Meetings & Documents
 

April 6, 1998


Monthly Meeting
April 6, 1998


Attendees:

  • Fred McLennan, President
  • Alan Asselstine, Treasurer
  • Peter Vasdi, Secretary
  • Bill Royds, Director (memberships)
  • Riley Brockington, Director (communications)
  • Fred Winters, Director (recreation/social)
  • Anne Brandel, Director (recreation/social)
  • Nancy Seaby, Director (transit)
  • Gisèle Loiselle-Branch, Director (representing Sequoia Coop and Twyford-Cahill area)
  • Robert Staples, Director (representing Quinterra/Riverwood Landings (west of Riverside))
  • Peter Foulger, Director (representing the Hunt Club Corridor Protection Association)
  • Shelley Parlow, Director (representing the Hunt Club Corridor Protection Association)
  • Wendy Stewart, RMOC councillor
  • Rachel Moore, The News

MOTIONS

See “Casinos” below. Motion made to not have casinos in neighborhood. Motion seconded. Vote: 6 in favor; 4 opposed.

See “11 March open house” below. Motion made:

  • Based on the results of the 11 Mar open house, that the HCCO endorse the result of the questionnaire, where the overwhelming majority of residents chose option 1, “to maintain the entire southern corridor as open space or parkland with no development for houseing or industrial use.”
  • That the HCCO write a letter to our MP and the Minister responsible for the NCC, advising them of the result, and asking what they will do to ensure the preservation of the southern corridor.
  • Motion seconded. All were in favor; none opposed.

KEY ISSUES

The following summarizes the issues discussed at the 6 Apr 98 meeting of the Hunt Club Community Organization (HCCO) at the Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre (HCRCC).

Regional Councillor, Wendy Stewart, submitted a report on the following:

  • Follow-up to Ward Budget Open House
  • Final Phase of Ice Storm Clean-up
  • Regional Chair creates Task Forces
  • Regional Budget and Local Governance
  • Region Turns Methane Gas into Dollars
  • OC Transpo
  • Airport Parkway Extended Traffic Impact Study – Update
  • Appointment to Chair Task Force on Recycling & Waste Management Financing

City councillor, Karin Howard, submitted a newsletter reporting on the following:

  • Budget Workshops
  • Disbanding of Citizens’ Panel
  • Billboard near McCarthy Woods
  • Casinos
  • Nike Corporate Sponsorship
  • Tree Information Sessions
  • Mayor’s Task Force on Re-Treeing Ottawa
  • Stop Signs – Cahill Drive and Twyford Street
  • Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
  • Hunt Club Neighbourhood Plan
  • Teen Committee – Coady Co-op
  • Reassessment of Property Values

Casino:

  • Has HCCO taken any stand re the casino?
  • Charities taking a beating because movable casinos are no more.
  • Revenue from casinos, in general: 80% to Ontario, 10% to City, 10% to owner.
  • Ann Brandel moved to not have a casinos in neighborhood. Bill Royds seconded.
  • Problems with concept of casinos, in general, but, it won’t cause more problems in our community than if casino is in another neighborhood (same detrimental facts there as here).
  • Casinos are environmentally clean.
  • Would there be a traffic problem?
  • Proposed casino is much smaller than in Hull – more like the bingo hall on Hunt Club Rd.
  • Gloucester is considering a casino that encompasses 60 card tables plus other stuff, and also hotels.
  • Casinos provide a way of laundering money from drugs.
  • According to City/Region plan, casino (or any large-scale public attraction) must be near a transit stop.
  • Casinos attract wrong type of people. Lot of very poor people who can’t afford it, go to casino.
  • Priorities: Our neighborhood doesn’t don’t have social services to help people in trouble; we may have a casino but it takes people at least 2 busses to get anywhere that could help them.
  • Balance between advantages vs. problems. We don’t have the public transit for people; therefore, it will mean more traffic. No value to us to have the extra traffic. Revenue from casino won’t help us.
  • New theatres and hotels will bring in more traffic than a casino.
  • Moral objection to gambling in general; however, casino won’t have impact on people in the community.
  • Cost of having a casino is too much for smaller charities because charity requires people/volunteers to man it 24hrs/day for 3 days; otherwise, they will replace people at $20/hour.
  • Kids will go to casino anyway, and it may be preferable for local kids to go to a smaller casino closer to home.
  • Vote: 6 in favor; 4 opposed.
  • For more information, call Fred Winters.

