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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-22Samuel Wilmot Nature Area Management Advisory Committee Minutes October 22, 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. Particiaation: Y/N Person Y/N Person y Brian Reid (Past Chair) y Leanne Fernandez Carmen Aeillo R Leo Blindenbach Councillor Margaret Zwart Council Liaison n Patrick Bothwell y Kate Potter (Chair) y Tom Hossie (Vice Chair) Ken Mercer(Staff R Rod McArthur y Leah Bourgeois R N Meg Vandenbrink Kayla Stephens Agenda Items 1. Call To Order And Welcome _ Kate Potter 2. Additions To The Agenda / Adoption Of The Agenda — The following items were added to the agenda at the request of member Tom Hossie: update re number of monarch tagged; wildflower meadow garden; status of member Leo Blindenbach. 3. With the above additions, moved by Leah, seconded by Tom that the agenda be accepted. CARRIEDhad indicated his willingness to step 4. Adoption Of Minutes Of Previous Meeting - moved by Leanne, seconded by Carmen, that the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted. CARRIED 5. Committee Administration • Annual report to Council — Kate advised that she had received input from some members re this item and revised the document accordingly. After some discussion, it was decided that the report would be made in person to Council with Kate and/or Tom making the presentation. It was agreed that the presentation would focus on what we have done and that Councillor Zwart would ask what Council could do to support the work of the committee. At that point, our concerns about communication etc. could be introduced. • Status of member Leo Blindenbach — Kate advised that Leo had indicated he was prepared to withdraw from the committee because of his health concerns and make way for a new member. It was the consensus of the committee that there was no reason for him to do so at this time and that we would offer the opportunity for him to participate in meetings by Teams or Zoom. 6. SWNA Workplan: a. Q3 and Q4 i.Moth week Event— completed successfully ii.Monarch tagging event — Tom advised that our final tally of monarchs tagged was 377. 65% were male, 35% female. This is consistent with results from previous years . The committee will consider moving the event to the Cobbledick side next year or having the event in its usual place in the morning while offering an opportunity to tag on the Cobbledick side in the afternoon.. Discussions also took place about improving how we distribute and control our tags to ensure that those who have the time to do additional tagging have sufficient tags to do so. . iii.Atlantic salmon — Leah advised that public turnout was disappointing but it was agreed that the event was well worth holding. The presenter is even prepared to offer the presentation at another time if we wish to do so. It was suggested that we need to improve how we advertise/communicate information about all of our events to ensure we are reaching the appropriate audiences. This could include different/additional poster distribution, use of a QR code approach etc. iv.Bird box maintenance - will commence in early November after we have completed our fall cleanup v. Christmas Bird Count — Brian is still awaiting the name of the contact person for our area but advised that we can proceed even without that if necessary vi. Fall cleanup — scheduled for November 2nd starting at 9:00 am. In the Toronto Street parking lot. Brian has sufficient bags and gloves. b. 2025 workplan ideas? • Stormwater pond path / trail . The suggestion was made to formalize the current pathway that has been created by visitors. The purpose of this would be to protect the integrity of the area and prevent trampling etc. There are potential liability issues associated with creation of trails. Further discussion is required. Note: all members are encouraged to bring their ideas to our November meeting for projects, events etc that could be done in 2025 7. External Projects: a. (Update) Special projects / general update on relevant items from the Municipality of Clarington (Ken) • Management Plan — nothing new to report • Parks and Recreation Plan — currently in draft format • Waterfront Strategy — nothing new to report • Stormwater Plant work — Ken hopes to have an update for our November meeting. Member indicated that usage of the nature area has certainly been affected by the work involved in this project. 8. Other Business a. By-law infractions (camping, fishing, mountain biking/pits, harvesting) — nothing reported b. Wildflower meadow garden — Tom advised members that he had recently inventoried the various wildflowers that had been planted and supplemented in the Cobbledick meadow garden. He was pleased to see that virtually all of those species are present and reproducing naturally. Brian added that the new smaller pollinator garden established this spring with the assistance of students from Courtice High School also did very well. c. Leanne advised that some members of the public had reported to her about the presence of ticks in the nature area. Tom will share information with members about dealing with ticks so that we can address questions from the public. 9. Round Table —some members advised that they had been limiting their trips to the nature area in recent months because of the work being done on both sides. Carmen reported that he had recently read an article about a group of scientists in Mexico who are endeavouring to plant more of the special fir trees used as roosts by monarchs at higher altitudes to offset the impact of climate change on those in their present location Next Meeting - November 19t" — Municipal Building Room 1 C 7:00 p.m.