City of Kingston Report to Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum Report Number KEAF

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1 To: From: Resource Staff: City of Kingston Report to Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum Report Number KEAF Date of Meeting: Subject: Executive Summary: Chair and Members of Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum Cynthia Beach, Commissioner, Corporate & Strategic Initiatives Paul MacLatchy, Director Environment & Sustainable Initiatives Updated Stormwater Quality Education and Program - Fish & Frogs Forever Suggested Program Modifications The Fish & Frogs Forever (3F) program is a Kingston- specific curbside education program that aims to increase awareness of how much of the City of Kingston s overland drainage (storm water) system connects directly to local waterways without treatment and how the dumping of pollutants such as used oils, paints, wash water etc. into storm drains is illegal and potentially harmful to the aquatic environment. The 3F program has been in place since 2000 initially implemented and administered by City staff and then more recently through a casual service agreement with the Kingston Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology at Queens University. The main components of the 3F program are the provision of education modules on storm water quality issues to local students in the Grade 5 to 9 cohort and the use of student groups to paint fish and frog reminder icons beside storm drains and to place storm water quality protection informational door hangers or brochures at homes and businesses within targeted neighborhoods. At the March 9, 2015 KEAF meeting City staff were requested to consult with a working group of KEAF to identify cost neutral opportunities for improving the reach and impact of the Fish & Frogs Forever storm water quality protection program. This report provides recommendations, intended to be cost neutral, for improving the reach and impact of the program on a go forward basis. 1

2 Page 2 of 8 Recommendation: That staff update the implementation plan for the Fish and Frogs Forever program in accordance with the recommendations put forth within report KEAF to the Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum, and That staff report back to the Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum before the end 2016 on the performance of the Fish and Frogs Forever Program and seek advice on how to continuously improve the program in Authorizing Signatures: Cynthia Beach, Commissioner, Corporate & Strategic Initiatives Gerard Hunt, Chief Administrative Officer Consultation with the following Members of the Corporate Management Team: Lanie Hurdle, Community Services Denis Leger, Transportation, Facilities & Emergency Services Jim Keech, President and CEO, Utilities Kingston Desiree Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer & City Treasurer Not required Not required Not required Options/Discussion: Background on Fish & Frogs Forever - Clean Water in Kingston Starts with You: The Fish & Frogs Forever (3F) Program was created in 2000 by the City of Kingston as an education and outreach program designed to provide information about the potential for harm to our aquatic environments from improper use of the storm drainage system. Though initially launched and successfully executed by city staff for its first eight years, the delivery of the program was largely outsourced in 2008 to the Kingston Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology at Queen s University. The City of Kingston provides consumable products needed to deliver the 3F Program and the Society provides volunteers to reach out to teachers and student groups and to lead student groups in painting of road surface icons and distribution of information. 2

3 Page 3 of 8 Since 2008 the 3F Program has been composed of four main components: Presentations Volunteers trained by the Society of Conservation Biology present to the group and cover local water topics; Painting Visual Reminders Participants in the program (usually groups of school aged children) paint yellow fish and green frog icons beside storm drains to remind the community that liquids that go down the storm drain go straight to our lakes and rivers without treatment and could harm our aquatic ecosystems. Distributing Door Hangers The colourful door hangers are shaped as fish and frogs and contain both local information about our storm drain system and action-oriented messaging on how individuals can help minimize their impact on the local water system; Wearing the Message Providing volunteers and others with in demand T-Shirts with the colorful Fish & Frogs message on the back. The City s Environment and Sustainable Initiatives Department maintains an annual budget of $2,000 to cover consumables (paint, door hangers, posters, hand tools, Personal Protective Equipment, etc.) required for delivery of the 3F Program. Over the past 14 years actual costs to run the program have ranged from $0 to $2,000 reflecting the varying levels of effort in any given year. Implementation of the 3F program has often been done within specific neighborhoods in response to incidents of illegal dumping to the storm water system where the persons responsible are not known. The City of Kingston s storm water system is regulated by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change via the Ontario Water Resources Act, the Ontario Environmental Protection Act and Environmental Compliance Approvals that lay out specific requirements for specific components of storm water management infrastructure. Delivery of the 3F Program is a component of the City s due diligence in operating the storm water system in compliance with Ontario regulation and so that it is protective of the receiving environment. Since 2008 the Fish and frogs Forever program has delivered twenty-eight (28) community outreach activities in cooperation with the following groups and events: Junior Naturalists Kingston, Meadowbrook Brownies, Boys & Girls Club in Kingston,.E. Horton Public School, YMCA and Maple Madness at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area. KEAF Working Group Findings: At the March 9, 2015 Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum (KEAF) meeting, City staff were requested to consult with a working group of KEAF to identify cost neutral opportunities for improving the reach and impact of the Fish & Frogs Forever (3F Program) stormwater quality protection program. Further, a recommendation for an updated stormwater quality education and outreach program be provided back to KEAF. The working group was supported by City staff and met together between May 1 and June 25, 2015 to assess the current state of the 3F Program situation and identify potential improvement opportunities based upon: Financial resources; 3

