[All] Minutes of April 10 GREN Meeting

[Susan Bryant]

Hi GREN-

The minutes are below and attached.

Susan Bryant


GREN Minutes – April 10, 2014

St. John’s Kitchen, Kitchener



1.   Sue Stubley, Guest Presenter re: Barrie’s Lake and Turtle Campaigns – Sue outlined her family’s long struggle to protect Barrie’s Lake and the turtles there, many of which are killed or injured by traffic every year on Roseville Road. Most of the Lake is on her family property (83 acres, with 78 acres designated provincially significant wetland) in North Dumfries, with the rest in Cambridge, owned by a developer. Currently, the developer is planning a subdivision with 1200 housing units. Sue’s main concerns are the possible deleterious effects of this development on both water quality and the water balance of the lake and wetlands,    

as well as the likelihood of more traffic killing more turtles. A few positives have come of their struggles with the GRCA, the Region and municipal gov’ts over the years, including a reduced speed limit on Roseville Road, turtle-crossing signs from the Toronto Zoo, a plan to put in eco-passages in the future, and excellent hospital care for Sue’s mother when staff discovered her turtle-rescue efforts. 

GREN made suggestions: posting info about turtle-crossing seasons and organizing turtle-watch events to attract tourists and sympathizers, and pursuing steps through the Species at Risk Act. Jan Liggett volunteered to draft a letter on behalf of GREN expressing our support for protecting the area and the turtles. Greg noted that the matter will be coming to EEAC.



2.  GREN’s Role in Municipal Elections – After discussion, everyone agreed that GREN should team up with like-minded groups (e.g. Sustainable Waterloo, Kae Elgie’s Architectural Conservancy of Ontario) to hold an event for candidates to express their views, listen to ours, field questions. We need people to take the lead on contacting other groups and organizing. No one at the meeting volunteered. (Note that Susan Koswan has since volunteered for this task, responding to the email request sent out April 11.  Please contact Susan K if you want to help.)

3.   Report on WREN/GREN Meeting – John J, Kevin T, and Yvonne F had a fruitful meeting with WREN on April 9, agreeing that WREN and GREN have differing but complementary strengths and objectives and should therefore continue to develop a cooperative relationship. The WREN focus is on supportive services for the broad community, including public communications and outreach, connecting organizations, and encouraging citizen involvement. WREN does not take stands on issues but acts as a communication hub. The GREN focus is on environmental activism and advocacy, including speaking out as GREN on some issues.

            WREN will be registering as a charitable organization and seek funding; it hopes for funding for a place/space, a Green Hub for meetings, etc. in addition to providing a digital hub. 

WREN proposed that GREN have a member on the WREN steering committee to facilitate communication and cooperation. The GREN membership agreed with the direction of the WREN/GREN discussion and urged ongoing cooperation. John and Kevin will liaise with them; we encourage WREN to include Cambridge; we discussed options related to the confusing similarity in the names GREN and WREN.



4.  Professional Engineers’ Code ( Lulu)  - deferred to next meeting



5.  Updates:

            Headwater Hikes in Greenbelt Proposal – John wrote a letter on behalf of GREN supporting the proposal. A decision is expected in June. 

            Green Scene TV Show - Susan K has taped most of the episodes of her 6-part TV program for Rogers, including one on waste management (Erb St. Landfill visit) and another on the Mannheim Water Treatment facility. John was a guest on these. No schedule set as yet for airing.

            Costco in Waterloo (Kevin) – Kevin outlined objections to the planned Costco on Erb St. in Waterloo. If opened now, this huge facility would run for 4 years on a two-lane road, snarling traffic in the already busy area across from the Erb St. landfill. People would then use Wilmot Line through the ESPAs and ESLs. In recent weeks, since hearing of the Costco plan, he and Deb have rallied support to delay the opening until traffic studies and public consultation were done. With the help of neighborhood groups, GREN members and others speaking at council, they succeeded in getting the City of Waterloo to postpone the development until these issues have been addressed. 

Highway 7 (Eleanor) – Eleanor asked what we can do to have the road widened rather than have a new 4-lane built. Some members outlined the long history of this issue, noting that protest succeeded in having the original plan for a new highway modified to eat up less farmland/wetland. Yet there’s no clear answer as to why the current highway can’t simply be widened. 

Climate and Ocean Change (Robert) – Robert noted that people need to understand the process and mechanisms of these changes much better. Emphasis on the economic consequences might get people to take notice as well. 

Airport Expansion (Gord and Daphne) - Gord outlined his concerns, and those of Concerned Residents Against Waterloo Airport Noise (www.crawan.org), about the proposed expansion of the Waterloo airport. 1) The expensive proposals are not prudent, given that the airport has achieved about 60% of its last business plan, and the Region now has other large capital expenditures. 2) The negative impact on home values has not been considered. 3) The current Breslau location is too small for expansion, with houses too close. 4) Flight paths and timings must be designed to consider health, minimizing noise and pollution, and eliminating night flights. 



Next Meeting – June 25, a pot-luck picnic at Kevin’s house on Sunfish Lake. Kevin will send directions closer to the date.     
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