ACAP Saint John - Annual Report, 2012-2013

2012|2013

S A I N T J O H N

ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTSWHO WE ARE 3

2012 AGM MINUTES 4

PRESIDENT’S REPORT 7

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT 8

PROGRAMS 2012-2013 10GREEN NETWORK 2012 10

TREE PLANTING 10

HAZEN CREEK HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS 11

MARSH CREEK WQM 11

COURTENAY BAY STUDY 12

COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN [CEMP] 12

LITTLE RIVER FISH RESCUE 13

WATERSHEDS 2.0 13

MARSH CREEK ECO-CHALLENGE 2012 14

SPONSORS & DONORS 15

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012-2013 16

STAFF 2012-2013 17

SECRETARY’S REPORT 18

TREASURER’S REPORT 19

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Layout and Design of the 2012-2013 ACAP Annual Report by Graeme Stewart-Robertson

WHO WE ARE

ACAP Saint John is a community based, non-profit organisation that en-courages local involvement from all sectors of the Saint John community.

ACAP Saint John was started in 1991 as one of thirteen environmental “hot spots” in Atlantic Canada. We are currently implementing recommendations from our Comprehensive Environmental Management Plan which was developed locally, through a broad based consensus.

The two primary goals of ACAP Saint John are:

1. To engage the multi-sectorial community of Greater Saint John in the collabo-rative management and restoration of our watersheds; and,

2. ACAP Saint John envisions a sustainable community that embraces the inter-dependence of the unique social, economic and environmental characteristics of the region’s watersheds.

ACAP Saint John can be found online at www.acapsj.com, on facebook at facebook.com/acapsj and on twitter, @ACAPSaintJohn.


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2012 AGM MINUTESANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

JUNE 7, 2012GLENN CARPENTER CENTRE

PRESENT: Terry Cormier, Don Shaw, Brenda MacCallum, Jody Kliffer, Gordon Dalzell, Renée Estabrooks, Rob MacAndrew, David Methven, Craig Silliphant, Brian Comeau, Rick Turner, Mike Griffin, Rheal Guimond, Tim Vickers, Graeme Stewart-Robertson, and invited guests.

Regrets:, Randy McLellan, Peter Wilshaw.

1. PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS: Don Shaw welcomed the Board and invited guests and encouraged members to adhere to the Agenda timeline.

2. Don S. inquired as to proposed ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA and was asked to allow Jody C. the opportunity to provide a community update on the Commuter Challenge.

3. No errors or omissions were noted to the MINUTES from the June 2, 2011 AGM. Terry C. Motion. Mike G. 2nd. Approved.

4. PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Don S. presented the President’s Report in which he concisely collated the previous year’s activities of ACAP Saint John by high-lighting several of the key projects completed in 2011/2012. He went on to ac-knowledge and thank the dedicated efforts of the staff, the Board and especially the Executive members.

5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Tim Vickers noted the importance of the work being conducted by the Governance Committee as they moved towards updating ACAP Saint John’s By-Laws. Tim added that increased Board engage-ment in projects such as the Eco-Challenge was improving the ACAP’s ability to deliver effective community projects. Tim concluded by stating that the celebra-tion of ACAP’s twentieth year in operation combined with the advancement of the Marsh Creek Restoration Initiate and the development of an new Comprehensive


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Environmental Management Plan all bode well for the commencement of an excit-ing new chapter in the ACAP organization.

6. The financial statements were presented in the TREASURER’S REPORT by Renée E. ACAP Saint John experienced a year end surplus of $18,956, resulting in a 12.8% increase in retained earnings ($167,424) versus 2011. ACAP remains in a sound financial position due to the vigilance of the Executive, the Executive Director and the professional financial services provided by our accountant Roland Gagnon, and by auditor Peter Wilshaw. Renee motioned that ACAP retain the services of Wilshaw & Associates to conduct the 2013-2013 Financial audit. Second Brenda M. MOTION CARRIED.

