TREPA

See article for details: https://halifaxmag.com/blog/repeating-history/

These are unapproved Minutes from July meeting. See future Minutes for possible changes.

TREPA  Minutes

July 3 2019

The meeting of the Board of Directors of TREPA, at 7:06 P.M. at Main Street location.

Present: Barrie MacGregor, Mike Raynard, Dan Earle, Jennifer Cunningham and Ginny Smith (John Morris-late).

Regrets: Roy Fudge, Dianne Klomp, Debbie Sullivan, John Sollows, Jean Cleveland, Larry Deveau and Eko Raharjo.

Guest –Alex Cunningham

Approval of Agenda –Moved by Jennifer 2^nd by Mike.

Approval  June Minutes-Moved by Jennifer 2^nd by Mike.

Treasurer’s Report-Circulated prior to meeting by Dianne Klomp

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Water Quality Monitoring

Upper four lakes in Clare- Eko has volunteered.  It is hoped that MacKenzie will be able to assist him.

John S.  circulated Spring report on testing done on Carleton lakes with comparisons going back to 2014.

2.   Op Eds-None this week

3.   Summer Jobs–Student hired and has started.  John S is asking if we have any work related ideas for student.

4.   Lobster Draw-Winner Roland Nickerson was finally contacted.

5.  The regular meeting of PAC will be July 16.   There is a separate meeting between Victoria and her staff with Ann Jones (July 10 or 11).  Ann has asked that TREPA member be present given that we have similar views. Barrie has agreed.

6.   John S.  provided quotes on the cost of hydrocarbon monitoring.  The board members present at the meeting suggested we should wait to do any testing and propose that testing be done by the Department of Environment.  It is a gamble to do testing on our own as we have no basis for comparison and the money required to do the testing is expensive. 

7.   It was agreed to support the one-year extension of palaeolimnolgy project. Moved by Mike, 2^nd by Jennifer.

8.  Barrie agreed to help Mackenzie learn more about Hemlock Adelgid and is actually having a treatment done to his trees this week.

9   There is a new Protocol for testing blue–green algae.  Andrew Sinclair will be looking for volunteers to help do testing.  This should be something that Mackenzie can do.   

NEW BUSINESS:

1.   Healthy Forest Coalition-Barrie has been getting a number of letters from several organizations regarding healthy Nova Scotia forests.  He will keep us posted but can not respond to all of them.

2.     Mackenzie-it was suggested that she might use social media to help promote TREPA.

 3.     Bills-acknowledgement that John S. is to be paid $1000.00

4.   One membership paid–

  5.   Duly noted that the hall way and door are indeed blue and look quite presentable.

   6. There was a post meeting session to select new executive –Barrie has contacted individuals involved.  Adjourned 7:40

Next Meeting-August 7, 2019, – 7:00.

These are revised but unapproved minutes of June meeting. For changes see subsequent minutes.

TREPA  Minutes

June 5, 2019

The meeting of the Board of Directors of TREPA, at 7S P.M. at Main Street location.

Present:  Barrie MacGregor, Eko Raharjo, Dianne Klomp, John Sollows, Mike Raynard, Roy Fudge, John Morris, Nicola Roberts-Fenton and Ginny Smith.

Regrets: Jennifer Cunningham, Jean Cleveland, Debbie Sullivan, Dan Earle and Larry Deveau.

Approval Agenda with additions of two letters: one from Ann Jones; another from Donna Crossland.  Moved by John Morris, 2^nd by Roy Fudge, Carried.

Approve May Minutes-Moved by Roy, 2^nd by John M. Carried.

Treasurer’s Report-Circulated-Reviewed April- $155 net income and no expenses.

John S. felt that no EI nor CPP was payable from last year’s payroll expenses.   No payroll was payable after August, 2018, and there has been no request for payment of remittances by CRA.  Jennifer may be able to confirm further.  Re HST-there is a possibility of recovery of the HST expenses.  It is being investigated. It appears difficult to recoup past expenses.

OLD BUSINESS:

1.  Water Quality Monitoring-John stated that $2000 has been committed from Adopt- a –stream; $600 from Municipality of Argyle;  no funds from Clare; Municipality of Yarmouth will announce a decision this month.

Adopt a Stream had a meeting in Debert, but the distance was too great for any TREPA member to attend.

John S has had discussions with Andrew Sinclair and others regarding  the blue green algae tests.  A number of changes are planned:  Andrew needs to discuss with Jean before finalization.   John S. would like to continue testing Kegeshook .  There will not be enough funds to do 14 lakes but John does not consider that to be a serious issue. .

2.   Op Eds-We did not have an article this month.  We did get good coverage on Judy Greens’ presentation and the Boomerang Bags.