4 Page 4 of 8 Staff resources; Impact toward objectives; Simplicity and ease of delivery; Target audience; Public interest, participation, & fun factor. The outcome of the working groups efforts are described below and a recommendation is provided where appropriate. Recommended Modifications for Fish & Frogs Forever: A) Scope and Goals of the 3F Program The Issue: The scope of the present program has a relatively narrow focus on reducing the illegal dumping of pollutants into storm sewers. The potential for harmful impacts from other non-point source pollutants contained within stormwater runoff such as litter, soaps, pet wastes, sediment and lawn fertilizers could also be included within the scope of the 3F program. Updated program goals could include: Remind people of the importance of local aquatic ecosystems and the harmful effects of pollutants; Protect the integrity of our aquatic ecosystems and drinking water sources by protecting the quality of stormwater runoff; Educate about the various sources of stormwater pollution; Remind citizens that individual actions can collectively make a great difference to stormwater quality and that dumping of waste materials into storm drains or on to road surfaces is harmful and illegal; Encourage people to dispose of pollutants properly and use the City s Household Hazardous Waste Deport; and Inform citizens that common practices like washing cars in driveways, fertilizing lawns, and not picking up after pets can pollute the stormwater system and cause adverse effects on the local aquatic ecosystem. Recommendation A: Update the 3F Program goals so that a broader scope of stormwater quality protection can be addressed. B) Measuring and Reporting Performance of the 3F Program The Issue: The 3F Program does not have metrics that allow the City to measure its success. Therefore, it is not known if the program is accomplishing its intended goals or how resources should be directed to improve the program s value. There is no reporting of the 3F program s performance from year to year. The 3F program could be measured in the following ways: Number of student participants; 4

5 Page 5 of 8 Number of outreach events; Number of door hangers distributed; Number of community groups involved; Number of illegal dumping and stormwater incident reports and year to year trends; Quantities of liquid waste materials brought to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility; Quantity of web, social media and news related to the 3F program and stormwater quality; Qualitative stories from program participants; Costs of program; GIS layer showing locations of areas where storm drains have been labelled with the 3F logos and information has been distributed. Recommendation B: Develop performance measures for the 3F Program and use them to assess and report performance annually. C) Increase the Reach of the 3F Program The Issue: The reach of the 3F program has been limited to one target audience school aged children and by relying on one service delivery agent the Kingston Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology. It is expected that other audiences within the community would be receptive to the messages of the 3F Program due to their interest in related issues such as public swimming and beach quality, drinking water protection, boating, fishing, etc.). The 3F Program could be modified to target these other audiences and, in conjunction with City staff, volunteer community program delivery agents could be recruited within these other interested groups. Creating awareness within an expanded audience could also improve the effectiveness of reducing behaviours that contribute to stormwater pollution. Recommendation C: Modify the 3F Program to include information and approaches that would garner interest of other groups of people and also seek to include other interested community groups in the delivery of the program. D) The visual identity of the 3F Program The Issue: Prior to engaging in the review of the 3F Program working group members were unaware of the logo or the program and suspect that a similar lack of awareness persists within the community. A challenge within the existing 3F Program handout materials identified by the working group was the shape of the door hangers; the current hangers use visual design that is similar but identical to the 3F Program logo. Consistent use of the logo in other materials is important for reinforcing the visual identity of the program. The working group was also unable to locate any examples where the program logo was used to generate curiosity in the community through indirect means (e.g., cross-branding on city websites with programs that are aligned with stormwater protection goals). 5

