TORONTO FIELD NATURALISTS BIRD WALK IN PARK

Sat, Jan. 23 at 10:00 a..m. • COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK – Birds

Leader: Anne Powell. Meet at the southwest corner of Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Kipling Ave. Bring binoculars. Morning only.

RESIDENT PARK KESTREL

Superb shot by Richard Dubiel of the kestrel that is seen daily in the park hunting or watching from the top of a tree on the spit.

WINTER BIRDING AT SAM SMITH

HISTORY OF NORTH AND JACKSON CREEKS

Michael Harrison, former President of Citizens Concerned for the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront, hosts a blog called The Lost Creeks of South Etobicoke.  He posts fascinating information with old maps and photographs of the two creeks, Jackson and North, that are referenced in the previous post.  Remnants of these two creeks flow through the Lakeshore Grounds.  There is great interest in the restoration of these two creeks by adding more water flow as part of the stormwater management initiative.  Check out his blog where you can see a photograph of the ornate stone bridge that used to cross Jackson Creek between the large and smaller swales as well as information on other lost creeks in our area. (The bridge is actually still there, buried and minus balustrades - look closely).  Double click on the 1936 map of the Ontario Mimico Hospital to see the path of these two creeks (map courtesy of Michael Harrison)

COMMENTS SENT BY FOSS TO ETOBICOKE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES STUDY

SEE POSTS ON THIS SUBJECT
POST 1

POST 2


Toronto Works and Emergency Services

Public Consultation Unit

55 John Street, 19^th Floor

Toronto

Ont. M7Y 2W1

December 18, 2009

Attention: Josie Franch, Public Consultation Co-ordinator

Re: Etobicoke Stormwater Management Facilities Study–Ward 6

We are responding to the community meeting you held at the Assembly Hall on November 12^th 2009 where the public was invited to submit comments on the implementation of stormwater management faculties in South Etobicoke. Your e-mail on November 23^rd indicated that preliminary comments would be acceptable into December given the amount of material to absorb. 

Friends of Sam Smith Park is a community group of local residents and park users dedicated to protecting, enhancing and preserving Colonel Samuel Smith Park.  Our organization has been in existence for over three years and our primary interest is to maintain the park as a nature park.  The park houses a diversity of environments that provide food, habitat and protection for the many species of birds, animals and plants that live there.  It is popular with birders, wildlife photographers and those who passionately enjoy urban, naturalized areas.

Given that focus, our first response is to indicate that we see this initiative not only as a means of improving water quality for fisheries, water birds and aquatic vegetation but as an opportunity to increase natural habitat in the park.  For that reason, we would certainly favour implementation designs that blend in with the natural environment such as wetland, wet pond and/or flow balancing system.  The mechanical systems, in our opinion, are inappropriate for Sam Smith Park.

There are a couple of creeks in the park that do not have enough water to support much aquatic life.  Jackson Creek is buried and we have watched the flow of water in North Creek reduced to a mere trickle over the years.

We would like to see Jackson Creek daylighted and augmented with increased flow from stormwater.  The water would flow into the northern swale (north-east corner of the park), creating a shallow wetland for water treatment, and run under the roadway into the smaller swale from where it could be piped under the gravel path south to the lake or continue as it presently does to Rotary Park.

North Creek flows into the wetland pond through a spruce grove forming a beautiful riparian pathway that attracts migrating songbirds in the spring and fall.  Water flow is erratic and insufficient; the pond fed by the creek is frequently below optimal water level.  Stormwater could be diverted to supplement the base flow and increase opportunities for aquatic life in the creek.

If a wet pond system is considered, then its location must be carefully chosen.  Aside from diminished water flow in North Creek, the TRCA sections of the park seem to function well and would not benefit from too much disturbance.  They probably would not be suitable for another pond unless one could be put into the cultivated meadow adjacent and east of the Lakeshore Yacht Club.  Other locations north of the bicycle path should be considered.