7. NOMINATION REPORT Rick Turner presented the Nominating Committee Report and reported that the Executive and Board were just starting the second year of a two-year term. As such, the current Directors of ACAP were; Gordon DalzellMike GriffinDavid MethvenRobert MacAndrewRichard TurnerRandy McLellanBrian ComeauJody KlifferRheal GuimondNeil Pond And the Executive consisted of Don Shaw, PresidentCraig Silliphant, 1st V PresidentBrenda MacCallum, 2nd V PresidentRenée Estabrooks, Secretary &TreasurerTerry Cormier, Past President Rick T. indicated that the only office to be filled at the 2012 AGM was for the posi-tion of Treasurer, which had been covered by Renee E. since the resignation of Jean MacDonald. Rick Russell who had previously served on ACAP’s Board of Di-

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rectors from June 2001 through June 2005 offered to put forward his name to fill this position and, after receiving no other nominations from the floor, was elected.MOTION CARRIED.

8. NEW BUSINESS included a progress report from the Governance Commit-tee, which consisted of Terry C., Brenda M. and Renée E. The members indicated that By-law revisions were forthcoming and that these would require the approval of the membership. It was anticipated that the By-Laws would be revised before the end of 2012 to augment the development of a new Comprehensive Environ-mental Management Plan. The Gov. Comm. also provided an update of the proposed Mission and Vision Statements. Gordon D. and Brenda M. discussed the wording and content of the statements, and the members agreed on the following; Mission: To engage the multi-sectorial community of Greater Saint John in the collaborative management and restoration of our watersheds. Vision: ACAP Saint John envisions a sustainable community that embraces the interdependence of the unique social, economic and environmental characteris-tics of the region’s watersheds. Jody K. provided an update on the Commuter Challenge, and encouraged mem-bers to register and participate in the nation-wide event.

9. There being no further business, the meeting was ADJOURNED by Don S.

SUBMITTED BY

Secretary, Renée Estabrooks

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PRESIDENT’S REPORTLast years summary of all your efforts bears repeating and credit still goes to you and the fantastic team that we have all been a part of. Tim’s report covers all your many successes and efforts during the past twelve months.

Without the dedicated services of Tim Vickers and Graeme Stewart-Robertson we would have been hard pressed to share another successful year. A highlight this year was Tim’s graduation. Congratulations Tim from all of us.

Thank you to all the Executive, Board members and stakeholders for their contri-butions. My role has been easy because of their solid work ethic and the excite-ment that they continually bring to our many and diverse projects.

We will shortly be selecting a new and improved Executive to lead us into and through an upcoming year of challenging opportunities. You are encouraged and will all be expected to anxiously hurry to get in line for these most envied posi-tions.

In summary, we have been very fortunate to have all these wonderful people doing their very best for you and ACAP. We anticipate another exciting twelve months yet to come.

The transition from this Chair and on into the unknown reminds me of the 4 Rs in good management. ONE: Recognize a challenge or problem when it pre-sents itself. TWO: Relegate someone (Tim) to resolve the challenge. THREE: Re-view to determine if all is well. FOUR: If the challenge still exists, Remove the problem (Get a new President and retire the old one).

Respectfully,

DON SHAW

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORTThe 2012/2013 year saw ACAP Saint John invest in re-defining its operational and governance structures as well as its strategic mandate. Specifically, the or-ganisation’s governance doctrine received a long overdue facelift in the form of revised By-laws that, at a December 19, 2013 special meeting, were ratified by the Board of Directors of ACAP Saint John. These updated By-laws further solidi-fied ACAP Saint John’s standing as a viable, charitable, not-for-profit community organisation.

Augmenting these updated By-laws were newly minted mandates in the form of a strategic Vision that states ‘ACAP Saint John envisions a sustainable community that embraces the interdependence of the unique social, economic and environ-mental characteristics of the region’s watersheds’, and a Mission to ‘engage the multi-sectorial community of Greater Saint John in the collaborative management and restoration of our watersheds’.

These revised strategic elements helped define the framework by which ACAP crafted a new five year management plan titled ‘Comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) 2013-2018 for Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: Environmental management priorities of the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Saint John Inc., for the years 2013 through 2018’. This CEMP represents an admittedly ambitious endeavour in both scale and scope; however, ACAP’s on-going engagement with key stakeholders suggests we have the capacity within the community to achieve an enviable proportion of the highlighted issues. The ac-ceptance and adoption of the 2013-2018 CEMP will be determined at the 2013 Annual General Meeting.

