Thornhill community earns federal green funding

Funds will ‘inspire action’ says Mayor Scarpitti

Yorkregion.com
June 25, 2015
By Simone Joseph

Markham’s Bayview Glen area will see an injection of $70,000 to make the community more environmentally-friendly and better prepared for climate change.

Thornhill MP Peter Kent made the announcement last week, on behalf of Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the acting mayor of Vancouver.

“This announcement is another example of how our government - in partnership with the FCM - is helping communities like Markham build a greener future for our citizens,” Kent said.

The grant comes from the Green Municipal Fund.

The money is meant to help Markham and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority create what is termed a SNAP (Sustainable Neighbourhood Retrofit Action Plan) for Markham’s Ward 1 (Thornhill) community of Bayview Glen.

The Bayview Glen SNAP will encourage sustainable retrofits to reduce water and energy consumption and help manage storm water.

The plan will build on recommendations from earlier studies of the neighbourhood, and from four other action plans in the GTA.

The plan will guide municipal policy development, public realm concepts, and residential program design.

“The Bayview Glen SNAP will not only accelerate the implementation of strategic sustainable retrofits on private land, but will also inspire action by exhibiting how traditional public infrastructure renewal projects can be re-imagined to add long-term beauty and ecological function,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

The federal government endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with $550 million to establish the Green Municipal Fund.

The fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private-sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.