A flow balancing system might work very well in and around the lake outflow from the wetland pond.  We understand that such a system can treat water coming from both directions.  The two bays in that area are collectors for algae floating in from the east along the shore and can smell pretty bad in the summer.

Lastly, we would like the City to look at a stormwater consolidation scenario that utilizes more than just one site.  If all the stormwater in the South Etobicoke catchment basin flows into Sam Smith Park, then, naturally, a more substantial management system requiring ill-fitting, engineered solutions would be needed.  Even though there are exciting opportunities for habitat enhancement in this initiative, as we have described above, the park’s naturalized areas are sensitive and we fear that they might be overwhelmed.

Considering that the Etobicoke project is part of the City’s 25-year wet weather flow master plan, the recommendations and observations we offer here must be considered as merely preliminary in what we hope will be a longer consultation process. It is impossible to understand all the ramifications of each design choice in such a short time without all the questions being answered.

We would be glad to discuss this with you and look forward to the next stage of this initiative.

Yours truly

Terry Smith

Acting Chair, Friends of Sam Smith Park

CC    Councillor Grimes

        Nancy Gaffney, TRCA

        Laurel Broten, MPP

        Michael Ignatieff, MP

HUMBER COLLEGE MAP

Ever wondered what happens in those Humber College sites that went into the old, refurbished hospital cottages?

Follow this link to map of Humber's Lakeshore campus  and click on map to see readable, large-scale version

NEW CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COMING TO LAKESHORE GROUNDS

The Guardian article below indicates that there will be a go-ahead for this project to be located at the south-west corner of Kipling and Colonel Sam Smith Drive, where the heritage orchard is located. There have been few, if any, public meetings about this for the community to have input into such issues as how many trees can be preserved or will there be underground staff parking to save green space.

   

December 10, 2009

The provincially-appointed supervisor of Toronto's Catholic school board made several more approvals at Wednesday night's board meeting to pave the way for the consolidation of two Etobicoke elementary schools at a new, to-be-constructed building on Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive.
At the November meeting of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) last month, supervisor Richard Alway adopted a resolution to consolidate Christ the King and St. Teresa schools in a new school located on approximately 2.19 acres of land just southwest of Kipling Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West, as of June 30, 2012. The consolidation is estimated to save the board approximately $509,753 per year in classroom, school administration, and operations costs, a staff report stated.
At the December meeting of the board held on Wednesday, Alway additionally approved the relocation of St. Josaphat to the vacated St. Teresa site effective June 30, 2012; and the declaration as surplus to the needs of the TCDSB of the current Christ the King Elementary School site, located at 3672 Lake Shore Blvd. W., and the former Brother Edmund Rice Catholic Secondary School, located at 55 Pelham Ave., effective June 30, 2012.
Proceeds from the sale of those two sites (estimated at nearly $14 million) will go towards the construction of the new, $8.3 million, 519-pupil school on Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive.
With the relocation of St. Josaphat to the St. Teresa site, all three Eastern Rite schools (St. Demetrius and Josyf Cardinal Slipyj) will be located in the southern end of the former Etobicoke boundaries, necessitating Alway to also green-light the immediate initiation of a comprehensive review of all Eastern Rite schools, including service area boundaries and transportation service.

