SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING, APRIL 28TH, 2015

                   Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting                                         

                                         April 28th, 20 - 7:06 PM, LAMP, 185 5^th Street Etobicoke

• CSS Park Bird Festival: Saturday, May 23. 9AM-1PM. Kids’ activities. Nature displays. Photography contest. Door prizes. And much more.
• CSS Park Cleanup Day: Sunday, April 19 was a great success. FOSS thanks all volunteers who helped pick up unwanted trash in the park. A special thank you to organizer Alan Roy.
• FOSS also thanks all volunteers who helped plant bird-friendly trees and shrubs in the park on May 2.
• FOSS is investigating the possibility of repairing the Men’s Picnic Shelter in CSS Park. A co-sponsor with some funding capability is required.
• Thank you to the Weston Foundation and their Weston Family Parks Challenge for funding: 1. A new FOSS brochure (being printed and will be available for distribution soon), 2. A FOSS website (presently under construction), and 3. New Bird Checklists (now available).
• Call 311 for any off-leash dog infractions. The city’s response is “complaint driven”.
• FOSS Membership Renewals: See blog for membership form. Present members are encouraged to renew and individuals on FOSS’s contact list are welcome to join.
• With the removal of trees for the new Humber College Welcome Centre (HCWC) on Colonel Samuel Smith Drive, FOSS advocates that native trees, not shrubs, be used as replacements and that the location and species be determined by the city’s wildlife/habitat specialist in conjunction with the Forestry Department.
• FOSS also suggests that the trees be planted in clumps in order to duplicate the habitat that will be lost with the building of the HCWC.
• FOSS’s suggestions concerning the replacement of trees have received supportive feedback from both Wanda Buote (Principal, Lakeshore Campus) and Hai Nguyen (Planner, Urban Forestry, City of Toronto).
• Many additional trees in CSS Park continue to suffer severe collateral damage from the city’s overzealous grass and weed trimmers.
• FOSS will provide representation/input related to the development of a planned 200 sq. ft. exhibit space highlighting the history of the Lakeshore Grounds.