[All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles

[Gregory C. Michalenko]

Dear Jan,

I know quite well the history of the OMB hearing.  All I meant to say was the golf course went in, not because it was a reasonable site for a golf course, but because it was OMB-mandated, and the decision was forced.  I'm well aware of the efforts of sensible voices like yours to prevail.  So the project was on, and EEAC was forced by that decision to consider it.  Luckily your interventions did persuade the OMB to allow many more ecological considerations than usual.  EEAC benefitted from that in having much more room to operate and considerably wider terms of reference to advocate for environmental improvements, which ended up being considerable.  We spent two years arguing for and obtaining many improvements.  The architect I mentioned is Shawn Watters, not the Owen  you mention, who is the project manager.  

There will be some benefits from this project.  Much of the site, including a good part of the archeological finds, was a large corn field.  The architect wants to ecologically restore the portions of the former corn field that now lie between fairways to be riverside hawthorn meadows, as much like the original pre-agricultural natural condition as possible.  

Securing the archeological remains through capping with extra soil or redesign of projects is an area that the Region has done relatively well in, because it is one of the very few municipal jurisdictions that has had a staff archeologist.  There is a high rise in Kitchener whose location was moved over to a different part of the property when excavations revealed a burial ground with several internments, likely from a battle, because there were spear or arrow points imbedded in several bones.  Two meters of the excavated soil were added to the location of the skeletons and all service lines were diverted.  Six Nations representatives, recognized as  the local custodians of aboriginal remains, held a service and the location is kept secret.  The remains are secure.

There was a memorial last night for the latest pedestrian victim of traffic, the woman in a wheel chair killed trying to cross Victoria street in Kitchener, opposite the motel where social services had located her for over 18 months while she waited for an assisted living apartment to become available.  There were about thirty of us there and the vigil got fairly good press in this morning's Record.  It was very sad.  Look for the flowers around the light pole in front of Pioneer Pools just to the east of the MacDonalds.

- Grg Michalenko


From: Jan Liggett [jkliggett at rogers.com]
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 1:49 PM
To: Gregory C. Michalenko; Deb Swidrovich; GREN
Subject: Re: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles

Greg,

Myself and Claudette Millar (with  my husband Les Kadar working behind the
scenes with her since he was being called as a witness), were the agents at
that OMB hearing, acting on behalf of Heritage Cambridge and the Grand River
Valley Co-alition respectively.  We are well versed on that case.  If it
weren't for private citizens, the environmental protection on that property
would not be what it is today.  The gc architect kicked and screamed the
whole way through (I am happy that from what you say Owen has finally come
on board) and the City of K kept citing the Audubon way of designing golf
courses.  What most don't realize is that the REAL Audubon Society for the
protection of habitat and birds is NOT the same as the Audubon group set up
to create golf courses.  Politicians and bureaucrats constantly believe that
they are and were uninformed in this case as was drawn out during testimony.
The chairs hands were tied for part of the ruling and did only what they
could legally do to stop where the tees could go.  Personally I think that
they didn't want the golf course there at all.  "rare" by the way was not
involved in the OMB hearing, nor did they appear as witnesses.  The reason
that the seasonal restriction is in place is because of the work we all did.
It was a 5 week hearing by 2 citizens acting on behalf of the people and the
environment, and 5 lawyers for the government bodies.  As for the trail,
that was a contentious issue because of the number of archaeological sites
located on the property and the habitat for waterfowl.  The trail was also
restricted and some people on EEAC know why.  The chairs cleared the room of
observers and I asked that all of the evidence be put under lock and key for
these sites because of professional and amateur robbers.  All parties
agreed.  The chairs also in their rulings stated that any trail had to be
constructed with a certain type of material because of impact on any sites
affected should a trail go in in the future.
The region would never have been a party in the case if I hadn't on behalf
of Heritage Cambridge filed against them at the hearing.  They certainly
weren't the good guys at the time.  It only got going because the City of
Cambridge turned down the City of Kitchener for the zone change and
Kitchener filed an appeal at the OMB.  I was able to piggyback on that
because the region had opened the door for the zone change to happen.
The trail people also kicked and screamed about the seasonal restrictions we
demanded for the eagles.
For those who wish to traverse the 401 in that area to continue their
hiking, I suggest the 1.7 million dollar pedestrian overpass a feet feet to
the west.  It was paid for out of all of our municipal taxes so that the
trail could be continuous.  In the meantime people in Cambridge continue to
die trying to walk and ride bicycles back and forth to work etc. from the
Hespeler part of Cambridge to the rest of their city because there is no
proper route other than that which is frought with danger.  Recreation vs.
necessity, another example of politicians making bad choices.  And we as
human beings continue to selfishly demand that we be allowed to infringe on
the small areas of wildlife habitat left.  I ask the question, who should
have the real rights, "reasonably well off" golfers, hikers of "modest
means" or the wildlife.
As for being a model for future golf courses in the area, let us hope there
are no more.  If you interview the private golf course owners they will tell
you that the city of Kitchenr has an unfair advantage as they use tax
dollars to pay expenses while hiding other expenses through different
departments.  The association of private Golf Courses was originally also a
particpant, but pulled out under pre-hearing when Kitchener agreed to open
their books and change how they did them.  I have heard that that is still
not being done.  This is a case of government in competition with private
enterprise.

All is never what it seems.

