Conditions from the Minister's October 1, 2004 Letter to York Region

Summary of the Conditions and York Region's Response

York Region is committed to public involvement in all stages of its major infrastructure projects, including the 16th Avenue Phase 2 Trunk Sewer Construction Project.

Our objective is to inform, consult and involve our residents in the most meaningful ways possible to achieve a successful project. Here is a summary of York Region's response to the six conditions placed on the project by the Minister of Environment in her

October 1, 2004 Letter to York Region:

1. "The Regional Municipality of York shall develop monitoring and mitigation measures for the dewatering activities associated with this proposed project, including measures that address potential impacts to well users and the natural environment. These monitoring and mitigation measures shall assess the impact of this project on long-term sustainability of groundwater and surface water resources in the watershed and mitigate these impact."

York Region prepared the report titled York Region's Commitment to Well Mitigation: 16th Avenue Phase II Trunk Sewer Construction Project that identified the project background and proactive and reactive mitigation strategies.

2. "The Regional Municipality of York shall hold a public information meeting to present these mitigation and monitoring measures within two months of receiving notices that the Director, Ministry of Environment has approved the associated Permit to Take Water application."

York Region held two Public Information Forums on November 23 and November 25, 2004 where Residents, community group representatives, business representatives and other stakeholders were presented with project information and encouraged to ask questions of the project team.
Notices for this meeting were placed in the newspaper and an outreach initiative was undertaken to inform residents of the project and invite them to attend these public meetings.
Approximately 170 residents attended these Public Information Forums and had the opportunity to view display boards, speak to the project team, watch presentations and engage in discussion in a group setting about this project.
A subsequent smaller-group meeting was then held with a neighbourhood interest group from the Robinson Creek area to address some concerns specific to those residents and area.

3. "For the purposes of this proposed project, the Regional Municipality of York shall maintain its well complaint review committee process of Regional Council as an appropriate complain resolution mechanism for any well impacts associated with this project. In addition, the Regional Municipality of York shall develop a program to provide independent technical advisory support for individual property owners to facilitate well interference complaints."

In addition to the well complaint review committee process , York Region has established an independent technical advisory support .
On February 2, 2005, The Regional Municipality of York Transportation and Works Committee approved a staff report entitled “ Protocol for Management and Settlement of Claims Related to Private Well Interference and Associated Damages Due to Construction Activities for York Region” that outlines how, on a Regional basis, well impacts caused by construction activities will be dealt with.

4. "The Regional Municipality of York shall ensure that all technical studies, reports and other documents prepared for this project become part of the Project File. These shall be made available for review upon request by any person and shall be accessible from the Regional Municipality of York's Web site."

York Region has established this project Web site to provide all technical studies, reports and other public domain documents for public access, review and download.
Hard copy copies of project documentation can be obtained by contacting one of the Key Project Staff at any time, or for review at York Region Headquarters by appointment.

5. "The Regional Municipality of York shall prepare, to the satisfaction of the Director, Central Regional Office, Ministry of the Environment an aquatic habitat improvement plan for a selected reach of each stream into which water is discharged for this proposed project, which will result in a net improvement to the environment. The approved plan shall be implemented prior to completion of the proposed project."

Within the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that has been prepared and approved by the Ministry of the Environment, an aquatic habitat monitoring and improvement plan is outlined..

6. "The Regional Municipality of York shall submit an annual report to the Director, Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, Ministry of the Environment, indicating the date that each condition was fulfilled and the results of the conditions having been fulfilled."

The "YDSS Second Annual Compliance Report" has been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of the Environment in February 2007. This report outlines the conditions and compliance measures undertaken for each of the YDSS projects that the Minister’s Letter of October 1, 2004 imposed conditions on.

The "YDSS First Annual Compliance Report" was prepared and submitted to the Ministry of the Environment in February 2006.

Conditions from the Minister's October 1, 2004 Letter to York Region

Summary of the Conditions and York Region's Response

Read the complete letter from the Ministry of the Environment Letter MOE Letter Oct 1 2004