Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee Meeting
Minutes
Meeting #:
Date:
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Time:
7:00 P.m. - 9:00 P.m.
Location:
Room 247, Level 2, City Hall
426 Brant Street, Burlington, Ontario
Visited1.Members Present:

​Tim Park (chair), Jim Feilders (vice-chair), Guy Sheppard, Katie Rauscher, Herb Sinnock, Steven Horwood, Farzaneh Farahani, Herb Lewington, Ramsha Ahmed, Katherine Miller, Colleen Lowe, and Chris Maynard

Visited2.Others Present:

​Susan Mattine (Alt), Bob Burchett (Alt), Dmitry Kats (Alt), Emma Defields (volunteer), Danita (student), Brandon (student), Kelly (student) and Lynn Robichaud (staff)

Visited3.Declarations of Interest:

​Katie declared a conflict of interest with the 421 Brant Street development proposal by Carriage Gate.

Visited4.Approval of Minutes:
Visited4.1Approve minutes from meeting held February 15, 2017.

​Motion by Herb L. to approve January 18, 2017 minutes. Approved.

Visited5.Delegation(s):
​None.
Visited6.Presentation:
Visited6.1State of the Environment Report by Lynn Robichaud

​Steve, Kelly, Ramsha and Katie will work on a sub-group to assist in reviewing options for a new SOER, looking at how other municipalities and agencies report, as well as options for the SDC to be involved in the SOER process.

Visited7.Regular Items:
Visited7.1Updates from previous events
Visiteda.Adi Design Workshop – Mar 1
A number of SDC members attended the workshop. Feedback varied, which appeared to depend on the facilitator at the table. Overall it was a little disorganized and many questioned the purpose. It may have been more of a community engagement initiative by the developer.
Visitedb.Climate Change Adaptation Workshop - Mar 8
Ramsha attended the city’s climate change adaptation workshop, an ICLEI Great Lakes initiative which 16 municipalities are participating in, including Halton Hills and Hamilton. A number of community stakeholders participated in the workshop where different scenarios of climate change impacts were assessed based on the sensitivity of the community to the impact and the adaptive capacity of the stakeholders at the table. The next workshop is on risk assessment and Farzaneh is attending.
Visited7.2Upcoming events/news
Visiteda.Climate Change and the Glaciers of Greenland, free public lecture, RBG, 7:00 pm – March 16
Visitedb.Diane Saxe, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2016 Climate Change Report
Visitedc.BurlingtonGreen AGM (5:30-6:15 pm) & Sea of Life Film (6:30 pm), Central Library – March 22
Visitedd.Carriage Gate Public Meeting (Brant & James proposal), AGB, 7:00 pm – March 28
Visitede.Climate Change Adaptation Workshops, City Hall – March 29
Visitedf.2017 Bay Area Transportation Summit, AGH - March 31
Visitedg.Council workshop, Official Plan debut, City Hall, 1:00 pm – April 6
Visitedh.Clean Up event & EcoFair (Central Park), BurlingtonGreen – April 22
Visitedi.Tree planting events hosted by the city starting April 22nd in each ward.  Information is available on BG’s website.  The April 22nd event takes place in Sherwood Forest Park in Ward 5.
Visitedj.Take Action Burlington – Let’s Live Green, Tansley Woods – May 27
Visited7.3Council updates
No update as Councillor Sharman was unable to attend the meeting.
Visited7.4Staff Updates
Visiteda.Code of Conduct & Accessibility Forms – reminder to hand in
Lynn sent a reminder to new members and alternates to sign forms and send to her.
Visitedb.Principles & Objectives of Sustainable Development - update
Three comments were submitted on line regarding the updated version of the Principles and Objectives of Sustainable Development. Lynn has shared with Carolyn who will review with members of the SDC.
Visitedc.Future Presentation by Jim Cotton, McMaster University
Jim Cotton has accepted the invitation to speak to the SDC at the April COW meeting on the work that he and his students have completed assessing what would it take for Burlington to become (almost) carbon neutral.

