Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Room 247, Level 2, City Hall

1.
Members Present:
 

Carolyn Barnes, Jim Feilders, Susan Mattine, Hashem Hosseini-Mousavi, Katie Rauscher, Michelina Longo, Mitchell French, Peter Cookson, Dave Rokosh, Chris Maynard, Mathew McCauley, Sarah Burjaw, and Herb Lewington

2.
Others Present:
 

Lynn Robichaud (staff), Gerry Tischler (MHBC Consultants) and Jennifer Johnson (staff)

3.
Regrets:
 

Tim Park, Dave Bourns (alt), Herb Sinnock, Glenn Portch (alt), Councillor Paul Sharman

4.
Declarations of Interest:
 

None.

5.
Presentation-Lakeside Plaza by MHBC Consultants:
 

Gerry Tischler provided an update on the Lakeside Plaza redevelopment. The proposal dates back to 2015 beginning with some community consultation. In April 2018 a plan was submitted followed by some open houses. The application was reviewed by the SDC as well as the city’s Urban Design Review Panel. Gerry noted that the client is not rushing the application process. There was much discussion with Gerry related to the sustainability of the proposal – committee members expressed their frustration regarding the absence of information related to sustainable building measures and energy efficient design.

It was recommended that MHBC review the S2e report completed for FCM on building to net zero standards and profiles 8 developments in Ontario, including West 5 in London by Sifton Properties. Gerry did note that they have requested a significant reduction in parking but it is not supported by city staff. Gerry indicated that they are interested in supporting sustainable transportation options. Jennifer Johnson, the city’s project manager for the Skyway redevelopment project noted that the Skyway site plan shown on the Lakeside site plan is out of date and has changed. She advised that MHBC should contact her for updated information. Jennifer also noted that Skyway arena is being designed to be close to net zero – the refrigeration plant is a challenge. There will be solar panels on the roof.

Action: Lynn to email link to the FCM net zero report to Gerry and provide a link in the minutes.

6.
Approval of Minutes:
 

7.
Consent Agenda:
 

8.
Regular Items:
 

8.1
Updates from previous events
 

a.
Born to be Wild – Wildlife Information Session, Mountainside Recreation Centre, 2205 Mount Forest Dr – Thurs Apr 18, 6:00 – 8:30 pm
 

Tim attended and noted that it wasn’t well attended. There are some notes about it in the Awareness minutes.

8.2
Upcoming events/news (All)
 

8.3
Council & Staff Updates
 

a.
Councillor Sharman
 

b.
Lynn Robichaud
 

2019 Budget – there is an annual budget for the committee of $9,250, of which $228 has been spent – primarily on professional development for members to attend the climate change summit. There will be a large expense coming soon related to the file sharing proposal to pay a fee for the platform.

Climate Action Report – Lynn provided a preview of this report which will be going to the Committee of the Whole for council on June 10th. One of the directions from the Emergency Climate Declaration was for staff to report back with a plan to complete a Climate Action Plan and climate actions and initiatives that the city has been involved in. Carolyn noted that the SDC could work on metrics to be incorporated into the plan, which could be submitted for consideration by the consultant. The SDC will also have an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft plan when it is available.

There was some discussion of what entails a quick win. Lynn noted that finding a willing developer to build to net zero standards would be a quick win. Jim noted that the Georgian Court developer which is funded by a BC pension plan is proposing a sustainable development.

There was also discussion about what a climate lens means as it is applied to city projects and budgets. Lynn noted that some research and training of staff will be required. Michelina noted that it needs to be mainstreamed to be effective.

Action: Lynn to speak to Planning about working with Georgian Court on a net zero development.

8.4
Business arising from the minutes
 

a.
None
 

8.5
Awareness sub-committee update (Katie)
 

Katie provided an update on items from the Awareness meeting. There was a discussion about the 100 in 1 day event on June 1st. The committee will be hosting a yellow fish road painting event in the Palmer neighbourhood to raise awareness about the impact of pouring household hazardous waste down the storm drains and what to do with this type of waste. Chris noted that he can do a mailing in the neighbourhood to promote the event and volunteered to provide pizza after the painting is complete.

The fall library event will be hosted in September and will support the city’s work on climate change given the recent climate emergency declaration. Lynn advised that they should book the room at the library. Once the consultant is on board for the Climate Action Plan staff can help coordinate the event.

The fall field trip will be at the Joseph Brant museum.

8.6
Policy and Development subcommittee update (Carolyn)
 

the Clearview development comments have been submitted. A group is reviewing the Eagle Heights proposed development. There is a group reviewing 441 Maple and draft final comments should be available at the next P&D meeting and for final approval at the SDC COW meeting in June.

Hashem and Lynn provided an update related to the file sharing platform for the P&D group and the meeting that was held with city staff. The IT, security and records staff reps were supportive of the proposal and another meeting is scheduled in June to re-group to try and finalize an option for the group to use.

8.7
Reports from external groups and conferences
 

a.
Community Energy Plan (Lynn & Jim)
 

a meeting was held with the stakeholder group last week where there was discussion about the Climate Action Report. The group supported the timeline to complete the plan and report to council by December 2019.

b.
Bay Area Climate Change Council (Carolyn)
 

Carolyn provided an update that the council will be looking for funding from senior levels of government, Trillium, and TAF. They are working on a terms of reference for the buildings implementation team which will include deep residential energy retrofits and a pilot demonstration project in Hamilton. Hamilton and Burlington will be requesting funding from their councils to help support this partnership. Hamilton is completing a Climate Emergency Fact Sheet which Burlington will be able to use.

c.
BurlingtonGreen (Jim)
 

Jim noted that BG is planning a large party in the fall at LaSalle Park Pavillion as a fundraiser in October with a silent auction. Tax receipts are available for donations greater than $25

d.
Halton Climate Collective (Lynn)
 

Lynn will provide an update at the next meeting as there is a meeting with the HCC in early June.

9.
Other Business:
 

9.1
Suggestion to invite a staff member from Credit Valley Conservation Authority to speak at the next COW meeting regarding their work on climate change and sustainable areas (Hashem)
 

Hashem suggested to invite a staff member from Credit Valley Conservation Authority to speak at the next COW meeting regarding their work on climate change, low impact development and carbon sequestration. The committee supported having the speaker at the June COW meeting.

Action: Hashem to provide the info to Lynn to coordinate the speaker. Lynn to contact Conservation Halton staff to see if they would be interested in attending as an observer.

9.2
Summer meeting schedule – for discussion
 

it was agreed that there would be no COW meeting in July and August. Awareness will meet only in August. P&D will decide at their next meeting.

9.3
Upcoming meeting dates
 

10.
Adjournment:
 

Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.

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