The Grand River Conservation Authority membership will get together for their monthly meeting with a packed agenda that includes the usual financial updates and policy updates, but there’s some new stuff that you might find interesting including a potential change that will allow people to use their season pass at Elora and the fate of the old Kortright Waterfowl Park and surrounding area. So let’s see what’s all on the agenda…
NOTE: This meeting will be in a hybrid format, broadcast from the GRCA Admin Centre on YouTube starting at 9:30 am.
Source Protection Authority Meeting – Technically a separate meeting from the main membership meeting, the board will have to approve the updated rules of procedure from the Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee and will make new appointments to the Lake Erie Region SPC and the Grand River Source Protection Authority.
PRESENTATION: GRCA Permitting and Hearing Process – Beth Brown, Manager of
Planning and Engineering Services, will tell the membership all about how the permit process works, and what happens in a hearing.
Progress Report #6: Ontario Regulation 687/21 – This report was not included in the main agenda.
Update on Regulatory Deliverables: Ontario Regulation 686/21 – Every conservation authority has to prepare a plan for six different regulatory deliverables by the end of next year including a land inventory, a conservation area strategy, a watershed resource management strategy, an asset management plan for water and erosion control infrastructure along with operational plans, and an ice management plan. There are presently no budget impacts for these plans and the consulting costs are being covered out of the Land Sale Reserve.
Banking and Investment Policy – The last time this policy was updated was 2016, and it turns out that staff decided not to do that much updating. The changes are mostly focused on updated references to the current legislation and some minor housekeeping changes but doesn’t recommend any major change to the GRCA’s investment strategy.
Cash and Investment Status – As of the end of August, the GRCA had Notes Receivable in the amount of $59,425,675 with outstanding cheques written in the amount of $297,281.
Financial Summary – Still a few months from the year end, GRCA staff believe that they are looking at a surplus of $435,000 for fiscal 2023. The good financial news seems to be on the back of the self-generated revenue, which increased by $420,000 thanks to revised projection of the annual fee revenue from tree planting. There were also some increases to expenses with $50,000 going to some drain work in Breslau and Randall.
Elora Quarry and Grand River Conservation Area Membership Pass Update – Before summer break, the GRCA membership heard about the capacity limits and ticketing for access to the Elora Gorge Conservation Area. The issue is the amount of parking and the amount of people that can be on the beach at one time comfortably, and while those issues have not gone away, GRCA staff are looking at initiating a pilot program starting in June 2024 where seasonal passholders will be able to book tickets to Elora Gorge on weekdays. According to the staff report, about 10-15 per cent of the 350 day passes will be reserved for passholders, and then they will re-evaluate once the pilot is done on Labour Day 2024.
Technical Bulletin for Flooding Hazards: Data Survey and Mapping Specifications – Back in the summer, the Government of Ontario invited conversation authorities to provide feedback on this policy, which is exactly what you think it is. GRCA staff provided commentary on four points, and have stated their support for the proposed updates to the documents.
Water Control Structures Asset Management Plan Consulting Contract – The GRCA is development an asset management plan for eight flood control and/or flow augmentation dams including seven large dams, and six dike and floodwall systems. Staff are recommending that Hatch Ltd. be hired for the engineering consulting services to finish the plan up to the amount of $197,240 excluding HST. The total budget for the project is $216,964.
Current Watershed Conditions – According to the staff report, and probably according to your own recollections, August was above average wet and below average cool. The rainfall exceeded the annual normal rainfall somewhere between 101 and 157 per cent depending on the weather station. Groundwater levels are showing signs of recovery from all-time lows experience in 2022, and the watershed was moved back to normal condition from Level 1 on September 11.
Niska Land Holdings 2023 Draft Management Plan – Back in May, the GRCA released a draft management plan for the Niska Land Holdings, which comprises of 64.75 hectares (160 acres) of forests, wetlands, meadows and agricultural fields in the southwest end of Guelph. The actual plan is about 80 pages long when you include all the appendices, so let’s just say that it all comes down to the three recommendations.
One of the recommendations says that the GRCA should dispose of Agricultural Field B, the parcel in the southeast corner, but this won’t happen right away because that’s a whole separate process and further investigation is required. The two other recommendations are directed to conservation actions on the other three parcels including working with the City of Guelph and third parties to figure our recreation and preservation options, and promoting partnerships to manage and monitor the area’s biodiversity and ecological systems.
CLOSED MEETING:
The membership will meet in-camera under section 239(2) of the Municipal Act to discuss the proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land, specifically land in Centre Wellington.
Guelph Politico 