Council Minutes

The Corporation of the Township of Burpee and Mills
Special Council Meeting September 26th. 2005

Present:

Reeve Ken Noland, Councilors Pentti Palonen, Jeff Bailey, Ed Wright and Jeff Middleton.

STAFF:

Bonnie Bailey.

ALSO PRESENT:

Paul Biscaia - Ministry of Natural Resources, Species at Risk Biologist and Blaine Armstrong as counsel for the municipality.

The meeting opened at 7:30 p.m. with discussion on the intent to regulate Pitcher’s Thistle under the provincial Endangered Species Act. Topic of discussions included 1.    planning and authorizing activities on public land. 2.    pitcher thistle habitat – the face of sand beaches and/or dunes   1.   questions arose about the stability of the face of sand beaches and dunes to support vegetation   2.   Pitcher thistle habitat appears to be very unstable due to fluctuating lake levels   3.   how will human activity effect the Pitcher’s Thistle habitat? 3.    The picture thistle is found in 25 locations in Ontario and 22 are located within the District of Manitoulin Island. Of these 22 locations 4 locations are within the Burpee and Mills Road allowance along the Lake Huron shore line at Shrigly Bay, Portage Bay, fronting on property owned by Ronald Tasker, and at Misery Bay within the Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve Park. 4.    concerns were raised with the Pitcher Thistle data collection as the majority of the studies were conducted by one individual. 5.    inquiries as to information that may be available (studies) as to other areas along the North Shores of Lake Huron as to the existence of the Pitcher’s Thistle or lack of information (studies). 6.    with sites of the Pitcher’s Thistle being very localized in a couple of areas within the Great Lakes Eco System would the species then be very unimportant in it’s necessity for sustaining this overall Eco System. 7.    protection of habitat and species after the thistle becomes regulated   1.   public beach area   2.   adjacent property owners   3.   public road allowance use 8.    public procedure prior to regulation   1.   notification of property owners and adjacent property owners   2.   Ontario Bill of Rights – upon posting the province will accept comments for 30 days. 9.    all property owners should be able to participate in the method available for comments within the 30 day time frame? 10.    Ministry of Natural Resources would like to develop a co-operative approach to protect the species. 11.    Upon regulation as an endangered species the Ministry of Natural Resources will enforce the Act and this will be accomplished through the MNR Conservation Officers. 12. the existence of an endangered species or threatened species will have devastating effects for the property owner by lowering of property values and owner responsibilities. Loss of a property’s use and value with increased responsibility should be compensated by the Province to provide for the protection of these endangered or threatened species as well as the protection of the property owner. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m..

_______________________________
Ken Noland, Reeve


_______________________________
Bonnie Bailey , Witness


21/08/05:BB

These minutes have been prepared but are not considered official until approved by the Council at a subsequent meeting.

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