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Home My WebLink About2025-06-12* Subject to Advisory Committee approval * Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 12, 2025 Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington Meeting Minutes Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025 Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Microsoft Teams or Meeting Room 1C, Municipal Administrative Centre 40 Temperance St., Bowmanville, Ontario Members Present: Henry Zekveld (Chair), John Cartwright, Mitch Morawetz (DRFA), Councillor Zwart, Eric Bowman, Lloyd Vandergaast, Brad Found, Craig Rickard, Tom Barrie, Jennifer Knox, John Cartwright, Craig Rickard Regrets: Richard Rekker, Chris Ennis Staff Present: Sylvia Jennings, Alicia da Silva – Planning and Infrastructure Services Guests: Tina Schankula, Ontario Federation of Agriculture 1. Welcome and Introductions H. Zekveld welcomed everyone to the meeting. 2. Land Acknowledgement Statement H. Zekveld recited the Land Acknowledgement Statement. 3. Declarations of Interest None. 4. Approval of Minutes of May 8, 2025 025-013 Moved by E. Bowman, Seconded by B. Found. That the Minutes of the May 8, 2025 meeting be approved. Carried 5. Presentations / Delegations 5a. Stormwater Management Fees – T. Schankula Tina Schankula, from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, presented on Stormwater Management Fees in Ontario. Schankula provided a background of stormwater management fee policies and the impact on Ontario’s agricultural industry. Ontario Regulation 588/17 requires municipalities to account for stormwater management in their asset plan. Municipal response to the regulation has been varied across the province, with no provincial guidance on how to calculate these fees. Some municipalities have interpreted that any water, even Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 12, 2025 agricultural properties, are subject to stormwater fees. Different approaches to calculating these fees include a flat or tiered fee, impervious area calculations, a runoff coefficient, or basing on property tax or utility bills. Case studies were discussed from other Ontario municipalities in which agricultural properties were required to pay stormwater management fees, which sometimes resulted in significant costs to farmers. She noted that agricultural lands assist in stormwater management through replenishment, slowing peak flow, decreasing stream erosion, filtering of contaminants, among other benefits. During the question-and-answer period, the following topics were discussed and clarified: - The provincially recognized average amount of water that runs off of an agricultural property is 15-25%. - OFA believes that stormwater management fees should not be charged to agricultural lands because of the benefits agricultural lands provide in managing stormwater. - It is the Municipality’s responsibility to ensure water is flowing to stormwater management ponds properly and not running onto private property. - Asset management regulations were implemented for Ontario municipalities, in which they are required to make decisions on investment into local infrastructure, including planning how they will fund infrastructure and maintenance. Committee members expressed interest in reading OFA’s stormwater management fee policy, with T. Schankula to follow up with a link to the policy and by-law examples from other Ontario municipalities. 6. Business Arising from the Minutes 6a. Farm Tour Planning Update from B. Found A farm tour for municipal staff and councillors has been planned for Thursday, July 17th at B. Found’s farm. The agenda topics will provide a high-level overview of agricultural themes and issues to encourage positive dialogue and interest. Attendees will be welcomed around 9:15am, with programming beginning at 10:00am. Depending on the number of attendees, group will be broken up to provide more of an opportunity for more direct dialogue. A Q&A period will provide attendees an opportunity to ask questions to increase their awareness on agricultural issues, inspired by speakers and programming during the tour. When event invites are distributed, invitees will be encouraged to provide questions or topics they would like addressed, and a list will be provided to tour hosts prior to the event. Attendees will be provided with follow-up reading materials to read at their leisure. Committee members suggested an opportunity for Economic Development to present Topic 1: Agriculture 411. Committee members discussed that the goal of the farm tour is for Clarington employees and staff to have a deeper understanding of what life is like working in the agricultural industry in order to make more informed decisions. Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 12, 2025 Staff will follow-up with Committee members who have been involved with farm tour planning to confirm a final agenda and details. 6b. 2025-2026 AACC Work Plan Staff presented a final 2025-2026 Work Plan, reflecting suggested additions from Committee members at the May 8, 2025 meeting. 025-014 Moved by T. Barrie, Seconded by C. Rickard That the 2025-2026 AACC Work Plan be approved. Carried 6c. Questions for Mayor Foster A draft list of potential questions and topics was emailed to Committee members based on discussions at the May 8, 2025 meeting. Potential additional questions included the following: - Discussion on costs associated with new recreation infrastructure, specifically the Newcastle ice rink currently under construction. - Update on a potential municipally-owned outdoor event space to benefit local tourism. - What is Clarington’s vision for success in Agriculture? Staff and Committee members discussed focusing on agricultural-related questions during Mayor Foster’s attendance. Staff will review potential questions and work to provide answers on more specific, non-agricultural related questions. 7. Communications 7a. Durham Local Food Week From June 2-8, Durham Region celebrated Local Food Week with a social media campaign. Communications included encouraging purchasing fresh produce from local farmers’ markers and farm stands. 7b. Brilliant Catalyst Agri-Tech Challenge at OTU Brilliant Catalyst, an entrepreneurial hub at Ontario Tech, is hosting an “ideathon” from August 15-25, 2025, in which students partake in workshops, mentorship, and networking opportunities with a central theme of agri-tech. Committee members can volunteer to provide mentorship if they are interested, with brochures with contact information being provided at the meeting. 8. Liaison Reports 8a. Durham Agricultural Advisory Committee – T. Barrie Presentations were given on Durham College’s Barrett Centre, the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, and the Region’s Roads Capital Program Update. 8b. Durham Region Federation of Agriculture – M. Morawetz Agricultural Advisory Committee of Clarington June 12, 2025 The Duffin’s Rouge project is currently getting underway in partnership with the Greenbelt Foundation and Farmland Trust. The Federation plans to attend a “Touch a Truck” event in Oshawa, with more details to be provided after the event. Details of a rural housing webinar were provided, which discussed accessory residential units on farm properties and farm worker housing, highlight research by Wayne Caldwell from the University of Guelph. A potential summer social event was discussed, with more details to be provided at a later date. 9. New Business None. 10. Date of Next Meeting Thursday, August 14, 2025 11. Adjournment 025-015 Moved by John Cartwright, Seconded by Craig Rickard That the meeting adjourn at 9:42pm. Carried