Climate Change and Environment Committee

Committee Minutes

Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 4:00 P.m. - 6:00 P.m.

Conestoga Room

City of Kitchener

200 King Street W, Kitchener, ON N2G 407

Present:

• B. Wallis, Chair
• Councillor S. Davey, Member
• K. Bockasten, Member
• J. Clary-Lemon, Member
• M. Garner, Vice-Chair
• G. Johannesson, Member
• V. Nhio-son, Member
• Councillor S. Stretch, Member

Staff:

• S. Lodenquai, Committee Administrator
• C. Musselman, Senior Environmental Planner
• N. Goss, Manager, Policy & Research
• A. Cipriani, Corporate Sustainability Officer

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1.

Commencement

The meeting began  at 4:01pm with a Land Acknowledgement given by the Chair.

2.

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof

None.

3.

Delegations

None.

4.

Discussion Items

• That the Climate Change and Environment Committee endorse the Plant Based Treaty and commit to actions to transition to plant-based menus where the City of Kitchener has jurisdiction. 

4.1

KU Transition - May 2024 Update - INS-2024-198, INS-2024-198

K. Daley reviewed the 3 phases in developing a KU Clean Energy Transition Strategy and indicated the team was in the process of collecting and grouping ideas

 - stakeholder and mgmt. team workshops

- Add business suggestions from phase 1 engagement

-Consolidate to remove duplicates

- Project team review and workshop discussions

 

The following themes that were identified were highlighted below:

 - provide energy products and services

 - plan for and report on our gas distribution system

- provide gaseous fuels of tomorrow

-provide system-scale energy services

 

K. Daley reviewed guiding principles and objectives, endorsed by Council at the end of 2023. These will be used as a basis to considerate the work moving forward.

Next steps include a council report on May 27, 2024 and convening a sub-team of staff to investigate diff bus activities to figure if they could be part of the integrated strategy recommended at the end of Phase 2.

The floor was opened for questions and general discussion from the committee.

• For Discussion.

4.2

Hidden Valley Land Use Implementation Project – Technical Studies - DSD-2024-215, DSD-2024-215

C. Musselman and M. Rodrigues provided the committee with a presentation of the Hidden Valley Land Use Implementation Project. A map of the Hidden Valley Study Area was share followed by the Hidden Valley Land Use Master Plan. In June of 2019, a master plan was approved by Kitchener Council. The C. Musselman and M. Rodrigues explained intent of which was to create a plan to shape a new development as a positive addition to the community, rather than ad-hoc reaction to new development.

C. Musselman shared and reviewed the land use considerations, including factors like potential for transit, environmental areas and species at-risk and the heritage corridor. The implementation of the land use study were shared:

Amendments to the City's Official Plan and Zoning By-law will be prepared to:

• Update land use designations
• Apply appropriate zones and provisions
• Identify Hidden Valley Road as a "Cultural Heritage Landscape" and "Heritage Corridor"
• Implement the River Road Extension alignment
• Identify active transportation and trails
• Address other aspects of the technical studies that may assist with implementing the Master Plan (e.g., stormwater management, source water protection)

Additionally, to inform the proposed policies and land uses, the following studies are close to completion or are completed:

• Environmental Impact study
• Health Impact Assessment
• Transportation and Noise Impact Study
• Heritage Impact Assessment 
• water management studies
  • flood risk reduction, environmental assessment
  • stormwater management strategy
  • source water protection
• Upper Hidden Valley Sanitary Pumping Station and Forcemain Environmental Assessment 

 

Next steps outlined were:

• Public Open House, May 30, 2024
• CCEC Meeting, June 20, 2024
• Standing Committee, August 12, 2024
• Council Meeting, August 26, 2024

 

The floor was opened to questions and general discussion to the committee. One question raised is whether bike lanes will be made available and it was confirmed River Road will have a multi-use trail incorporated into the design. C. Musselman and M. Rodrigues addressed clarifying questions.

4.3

CorCAP 2.0 - Part 2 - TransformWR, continued - DSD-2024-216, DSD-2024-216

H.Irving provided an overview of TransformWR Community Climate Action Plan as a refresher as well as the action items that were discussed at last month's meeting which shifts focus from corporate emissions to community-based emissions.

H. Irving led a discussion which focused on buildings and using Menti software, asked committee members to rank their 5 top prioritizations of action items. The following action items were identified as top 5:

• 3.2.3: Develop region-wide building standards to encourage and support zero-carbon development of all new buildings in the region.
• 3.1.4. Investigate and plan for full replacement of natural gas with other non-fossil fuel sources, eg. Combo of RNG and Hydrogren
• 3.2.4 Incorporate energy planning considerations into the development application review process.
• 3.1.7. Support households on lower income with building envelope improvements, electrifying space and water heating, and renewable energy generation.
• 3.1.8. Identify opportunities to incentivize landlords to perform energy efficiency upgrades

 

The results were reviewed as a group and were chosen to reduce GHGs from buildings which contribute nearly half of emissions in the community. 

4.4

Plant Based Treaty Discussion Continued

Bockasten provided the committee with a brief overview of the discussion that took place in the April 2024 meeting. Benefits of a vegan diet were discussed amongst the committee including ethical and economic considerations.

Musselman shared information on the City of Kitchener's procurement ability when purchasing food. The City does not currently procure food items directly within its organization

Cipriani shared that there is a specific TransformWR Strategy 5.4 which addresses adopting low GHG emission diets however, an owner of the action has not been identified.

There was consensus amongst the committee that the Plant Based Treaty organization return for further discussion.

On motion by B. Wallis,

• That the Climate Change and Environment Committee defer the Plant Based Treaty discussion to a future meeting where the organization is available.

  Carried

4.5

Sub-Committee Updates

No sub-committee updates were shared at the meeting. 

5.

Information Items

6.

Adjournment

On motion, this meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Shannon Lodenquai
Committee Administrator