District of Metchosin

DISTRICT OF METCHOSIN MINUTES AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 4450 HAPPY VALLEY ROAD Call to order at 8.00pm Present: Tom Henry, Brent Donaldson, Aileen McConnell, Jo Mitchell, Michelle Simmonds Chair Jim MacPherson Regrets: John Buchanan, Dieter Eisenhawer ACTION ITEMS: 1. Jim MacPherson will collect Agriculture Area Plans and review recommendations for applicability to Metchosin. 2. Jim MacPherson will prepare an article on the activity of the Committee for the next issue of the Muse. 3. Michelle Simmonds will forward to the Chair contact information on young farmers who may be approached for their willingness to participate on the Advisory Committee. 4. Motion: that Councillor Jo Mitchell request a meeting with the Steve Thomson, Minister of Agriculture and Lands to discuss ____________________________________________. 5. Jim MacPherson will prepare an article on noxious weeds for the Muse. MOTION: That Councillor Jo Mitchell request a meeting with the Steve Thomson, Minister of Agriculture and Lands to discuss ways that the Ministry of Agriculture can advocate on behalf of Vancouver Island farmers for more applicable and reasonable slaughtering and food processing standards for smaller abattoirs and meat cutting operations. Moved by Brent Donaldson and seconded by Michelle Simmonds: Carried. ____________________________________________________________________________ 1. Public Participation None 2. Agenda, Additions, Approval Moved: Aileen McConnell; Seconded: Michelle Simmonds; Carried 3. Presentations a) Barbara Brennan, North Saanich, North Saanich Agriculture Area Planning Barbara Brennan, Chair of the North Saanich Agriculture Advisory Commission, has for several years taken a leading role in the preparation of an Agriculture Area Plan for the District of North Saanich. North Saanich is currently part way through the development of a plan and has completed community dialogue sessions oriented to the identification of doable local solutions to specific local issues. Mrs. Brennan addressed: What are/were the conditions or circumstances which encouraged North Saanich to take a look at the agriculture area planning process? What issues did North Saanich feel that the agriculture planning process could resolve, or deal with, or come to terms with? 1 What expectations does North Saanich have of the agriculture planning process? Are they being met? Do you believe they will be met in the future? How did you get the process off the ground? How did you start the process? How did you get Council to buy in? As the North Saanich process has unfolded, have North Saanich expectations changed? In what way? What do you expect to achieve from the implementation of an agriculture area plan? What do you think the District might have to do to support agriculture/ In addressing these points, the highlights of Mrs. Brennan’s presentation and the follow-up question and answer period were: Much of the District’s ALR land (48%) had become estates owned by wealthy non-farmers. The previous Council also wanted to develop village centres as community focal points but which many saw as harbingers of urbanization expressed through increased population, increased traffic, and decreased farming opportunity and production. In 1974 Council asked the District’s Economic Development Committee to take a look at agriculture. Finding a lack of awareness of the agriculture and farming community, the Committee said it would be to the District’s advantage to examine in detail the North Saanich farming picture. An Agriculture Task Force was set up to examine a number of agriculture issues including edge planning, buffers, drainage and other issues. This Task Force ultimately recommended the establishment of an Agriculture Advisory Commission with several members drawn from the Task Force. Alice Finall (now mayor) became Chair of the Advisory Commission. Council turned to the Commission to deal with a number of sticky issues including fill and drainage issues. A longer term and proactive approach was becoming seen as preferable to reacting and putting out fires. As a first planning step, the Commission reviewed existing agriculture area plans and found that although the plans seemed appropriate and useful too few recommendations were for one reason or another, not carried through. North Saanich’s AAC wants their final recommendations to be doable. Through a still ongoing process which acquired the buy-in of farmers and the North Saanich public and which brought many farmers together with consumers, dialogue sessions on issues, opportunities and strategies have led to a small number of recommendations which include a systematic review of the OCP and zoning regulations to ensure that they support farmers (e.g., until fairly