Further to the By-laws and CEMP, new policies were drafted to foster Human Re-source, Health & Safety and Financial guidelines that were in-line with government regulations, current ACAP operational characteristics, and with contemporary views on effective employee management. The final revisions and adoption of these policies is anticipated early in the 2013 fiscal year, and will add even greater clarity to the governance and operations of ACAP Saint John.

While the internal environment of ACAP Saint John was undergoing substantive improvements, the external environment in which we operate was benefitting from even more impressive changes. The 2012/13 year recorded the most significant advancements in fish habitat restoration in the history of this organisation; with the most noteworthy of these being the removal of three barriers to fish passage

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in Hazen Creek. This ‘Harbour Cleanup’ related habitat compensation project, which resulted from years of watershed management planning and stakeholder consultation, validated ACAP’s strategic approach towards providing definitive and pre-determined compensation options to development proponents. The Ha-zen Creek project, along with two others, also added credence to ACAP’s ongoing efforts to expand its offering of environmental support services to private compa-nies.

The ability to quickly and effectively adjust our task schedule around the needs of construction crews conducting the restoration activities, while still exceeding our requisite deliverables on all projects, was due in large part to the multi-tasking abilities of ACAP’s Project Manager, Graeme Stewart-Robertson. Graeme’s pro-pensity for juggling a diverse array of tasks across the scope of numerous pro-jects continues to foster an internal environment of confidence in ACAP’s opera-tional effectiveness.

In closing, I would rate 2012/2013 as one of the most rewarding in my ten year term as Executive Director. The Board engagement was the greatest to-date, re-sulting in a definitive advancement in the integrity of the ACAP organisation; the stream restoration work surpassed the collective of similar works of the past decade, resulting in the first opportunity (in my lifetime) that fish have had to navigate the entirety of this Hazen Creek tributary; and the viable prospects of surpassing the 2012 habitat restoration works in the 2013-2015 period are add-ing even more anticipation to ACAP’s working environment.

TIM VICKERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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PROGRAMS 2012-2013

GREEN NETWORK 2012The 2012 Green Network continues to highlight the success of this volunteer

based model as increasing numbers of people from throughout Greater Saint John become engaged in the hands-on grassroots management of their local environment. The 2012 Green Network helped organise 21 cleanups, involving 2,143 volunteers, which resulted in the removal of 24.0 tonnes of debris from the greater Saint John area.

TREE PLANTINGACAP Saint John coordinated five tree planting events in the Hazen Creek water-shed in 2012. Tree planting locations were selected in conjunction with ongoing fish habitat restoration projects that included two large fish culvert installations, the back flooding of a hanging culvert by the construction of three weirs, a wing de-flector and 30 metres of bank stabilisation. Funding for the tree planting was provided by grants from the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund, Tree Canada and Evergreen/Home Depot, with in-kind contributions from ACAP Saint John, and volunteers from the TD Bank and the Hilton Hotel. Eighty-two volunteers assisted in the planting of 378 trees, which included 40 White spruce seedlings, 238 potted White cedar, 25 Hemlock, 25 White spruce, 25 White Pine and 25 Balsam fir. ACAP staff will monitor the success of these riparian reforestation sites in the years to come and will augment the riparian vegetation as needed.

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HAZEN CREEK HABITAT IMPROVEMENTSThe alterations to Hazen Creek’s stream channels resulted in a degradation of the ecological integrity of the watershed, due in large part to the introduction of nu-merous culverts that created vertical drops that were impassable to the upstream movement of fish. ACAP Saint John’s watershed management plan for Hazen Creek identified these ‘hanging culverts’ as priority items for remediation. In 2012, the City of Saint John initiated five fish habitat compensation projects in Hazen Creek (that were proposed by ACAPSJ in 2010) including the replacement [elimination] of two hanging culverts, the back flooding of one culvert via rock weirs, 30 m of bank stabilisation, and the insertion of a wing deflector to reduce stream braiding. The scale and scope of these projects, which included the use of large rock, rip-rap and log materials, necessitated the use of heavy equipment and in some cases the removal of existing riparian vegetation. The loss of vegeta-tion and associated potential for erosion was compensated for through Hy-droseeding, straw mulch and brush mats.

