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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-18Samuel Wilmot Nature Area Management Advisory Committee Minutes March 18th, 2025, 7:OOpm Location — Room 1c Municipal Administrative Center Present: Y/N Person Y/N Person Y Brian Reid Past Chair Y Leanne Fernandez Y Carmen Aeillo N Leo Blindenbach N Councillor Margaret Zwart Council Liaison N Patrick Bothwell Y Kate Potter Chair Y Tom Hossie Vice Chair Y Ken Mercer Staff N Rod McArthur N Leah Bourgeois Y Meg Vandenbrink N Kayla Stephens Also Present: Jeff Delorey, Municipality of Clarington; Gus Saurer, GRCA 1. Call To Order Chairperson Kate Potter called the meeting to order at 7.05 p.m. 2. Land Acknowledgement Statement will be read in future by the chair or designate 3. Additions to the Agenda / Adoption Of The Agenda Moved by Brian Reid, seconded by Carmen Aeillo That the Agenda be accepted, with the following additions: none Carried 4. Declaration of Pecuniary Interest There were no disclosures of interest stated at this meeting. 5. Adoption Of Minutes Moved by Leah Bourgeois, seconded by Brian Reid That the minutes of the meeting of February 18th, 2025, be approved. Carried 6. Committee Administration a. Item 1 - Guests Jeff Delorey, arborist for the Municipality of Clarington, and Gus Saurer representing GRCA were welcomed to the meeting. Both had been invited by the committee to discuss involvement in a tree identification event at the Nature Area. Vice -Chair Tom Hossie provided some background and context on what we hoped to accomplish: a public walk about during which participants would learn about the various tree species within the SWNA. At the same time, this would assist the committee in completing an inventory of species present within the nature area and identify specific trees for signage. Both guests agreed to participate on a weekend date in June to be determined in conjunction with Vice -Chair Tom. Mr. Saurer noted that he could provide some basic information on forest ecology during the walk. Discussion also took place concerning the potential number of participants. Depending on those numbers, attendees might need to be split into two or more groups. Hosting two events, one in the spring and one in the fall, is another option. Kate thanked our guests for their contribution to our meeting. b. Item 2- Resignation: Kate reminded members of the letter of resignation received from long-time member Leo Blindenbach which had been circulated previously. Kate has drafted and circulated a letter of appreciation to the committee and asked for comments by Saturday March 22nd. Photos have been gathered showing Leo's participation in various SWNA events. Brian advised that Councilor Zwart had secured a certificate from the Mayor to recognize Leo's contribution but that the wording was not really appropriate given the circumstances . Brian will ask Councilor Zwart to request that the certificate be changed to use the wording we had submitted originally. Member Meg offered to deliver the certificate, letter etc. to Leo. It was also pointed out that we will require appointment of another member to replace Leo. Ken will investigate with the Clerk's office. c. Item 3 - Minutes Template - the Municipality has provided the committee with a standardized template to be used to prepare agenda and minutes d. Item 4 — By -Law Enforcement meeting - at our last meeting, a follow-up meeting with a by-law enforcement representative was to be scheduled to discuss specific concerns. After some discussion, it was agreed that a formal meeting was not required. Tom will contact the representative directly and discuss those concerns, noting the "seasonality of some of them ( eg harvesting of fiddleheads, parking violations during angling season etc ) Other concerns relate to off -leash dogs and fires on the beach. It was noted that fishing violations are the purview of MNRF, not the municipality 7. SWNA Workplan: Q1 a. Item - Bird Box Cleanout - on track for the first week in April. Brian and Carmen will coordinate. Brian requested additional T-bars from Ken. Leah has additional birdboxes made by students at Courtice Secondary School that will be made available to us to replace some older ones. a. Item 1 - Spring Cleanup - date confirmed as April 26th. Kate advised that she is unavailable that day. Brian offered to coordinate. Posters will be available soon through Meg and her contacts. Discussion also took place concerning involving/inviting local scout groups to assist/participate. Brian and Leah have some contacts. Brian will contact them about this and other upcoming events. b. Item 2 - Pollinator Planting - date confirmed for May 24th. Kate advised that the original plan was for the municipality to submit a proposal to OPG for funding of a number of projects, including this one but that she had been advised by the municipality that this would not be done and that we were to apply on our own . Brian will attend to this and will also contact our previous supplier to determine if plants can be available by the time of our event. Kate will prepare a poster to advertise the event. This raised the question of how best to advertise our events and activities. Use of the Municipality's Community Events page and of advertising in the Orono Times were discussed. A representative from the Communications Department has been invited to a committee meeting to discuss how the municipality can assist us in this regard. Q3 a. Item 1- Moth Week - July 19-27 - on track b. Item 2- Monarch Tagging - September 13/20th - on track - tags have been ordered Q4 a. Item 1 - Photo Contest - nil report in Kayla's absence b. Item 2 - Fall cleanup, bird box ceanout, Christmas Bird Count - to be discussed at later meeting 8. External Projects: a. Item 1- Management Plan - delete from future agenda b. Item 2 - Waterfront Strategy - ongoing - no updates at present c. Item 3- Stormwater Plant Work - directional signage has been installed to reroute pedestrians during upcoming work d. Item 4-Newcastle WPCP Upgrades - Ken advised that hydro seeding will be done in early spring and that this will not interfere with our plans to plant in the same area e. Item 5- New Signage - Ken has them in storage for installation as soon as the weather permits, presumably in time for our Spring Cleanup event in April. Silk and "snow" fencing will be removed within the project is completed. 9. Other Business a. Item 1- by law infractions - it was noted that the parking lots at both entrances have been full of late which has led to some parking in restricted areas. This will be brought to the attention of enforcement staff when Tom speaks to them as per above item b. Item 2- Round Table - Tom is looking forward to the arrival of spring ephemerals. He reported some owl sightings in the Port, including a long- eared owl. Meg had observed a muskrat in the SWNA. Brian reported that things looked to be in generally good condition during a recent walkabout through the Nature Area c. Item 3-Kate advised that she will be stepping down as chair in the next month or so due to work and family commitments but will remain on the committee. This matter will be discussed at a future meeting. 10. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to be held on April 15th, 2025, commencing at 7:00 p.m. Location to be confirmed. In Kate's absence, Vice -Chair Tom will chair. 11. Adjournment Moved by Leah Bourgeois „ seconded by Tom Hossie that the meeting adjourn at 8:13 p.m. CARRIED