SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - APRIL 29TH, 2019

Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting                                         

APRIL 29th, 2019

7:00PM, LAMP, 185 5^th Street, Etobicoke

SPRING BIRD FESTIVAL: 10^th Annual festival will be held on May 25^th from 10AM-2PM in Col. Sam Park. Children’s activities, guided walk in Swallow Field, FOSS hat, t-shirt and membership sales. Prizes and much more. Volunteers needed. No experience necessary.  See blog for details.

NORTH CREEK POLLINATOR MEADOW: FOSS is working with the City of Toronto to design and plant a pollinator meadow in the park. Students from Sir Sandford Fleming College (supervised by Janette Harvey, City of Toronto) have completed a design for the garden and have offered suggestions as to the nature of the plantings. Work began on May 2. See blog for details.

DRONE PROBLEMS IN COL. SAM: Drone operators have aggressively buzzed both people and wildlife (swallows, owls, grebes) in the park. Harassment of wildlife is against the law. If you observe such harassment, contact the Municipal Standards By-law Enforcement Officer responsible for Col Sam Park—Gary Borges, Cell # 647 460-4270. Office # 416 338-5706 OR call 311, OR e-mail 311@toronto.ca, OR contact Ward 3 Councillor Mark Grimes.  See blog for more detail.

BURDOCK REMOVAL: The TRCA plans to set up a burdock eradication test site on Whimbrel Point.

GREBE PLATFORMS:  FOSS President, Brian Keaveney, has been busy repairing/building/installing platforms with the aid of Mr. Joe Calico (originator of the platforms) of the Yacht Club.

OWL HARASSMENT: A few thoughtless birders/photographers have been harassing Col. Sam’s owls of late. In addition to disturbing the birds, these individuals tramp down trails and damage vegetation. Caution: it is illegal to harass wildlife.

NAMING PARK ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AND NATURAL HERITAGE AREAS: A FOSS mapping project to assign names to significant areas of the park (such as the already-designated “Whimbrel Point”) in order to provide consistency when communicating info about Col. Sam. For more details, check the blog. Names are being collected and a map will be published in the blog when completed.

PARKING LOT TICKETING BLITZ: The city has recently been conducting parking ticket blitzes at Col. Sam. There is a two hour parking limit for the south lot. Please report any parking problems to 311.

FOSS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: Check out FOSS on both Instagram and Facebook. No personal Facebook account? You may still view the contents, but you will be unable to post comments. Keep watch for nature photos highlighting your park.

DRUG/GARBAGE PROBLEMS AT COL. SAM: Discarded drug paraphernalia and litter are on-going detriments in the park, particularly in the North Creek area. Visitors are asked to notify the police at 416 808-2200 for drug infractions and 311 for trash build-up. Any problems reported to 311 are greatly strengthened when accompanied with a photo.