MINUTES
TORBAY ENVIRONMENT & TRAILS COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday, August 28, 2002, Kinsmen Centre
Present: Shirley Thorne Michele DuRand
Madeleine Florent Bob Codner
Francis Thorne Harvey Best
Tom Boland Brent Smith
Sara Beaumont
New members were welcomed and the agenda was approved.
The minutes of the June 26 meeting were approved. In an effort to streamline meetings, updates on information items from the June 26 meeting were attached to today's agenda when it was emailed to everyone. This should save some meeting time in the future.
Madeleine reported on project activities since the beginning of summer. The Green Team has been extremely busy and copies of their final report is available to anyone interested in reading more about their activities. The July newsletter was well-received and resulted in numerous inquiries. A second newsletter will be published in September. Committee members had a very positive meeting with Irving and are waiting to hear from them about possible support. The recycling program is going well, thanks in large part to Bridie Molloy's contribution. A virtual tour of the Gully is being prepared with the help of a summer student working in the Library and should be ready soon. Overall, it has been an extremely busy summer and one bright spot is the lack of visible ATV damage in the Gully. The difference in the Gully is noticeable and community support is growing. The Heritage Committee has begun gathering oral history about the wetland and already some priceless bits of information have been submitted. This fall, Ken will be installing the nesting boxes around Torbay with the help of volunteers. The Quarterly Report for the period April-June is being finalized and copies are available to interested members.
The project is proceeding very well and we will soon be getting the first run of maps from MUN. The town has been divided up into 6 regions. The next step is for us to form teams to go over each region, verify the location of all trails, changes, insert street names, feature special trails, etc. At some point, we will probably need to use GPS to verify trail locations. At soon as we get the maps, Madeleine will email everyone to canvas volunteers.
Shirley, Ross, Sandy and Madeleine met with Gary Mahon in July to discuss the buffer zone and various matters. He pointed out that Brian Murphy of Chester Dawe was the developer now in charge of building the rest of the homes so a meeting will need to be arranged with him also. Gary agreed to our idea of preparing a brochure to welcome new residents to this unique area, make them aware of the restrictions and encouraging the formation of a homeowners association to oversee the area. Shirley, Sara and Madeleine agreed to get together to prepare a draft of the brochure. There were a number of questions which Gary raised which we will need to discuss with EHJV, i.e. the use of floating docks.
Congratulations to the Awards Committee (Marion, Peggy and Kay) for a well-organized and successful awards night with a large number of prizes. Shirley will give the town the bills for payment. The changes in the awards have been well-received. Shirley will email the list of winners to Michele so she can post them to our web site.
Our booth at the Festival was very successful bringing in over $500 for the Gully Project. Many thanks are due to the numerous volunteers who made the day possible. Shirley will give Madeleine a list of donors so she can send letters of thanks. There was some discussion about whether or not the TETC should be expected to pay a booth fee, in addition to admission fees, since it is a committee of Council and all the money raised is used to benefit the town. While opinions were expressed on both sides, it was agreed that this was a test year and the issue would be revisited next year. One option would be to have different rates for businesses and community groups.
Last Friday's moonlight walk to Tapper's Cove was very successful 25 people participating; the weather was perfect for a bonfire. The next community hike will be the Pat McGrath walk on September 21 in aid of the Cancer Society. Shirley pointed out to Bob that there were several areas along the Father Troy Trail that needed some repairs, i.e. the railing at Tapper's Cove and inquired whether these repairs could be done by the town in time for the walk. Bob pointed out that there will be a bicycle rodeo during the afternoon of September 21.
The next TETC-sponsored walk will be to Middle Cove Beach via Jones Pond on Sunday, October 20. Start time and other details will be decided on at the next meeting.
We will be giving John Humke a tour of the Gully and Western Island Pond from 10-11:30am. Anyone interested is welcome to join the tour. We will meet at the town hall.
Nothing to report.
11.1 Father Troy Trail - South Side:
Paul has communicated our concerns regarding the state of the south side to the ECTA to see if there is any help they can provide at this point.
11.2 Community Services Council:
The CSC is offering a workshop on how organizations go about registering as a charity. Madeleine will check on the timing.
11.3 Web Site:
Jason Byrne has fixed the town's link to our web site.
11.4 Household Hazardous Waste Day:
Bob indicated that the Fire Department was planning special events to mark Fire Prevention Week during the first week in October, including an open house. The town is considering organizing a household hazardous waste collection and will be checking with the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board to see how to go about it. If we cannot get help from them, the town may consider accepting the waste and disposing of it itself. If this goes ahead, mention should be made in the newsletter.
11.5 TETC Newsletter:
The town is publishing a shorter newsletter this time so it was agreed we would publish our own newsletter this fall.
11.6 Pesticides:
Brent raised the issue of pesticides and inquired about a possible community effort to ban the cosmetic use in town. This issue has been raised at meetings several times before and concern seems to be growing. Our focus so far has been on public education and increasing awareness about the risks of pesticides, especially for children. Alternatives to the traditional lawn are also being encouraged through the Gully project. The TETC will consider looking at the issue of restricting the use of pesticides if concern and interest continue to grow and if interested individuals are willing to work on the issue.
11.7 Flowers for Peggy:
Shirley will arrange for a card and flowers to be sent to Peggy who is undergoing surgery this week.
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 25, at 8:15pm at the Kinsmen Centre.
The meeting adjourned at 10pm.