TAMARA SHEPPARD'S ARTICLE ON OFF-LEASH MEETING

Follow this link to the Etobicoke Guardian

More on the off-leash area from 27th Street Blog

LATEST ON OFF-LEASH DOG WALKING AREA

At tonight's meeting, City Parks gave details of two off-leash dog walking areas to be established at Sam Smith and Humber Bay West.  Their "People, Dogs and Parks" policy can be read on their website. The map below shows the location for our park.  It will be approximately one and a half acres in size and be on the R.L. Clark Filtration property behind their existing fence.  Toronto Water has given permission for this area to be used, maintained and supervised by Toronto Parks on a "we'll see how it works out" basis.  It will be located near the bus loop just south of Father John Redmond School, north west of the Power House parking lot.  There will be two access entrances from the roadway and it could be up and running in a month or two.  It will be unfenced for the time being - a fence may be constructed to enclose the area in the spring.  The area will be open from 6 a.m. to 12.00 a.m., Monday through Sunday  There will be no water for dogs to drink.  There will be no lighting.  Benches and litter receptacles will be provided.  Parks may put up coyote warning signs because coyotes have been seen recently in the wooded area close by. Concerns were raised that coyotes might be removed if they were seen as a threat to the dogs.  The City has a Code of Conduct for off-leash areas and their by-law officers, we were told, will enforce it.  The Dog Owners Association that got this rolling has no legal responsibility.
DOUBLE-CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS BELOW FOR BETTER VIEW

SNOWY OWL REPORT

Two photographers in the park today reported seeing a snowy owl in the yacht basin, on the 4th last dock, on the east side.
This is an extremely early sighting for this species in our park.

FOSS SPEAKER EVENT

Last night, Dave Taylor from the Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga gave a spirited and eloquent accounting to Friends of Sam Smith Park of his organization's beginnings and the wonderful work done there around education and stewardship.  From the initial fight to save a diverse natural area along the Credit River from development, the community and supporters have created an enduring legacy for the residents of Mississauga, a place where they can peacefully wander riverside, woodland, meadow and wetland with a good chance of seeing wildlife.  It is our goal that Sam Smith, our nature park, continues to provide that for us.
Thank you, Dave, for your inspiring story.
Let's all make sure we get out and visit Riverwood.

NEW INTERPRETIVE SIGNS COMING

Members of Friends of Sam Smith Park, CCFEW and Janette Harvey, a natural environment specialist from the City of Toronto - Parks, Forestry & Recreation have been working with some enthusiastic students from Sir Sandford Fleming to create new interpretive signage for the park.  The signs will be made from a tough acrylic that is designed to withstand weather and vandals.  They will be similar to the butterfly signs at Humber Bay East and the one we now have, thanks to CCFEW, at the south parking lot in Sam Smith.  Here is one of the signs.  The other signs will cover water birds, native plants, mammals, butterflies, beavers, snakes, wetland wildlife and forest succession.  The plan is to have them installed early next year.

FOUR COYOTES RECENTLY SEEN IN SAM SMITH

Here's a report from a local blogger of a recent coyote sighting.  Watch your small dog!

DEVELOPER VERSUS RESIDENTS OVER LOSS OF LOCAL LAKE VISTAS

The City, Toronto Region Conservation Authority and Lakeshore residents are going to the Ontario Municipal Board next week to request the OMB to deny the developer Dunpar their application to cram seven dwellings on to a small, lakeside property at 51 Lakeshore Drive at the bottom of Fourth Street, a move that substantially contravenes the City's Official Plan and South Etobicoke's zoning regulations.  It will deprive the community and Waterfront Trail users of lake vistas, walling them off with a massive townhouse barrier.
For more information, go to the residents' blog.
Please join us down at the OMB next Monday if you can.

MEETING - OFF LEASH AREA FOR SAM SMITH

It seems inevitable that the City's intention is to establish an off-leash dog walking area in Sam Smith.  The question is where.  If it ends up being anywhere other than the Water Treatment Plant's grounds, such intensive use would have a huge impact on wild life.
Come out to this meeting and share your views.

