leduc environmental advisory board

LEDUC ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 PAGE 1

REGULAR MINUTES Minutes of the LEDUC ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD Regular Meeting held Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at the City of Leduc, Civic Centre, Telford Street Board Room, #1 Alexandra Park, 46TH Avenue & 48A Street, Leduc, Alberta.

PRESENT:

ABSENT:

Katie Oliver Jainnee Dupont Morozoff Jill Mitchell Douglas Hube Madeline Robbenhaar Linda McDonald

Councillor, Glen Finstad Tyler Dekok Pam Goertzen — City Representative Kerra Chomlak — City Representative

ALSO PRESENT: Shawn Olson — City Representative Shannon Bremner— Recording Secretary

CALL TO ORDER I. CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Katie Oliver called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

APPROVAL OF II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AGENDA

10/2016 Motion: it was Moved by Jamie Dupont Morozoff to approve the February 9, 2016 agenda as circulated. Seconded by Linda McDonald.

MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

APPROVAL OF III. APPROVAL OF LAST MEETING MINUTES MINUTES

11/2016 Motion: it was Moved by Linda McDonald to accept the Organizational Meeting Minutes of January 12, 2016 as circulated. Seconded by Douglas Hube.


12/2016 Motion: it was Moved by Jaimee Dupont Morozoff to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of January 12, 2016 as circulated. Seconded by Jill Mitchell.


REPORTS IV. REPORTS

Chairman's Report • "Reclaimed wood adds instant appeal to home projects" article was

reviewed from the Leduc Rep - Januaty 29, 2016. The article did not note the concerns of working with reclaimed wood that has been treated with led based paint. It is important to keep this in mind and use caution when using reclaimed wood.

• "Alberta offers rebates to municipalities, farms that set up solar power" article was reviewed from Global News— Februaty 5, 2016.



The Alberta government has created an Alberta Municipal Solar Program to provide rebates to municipalities to help cover the costs of installing solar panels. A similar program is being offered to farmers as well; Alberta farms can receive funding towards solar energy systems. Pam and Katie have contacted the Alberta Summer Games regarding this, as there was interest in installing solar panels at the LRC. The rebate could provide up to 20% of capital costs or $300,000 towards this project. Applications will be accepted beginning March 1,2016.

• "S.F. property owners to get tax break from creating urban farms" article was reviewed from www.sfgate.com- August 31, 2014. San Francisco is the first city in the USA to offer a financial incentive for urban farming. Individual property owners of vacant lots can receive rebates on property taxes up to $25,000 per year in exchange for using their land for agriculture for 5 of more years.

Council's Report • The Downtown Master Plan development phase 1 and 2 was

approved by Council on February 8. The vision is to make downtown more walkable and vibrant, including the introduction of bicycle racks, 3 stream waste receptacles and additional trees. A total of 29 angle parking stalls on Main Street will be relocated and an additional 10 parking stalls will be added to the overall downtown area, within a one block radius of downtown.

• A total of 29 trees will be removed for this project, which will be replaced with 34 trees. The plans also include the addition of 64 shrubs and 968 perennials in the downtown area.

• Bulb-outs are increasing in diameter to increase the functionality of downtown, which will add flex space for picnic benches.

• There was a request for additional bylaw enforcement of the 2 hour parking limits on Main Street.

Administration's Report • The 2016 Budget was reviewed. It was suggested to combine the

conference budget under one line item, which would total to $1,200 towards conference fees and $150 for travel and accommodation expenses. There was consideration to increase the professional development budget to $1,800; however this would result in a decrease to other budget line items in order to balance the budget. Considering the professional development budget was not fully used in 2015, $1,200 should be sufficient for 2016.

• LEAB members are welcome to present professional development and training opportunities that they are interested in attending, which could be a benefit to their position on the Board.

APPROVAL OF REPORTS

13/2016

V. APPROVAL OF REPORTS

Motion: it was Moved by Linda McDonald to approve the above noted reports for information purposes only.




INFORMATION VI. INFORMATION ITEMS ITEMS

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

• "Halifax report calls for major overhaul of composting system" article was reviewed from CBC News — February 4, 2016. Halifax is reviewing their facilities and looking at upgrades to meet provincial composting guidelines.

VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. Community garden training workshop update • There was 18 residents who attended the community garden

workshop on January 27, 2016. Some of the participants are very eager to proceed with this project.

• A follow up meeting was booked for Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at the Leduc Public Library, 7:00 — 8:30 pm in the Friends of the Library meeting room. There is a group of Southfork residents who are interested in starting a garden in their neighborhood.

• It was suggested to clarify in the draft City of Leduc community garden guidelines that the noted minimum of 10 people is only in reference to the core committee.

Action: Shannon will revise the draft City of Leduc community garden guidelines to reflect this.

B. Alberta Summer Games (ASG) 2016 update and sustainability goals • Shirley, Glen and Katie attended the speed dating event on

January 28, 2016. This was an excellent networking opportunity and some stakeholders were identified to meet with and further discuss sustainability goals.

