NVCA to present strateegic plan August 30
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Report of June 28 NVCA meeting
The Board of Directors received the Draft five-year Strategic Plan which was
developed based on input from NVCA board members and stakeholders. The
Strategic Plan Committee was directed to receive additional input on the current
draft plan from interested stakeholders, including representatives from the Simcoe
County Federation of Agriculture.
A meeting of the Strategic Plan Committee has been set for July 29/13 at 9:30 a.m.
at the John Hix Conservation Administration Centre. Interested parties are invited to
send in written comments by July 26/13 or alternately are invited to attend the July
29th meeting to make a deputation. Please contact Laurie Barron, Executive
Assistant at lbarron@nvca.on.ca or 705-424-1479 ex 222 to be included on the
agenda.
After considering the input received, the Committee will provide the Board of
Directors with a Final Strategic Plan for consideration at the August 30/13 Board
meeting.
FUNDING APPROVED TO MAKE REPAIRS TO PROCYON WILDLIFE FACILITY
The Board of Directors approved the use of $14,000 in funding for capital project
repairs, including road safety improvements and basement window replacement for
the property at Beeton Creek owned by the NVCA and leased by Procyon Wildlife
veterinary hospital and wildlife rescue. The funding will be acquired from existing
property reserve amounts of $8,700, with the balance of $5,300 being paid off
through monthly lease payments ending the first quarter of 2015.
The Board of Directors also approved a revised lease renewal with Procyon Wildlife
for the Beeton Creek property for a 5-year term at $257.50 per month for 2013, with
an annual increase of 3% per year plus HST.
2014 TREE PLANTING FEE SCHEDULE APPROVED
The Forestry Program has a user fee system in place for all tree planting projects. In
order to properly assess, prepare and implement tree planting projects, the fee
schedule must be established the year prior to the actual planting. Every effort is
made to keep the program as affordable as possible since participation by
landowners is strictly voluntary.
The Board approved the proposed 2014 Tree Planting Fee Schedule, which will be
incorporated into the 2014 Budget and Business Plan. The new fee schedule sees an
increase in prices of approximately one to three cents per tree for services including
hand planting, machine planting and spot spraying. The complete fee schedule is
contained in the June 2013 Board of Directors meeting agenda and will be made
available on the NVCA website’s forestry page.
NVCA STAFF TO INVESTIGATE PROVIDING RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES TO
MUNICIPALITIES
The Clean Water Act, 2006, is designed to protect existing and future drinking water
through Source Water Protection. Under the Act, significant threats to drinking water
will in many cases have to be managed through an official Risk Management Plan.
This management work is the responsibility of the Municipality in which the threat
resides; however, if they wish, Municipalities can delegate this to another
enforcement authority to provide this service. Conservation Authorities may be called
upon to provide such services to municipalities within their watersheds.
The Board of Directors endorsed staff participation in the negotiating and
development of draft agreements with municipalities in the NVCA watershed for the
delivery of Risk Management official services, utilizing a full cost recovery principle,
for future Board of Directors consideration..
UPDATES TO REGULATION MAPPING READY FOR REVIEW
The NVCA maintains mapping that indicates what areas of the watershed are
regulated under the Development, Interference with Wetlands and Alterations to
Shorelines and Watercourses Regulation, Ontario Regulation 172/06.
This mapping has been provided to all member municipalities and is available
through the NVCA website. Since the mapping was created in 2006, a number of
adjustments have been made to reflect new information on such things as updated
elevation, refined wetland mapping and changes to watercourses.
The Board voted in favour of a series of steps to ensure a thorough review of the
updated mapping prior to its release. These include posting the revised regulations
maps for public and municipal review, hosting a public open house and meeting with
interested parties and municipalities.
NVCA TO PARTICIPATE IN 2014 INTERNATIONAL PLOWING MATCH
The 2014 International Plowing Match will be hosted by the Simcoe County
Plowmen’s Association and held in the town of Ivy, just south of Utopia in Essa
Township. The NVCA has been asked to contribute to the educational displays, and
the Board approved this involvement, including the creation of an ad hoc planning
committee. The committee will be comprised of staff from all NVCA departments, as
well as Board Members Donna Jebb of New Tecumseth and Michael Smith of Essa.
NVCA FORMALIZES COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
As a public service agency, the NVCA has a longstanding commitment to exceptional
customer service. A newly drafted Customer Service Charter formalizes the
Authority’s customer service goals, and a series of customer satisfaction surveys will
be used to gauge the NVCA’s success against those goals. The Board approved the
charter and surveys, which will be the platform on which a full Customer Service
Strategy will be based, for presentation to the Board at the August meeting.
Leave a Reply