Regards,

Jan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregory C. Michalenko" <gcmichal at uwaterloo.ca>
To: "Deb Swidrovich" <deswid at gmail.com>; "GREN" <all at gren.ca>
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 11:48 AM
Subject: Re: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles


> Dear Grenwiches,
>
> There may be an appropriate solution to this.  The eagles come to roost in
> the winter.  I am on EEAC (the Environmental and Ecological Advisory
> Committee to the Region) and one of the most interesting controversial
> cases we have had to consider was the OMB- approved extension of the Doon
> Valley golf course onto the south side of the 401 next to the Grand River,
> on a property that has an environmentally sensitive policy area, a
> provincially significant wetland, and the largest breeding  population of
> least flycatchers in the Region.  The bald eagles were also an important
> issue, but easily resolved.  Luckily golf is a summer activity so the new
> portion of the golf course is closed to one and every human being from
> November through to April at which time the eagles happily depart to their
> summer haunts.  We were also faced with the problem of making
> recommendations to control non-indigenous species of plants on the
> property.  One of the prime roosts of the eagles is the old Manitoba
> maples along the river there, which are not native.  We found a nifty
> solution to that too.  Manitoba maples are what biologists call
> "dioecious", literally "in two houses", and have separate male and female
> plants.  Our proposal is to cut down all the female trees, leaving the
> mature male ones, and replant with native sugar maples or black willow.
> These can start growing and meanwhile the aging male Manitoba maples will
> eventually fade away.
>
> The golf course architect is a follower of the classical old school that
> believes in fitting the courses into the landscape rather than carving the
> landscape to suit the golf course.  I was given a personal tour late last
> fall and was very interested to see how much had been preserved and the
> thoughtful measures that had been put into place to unobtrusively keep the
> golfers where they belong.  For example, on one walk ( accompanied by Bill
> Wilson, the noted bird watcher who works with "rare") we found a nice
> group of yellow lady slipper orchids, and EEAC recommended that a small
> fence be put in to keep the golfers on the adjoining tee from straying
> into the orchid meadow.  On the fall tour I noticed that the architect had
> an even better solution:  instead of a fence, he just inserted a sliver of
> water wide enough and deep enough to discourage human beings unless they
> want to soak their pants and get their shoes mucked up. I think the new
> golf course will set a precedent for ecologically-minded golf course
> construction in our area -  in so far as such things are possible.
>
> EEAC did discuss the matter of a public trail, which had been proposed,
> and had some differences of opinion.  I'm a strong believer in equity for
> the public good. I myself had concerns that golfers, who tend to be
> reasonably well off, were getting a better deal from the project than
> hikers, some of whom have modest means.  I've been numerous times along
> the old rail line trail thrugh "rare" and have talked to hikers and
> cyclists, and found that some didn't have cars of their own, so trails
> accessible from adjoining urban areas were important to them. I felt that
> a trail would be okay for May through October, after which the access
> restrictions to look after the welfare of the eagles on that stretch
> should apply to one and all.  My arguments were not shared by the majority
> or EEAC members who turned down the proposal for a trail.  There was some
> feeling that a public trail would disrupt breeding waterfowl on that
> stretch of the river.  However, I went on two walks at dawn and early
> morning along that stretch of the river in May and June, and did not see
> any evidence of duck or other waterfowl broods on the river or the banks
> at that point.  It seems that the river there has most importance for
> wintering waterfowl and eagles, than summer breeding. (An osprey pair
> nested quite happily on a provided platform by the river off fountain St.
> The Walter Bean bunch do have a point that it would be nice to have a
> continuous trail without a break caused by the golf course.
>
> The MNR brought in a recognized bald eagle expert from Vancouver to
> discuss the situation of the eagles and the consultations with him  were
> very valuable for addressing various development issues concerning the
> eagles in a stretch of the river several km long.  A report was produced
> that has maps showing all recorded eagle sightings in the area.  It is a
> public document and I'll check to see if it is available online.  EEAC
> also was asked to consider a new subdivision on the other side of the
> river that has a high bank.  We recommended appropriate setbacks from the
> river with restricted access because of the eagles.
>
> It's not clear from Neil's message which jurisdiction is proposing the
> trail this time around.  The land south of the 401 is Cambridge, and north
> of the 401 is Kitchener.  The Doon Valley golf course is owned by the City
> of Kitchener, so we will now have a  City of Kitchener golf course in the
> City of Cambridge!
>
> I will try to attend the open house.  Please contact me if you want to go
> and need a ride. I live in uptown Waterloo.
>
> - Greg Michalenko
> ________________________________________
> From: all-bounces at gren.ca [all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of Deb
> Swidrovich [deswid at gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 11:02 AM
> To: GREN
> Subject: [All] Reminder of Open House, Jan 20th re: Bald Eagles
>
> Hi everyone:
>
> I would like to thank Neil Taylor and Louisette Lanteigne for bringing
> attention to the planned trail and bridge near the wintering grounds of a
> number of bald eagles near Doon in the City of Kitchener.
>
> I must admit that I am not a big fan of trails, but I do support trails
> that are planned properly for recreational enjoyment and especially, to
> direct human traffic away from sensitive habitats and wetlands.  It is my
> understanding that bald eagles do not function well in close proximity to
> humans, and there is a very real risk that these magnificent birds may not
> continue to use the present area as wintering grounds should the trail and
> bridge be built as planned.
>
> As many of you have experienced in your dealings with planners and
> consultants, the displacement of birds and animals is often considered
> acceptable in terms of the return to humans.  In this case, it is
> particularly disappointing to learn that the plan for these trails was
> initiated and financially supported by the Walter Bean Grand River
> Community Trails Foundation.
>
> Please try to make it out to the Public Information Meeting on January
> 20th, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Banquet Room at the Doon Valley Golf Course
> Club House to learn more, and to voice your opinion to those city
> planners/councillors who may be in attendance.  It is critical that we
> remind them of the importance of placing these creatures first.
>
> See you there,
>
> Deb Swidrovich
> 519-746-8403
>
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca


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