Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:

Date:

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Time:

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

Location:

Hybrid Meeting - Virtual and Room 305

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1.

Members Present:

Tim Park (Chair), Mathew McAuley, Susan Mattine, Dave Rokosh, Ariel Bautista, Chris Ariens, Tom Krumins, Rafiq Dhanji, Jim Adams, Margaret Bancerz, Guy Sheppard 

2.

Member Regrets:

Paul Fletcher, Gaurav Behal, Sarah Mirriam, Laura Di Paolo

3.

Others Present:

Councillor Sharman, Lynn Robichaud (Manager, Environmental Sustainability), John Stuart (Senior Planner), Fleur Storace- Hogan (Sustainability Project Coordinator), David Galbraith (Royal Botanical Gardens), Suzanne Gillies (Clerk)

4.

Land Acknowledgement:

The Chair read the Land Acknowledgement.

5.

Declarations of Interest:

None

6.

Delegation(s):

6.1

Dave Galbraith from the Royal Botanical Gardens providing a presentation regarding Cootes to Escarpment and the Ecological Corridor Pilot Program

David provided a presentation regarding the Cootes to Escarpment and the Ecological Corridor Pilot program and answered the following questions from committee members:

• Is Conservation Hamilton participating?  The program is completely voluntary and can be dependent on projects, Conservation Hamilton is currently participating with McMaster projects.
• Do you look at natural heritage maps that The Region of Halton provides?  Yes but they do not include past Highway 6.

7.

Approval of Minutes:

7.1

Approve the minutes from the meeting held February 15, 2023

The minutes from the meeting held February 15, 2023 were approved as presented.

7.2

Approve the minutes from the meeting held March 15, 2023

The minutes from the meeting held March 15, 2023 were approved as presented.

8.

Welcome and introductions:

Committee members went around the table and introduced themselves and welcomed the new members.

9.

Consent Agenda (items for approval)

9.1

List of proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) indicators

After some discussion it was decided that the document needed some more work, the subcommittees will take another look at the document and fill in the gaps.  

10.

Regular Items:

10.1

Council and staff updates:

a.

Councillor Sharman

Councillor Sharman provided the following updates to the committee:

• Council and staff continue to deal with ROPA 49 on top of prescribed population growth, on top of going from no green fill to having green fill, on top of dealing with slow growth to a fast-growing community, to then having policies modified again by the province.  With applications held up by appeals to the new Official Plan, we need to change the conversation in the community.  Need to start talking about what is a win, win, win for the community, City and applicant.  We need to focus on complete communities that are attainable and affordable with the primary goal being to create high quality communities.
• Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA) are also still a focus point for development.

b.

Lynn Robichaud - Sustainability

Lynn provided the following updates to the committee:

• Staff received official notice that the City has achieved all badges for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate Change and Energy in Canada
• The Better Homes Burlington Coordinator job posting is now available, this if for a one-year contract position.  A report will be going to the June 1 Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services Committee regarding the Better Homes Burlington program.
• Earth Day this Saturday, the tree give-away program is full for this year
• Halton Region Strategic Plan survey is available to provide feedback

c.

John Stuart - Community Planning

John provided the following updates to the committee:

• Kate Hill-Montague will be bringing a report to the May 30 Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting providing an update on the Burlington Housing Strategy
• The province has released a new policy statement which is open for comments/feedback now until June 5, 2023.  John provided a brief summary of the implications of some of the proposed new policies.  This has created yet another shift in planning.
• The Urban Forestry Master Plan (UFMP) will be the topic of a Council Workshop on July 11, 2023.  There will be community engagement on Get Involved Burlington that John will keep the committee informed of.

10.2

Policy and Development subcommittee update:

Tim provided the following updates to the committee:

• the committee is planning on having a delegation by the Heritage Planner at the May P&D meeting
• made some edits to the smaller one-page comment document
• revised comments for Cooke Blvd reviewed

10.3

Awareness subcommittee update:

Susan provided the following updates to the committee:

• The spring webinar took place on March 30, Susan provided a link of the recording in the Awareness subcommittee minutes that were circulated to committee members.  Some topic recommendations received for future webinars were local food, energy efficiency, and green gardening.  Feedback showed that a virtual session is preferred over in-person.
• Community clean up - Susan has registered the committee to participate on April 29 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Centennial Bike path - Burloak entrance, everyone that can please join the clean-up efforts.
• Committee members continue to contribute blog posts, if anyone would like to contribute please let Susan know.   

10.4

Reports from external groups and conferences:

a.

Bay Area Climate Change Council

No updates

b.

Halton Climate Collective

No updates

c.

Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee (ITAC)

Tim advised the committee that at the last meeting they worked on the 2023 workplan and budget.  Committee members are looking forward to meeting the newly appointed members at the next meeting.

 

11.

Other Business:

12.

Adjournment:

Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.