MARSH CREEK WQMIn late 2012, the long awaited completion of Harbour Cleanup will be near, and the dumping of raw sewage into the creek will cease. ACAP Saint John has devel-oped a vision to maximize this potential through the Marsh Creek Restoration Ini-tiative (MCRI), which includes; storm water management, urban fish and wildlife habitats, recreational activities, eco-tourism, and active transportation.The objective of this project was to retrieve and record as much data as possible prior to the ceasing of the raw sewage outfalls. This was done by collecting sam-ples and testing the water in six different tests for four weeks.The six different tests included testing pH and Dissolved Oxygen in the field as well as testing for total fecal coliform count, pH, Orthophosphates and Total Sus-pended Solids in the lab. The pH results appear to be at an acceptable level every week. There is an extremely unhealthy amount of fecal coliforms in Marsh Creek as well as a lot of Total Suspended Solids. The dissolved oxygen levels are low which is not good. Dissolved oxygen levels are depleted by the bacteria that form from the fecal matter being dumped into the creek. Fish survive by breathing dis-solved oxygen which means, if the dissolved oxygen levels continue to lower fish will no longer be able to survive in Marsh Creek.

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COURTENAY BAY STUDYThe objectives of this study were to expand our understanding of the environ-mental attributes of Courtenay Bay, the tidal marsh and estuary of the Marsh Creek watershed. Field studies were conducted to ascertain the occurrence of di-adromous fishes and migratory birds within the watershed. This project found that despite a diversity and abundance of aquatic and brackish habitats, there were no anadromous fishes in Marsh Creek upstream of the tide

gates on the Cour tenay causeway, whereas American eels were found to be ubiqui-tous throughout all sub-drainages of the watershed. The report did not ascertain the reason for the lack of anadromous fishes; however, the occur rence o f f i ve flapper-style tide gates is considered a likely contribut-ing factor.

COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

PLAN [CEMP]ACAP Saint John, being a true multi-stakeholder (hence ‘community’) organisa-tion, recognises the inherent necessity of evolving to reflect the changing socio-economic characteristics of the region so as to be able to respond to the interests and requirements of its stakeholders. The acknowledgement of ACAP’s requisite organisational transformation is tempered with the recognition that ACAP strives to minimise the duplication of services with other organisations (be they govern-ment, commercial, institutional or non-profit) in the region. This philosophical approach to operating as a ‘competitively considerate’ entity requires ACAP to routinely evaluate its core competencies in relation to both pending changes in the physical environment (read management priorities) as well as changes to the availability of resources. It is in this context that ACAP Saint John in 2012 initi-ated a formal review of its market position with respect to its service deliverables, core competencies and resource assets. The results of this review are collated in


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this guiding document titled ‘A Comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) 2013-2018 for Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada’.

LITTLE RIVER FISH RESCUEACAP Saint John was hired by JD Irving Ltd to isolate and conduct a fish rescue operation in a ~50 m section of Little River adjacent to their Irving Paper Prod-ucts (IPP) operation in east Saint John, New Brunswick. The Little River site was associated with a fish habitat restoration project conducted by IPP which resulted in the removal of three metal cul-verts and riprap that tran-sected the river. ACAP staff inspected the site prior to the fish rescue operation, and de-termined that larger-than-normal barrier nets needed to be acquired to effectively block fish passage through this sec-tion. The custom barrier nets were installed above and below the culverts and electroseining operations were conducted be-tween them to determine the presence of fish. The nets were then moved apart and electroseining and minnow trapping were conducted to determine the presence of fish. No fish were observed in the isolated channel at any time during the fish rescue operation. The nets were removed less than 24 hours after the in-stream culvert removal and riparian landscaping were com-pleted.

WATERSHEDS 2.0A cloud-based platform that provided an unprecedented level of knowledge dis-semination pertaining to site-specific environmental characteristics in the region. Over the course of this project’s duration, over a half million hits to the ACAP Saint John website were registered from 26,000 visitors from New Brunswick, across every Canadian province and from around the world, indicating a keen and

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growing public interest in environmental issues both at home and abroad. These users, on average, spent anywhere from several minutes, to half an hour on the site, indicating a high level of engagement with the material offered and the depth with which it could be interacted. The Environmental Interactions project has suc-ceeded in bringing environmental management and decision making into the con-temporary realm of online interaction and engagement, and sets a new bench-mark for environmental projects in Atlantic Canada.