Fundraising for HCCO:

  • Riley is willing to organize a bottle drive it if there are people willing to ring doorbells. Scouts? Baseball teams?
  • Give package of memberships to each HCCO member to sell. Bill will do this.
  • Sell memberships for 1999 (bonus) at Anne’s garage sale.
  • Prorate memberships ($4) for last part of this year plus all of next.
  • Use computer and Maximizer software to keep track of members, and allow members to have a year memberships starting/ending at any time.
  • Talk to Gord Aitken (HCRCC) for compatibility with HCRCC’s requirements.
  • For more information, call Riley Brockington.

Hunt Club neighborhood plan in Karin’s newsletter:

  • City has cut its funding to various services. Environmental management branch (down to 3 people) is going to be axed, meaning that there would be no environment assessment involved in any development plan, or it would have to be subcontracted, usually funded and managed by the development organization.
  • Shelley Parlow moved to oppose the removal of the environmental protection branch. On principle, is there time before budget hearings to address this issue?
  • Should study budget: what is being kept, funded, and what is in danger of not being funded and may disappear? Budget doesn’t say what is increasing/decreasing, just what services are going to be kept at same level.
  • Ottawa took $12M from reserve funds to pay senior staff their pension.
  • Risk was that senior staff would be transferred and the Region would have to pay the pension
  • City may have legal obligation to pay the pension.

11 March open house:

  • Peter Foulger has a report summarizing the results of all the questionnairs distributed to the community.
  • Who is managing the neighborhood plan at the City? Bob Spicer or Doug Bridgewater?
  • NCC should get a copy of Peter Foulger’s letter to the City, and Peter will give them one.
  • How do you go about getting a real response from the NCC?
  • NCC doesn’t give out minutes of their meetings. Most of their responses are stock responses.
  • Some 232 questionnaires filled out and obtained from Bob Spicer. Peter Foulger has some 10 others he hasn’t yet tabulated, but their contribution won’t affect the outcome.
  • On 11 Mar there were 2 school functions that syphoned off a lot of parents, plus there was the weather (week of cold weather and snow storm). Yet the attendance was large. LI>Problem with NCC started when Mulroney changed their charter in 1988.
  • Put pressure on higher-level politicians who control the NCC.
  • NCC reports to Sheila Copps. Poetry and national heritage also reports to Sheila, and is funded from same budget.
  • Kathy Ablett has talked to Joan O’Neill on the NCC.
  • Review of historical sites will be available in a couple of weeks.
  • Only a few buildings in area are older than 25 years.
  • Peter Foulger moved that HCCO endorses the results of the open house as a good sample of public opinion. Based on results of open house.
  • Peter’s motion: will be written down.
  • Anne seconded motion. Bill – emphasize that it really is in the national interest. With development of airport, we lose official green space and SC is only thing left. Peter F will draft letter and pass it by Fred M for signature. All were in favor, none opposed.
  • Airport is taking over Highlands Golf course but are not changing anything there.
  • Not changing any flight paths.
  • Paul Benoit (CEO of airport authority) offered to come to an HCCO meeting and give a presentation.
  • Airport Authority is releasing whole master plan at their AGM in May. See Sunday’s Citizen.
  • Invite Paul for June meeting?
  • In order to emphasize an approach, write a letter to Mr. Manley.
  • For more information, call Peter Foulger.