• The sustainability committee is working with the ASG staff to ensure bottled water is not sold by vendors at game venues within the City of Leduc. The ASG will instead promote the sale of reusable water bottles to be sold at a reasonable price, ideally $2.00 - $3.00 each. All athletes and volunteers will receive free water bottles.

• Katie attended the ASG promotions department meeting and presented the sustainability goals for the games. Global News, The One radio station and the Leduc Rep attended the meeting and were eager to support the sustainability goals through their social media outlets (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). There will be a booth at Frostival and other City events where the ASG will be advertised.

• Taylor Styles presented the ASG promotions to the Joint Executive Committee. One of the ideas was to advertise in the local hotels as well and promote a water bottle free event.

• The ASG promotions committee is seeking volunteers to take pictures at the games. It was suggested to contact the local high schools, as the schools may be able to offer credits to students in multimedia programs for photography at this event.

• The mascot for the ASG is cudel the oil drop. The sustainability committee may be able to make arrangements to have cudel wear something in regards to sustainability.

• Glen suggested that the Sustainability team calculate an approximate cost per day for compostable utensils. Sponsors



could then be approached to sponsor connpostable utensils on a daily basis.

Action: Pam will look into additional quotes for compostable utensils and try to determine an approximate cost per day. • Members reviewed the new ASG website, which features the

sustainability goals and details on achieving these goals. Everyone was encouraged to ask their contacts to sign up online to volunteer for the ASG Green Team.

C. Urban tree removal and replacement policy / bylaw • LEAB would like to bring this item forward to the April and May

meeting agendas and proceed with discussing specific bylaw recommendations for Council.

• At the LEAB Council presentation on April 11, 2016 LEAB will mention that they will be moving forward with recommendations for a tree protection bylaw for the City of Leduc.

• Glen suggested that the tree protection bylaw should include protection of trees in the pre-development phase as well, on annexed or amalgamated land, so existing trees are protected as part of the area structure plan.

• Trees that are removed should be replaced by a similar species and size of tree.

D. Citizens of Distinction — Environmental award nominations • Jaimee submitted nominations for the Leduc Rona and Black Gold

Husky. • Katie submitted a nomination for Willow Park School. • Linda will be meeting with the selection committee Action: Shannon will inform Linda when the selection committee will be meeting.

E. Light efficiency! dark sky promotion — April 16 & 17 at the 2016 Business Expo

• Doug will make arrangements to have a volunteer with a telescope and provide handouts and information on light pollution. The handouts can be printed by the City of Leduc and there are funds set aside in the LEAB budget for dark sky promotional materials.

• The Astronomy Society has brochures as well that can be distributed.

Action: Doug will gather brochures, handouts and promotional material in regards to dark skies and light efficiency. • A booth at the business expo is $425.00. Alternatively, LEAB would

like to use space at the City of Leduc booth for advertising. • It was recommended that LEAB could organize a draw at the

Business Expo to promote dark skies and light efficiency, and to draw attention to the booth.

Action: LEAB would like to send a letter to local businesses asking for sponsors to donate an item for a draw prize, such as a dark sky compliant light fixture.

F. Christmas Bird Count Results • Defer this item until the next meeting

Chairperson

ording Secretary



NEW BUSINESS VIII. NEW BUSINESS

A. Earth Hour— March 19, 2016 • The City of Leduc had a reduction in power consumption last year • LEAB will place advertisements in the Leduc Rep and the lights

will be turned off at the Civic Centre and Operations Building. Action: LEAB would like to send a letter to the Chamber of Commerce regarding earth hour to distribute to local businesses. • The local schools may be able to educate students on earth hour

and provide students with handouts. It was suggested that the students could perhaps make a video on earth hour as well.

Action: Madeline will network with the schools and students to determine if they may want to be involved with earth hour.

B. Arbour Day — May 7, 2016 • Defer this item until the next meeting • The planting site is yet to be determined but North Telford is one

of the considered locations.

C. Pollinator Gardens • Jaimee is currently working on a pollinating garden just outside of

Leduc through Nature Conservancy Canada • Jaimee offered to provide consultation on a pollinating garden • Defer this item to a future meeting

OPEN DISCUSSION IX. OPEN DISCUSSION • A new rowing facility is being constructed by Telford Lake. LEAB

is concerned about external lighting, considering there are a lot of birds and wildlife in this area.

Action: Shawn will confirm that the external lighting will be light efficient and dark sky compliant. • The ASG has created an advertisement slogan "Unleash your

". The sustainability slogan could be "Unleash your green side" • LEAB suggested that the City could possibly have an inspector

take note of bird nests around Telford Lake that should be avoided for the summer games. Perhaps interpretive signs can also be added around the lake view points to educate the public.

Action: Pam will report back next meeting regarding whether interpretive signs can be installed around Telford Lake.

X. ADJOURNMENT

Motion: it was Moved by Linda McDonald to adjourn the meeting at 8:18 p.m.


ADJOURNMENT

14/2016

leduc environmental advisory board

Documents