recently, farmers were not allowed signage to any extent), and the possible development of an agricultural community centre which centralizes in a single facility a permanent farmers market, farmer and consumer demonstration opportunities, education, and a meeting place for farmers. All of this is considered necessary to give agriculture a face and a voice, a profile and visibility. Mrs. Brennan commented that the Agriculture Land Commission helps strengthen the Agricultural Area Plan and the preservation of the ALR. At the present time, the Commission can only consider matters brought to its attention by Council. It does not deal with all matters relating to farming: it does not consider for example on-farm housing for workers. This is one matter that can be dealt with by a municipality and once stated in an agriculture area plan can be enforced through the ALC. The Agricultural Land Commission examines and has the right to modify and approve all Agriculture Area Plans. Elements of the North Saanich Agriculture Area Plan include: economic viability and the enhancement of value-added; increasing the profile of agriculture and farming; farm advertising and promotion; environmental farm planning, signage; adequate buffer zoning; increased exposure; improved communication through, for example, newsletters and events. Mrs. Brennan suggested that first planning steps before deciding to proceed with the development of an agriculture area plan would be to review existing plans from other districts of Vancouver Island and the mainland to provide guidance as to how the plans may be shaped to address Metchosin issues, and to 2 determine whether the scope of an agriculture area plan can serve Metchosin interests. North Saanich approved the expenditure of $50,000 for the preparation of the Agriculture Area Plan, with the province’s Agriculture Investment Fund picking up $45,000 of the cost. The actual preparation of the plan has been contracted to Masselink Environmental Design with extensive involvement, direction and participation for the Agriculture Advisory Commission. The first draft of the final Plan is expected in the early Fall. 4. Adoption of Minutes a) Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting, March 26, 2009 Moved: Jo Mitchell; Seconded, Tom Henry; Carried. 5. Business Arising from the Minutes a) Review of pesticide education funding for impact on agriculture At its regular February 16 meeting, Council requested that the Agriculture Advisory Committee comment on effectiveness of the CRD’s Pesticide Use Reduction Education (PURE program and its impact on small lot agriculture. The PURE program is an educational program directed to the residential use of pesticides. As such, there is no identifiable negative impact on small lot agriculture. The impact is more likely to be positive if residences near organic and/or natural farmers eliminate the use of pesticides and any chance of their drifting, either through the air or water, to crops. The impact may also be very positive to bees and to anyone who depends on bees for honey and pollination. b) R1 and R2 zoning Defer to next meeting. c) MUSE articles Chair reported on Muse articles including Goose depredation article and status report on Metchosin agriculture. MacPherson will prepare an article on the activity of the Committee for the next issue of the Muse. d) Farmer representative to Peninsula Agriculture Commission (PAC) Brent Donaldson appointed by Council to be farmer representative on Peninsula Agriculture Commission. A brief discussion on PAC e) Appointments to the Metchosin Agriculture Advisory Committee Michelle Simmonds formally appointed by Council to the Metchosin Agriculture Advisory Committee. Michelle will forward contact information on young farmers who may be approached for their willingness to participate on the Advisory Committee. 6. Correspondence a) Peninsula Agriculture Commission, Goose Letter to Murray Coell Chair reported that he had drafted a letter for the PAC requesting Murray Coell, MLA for North Saanich to identify appropriate person and agency to lead an inter-ministerial and inter-agency group to deal with goose predation issues. b) Thistle memo to PAC Chair prepared a letter to the PAC informing them of thistle and noxious weed issues at Royal Bay. c) Survey Response to “A Seat at the Table.” 3 Chair reported that he had responded to survey questions pertaining to this report, a resource guide for local governments to promote food security, and prepared by the UBCM and health authorities. The gist of the response was that, except possibly for community gardens and the promotion of farmers markets, the report appeared to be of limited usefulness to rural communities such as Metchosin. 7. New Business

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