MORE INFO ON THE STORMWATER PROJECT

Today, I spoke to Josie Franch, the Public Consultation Coordinator for this project, and she told me that any end-of-pipe system put in to Sam Smith could go anywhere inside the box shown on this image.  If the system is located in the lake itself, like a flow design, then somewhere inside the shaded area is where it would be.  This is somewhat different from what we were told at the presentation where a number of "constraints" were outlined (referred to in the previous post).  Josie can be reached at 416 338 2859 or by e-mail.  The City has a web site for this project.
We will talk about this some more at Thursday's presentation where we will have some blank comment sheets available.  They are also available on line.
Many people who attended the presentation last Thursday felt that the November 26th deadline for public comment on this project is way too soon for the community to understand all the implications.  A suggested first comment might be a request for more time! 
Posted by Terry Smith

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRESENTATION - THURSDAY, NOV 12TH

(DOUBLE-CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW)

At last Thursday’s presentation on the Etobicoke Stormwater Management project, the community was introduced to the South Etobicoke element of the City’s 25-year plan called the Wet Weather Flow Master Plan.

There are 30 storm water outlets along the Etobicoke shoreline that carry untreated rain runoff to the lake. (In South Etobicoke, sewer and stormwater pipes are, fortunately, not connected as they are in some other parts of the city.) The City wants to build end-of-pipe systems that would collect oil, dirt, grit and pollutants from this runoff before it is discharged in to the lake. These systems would be designed to treat 90% of rainfall events up to 25 mm. The goal is to provide shoreline water that is cleaner for swimming and for wildlife.

There are a number of different systems that could be used and a number of different locations or combinations of locations that could be chosen.

Sam Smith Park is definitely on the list. There is an existing outlet in the marina just east of the clubhouse that has a floating barrier – this outlet already carries most of the runoff from a large catchment basin further north, up to the QEW. (We were told that this basin would not be increased).

The photograph on this post shows the park with different system designs that could be employed at Sam Smith at the bottom with a checkmark. The footprint of each design is to scale with the map of the park. For a detailed explanation of each of these management methods for end-of-pipe control along with all the other presentation material, go to the City’s project website.

There were many questions that would certainly impact the park and couldn’t be answered by the consultants or City staff at this time …

• Will there be just one enormous consolidation site chosen for all the runoff or will the flow be spread out over a number of sites?
• What are the constraints for the different systems on a park specific basis (i.e. if a wet pond solution was chosen, where are the workable locations in Sam Smith?)
• What weight will be given to such selection criteria as habitat protection, cost, technical considerations etc?

Staff asked for public input via a comment form they handed out. They explained that this would be the only opportunity for the public to add input. The form can be found on the City's project page where it can be printed and mailed. The address where it should be mailed is at the bottom of the second page. Alternatively, there is an e-mail address and phone number there as well.  According to the City's handout, comments need to be in by November 26th.   They are hoping for site(s) and design choice to be completed by February 2010! In the opinion of most people at the meeting, this is far too early for the public to digest all the possible alternatives without a full, site-specific explanation of all the implications. This fact should definitely be expressed in any communication with the project team.

Terry Smith will replace the vacationing Allen Valk as FOSS’s representative on the Community Working group associated with this and can be contacted at tz.smith@sympatico.ca. The next meeting for this group is scheduled for January 2010, just weeks before the announcement of the chosen site(s) and system – seems extremely inadequate.

If Sam Smith is chosen as the sole or the major site, most park users who appreciate the natural elements of the park would probably go for an option that has a possibility of enhancing wildlife habitat, like a wet pond and flow balancing system combination. But, there are possible problems with this. Because of piping, gravity and proximity to the lake constraints, where could they be built? – the north swale is definitely out. What existing habitat would be removed to accommodate them? What would be the maintenance issues? … and so on. There are always concerns when development of any kind is proposed for a special place where every existing square foot is cherished. This is a complicated issue that requires a lot of thought and education.

Posted by Terry Smith

MORE OFF LEASH COMMENTS

Read comments on a Sam Smith off-leash area from a 27th Street blogger.

STORWATER MANAGEMENT ON ETOBICOKE WATERFRONT

In preparation for this Thursday's Stormwater Management presentation at the Assembly Hall, you might want to read the minutes from the Etobicoke Waterfront Stormater Management Facilities Study Community Working Group's meeting held last March

This project has many implications for Sam Smith Park.