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Home My WebLink AboutAAC 2015-06-25 minutes.pdf" • • I British Columbia City of Maple Ridge AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Agricultural Advisory Committee, held in the Blaney Room, at Maple Ridge Municipal Hall on Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 7:00 pm. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Bill Hardy Chris Zabek Jennifer Zickerman Margaret Daskis, Chair Councillor Duncan Councillor Speirs Kimberley Lauzon, Vice Chair Stephanie James Ian Brooks GUESTS Leanne Koehn STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Jim Charlebois Sunny Schiller REGRETS/ABSENTS Candace Gordon Al Kozak Lorraine Bates Siobhan Murphy Tony Pellet 1. CALL TO ORDER Member at Large Regional Agrologist, Ministry of Agriculture & Lands Agricultural Sector Community at Large City of Maple Ridge City of Maple Ridge Member at Large Equestrian Agricultural Sector Member at Large Co-Coordinator, More Peas Please Manager, Community Planning (Acting Staff Liaison) Committee Clerk Haney Farmers Market Agricultural Sector Agricultural Fair Board Staff Liaison Registered Planner, Agricultural Land Commission There being a quorum present, the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm and introductions were made. 2. R15-008 AGENDA ADOPTION It was moved and seconded That the Agenda be amended to include: Item 6.1 Letter from Christian Cowley and Item 5.2.3 Backyard Chickens and be adopted as amended. CARRIED Agricultural Advisory Committee Page 1 of4 ) . Regular Meeting -June 25, 2015 3. MINUTE ADOPTION R15-009 It was moved and seconded That the Minutes of May 28, 2015 be adopted. CARRIED 4. DELEGATIONS 4.1 Leanne Koehn, Co-Coordinator, More Peas, Please! Leanne Koehn made a presentation on the More Peas, Please! program which creates starter gardens for families with limited gardening experience. The organization encourages vegetable gardening by providing a successful initial experience. The program began by planting 12 in 2013. Interested families apply, then More Peas Please volunteers provide seeds and help the families build the garden. More Pease Please can be contacted through Facebook. Neighbourhood Matching grants have provided funding for the program for the last two years. To secure long term funding Ms. Koehn requested that More Peas Please become a project funded annually by the Agricultural Advisory Committee. It was agreed that the committee would consider the request during business planning in the fall. 5. NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Council Update 5.1.1 June 16, 2015 Agricultural Plan Presentation to Council Councillor Speirs updated the committee on the progress of the review of advisory committees by Council. Council would like to see the MC focus on priorities that align with the goal of encouraging economic growth. Council would like to see agricultural plan items prioritized. The Manager, Community Planning, provided a copy of the presentation recently made by Planning to Council, which provided background on how the agricultural plan was developed and how the MC came to be. Council has asked the committee to review the Agricultural Plan goals and identify what has been completed and what is ongoing work. The Committee discussed projects that may be impacted. 5.1.2 Council Prioritization -Jim Charlebois The Manager, Community Planning, outlined the process for prioritizing items from the Agricultural Plan. The goal is to provide Council with updated priorities in the fall and seek Council feedback. Stephanie James, Ian Brooks, Chris Zabek and Margaret Daskis volunteered to sit on an Agricultural Plan Review subcommittee. Councillor Speirs and Councillor Duncan will participate in the process as required. Agricultural Advisory Committee Minutes Page 2 of 4 . Regular Meeting -June 25, 2015 R15-010 5.2 Projects 5.2.1 Food Garden Contest Stephanie James provided an update on the Food Garden Contest. A decision has been made to extend the contest deadline to Monday June 29, 2015. 5.2.2 Golden Harvest Jim Charlebois reported that a job description has been created for a Golden Harvest co-ordinator. The Committee Clerk shared an email from Ms. Candace Gordon that stated that once the Golden Harvest subcommittee had approved the plan to hire a co-ordinator (via email) a meeting would be held with the co- ordinator as soon as possible. The subcommittee anticipates a similar event to past ones and will provide regular reports to the committee going forward. Candace Gordon, Councillor Speirs, and Jennifer Zickerman were confirmed as members of the Golden Harvest subcommittee. Printing and design work will be required to promote the event. It was moved and seconded That the Golden Harvest subcommittee be empowered to hire a co-ordinator after they have reviewed the co-ordinator job description. CARRIED 5.2.3 Backyard Chickens Stephanie James reported that the City of Pitt Meadows has decided not to allow backyard chickens after a one year trial. During the trial Pitt Meadows received a small number of applications to have backyard chickens and received a number of complaints. After discussion it was decided to add the item to the next AAC agenda. 6. CORRESPONDENCE R15-011 6.1 Letter from Christian Cowley -Request for Support for North Fraser Centre A draft letter by Christian Cowley requesting the support of Council for the proposed North Fraser Centre was provided to the Committee for review and feedback. Mr. Cowley was present at the meeting and asked that the committee endorse the idea of the North Fraser Centre and forward the letter to Council with their support. The committee discussed the project and the creation of a local food hub. It was suggested that a presentation on the North Fraser Centre be made to Council in September to outline the project. It was moved and seconded That the CEED Centre/ North Fraser Centre project be supported by the Agricultural Advisory Committee. Agricultural Advisory Committee Minutes Page 3 of4 • • • .. Regular Meeting -June 25, 2015 R15-012 \ It was moved and seconded I ; That the words "in principle" be added after the word "That" and before the words "the CEED Centre/ North Fraser Centre". CARRIED MOTION AS AMENDED CARRIED Councillor Duncan left the meeting at 8:39 pm. 7. ROUNDTABLE Ian Brooks will be unavailable for subcommittee work between July 15th and Aug 20th. Margaret Daskis requested an electronic version of the agricultural plan for use by the review subcommittee. Bill Hardy reported that the growing season is coming to a close. Mr. Hardy recently participated in a Garden Days event that highlighted the benefits of gardening. Mr. Hardy outlined the issues facing his nursery in regards to the cost of water. Chris Zabek reported that water shortages are an issue throughout the province this year. Stephanie James reported she was glad the AAC has resumed meeting. She outlined the experiences her farm is having this year with water shortages, dry soil and the struggle to get plants to mature. Councillor Speirs reported on his recent Utilities Committees meeting -water shortages and Chafer beetles were hot topics. Jennifer Zickerman reported she is busy with her business and the Farmers Market. Ms. Zickerman has recently completed courses on agricultural and economic topics and hopes to bring some of the ideas gained to the Committee in the future. Margaret Daskis reported on the recent developments at the Metro Vancouver Agricultural Advisory Committee. 7. COMMUNITY FORUM -Nil 8. ADJOURNMENT It was moved and seconded That the meeting be adjourned at 8:56 pm. 9. Next Meeting: Thursday, September 24, 2015 Agenda Deadline: Thursday, September 10, 2015 Chair /ss Agricultural Advisory Committee Minutes Page 4 of4