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Home My WebLink AboutWD-55-92 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE REPORT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE File# Date: JULY 6, 1992 Res, Report#: File #: _JW0_2_.JA_,_02 By.-Law# Subject: PITCH-IN ONTARIO CLEAN-Up PROGRAM Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1 . THAT Report WD-55-92 be received; 2 . THAT Mr. Gary Timmerman, Knox Christian School, be advised that Council strongly endorses environmental projects and the Pitch-in Week Program referred to in his correspondence dated May 27, 1992; 3. THAT the Director of Public Works be authorized to pay the cost of approximately $53 incurred by Knox Christian School for disposal of garbage collected by the students; 4 . THAT the Director of Public Works be authorized to make arrangements for the pick-up of the garbage collected in this program in 1993; and 5 . THAT Mr. Gary Timmerman be provided with a copy of Report WD- 55-92 and be advised of Council 's decision. ---------------------------------------------------------------- REPORT 1.0 ATTACHMENTS No. 1: Correspondence dated May 27, 1992, from Mr. Gary Timmerman, Knox Christian School /2 REPORT NO. : WD-55-92 PAGE 2 2.0 REVIEW AND COMMENT 2 . 1 Mr. Timmerman's letter outlines the program of Pitch-in Week and also outlines the disappointment that, when he contacted Public Works ' staff, he was discouraged regarding the program. 2 .2 The problem is that Mr. Timmerman did not contact Public Works until the morning of the event and I was not available and as a result he was left with the impression that the Town does not support this type of program. As Council knows, this is not the case. i 2 . 3 Since the students do not occupy the travelled portion of the road, this activity does not require a road occupancy permit. 3.0 CONCLUSION 3 . 1 In order to assure Mr. Timmerman of Council's support for this type of project, it is felt it would be advisable to forward the correspondence to Council with recommendations . Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation to the Committee, 4z Walter A. Evans, P.Eng. , Lawrence E. Kd -eff, Director of Public Works Chief AdminiE(t ative Officer WAE*ph June 16, 1992 Attachment pc: Mr. Gary Timmerman Knox Christian School R.R. #1 Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K2 I I i BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, L1C3K2 R.R.1 PHONE(416)623-5871 AI 1............. �7Q _. _ y 27, 1992 S iP\FF lrek---TING T-A�i:N1�� .. .,.., Ma Mr. Walter Evans Public Works Department Town of Newcastle 40 Temperance St. Bowmanville, Ontario Dear Mr. Evans, On the afternoon of May 14, the staff and students of Knox Christian School participated in the PITCH-IN ONTARIO clean-up program. On this beautiful sunny day, we put many eager hands and feet together cleaning up the garbage .along ,the streets near our school , on the school grounds, and along the nearby Bowmanville Creek. Some 225 students and 10 teachers with parent volunteers gathered bags full , of litter and recyclable drink containers, making the area clean and safe again for the town residents and visitors to enjoy. This clean-up was a truly, positive experience for our students . We as a staff believe that the sponsors of this very popular program have provided us with an excellent opportunity to put learning into.meaningful action when it comes to our endangered environment. We prepared our students well beforehand, and ensured that only well-supervised, older students were involved off the school grounds. The Durham Regional Police was alerted and were present in the area. The efforts of our student body, however, Mr. Evans, were not supported nor appreciated by the Town when calls were made to your office. I was hoping to get the town' s help in disposing of the town' s garbage which our older students would gather from the ditches of Scugog Street and the 3rd Concession. Instead, I was strongly discouraged from even undertaking the project by your staff, presumably because of the Town' s liabilities should any accident occur on its streets . Because garbage collecting ATTACHMENT NO. 1 ;Lj WD-55-92 vehicles ' schedules were already planned, it was not possible for the Town to pick up any of this garbage on that day, nor any day following . PITCH-IN Week is a program of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters in cooperation with a national organization called PITCH-IN CANADA. An astonishing 1 . 5 million people each year are participating in the PITCH-IN CANADA program, and that ' s in just 3 provinces, British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta! More pertinent to my concern with the Town is that one-half of these people have be,6n children doing school projects just like ours . Cleaning parks , stream banks, streets , roadways, parking lots , and playgrounds, both on and off school grounds. A small highschool in northern British Columbia where I taught has for the last 15 years picked up the litter on a 70-km strip of major highway on both sides of their community, with regional highway workers gladly following behind to pick-up and carry away the bags of litter! In its promotional package, PITCH-IN ONTARIO lists the following sponsors who share a concern for the clean and safe roadways of our province: *** Ontario Ministry of the Environment *** NOVA Corporation of Alberta *** Burger King Canada *** Local Governments in Ontario I would expect that the Town of Newcastle does share the same concern that we have here at Knox to make our community' s roadways clean and safe for the welcoming of travellers and visitors . Supposedly, local governments do support this program. What can the'' Town of Newcastle do to support us? As a privately-funded school society, we pay for our own garbage pick-up as well as our recycling program. Should we have to put the Town' s garbage also in our dumpster? This turned out to be the case this year again (our 2nd year on PITCH-IN) and with the bill comes a clear message from the Town of Newcastle that the it does not support its environment-conscious citizens in a genuine clean-up program which is popular across the province. Town Council ' s reaction to volunteer efforts is certainly not the norm. The president of PITCH-IN CANADA assures me that, in working on these caknpaigns across the country for 25 years, he has never met up with a reaction of this kind by a municipal council . We would like to see the Town of Newcastle re-examine its present policy on this matter. Most of all , we would like to see the Town speak out in favour of community-based action programs like PITCH-IN. WEEK where citizens are encouraged to do their part . We and our children walk these streets daily - we can clean them too . And when public monies are not presently picking up the tab for the disposal of this junk collected off of the Town ' s property, we believe that the Town can and should find a means of disposal for schools and organizations like ours . J We anticipate your review of this unfortunate matter and look forward to hearing your reply. Respectfully submitted, On behalf of the, staff , Gary Timmerman • I i I f.) 40