. (Update) Special projects / general update on relevant items from the
Municipality of Clarington (Ken)
• Management Plan — nothing to report
• Parks and Recreation Plan — Marg reported this has now gone to
council committee
• Waterfront Strategy — nothing to report
• Stormwater Plant work - this project is well underway. Our
concerns remain about remediation. It was suggested that this be
reflected in the Report to Council referred to above.
• NOTE: the days following this meeting, Brian received a response
from the Regional Project Engineer via Regional Councilor Willy
Woo to whom he had written about the above concerns. A copy of
the response has been circulated to the members under separate
cover.
7. Other Business
a. By-law infractions (camping, fishing, mountain biking/pits, harvesting) —
nothing to report except the continuing practice by some of having
campfires on the beach
b. Fall Cleanup — after some discussion, it was agreed that a small scale
cleanup should be done as the salmon fishing season nears an end. This
will take place on Saturday November 2nd starting at 9:00 a.m. We will meet
in the Toronto Street parling lot. The fishing line receptacles will be emptied
at that time as well.
8. Round Table — All Members — Carmen advised that he and Deb had removed a
small area of dog strangling vine near the south lookout/junction approximately 6
weeks ago and that as recently as yesterday there had been very little regrowth. .
Kayla has enjoyed walking and birdwatching there in recent weeks. Meg noted that
the limited access to the trail system recently has meant she has confined her visits
to the beach area. Tom and Brian continue to be regular visitors to SWNA
9. Next Meeting - October 22nd — Location TBD
10.Adjournment: moved by Meg, seconded by Leanne CARRIED