MARSH CREEK ECO-CHALLENGE 2012 The 2012 Marsh Creek Eco-challenge resulted in 112 participants and 36 volun-teers who ran, hiked, canoed and biked through a diverse array of scenic land-scapes ranging from purely urban development to undisturbed woodlands. The event fostered excep-tional stakeholder engagement in offer-ing innovative rec-ommendations to further improve this one-of-a-kind event. The broad reaching inf luence of th is event coupled with the participant rec-ommendations im-plies the value of such initiatives will grow in the years to come.


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SPONSORS & DONORSALERT

Blue Legacy InternationalBoFEP

Canaport LNGCBCL Ltd.

City of Saint John

City of Saint John Municipal Operations and EngineeringClow

Emera New BrunswickEnvironment CanadaFundy Engineering

Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission

Glenn Carpenter CentreHome Depot Evergreen

J.D. Irving

NB Environmental Trust Fund

NB Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour

NB Department of Environment

NB Wildlife Trust FundNaTECH

Parkway MallRockwood Park

Service CanadaStantec

TD Tree CanadaThe Bike Guyz

Xerox NAAO Saint John97.3 The Wave & Country 94

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012-2013

DIRECTORS 2011-2012

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Don Shaw President

Craig Silliphant 1st Vice-President Clow Canada

Brenda MacCallum 2nd Vice-President FRSWC

Renée Estabrooks Treasurer, Secretary J.D. Irving

Terry Cormier Past President Consultant

Gordon Dalzell Clean Air Coalition

Randy McLellan Clean Earth

Mike Griffin Environmentalist

Robert McAndrew Naturalist

Neil Pond Urban Landscaping

David Methven University of New Brunswick

Craig Silliphant Clow Canada

Richard Turner Hughes Survey & Consultants Ltd.

Rick Russell Irving Oil Ltd.

Rheal Guimond CHBA-SJ

Jody Kliffer City of Saint John

Brian Comeau Xerox

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STAFF 2012-2013TIM VICKERS Tim advanced his administrative skills by completing his MBa in International Business and continues to leverage economic interests into ACAP projects in an effort to develop regional examples of ‘truly’ sustainable development. Tim continues to work towards the advancement of transforma-tion change within the watersheds of greater Saint John.

GRAEME STEWART-ROBERTSON Graeme fully established himself in 2012 as ACAP’s Project Manager putting his personal mark on a new signature event the second annual “Marsh Creek Eco-Challenge”. Graeme was able to expose hundreds of New Brunswickers to the rugged natural beauty of this urban watershed in a physically challeng-ing setting. The success of this event has inspired him to make 2013 an even greater success and we look forward to seeing what he has in store for the competitors.

CRYSTAL COLPITTS Crystal expanded her role at ACAP in 2012, demonstrating her ex-ceptional ability to meticulously organise events and contribute to the wide range of activities ACAP engages in. Crystal continues to prove she is one of the most reliable and productive employees ACAP has ever had the privilege of working with.

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SECRETARY’S REPORTAccording to the by-laws of the company, the following are the current members of ACAP Saint John for the purposes of the year 2013 Annual Meeting.

Don Shaw

Craig Silliphant

Brenda MacCallum

Renee Estabrooks

Rick Russell

Terry Cormier

Mike Griffin

Gordon Dalzell

David Methven

Rob MacAndrew

Rick Turner

Randy McLellan

Brian Comeau

Jody Kliffer

Rheal Guimond

Neil Pond

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A C A P S a i n t J O h n

a c a p s j . c o mfacebook.com/acapsjtwitter.com/ACAPSaintJohn

76 Germain Street

P.O. Box 6878, Stn. A

Saint John, New Brunswick

Canada E2L 4S3

Phone: 506-652-2227

Fax: 506-633-2184

Documents

ACAP Saint John - Annual Report, 2012-2013