SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING, JUNE 22ND, 2015

                                                  Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting     

June 22nd, 2015, 8:20 PM, Etobicoke

• New FOSS web site on line: friendsofsamsmithpark.ca  - links directly to the blog spot.
• FOSS thanks “Joe the Grebe Man” from the CSSP Marina for building multiple platforms for nesting Red-necked Grebes.
• Although fishing is legal in the marina, FOSS requests that all fishers respect the nesting areas of the Red-necked Grebes when casting their lines.
• Thank you to the Weston Foundation and their Weston Family Parks Challenge for funding: 1. A new FOSS brochure and business cards (now available), 2. A FOSS web site, and 3. New Bird Checklists (now available).
•  Please report all illegal dumping of yard waste in CSS Park to 311. Additional contact information posted on the FOSSBlog.
• Call 311 for any off-leash dog infractions. The city’s response is “complaint driven”.
• Contact FOSS (See Blog) with any ideas for improving the dog park.
• Many additional trees (including new spring plantings) in CSS Park continue to suffer severe collateral damage from the city’s overzealous grass and weed trimmers.
• 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).
•  FOSS will provide representation/input related to the development of a planned 200 sq. ft. exhibit space highlightingthe history of the Lakeshore Grounds.