As the planet gets hotter, North Simcoe residents might be relieved to know that the regional environmental protection service provider has a cool head and cool plan ahead.
An update of the local climate change action plan, also called the Sustainable Severn Sound special project, was presented over the past few months to the four North Simcoe municipalities by the Severn Sound Environmental Association – a joint eight-municipality environmental protection partnership around the Severn Sound watershed.
Sustainability and climate action coordinator Jon Main of the SSEA tailored each presentation for the four councils, but kept much of the information the same where it related to regional activity.
“The origin of this project comes from 2009, when the nine municipalities at the time, the health unit and the North Simcoe Community Future Development Corporation collaborated on a sustainability plan; signed by then-Mayor Jim Downer,” said Main as he spoke to the Midland council in February.
“It talked about economic prosperity, community, well-being, and environmental sustainability.”
A local climate change action plan was developed with five milestones to reach, including creating an inventory, setting a target, and developing a plan. At the fourth milestone – implementation of that plan – Main approached the member councils. Main explained that, while providing support, the SSEA would help integrate and operationalize plans into municipal frameworks such as official plans and other policy tools.
Another aspect would involve reviewing municipal climate greenhouse gas data, which is when Main’s tailored presentations addressed each of the North Simcoe communities through data from 2015 of their individual corporate greenhouse gas emissions, per cent, per sector.
For each community’s energy snapshot, transportation was the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (Tiny: 56%; Midland: 46%; Penetanguishene: 45%) with buildings of residential, commercial, and industrial use to follow (Tiny: R 32%, C 2%; Midland: R 21%, C 13%, I 12%; Penetanguishene: R 20%, C 15%, I 12%). Waste brought up the remainder for each.
Municipal energy snapshots were also explored.
Greenhouse gas emissions in Tiny Township were ranked as 76% due to fleet, 19% to buildings including electricity and natural gas/propane, 4% water and wastewater, and 1% waste. Midland showed 40% emissions due to buildings, 38% from their always-on water and wastewater facilities, 20% from fleet, and just 2% due to streetlights.
In Penetanguishene, municipal fleet at 39% was their largest greenhouse gas emitter, with 34% due to buildings, 21% from water and wastewater, 4% from streetlights, and 2% from waste. Tay Township listed 38% due to fleet, 34% from water and wastewater, 24% from buildings, and 2% each for streetlights and waste.
Greenhouse gas emitting municipal facilities from 2015 were presented as a top five list to three councils; Midland didn’t receive a data presentation due to further fact verification. Greenhouse gas emissions per facility were measured in tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e).
In an email to MidlandToday, Main provided Midland’s top five municipal emitters, in order: the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre; the wastewater treatment plant; Midland Public Library; Midland municipal offices and the Ontario Street operations depot.
Main noted that the latter three would rotate in order between each other throughout the years.
Penetanguishene’s top five in 2015, in order, were: Penetanguishene Memorial Community Centre (tCO2e: 153); the sewage treatment plant (95); town hall (34); the Payette pump station (29); and the town’s public library (24).
A total cost of just under $402,000 came from electric bills of roughly $392,000 and gas bills around $9,700. The arena was the largest natural gas emitter (67,600 m³) while the biggest electric use was from the treatment plant (1.5 million kWh).
For Tiny, the top five were: the roads complex on Concession 9 East (tCO2e: 70); fire station #2 (26); Tiny municipal offices (21); fire station #1 (11); and the Tiny Community Centre (10).
A cost of nearly $50,600 was estimated from close to $41,800 electricity, $5,300 natural gas, and $3,500 fuel oil (from the community centre). The municipal office drew the most electricity (162,000 kWh) while the roads complex consumed 34,900 m³ of natural gas.
In Tay, the top five listed by Main were: the Port McNicoll wastewater treatment plant (tCO2e: 178); the Tay treatment plant (73); the municipal garage (59); municipal offices (37); and the Oakwood Community Centre (26). Running the facilities cost an estimated $339,000 from approximately $317,000 in electricity and $21,500 from natural gas use.
The largest electric draw was from the Port McNicoll plant (1.8 million kWh), which also used the most natural gas (56,000 m³).
Conversation sparked between Main and Tay council members curious where the Victoria Harbour wastewater treatment plant placed on the top five list. Main told MidlandToday that after further examination, the plant ranked eighth for greenhouse gas emissions, but was responsible for the second largest electricity draw in the township.
With each municipality addressed, Main brought back the core presentation to each council with a look at the 2023 Simcoe County corporate climate action plan, aiming to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 44% of 2021 levels by 2030, and to a net zero by 2050.
“By investing (in facilities and fleet),” said Main to Tay council, “you can save $130.2 million over 25 years by investing in low carbon or low emissions, so there's a savings component to a lot of this green energy stuff. It pays for itself, but sometimes you do have to pay up front for that.”
Transportation via the county LINX bus service, cycling maps showing the North Simcoe rail trail, and electric vehicle charging stations for each municipality were also included in the presentations.
Midland council was shown an urban heat island effect map for heatwave vulnerability from Laval University. Grant funding was also touched upon including Enbridge, the province’s Great Lakes local action fund, a green municipal fund, and others.
Of the presented information, electric vehicle charging stations were of large interest to municipal heads.
Midland Mayor Bill Gordon acknowledged a turned-down $500,000 budget request for an electric vehicle project grant and challenged town staff to find better deals as grant opportunities became available.
Tiny Township Mayor Dave Evans shared information on the federal Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program for residents interested in switching to save on heating bills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The fifth milestone remaining in the sustainable Severn Sound process was to monitor the impact, and advance the commitment for the municipalities.
“It’s a great reminder,” said Main to Penetanguishene council in March, “that this is your plan; we’re trying to advance it as fast (as we can), and staff have been absolutely delightful to work with.
"We’ve had some great meetings with them, trying to capture all the great initiatives that are going on in the towns.”
North Simcoe council meetings are archived, available through their respective YouTube channels. Presentations from Sustainable Severn Sound can be located in agenda packages for council meetings located on the respective municipal websites. Further information can be found on the Sustainable Severn Sound website.
