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Home My WebLink About2025-01-21Samuel Wilmot Nature Area Management Advisory Committee Minutes January 211t, 2025 Room 1 C Municipal Building 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 Y Carmen Aeillo R Leo Blindenbach Y Councillor Margaret Zwart (Council Liaison) Y Patrick Bothwell Y Kate Potter (Chair) Y Tom Hossie (Vice Chair) Y Ken Mercer (Staff) Y Rod McArthur Y Leah Bourgeois Y Meg Vandenbrink Y Kayla Stephens Agenda Items 1. Call To Order And Welcome — by Chairperson Kate 2. Additions To The Agenda / Adoption Of The Agenda MOTION: Moved by Leah Bourgeois, seconded by Rod McArthur, that the agenda be accepted. CARRIED 3. Adoption of Minutes of Previous Meeting MOTION: moved by Patrick Bothwell, seconded by Carmen Aeillo, that the minutes of the meeting of November 19, 2024, be approved. 4. Committee Administration a. Annual report to Council — Kate and Tom reported that they will make a virtual presentation to Council on February 3rd highlighting past accomplishments and future plans 5. SWNA Workplan: a. Q4 Updates Christmas bird count — Brian reported that he was satisfied with this, our first such endeavor. He noted that 22 species had been identified and approximately 1450 birds counted. For next year, we will look at refining and/or expanding the areas covered (including rural roads where participation can be done from one's vehicle ); investigating the availability of " support" resources for inexperienced birders; and encouraging more persons to participate in the feeder watch portion of the count. Brian will be attending a meeting of the Durham Region Field Naturalists next week where a rollup of the regional count is likely to be provided. This will be shared with the committee when available. Brian will also lobby for a weekend date to do future counts since our assigned day, a Thursday, might have precluded involvement by some persons who would otherwise have been interested. b. 2025 Workplan ideas and brainstorming As per our last meeting, the committee had agreed to continue the following activities: ➢ Spring And Fall Cleanups — April and November - dates TBD ➢ Spring Wildflower Planting — May 24th ➢ Moth Week — July 19-27 ➢ Fall Monarch Tagging - September 13th; 20t" as backup The following new projects/activities were discussed and agreed upon: Tree Identification /Signage — this involves identifying the various species of trees within the SWNA, and preparing and installing small identification markers in appropriate locations. Ideally, this is done as part of a pubic " walkabout " event. Ken will invite a municipal arborist to our next meeting to discuss specifics. Margaret will invite a representative from GRCA for the same purpose. Kayla has indicated that she has some experience in this type of project and would be happy to assist. Target Date — tentative but probably during June 2. Invasive Species Removal -Tom pointed out that there are two purposes for doing this: education and awareness; stewardship of the area. After discussion, it was agreed that we should begin by targeting garlic mustard in the area adjacent to the Toronto Street parking lot. This location is accessible to those wishing to assist; it is visible so people will notice the difference; and is less likely to result in the trampling of ephemerals. It was also agreed that this could be done in conjunction with our April cleanup event, providing members of the public with another option to participate. 3. Restoration Of The Area Affected By The Watermain Project Although hydroseeding is to be done by the contractor, this does not preclude us from doing additional planting in the area. It was agreed that if we are able to obtain funding for plants again this year, the plants would be directed to this location instead of the waterfront. In addition, it is possible that students from Courtice Secondary School may wish to undertake some planting as they did last year. In which case this location would be ideal. Leah will investigate further. It was noted that this location could become the site for our monarch tagging event in future. 4. Photography Contest - this would resurrect a very successful event undertaken a number of years ago. Kayla has agreed to take a lead role in planning this and will bring back an outline for our next meeting in February. 5. Communications Strategy - The idea here is to develop a more structured, formalized approach to promoting our various activities and events. Ken will invite a representative of the municipal Communications department to a future meeting ( March?) to investigate how that department might be able to assist. 6. External Projects: a. (Update) Special projects / general update on relevant items from the Municipality of Clarington (Ken) ii. Management Plan — nothing new to report iii. Parks and Recreation Plan — now posted on line iv. Waterfront Strategy- nothing new to report V. Stormwater Plant work — Tom and Kate reported that they had met on - site with representatives of the Region and contracting firm on November 29t". Most of the work will take place inside the fenced -in property of the treatment plant. However, there will be a buried culvert installed under a portion of the trail. This will require the removal of a few non-native trees and a few older basswood and black locust trees in the affected area. Removal will begin in March and will require a two week period during which the trail will be closed. Barriers, signage etc will be provided by the project team redirecting visitors to the north. The culvert work will not be done until the late summer or early fall of 2025 and will again require a two -week closure of the trail. Trees will be replaced by the Region/contractor following completion of the project. Tom also made the project representatives aware of the presence of snapping turtles and other fauna in the immediate area of the work to be done. vi. Newcastle WPCP Upgrades — the tie-in to the main line has been completed vii. Information Boards/Signage — Ken reported that these have been purchased, are currently in storage, ready for installation in the spring 6. Other Business a. By-law infractions (camping, fishing, mountain biking/pits, harvesting) — none noted 7. Round Table — All Members Tom, Brian — both enjoyed participating in the bird count Patrick — appreciated the virtual option for this meeting Meg — continues to do early morning walks in SWNA and pointed out the beautiful sunrises Kate — also continues to walk regularly in the SWNA Kayla — had seen a scaup during a recent visit 8. Next Meeting - February 18th, 2025 9. Adjournment — moved by Patrick Bothwell