May 2022 Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, May 17, 2022

Attendees: Jim Foster, Philip Staiton, Michael Majeski, John Stephson, Emma Park, David Thornley, Lauren Facto

Regrets: Rozhen Asrani, Neil Arcot, Tim Ellis, 

Agenda

1. Approval of April 2022 Meeting Minutes 
   • 1st by Emma, 2nd by Philip

2. Neighbourhood update with Mark Grimes
   • Context: Since Councillor Grimes missed the AGM, his office would like to schedule a session with the MRA and Mimico community to provide a neighbourhood update + Q&A, tentatively on May 30th, June 6th or June 8th. Also, note that Councillor Grimes is also planning to hold a Mimico Neighbourhood Traffic / Mobility Study meeting on the evening of Tuesday, June 14, so there may be some overlap there as well.
   • Key actions: finalizing a time, setting up a virtual meeting, and sending out information to our membership and community (note: we will need to send out the event information to our membership at least 2 weeks in advance).
     1. Meeting Notes Traffic Study with Councillor Grimes is already scheduled for June 14th – Board to inquire if 
     2. Tim to inquire if this meeting can be used as neighbourhood update as well 
     3. Tim to circulate list of MRA’s top issues to inquire with Grimes about.  Board to review and confirm topics prior to Neighborhood Update meeting 

3. “No Trucking Terminals Etobicoke” initiative 
   • Context: A local resident of south Etobicoke, Alex LaDouceur (not an MRA member) has launched an initiative and court injunction against QuadReal’s 60 Birmingham project, as well as Oxford’s 121 Thirtieth Street project and is seeking a court injunction against the proposed shipping terminals in these areas. More info on his initiative is here: https://noshippingterminals.ca/
   • Key actions: we need to discuss our position on this
     1. MRA will not take a stance on this issue and will remain neutral
     2. Emma to communicate MRA’s position to Quadreal 

4. Humber Bay Shores Residents’ Association (HBSRA) letter to council re: RapidTo 
   • Context: HBSRA (who we have little information on) submitted a letter to the city council expressing concerns that the city’s plans for RapidTo transit initiative don’t include anything for the Waterfront West LRT, and the Humber Bay Shores area is completely absent in those plans
   • Key next steps: let’s determine our approach here, and if we want to join the HBSRA in the position they have taken
     1. MRA supports more transit in Mimico in a supportive role to HBSRA
     2. Rozhen to communicate MRA’s position to HBSRA 

5. Our Plan Toronto
   • Context: The City of Toronto is updating the Official Plan for Toronto 2051 – a city planning document that acts as Toronto’s road map for land use and development and sets out a long-term vision, shared values, and policies that help guide decision-making on land development, economic growth, the environment and more. There are a variety of town halls, open houses and meetings scheduled for May and June – see here

• Key next steps: Confirm availability among members as we should have MRA attendance at least the meetings about our neighbourhood
  1. Mike, Lauren and John will attend the May 25th Etobicoke York Town Hall 
  2. Mike to circulate invite 

6. Philips’ billboard offer
   • Context: Philip has kindly offered to feature the MRA on a local billboard (on Royal York) to drive awareness and, hopefully, membership
   • Key next steps: Need to determine how we will go about designing this billboard and what information we would like on there (does anyone have or knows anyone who has graphic design experience? I doubt paying for a professional is in scope here)
     1. Tim to produce the graphic in collaboration with Mike

7. Website updates
   • Mary Bella (a member who has previously helped us with our website) has offered to help with any website updates we might need
   • Key next steps: Before we engage Mary, can we compile our thoughts for the website (What areas do we need her help with? What are critical missing pieces? What needs to be updated?)
     1. MRA agrees Mary to be given full autonomy in recreating MRA’s website 
     2. Profiles will need to be updated to reflect the new board 
     3. Rozhen to communicate with Mary

8. Summer Events
   • Context: With summer right around the corner, we likely will need to get plans in motion for any in-person summer events sooner rather than later. I know we spoke about the brewery event, the Mimico pet mayor (not sure if this is in person) and Wednesday Wisdom. However, I think we are not limited to just these if folks have additional ideas.
   • Key next steps: Determine ownership for summer events and tentative dates and plans
     1. Mimico Meat and Greet June 23rd tentatively, 6:30-8:30 pm
     2. Philip to inquire with Mimico Cruising Club as a possible venue
     3. Mike to inquire with GLB as a possible venue

9. Other updates
   • MLCN meeting on 2405-2417 Lakeshore development proposal – John
     1. Big issues in Mimico right now include:
        1. New road through Birds and Beans and Amos Waites Park
        2. 2 + 4 Superior slighted for demolition 
        3. Removal of mature trees
        4. Building heights
     2. John to put together a comparison of proposal vs. secondary plan
     3. MRA strongly opposes development as currently proposed.  Further consideration to be given into next steps
   • Mimico Pet Mayor – Tim
     1. Not addressed in meeting
   • Access to Instagram account – Lauren / Emma
     1. Lauren has been granted access 
   • Logins for website – Tim/Jim
     1. Not addressed in meeting 
   • Insurance – Emma/Mike
     1. Cheque for insurance renewal to be cut by Emma and executed by Mike 

10. Schedule June board meeting
    • Consider June 8 or 15 for consistency on Wednesdays
    • We should aim to have 8-10 confirmed attendees to ensure we can secure a quorum as things come up