6 Page 6 of 8 Recommendation D: Develop a marketing plan for the 3F Program that could include; modification of program materials so the 3F logo is used in a consistent fashion, increasing awareness of the program through social media and through association with other City and community initiatives that have alignment with stormwater quality protection goals. E) Update 3F Program Materials The Issue: A review of the materials currently used in the program suggests that they are out of date, not completely aligned with the program s goals/objectives, not always suited for use by potential community partners, and could be modified so that the scope and target of the program can be increased. Program materials could also be updated so that they could be better utilized by specific community service delivery partners (i.e. Society for Conservation Biology), by the City and by others. Recommendation E: Assess and update program materials (posters, door hangers, web information, etc.) to determine suitability for attracting a wider audience, other service delivery agents and to allow for a broader scope of messaging in regard to stormwater quality protection. F) Improve Year-to-Year Continuity of Program Delivery The Issue: The program is delivered almost exclusively by the Society of Conservation Biology) at Queen s which is a volunteer based group of university students and as such, the continuity of the program can suffer due to annual turnover of volunteers. This may result in having to rebuild some or all of the program delivery each year as new volunteers comes on board with the Society and the program becomes active in years where volunteers engage in it and less active in years where they don t. Recommendation F: The City should take a leading role in managing the delivery of the program so that a diversity of community service delivery partners are utilized, year to year program knowledge and focus is maintained and so that community partners like the Kingston Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology are supported to deliver the program each year. G) Incorporate New Promotion Approaches Into the 3F Program The Issue: If the 3F Program is to be expanded in reach and scope, additional marketing tools and strategies will be needed. Stormwater programing can be done in a variety of ways. Consider new marketing tools and other strategies aimed at target audiences. Additional opportunities could include the following: Focused Marketing Tools Develop materials that focus on other interested people and places information where they may gather (i.e. vet offices and dog parks, boating clubs, recreational fishing areas, beaches, etc.). Residential Rain Garden Programs Rain gardens have the ability to reduce the amount of pollution entering bodies of water by intercepting stormwater. Other communities, offer knowledge and support to residents to build rain gardens. 6

7 Page 7 of 8 ICI Rain Garden Programs Explore the idea of starting a rain garden initiative for Kingston s institution, commercial and industry sectors. Retail Store Programing A retail store program could be aimed at changing behaviours of customers of retail stores. By informing store staff on the proper disposal, and potential environmental impacts of products being sold such as cleaning agents, fertilizers, paints, oils, etc. Humour & Street Theatre Humour and street theatre has been used to raise awareness of cigarette butt disposal and pet waste in other communities residing by water. Performers walk and perform among tourists and locals at busy community events with messages displayed on sandwich boards which confirm stormwater pollutants, where butts discarded in the street by smokers and pet waste may end up. Land Owner Information Package Create a one page document that could be used by the real estate community or provided by the City s Planning and Building departments. Improve link to hazardous waste Link stormwater quality protection to the use of the City s Household Hazardous Waste Facility. Thank you card in Utilities Kingston rain barrels Include a thank you card in the Utilities Kingston rain barrels with other solutions to water conservation/protection initiatives. Customer Service Solutions Prepare information on ways to protect stormwater quality and access to the 3F Program for customer service representatives. Stormwater walks Paint where the stormwater goes on the surface so people can follow where the water goes all the way to the outfall. Fish & Frogs Forever Corporate Day A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) one day Fish & Frogs Forever blitz for adults could be planned. Every April the community Pitch s In and cleans up parks and other public spaces. A similar program could enhance Fish & Frogs Forever, for one day in May register, organize and supply participating organizations with the materials and knowledge to paint fish and frogs on pre-selected sewers. Recommendation G: Explore and identify new options for program delivery and marketing that will support targeting of a wider audience and a broader scope of information related to protecting stormwater quality in Kingston. Existing Policy/By-Law: The Sewer Use Bylaw ( ) of the City of Kingston sets out the rules for use of the City s sanitary and storm water systems. The Sewer Use Bylaw contains prohibitions against dumping of pollutants into the storm sewer system and sets specific discharge quality limits for discharges to the sanitary and storm water systems. 7

8 Page 8 of 8 Notice Provisions: None Accessibility Considerations: The accessibility of the 3F Program is an important consideration and materials and programming should be designed so that they may be delivered in alternative formats when required. Financial Considerations: While this report recommends consideration for improving the 3F Program in specific areas that may require use of existing program budgets, this report does not recommend any increases to existing operational or capital budgets. Contacts: Paul MacLatchy, Director, Environment & Sustainable Initiatives, ext Other City of Kingston Staff Consulted: Dan Franco, Supervising Engineer, Engineering Services Department Colleen Gareau, Director, Strategic Communications Exhibits Attached: None 8