S2e, consultant for the West 5 carbon neutral development in London will present to the committee at their May meeting, confirmed by Steve.
Visited7.5Business arising from the minutes
Visiteda.2016 year end reports and 2017 objectives – Report to Committee of the Whole, April 3rd, 2017.  Tim will delegate on behalf of the committee.
Visited7.6Awareness sub-committee update

The SDC has registered to participate in BurlingtonGreen’s clean-up event on April 22 from 9 – 10:30. The SDC’s location is behind the Dairy Queen on Appleby just south of Fairview. The SDC will share a table with the city at the Eco Fair which will take place at Central Park.

The Appleby Line Streetfest is taking place in September this year on the 21 instead of June.

An evening event is planned at Central Library on Oct 25th. The theme will be selected at the June Awareness meeting after the Let’s Live Green event.

The SDC’s Let’s Live Green event is confirmed for May 27with 24 tables confirmed. 3 groups are pending. Fleur and Carolyn are doing a lot of work for this event with the support of other committee members.

Speakers are confirmed for the event, such as the Mayor, Plug’n Drive, Burlington Hydro, Halton Region, BurlingtonGreen and Grasshopper solar.

Bookmarks to promote the event were provided to members. There will be lots of promotion with info posted on the SDC webpage. It will be the feature event in May on the city’s calendar. There will be ads in the Post in May and digital displays in city facilities. Members are encouraged to spread the word through social media.

There are two meetings before the event. If you haven’t signed up for a task for the May 27th event, please let Carolyn know.

Visited7.7Policy and Development subcommittee update (Guy)

There is a sign-up sheet to review different sections of the Official Plan. Members are encouraged to sign up.

Dan Guatto from Burlington Hydro has advised that he can meet with the sub-committee. It was decided that the May meeting would work best.

Carriage Gate Development, 421 Brant Street – SDC reps met with the developer about the project.

1160 Brant Street – Office townhomes with garage are proposed. There is some concern with impact on nearby stream and woodlot if car repair shop or similar activity is set up on site.

901 Guelph Line employment conversion application; Emshih Developments. Emshih to meet with P&D at 6:00 prior to the April meeting to present new information.

Visited7.8Reports from external groups and conferences
Visiteda.Halton Environmental Network (haltonenvironment.net)
HEN has an updated website. HEN is hosting their AGM on April 11 at the Queen Elizabeth Gardens Cultural Centre in Oakville. They have been working on a new strategic plan and programs. The latest Enviro Guide has been distributed and is available on line.
Visitedb.Community Energy Plan (burlington.ca/CEP)
A report on the district energy feasibility study was presented to the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 27th with a presentation by FVB. The results of the study show that starting with a small district energy system in downtown Burlington is technically feasible. Committee supported the direction for the city to proceed to the next step to develop a business and financing plan to implement and grow a system in Burlington.

The CEP will be reviewed and updated this year, particularly in light of council’s aspirational target to work towards being a carbon neutral community. The Task Groups are being asked to review the actions to identify any changes/improvements required.
Visitedc.BurlingtonGreen (burlingtongreen.org)
The AGM is on the 22nd, All welcome. BG is also working on a strategic plan, which will relate to their 10th anniversary celebrations.
Visited8.Other Business:
Visited8.1Tribute to Rob Stewart
Jim showed a presentation as a tribute to Rob Stewart, documentary film maker (Revolution, Sharkwater) who recently passed away.
Visited9.Adjournment:  8:22 p.m.

​Upcoming meeting dates:

Policy and Development subcommittee – Wednesday, April 5, Room 307 (7:00 pm)

Awareness subcommittee – Wednesday, April 12, Room 305 (7:00 pm)

Committee of the Whole – Wednesday, April 19, Room 247 (7:00 pm)

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