[All] Note to Kitchener Council re: Strasburg Road Extention

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks
 
I woke up at 4:30 and was inspired to help the folks involved with the Strausberg Road Extension. My PDF to Kitchener Council is in the attachment and the contents of the email sent is below for your reference. It was shared with both city and regional council.
 
Oddly enough, proposals like this are designed by lazy folks who are creatures of habit. They keep repeating the same old strategies over and over again as if they can keep fooling the public with the same junk science. It's good news for us. 
 
The way things are run around here all it takes is a few simple edits to this PDF and you can pretty much apply it to any questionable proposal be it a quarry, roadway or development. The fact is, they're repeating the same mistakes over and over again. We have the power to create policies to prevent it. Check below for details on that.
 
Lulu

--- On Sat, 6/5/10, Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> wrote:


From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
Subject: Regarding the Strasburg Road Extension
To: council at city.kitchener.on.ca, mcolleen at region.waterloo.on.ca
Date: Saturday, June 5, 2010, 7:48 AM







Dear Council Members
 
In the attachment is a power point presentation regarding issues I have with the proposed Strasburg Road Extension in Kitchener. This presentation wlll be shared with concerned residents who live in the proposed roadway area.
 
OMB appeal PL071044, the West Side Lands reflects similar issues in regards to the Strasburg Road Extension and this concerns me greatly. It reminds me of a quote: Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
 
Not wanting to see city or regional taxpayers having to foot the costs of yet another OMB process, I would like to encourage both city and regional staff to carefully reflect upon the list of issues in the PDF and assure that sound, reasonable science prevails in regards to this planning matter.
 
It is not uncommon to see natural areas being modified or degraded prior to the completion of Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) and unfortunately, the proposed Strasburg road extension is no exception. It has come to my attention that a wetland habitat and trees have already been removed in the area and I strongly advise that city and GRCA investigate this matter in order to assess what damages have already taken place which may have degraded habitats in proximity to this proposal. 
 
Ironically, I recently I shared concerns with regional officials regarding such practises and I wanted to make sure that city of Kitchener council has a chance to review the following concerns in order to prevent similar situations. These are some of the common ways areas are degraded prior to the completion of EIS studies:
 

Culvert placements before completion of EIS studies that have drained vernal ponds 
Disturbances to habitat of urban sensitive bird species during years of EIS studies including noise related to construction or tree removal, road work etc.
Bore hole data is outdated, too shallow or two few 
Lack of regard for capture zones of vernal ponds/wetlands 
Lack of 12 month creek assessments 
Lack of regard to flow and flow rates to surface and groundwater features. 
land augmentations or wetland removals prior to study
Lack of regard for spring thaw data 
Lack of reasonable precipitation data 
Lack of regard to studies of amphibians.
Poor test times and methodologies for studying amphibians 
Lack of regard to wellheads and salt impacts.
Lack of regard to fisheries
Lack of regard for benthic data and tests for mollusks.
Lack of cumulative impacts of salt loadings on well systems
Lack of salt mitigation strategies 
Ignoring current scientific data for grandfathered studies that are no longer considered accurate and/or reliable. 
 
It is imperative that Public Works and Environmental Services be informed of areas with environmental impact studies planned or underway in order to assure that the tasks they perform or the permits they issue do not interfere or alter the conditions of  EIS testing. For example, if an EIS study is underway for urban sensitive bird species in a specific area of the city,  there should be a prohibition on road works, tree removal or other loud construction activities in that area until the bird breeding season has completed in accordance with the times identified by the Migratory Bird Act.  If there are planned watershed studies, all issues related to the placement or replacement of culverts within the study area should be put on hold until studies are completed unless there has been a public risk clearly identified. All exceptions to the policy should go through city council for approval in order to assure proper written record of all
 exceptions. 
 
By creating this as a policy/legislation, it assures municipal compliance towards provincial policies and it can serve to protect the city and/or region from potential litigation issues.
 
Thank you kindly for your time
 
Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ontario
N2V 2L2
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