[All] Reminder - GREN meeting this Thursday Sept 26

[John Jackson]

Date & Time: Thursday Sept. 26 from 7:15 - 9:15. 

 Location:  Christian Science Sunday School at 64 Water Street North, Kitchener. Enter at the Francis Street door of the church and go down to the Sunday School. It is one block from King St so there is good access to public transit and the LRT. There is a small parking area around the church plus on-street parking on Francis and Water Streets.

Featured Item: At our last meeting, we decided that we would have a featured item at each GREN meeting as well as our regular updates, strategizing, etc. At this meeting we will have guests from Citizens for Safe Ground Water about a proposed gravel pit in Wilmot Township that would be located on a drinking water protected area. We will allocate about a half hour of our meeting for their presentation and discussion.

AGENDA
A. Business Items:
Financial update: Greg
Website: C deaun & Kevin
Logo: Kevin
Display: Susan and others

B. Guest Speakers: Gravel pit proposal in Wilmot Township: Ritch Stevenson & Samantha Restoule, Citizens for Safe Ground Water [See pasted in at the bottom of this e-mail a summary of the issue.

C. Issues
Federal election meetings: 100 Debates on the Environment
Proposed provincial changes to aggregate management: John & Greg
Status of Regional Government review: Kevin T
Waterloo ROPP review: Greg M
Protected Places Campaign: Kevin T
Gas Pump Stickers: Kevin & Greg
Hidden Valley Update: Yvonne & D deaun

c. Next Meeting:
Proposed featured item: Composting: Part 1) Composting Bodies - Susan K; Part 2) Composting in Multi-Residential Buidlings - Susan B and John

John

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Citizens for Safe Ground Water
Address of proposed gravel pit is 1922 Witmer Rd. Wilmot (Petersburg)

Our Concerns

1.) Water Safety Risk

A large portion (approx. 30% of the property in in a Source Water Protected area. We understand that the SWP plan does not included aggregate extraction from its list on NOT permitted activities in a SWP area; however we see the risk (wash ponds, removing filtration system). 

There is also an area of this property under GRCA. Again, we understand properties with an aggregate license are not required to adhere to GRCA policy.

The previous activities on this property involved introducing contaminants into the filtration system. This property was a cattle feed lot for a number of years (still need to find this out) with 3,000 heads of cattle and since then has been corn cash crop. 

2.) Road Safety
The proposed haul route is on a narrow hilly township road. There are no shoulders and no line of sight. This road was determined to be insufficient for hauling aggregate in 1922 in the "Cattlelands Agreement" with Lafarge. 

3.) Prime Agricultural Land and Rehabilitation

This property is currently zoned as agricultural and rehabilitation back into farmland will be unsafe after the filtration system has been removed. We question whether the over burden (top soil) that will be pushed aside for berms will even be able to be replaced to rehabilitate the property to forest. 

4.) Community

This property backs onto the village of Shingletown (approx 34 homes). A long standing village with a very large number of senior citizens.

Thanks
Ritch
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John Jackson
17 Major Street
Kitchener N2H 4R1
519-744-7503




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