Monthly Meeting
September 10, 2012
Attendees:
- John Sankey, President
- Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
- Fred McLennan
- Peter Foulger
- Marilyn Koch
- Christine Johnson
- Issie Berish
- Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa
- Nicole Espenant, Assistant to the Councillor
- Sylva Baroody
John Sankey: Passed out the agenda and asked for its approval.
Motion: To approve the June minutes. Moved by Christine Johnson, seconded by Issie Berish, carried.
Councillor’s Report
Nicole Espenant: Presented the Councillor’s Report. The completion of the Airport Parkway Pedestrian/Cycling Bridge depends on the pouring of the concrete of the tower. , the first pour should start in the coming weeks. The contractor has done mock-ups of the bridge to make sure the construction is completed successfully.
John Sankey: The pouring will be done in two stages: the first pour must cure for 30 days, then the second pour which must cure for 30 days and then the upper deck can be completed. There is not enough time to complete the bridge this year.
Christine Johnson: She asked about a relative comparison of time needed for completion of similar bridge projects. For instance how long did it take to complete the Corkstown Bridge over the Rideau Canal?
John Sankey: This bridge is more advanced in design than any built before in Ontario.
General Discussion
Peter Brimacombe: Said that the water bags around young trees probably saved them from the drought this summer. He asked about progress on the sink hole on Highway 174 and asked about the digging project at Walkley and McCarthey.
Christine Johnson: Asked if anyone knew what is the construction project south of Tim Hortons and the Days Inn on Hunt Club Road is?
Nicole Espenant: Send me a request and I will try to find out about the construction.
Proposal to subdivide 1195 Hunt Club
John Sankey: There is a proposal to subdivide the property with the old Bingo Hall on Hunt Club Road.
Christine Johnson: Right now there is a private driveway on the property that joins with Hunt Club Road. Given this upcoming change, perhaps we could suggest that it be closed to improve through traffic. Access to all businesses on this property could be via Mountain Crescent. The Committee of Adjustment will consider the proposal on September 19 at 18:30.
Motion: That Christine Johnson speak at the Committee of Adjustment regarding the subdivision of 1195 Hunt Club Road to recommend that the private driveway be closed and access to both properties be via Mountain Crescent. Moved by Christine Johnson, seconded by Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa.
Issie Berish: He thinks that the Daycare has not been consulted. He sees parents parking on the private driveway.
Christine Johnson: She will talk to the Daycare.
Vote on motion: carried
Priorities for the coming year
John Sankey: What should be our priorities for the coming year? As a starting point here are three: to adopt parks in our area, to pick up garbage in public spaces around our houses and to have our own newspaper.
Christine Johnson: She and John Sankey manned a booth at the Com Fest at the Community Centre. She used to work where there was a vibrant community newspaper but we really don’t have one in Hunt Club. We are a well-to-do community but we are isolated. We want to be connecting with each other, a newspaper will make us a stronger community but it costs money and the big box stores don’t support local newspapers.
John Sankey: We have to have advertising money and we would have to have insurance to protect against lawsuits. There are parties that sue to intimidate public groups who criticize them. The lawsuits are called SLAPPs, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. He knows people who were subject to such lawsuits.
Issie Berish: We are going to have to print it to get it started. The problem is distribution. We have to have it available at the Community Centre and at the Metro. We could write some stories to get started. We could have a sub-committee to carry this forward.
John Sankey: Issie could do the editorial content and Christine could do the production.
Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa: Staples has a budget for community projects.
John Sankey: There are two sorts of things we can do to improve the general appearance of our community: we can adopt small public spaces near our houses and we can formally adopt parks. An example of adopting small public spaces would be to request a trash can near a bus stop. To formally adopt a park, the requesting party has to agree to a minimum of a two year commitment and must agree to do a clean-up twice a year. The Councillor receives the request and has the authority to accept or reject it. Paul Landry Park is the biggest problem, there is a lot of garbage and it is a hang out.
Motion: That the HCCO offer to adopt Paul Landry Park and that Peter Foulger co-ordinate our activities. Moved by Peter Foulger, seconded by Peter Brimacombe, carried.
General Discussion
John Sankey: Draft of City-wide zoning changes will be made available in the coming year. Two changes have already been drafted.
Christine Johnson: In order to strengthen the cooperation and participation of local neighbourhoods we need to be reaching out to them. Two local neighbourhoods are just outside our ward, in Diane Dean’s Ward: Wisteria Park and the Armed Forces Base. Another local area is in our ward: Quinterra/Riverwood. We need to make an effort to bring in people from there.
John Sankey: We had a meeting about traffic on Riverside Drive and some people from Quinterra attended but there hasn’t been any activity recently.
Next meeting: Monday, October 1 at 19:00