3.   Summer Jobs–We have received funds for 9 weeks from Canada Summer Jobs but we have not had money from Eco Action to match the grant, so the 15 week position has had to be scrapped.  However, we did get enough $ for the Environmental Officer position.  There are three good candidates.  The job will start July 2.  The interviews will take place June 21.   John will circulate the posting on the web sight.  Approval given.

4.   Lobster Draw-Winner Roland Nickerson. Barrie suggested we try another spelling and another phone #.  We made approximately $400 on the lobster draw this year.

5.   Argyle Municipal garbage pickup: $525 was earned and the cheque was deposited.

6.   DFO-kiak sampling-John updated earlier; there are three students working with one DFO supervisor.

7.   DFO Coastal Restoration Fund (Bluenose Coastal Action Program). No news.

8.  Morris Lloyd-Apparently, there will be by-law subdivision rule changes due in part to changes in the way property is bought, sold and divided over time with land titles changing hands frequently. ie the “four lot rule” will have to be upheld-no further dividing.  A PAC meeting in is expected in June and is expected to consider riparian issues.

9    Shelburne/Annapolis Clear Cuts-John/Barrie Barrie hasn’t heard anything new about Shelburne except that there was a student protest in Shelburne last week.  Minister Ian Rankin did write back to John he felt that the proposed logging would not affect the Important Bird Area but did seem open to greater public involvement in determining forestry directions.   There are concerns about Westfor Clear Cuts in Annapolis as well.  Mike things that this is a climate change issue, as do other members of the board.

NEW BUSINESS:

1.   MTRI Membership-done

2.   Climate presentation-Judy Green-57 people present.  The organization of Climate Extinction has a number of sub groups and would like to expand.  There have been some recent articles about single use plastic in the media.  Mike sent a link to TREPA members about an article on energy efficient vehicles which is another major concern. 

We agreed that we should keep the education piece re: climate change on the agenda.  Donkin Mine is another example of the subjects that we could discuss.

3.  June 8-Oceans Day-Fix it Fair/Recycle/Repurpose —sponsored by Waste Check at Beacon Church-10-2:00-Ginny

4.   Letters-Response from Minister Ian Rankin//Workers compensation.//Read a Letter from Ann Jones wrote to Yarmouth Municipality regarding the environmental concerns about the Prime Transmission location.  She was especially concerned about the Riparian Zone as it applies to this situation.   Her complaints refllect TREPA’s concerns.  John S. will send her copies of our letters to the  Municipal Council.  We too want to find out how the council is responding.

Letter from Donna Crossland- wrote concerning a Westfor clear cut in the Annapolis area. A Westfor spokesperson indicated that this is an “individual tree cut”, but it now appears to be a more invasive cut  (variable retention).  It  appears that the Westfor contracts are being honoured before the Lahey report is implemented.

5.   Bills – One from Barrie.

.   6.   Selection new executive –next meeting

Adjourned Moved by John, 2^nd by Dianne

Next Meeting-July 3, 2019, – 7:00.

The Tusket River Environmental Protection Association has received approval from Service Canada to hire one student. The job will run for nine weeks from July 2 to August 31, 2019. The student will work 35-hour weeks at a pay rate of $11.55 per hour. We are looking for a university or college student pursuing studies in an environmentally-relevant field with (1) valid regular driver’s licence and access to a car at any time; (2) familiarity with standard computer use (writing, e-mail, internet, data management), (3) experience with canoe handling and transport, and (4) proficiency at swimming.
Applicant must be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment; be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment; and have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.
Foreseen tasks include:
1) Assistance in collecting water quality data from selected sites throughout the Tusket catchment in cooperation with Carleton River Watershed Area Water Quality Steering Committee; (2) Assistance in maintaining and monitoring the C.R.K Allen Nature Reserve and newly-acquired lands on Great Pubnico Lake; (3) Review literature on environmental factors affecting cyanobacterial abundance in a carefully-referenced report; (4) Review literature on the human health effects of blue-green algal blooms in a
carefully-referenced report; Review literature on sources and health of ground water resources in mainland Nova Scotia. (5) assist in collaborative projects with other NGO’s in the region (6) Survey of areas in the region where hemlocks exist to record incidence of wooly adelgid and of cone growth, and summarize in a report; (7) Miscellaneous tasks for Waste Check and other local environmental agencies; (8) Update contact list of local farmers who produce food from local consumption and who sell direct to the public; (9) Development and distribution of educational materials related to environmental protection (10) archiving of TREPA documents; (11) Preparation of interim and final reports; (12) Other tasks as specified by the TREPA board.

Resumes are to be attached to a letter of application, are to be in .rtf or .pdf format, and are to list all references together with their contact information. Applications are to be sent by e-mail to nhungjohn@eastlink.ca, and are due by Wednesday, June 19 at 6 P.M. Only those selected for interview will be contacted.