May 23, 2006
By Danielle Milley Staff Writer
PICKERING -- Residents, community groups, businesses and the City continue to work on ways to make Pickering a model community when it comes to sustainability.
The next phase of Pickering's plan to create sustainability benchmarks is Thursday, May 25 at the Pickering Town Centre from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Sustainable Pickering Day features booths on display during the day and a town hall from 7 to 8:30 p.m. that includes a chance to ask the experts.
"It's an opportunity for a broad section of the public to stop by and talk to staff before it goes to council as a final report," said Ward 1 Regional Councillor Maurice Brenner, the chairman of the Benchmarking Committee.
Residents can get information throughout the day from the different displays from community partners, including from the energy and building sectors. Jack McGinnis, president of the RDC Group, said the displays feature topics people were asking about at the first town hall meetings. Mr. McGinnis has decades of experience in waste reduction and recycling and is working with the City on the initiative.
He has been doing background work, as well as working with many of the working groups on board, including a community outreach group, a youth meeting and groups with local businesses.
"It's quite an array of different stakeholder groups," Mr. McGinnis said. "It's been very exciting."
Coun. Brenner said by having the town hall at the mall it creates an informal setting to attract as many interested people as possible and a wide-range of ideas.
The day is going to build on the first round of town halls that took place in February and March, where the idea of creating benchmarks for Pickering under three sustainability lenses -- environment, social and economic -- was discussed.
Both Coun. Brenner and Mr. McGinnis contend this is not going to be a process with a lot of talking that ends up in nothing but a report.
"We're bringing it to the people because sustainability only works if you work with the community," Coun. Brenner said.
Mr. McGinnis said he's never seen an initiative such as this spearheaded by a municipality before.
"I've been impressed with how much Pickering has followed this through," he said. "Our feeling is we did really hear from people and we have engaged the public."
Action has already started. Mr. McGinnis said after one of the working group meetings Enbridge worked with Dunbarton-Fairport United Church on improving the efficiency of its furnace.
"We've already seen some initiatives begin to be implemented," he said. "The choice was not to sit down over several years and come up with a master plan, the choice was to get started with one foot in front of another."
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