Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:

Date:

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Time:

7:00 P.m. - 9:00 P.m.

Location:

Virtual

---

1.

Members Present:

Tim Park (Chair), Susan Mattine, Dave Rokosh, Chris Ariens, Tom Krumins, Rafiq Dhanji, Guy Sheppard, Sarah Mirriam

2.

Member Regrets:

Mathew McAuley, Jim Adams, Laura Di Paolo

3.

Others Present:

Councillor Paul Sharman, John Stuart (Senior Environmental Planner), Lynn Robichaud (Manager, Environmental Sustainability), Jordan McDonald (Observer), Suzanne Gillies (Clerk) 

4.

Land Acknowledgement:

The Chair read the Land Acknowledgement.

5.

Declarations of Interest:

None

6.

Approval of Minutes:

6.1

Approve the minutes from the meeting held June 22, 2022

On motion the minutes from the meeting held June 22, 2022 were approved as presented.

6.2

Approve the minutes from the meeting held January 18, 2023

On motion the minutes from the meeting held January 18, 2023 were approved as presented.

7.

Delegation(s):

None

8.

Consent Agenda (items for approval):

8.1

1062 - 1074 Cooke Blvd. comments

On motion the comments regarding 1062 - 1074 Cooke Blvd. were approved as presented.

9.

Regular Items:

9.1

Council and staff updates:

a.

Councillor Sharman

Councillor Sharman provided the following updates to the committee:

• gave an update on the budget and addressed the need for the increase
• appeals are ongoing and new ones continue to come in
• a decision was received from the Ontario Lands Tribunal (OLT) regarding when the city received a complete application for the Waterfront Hotel location
• Rambo Creek study is holding up the Molinaro development on Brant Street as well as 100 other properties that are affected by the Rambo Creek report

b.

Lynn Robichaud - Sustainability

In addition to the attached written update Lynn advised the committee of the following:

• Council approved the coordinator position for the Home Energy Retrofit Program, currently working to get staff in place
• a tour of Endress + Hauser has been arranged for February 22, Susan and Rafiq will be attending as well as City of Burlington staff, if anyone else is interested in attending please let Lynn know

c.

John Stuart - Community Planning

John provided the following updates to the committee:

• staff is processing the changes from Bill 23 and how it affects the MTSAs and housing, MTSA work is delayed but staff are hoping to bring an update to this committee when ready
• staff hopes to have an update on the Housing Strategy within the next couple of months
• the Niagara Escarpment Commission put forward an amendment to modify existing policies to allow greater flexibility for the consideration of the development of agricultural uses, on-farm diversified uses, and agricultural-related uses.  Here is the link to the amendment: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-6425
• John also provided a link to information regarding Cootes to Escarpment Ecopark system funding:  https://brucetrail.org/cootes-to-escarpment-ecopark-system-funding/
• and the 20-21-2030 Strategic Plan for the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System:  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e5d5b18d9ed6977bbe52805/t/620185629f9c617bd7408f19/1644266853919/2021-2030+Strategic+Plan+-+Cootes+to+Escarpment+EcoPark+System.pdf

9.2

Policy and Development subcommittee update:

Tim provided the following updates to the committee:

• finished comments on the Cooke Blvd development application (approved at this meeting)
• discussed the need to create a smaller comments document
• received updates from John Stuart

9.3

Awareness subcommittee update:

Susan provided the following updates to the committee:

• What are the next steps with the review of the UN SDG's?  Councillor Sharman spoke about Council expectations with aligning principals with the SDG's within the Strategic Plan and identify if and where there are gaps, where they are not matching up.
• Councillor Sharman also spoke to the importance of prioritizing, the purpose of strategy is to prioritize allocation of assets, therefore the strategy should speak to the budget with clear priorities.  This would include climate related priorities and how/if they are funded.  
• Laura Di Paulo will represent SDC at the upcoming Bay Area Climate Change Council meetings
• The spring webinar is 'Put a lid on it' and will be held on Thursday March 30 from 7 - 9 p.m. 

MOTION:  Approve spending up to $1000 for adverting the spring webinar and the cost of a rain barrel to be used as a door prize.  CARRIED

• the poster that can be used to promote the webinar will be emailed, if you require hard copies please connect with Susan

9.4

Reports from external groups and conferences:

a.

Bay Area Climate Change Council

No update

b.

Halton Climate Collective

Lynn provided the following updates to the committee:

• Halton Region is in the process of developing a Community Climate Action Plan, community engagement will take place in May online, will share details with the committee as they become available
• the Halton Environmental Network youth conference is taking place this Friday, only 2 students from Burlington are registered, majority of students attending are from Oakville 

c.

Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee

Tim provided the following updates to the committee:

• committee was provided with staff updates that have already been covered, and they are in the process of recruiting new members

10.

Other Business:

10.1

Hybrid meetings

Suzanne advised the committee that meetings can now be held using a hybrid option, which would use a room at City Hall and Teams technology.

10.2

Guy will look into having staff from the Royal Botanical Gardens come to a future meeting to speak to the Cootes to Escarpment program

11.

Adjournment:

Chair adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.