Safety audit:

  • Audit walkabout moved to Tue 28 Apr, to allow 2 weeks after announcement in The News appearing in 15 Apr edition.
  • Objective to make community safe for its weakest members: new people, handicapped, women, children.
  • On Tue 5 May, a week after the walkabout, there will be a problem-solving session to come up with solution as to who can improve the safety problem and what can be done.
  • Shelley Parlow has booked the room at the HCRCC.
  • Meet 22 Apr to organize walkabout, select leaders (with some experience), etc. Shelley is looking for 2 more people as leaders, one for west end and one for east end.
  • Doug Bridgewater is contact to pay for the ad in paper.
  • Money could come from the City’s $20,000 budgetted to support neighborhood plan.
  • Walkabout should be in the dark; to start probably 7pm. Should take 2 hours. All along Uplands, from shopping center to center…plus 5 other routes.
  • Got some firebugs in community, and this year may be more fire hazardous than usual.
  • Once you have people who have gone on a walkabout/audit, it’s easy to get more done.
  • City will be pleased if we do Uplands.
  • Inform residents that we’re not doing Owl Dr. (and other locations) because we don’t have resources.
  • Do walkabout down Donna Allen’s area by river. They all have large dogs making it dangerous for other people to walk down there.
  • We’ve got graffiti suggesting gang activity.
  • Forward incident reports to Wendy Stewart and she’ll have more police cover areas.
  • For more information, contact Shelley Parlow.

Recreation:

  • HCCO has received claim from person who fell at rink, and sent it into City.
  • There will be no life guards at Mooney’s Bay this summer.
  • Last payment for rink due, and was given to Alan Asselstine.
  • City gave HCCO an Icexcellence award for Owl Park rink.
  • For more information, call Fred Winters.

Softball program:

  • Chris has been paid.
  • Parent-based set of volunteers are running the show.
  • For more information, call Fred Winters.

Social:

  • Need stuff for garage sale.
  • Anne won’t do the garage sale unless people give her stuff.
  • Sale is in June.
  • Anne’s address is 1 2335 Uplands.
  • Will be in her garden, if not at home.
  • For more information, contact Anne Brandel.

Treasurer’s report:

  • Cheque in for rink.
  • Not too much revenue from memberships this year.
  • Alan still to contact people to reserach audit of HCCO books.
  • Someone must make motion to change way in which we manage our books, because membership must be consulted.
  • Will regulators accept that we have unaudited books.
  • HCCO must file an annual statement with province, and normally auditor files this statement for the organization. If someone else does this, then we don’t need an auditor.
  • Audited statement virtually guarantees that province won’t criticize the statement.
  • Alan will proceed with the least costly alternative, but one that leaves HCCO as a corporation.
  • Stays on tickle list.
  • For more information, contact Alan Asselstine.

Wendy Stewart’s notes:

  • Region has received no proposals re building along Hunt Club Rd. No movie theatres?
  • Clean-up of tree branches will start 20 Apr.
  • Region may sell wood chips to public to fund cleanup.
  • Region may be picking up wet kitchen waste for recycling soon.
  • Adirondack’s Forever Wild land trust protects land in perpetuity. Result is lakes there are still clean.
  • Canada is about only country that doesn’t have land trusts.
  • Ontario has 38 conservation authorities but these can’t save this land forever.
  • Methane: 2.43 MWatts a day, but can’t contribute this to the grid. Electricity generated is used to power the Pickard Center, meaning that the whole plant can pay for itself in 7 years.
  • Transit: all Regional councillors are now also transit commissioners.
  • Will OC Transpo’s minutes be available? Wendy: will be put on the web site as soon as they can be.
  • Airport Parkway: Big issue is twinning the parkway. Persuade people downtown to support southern corridor open space in exchange for our support to stop twinning the parkway?
  • Bowesville Rd. will be closed soon. Tudor Hall has asked not to close until after May wedding season. Closing is scheduled for June.
  • Kathy Ablett was appointed to regional 911 advisory committee – only member of public that was appointed. Other members were fire chief, police, and representing other organizations.
  • City Mayor and Dianne Deans has asked Wendy to participate in getting a library branch for south Ottawa. Karin doesn’t want to be involved because she thinks the city doesn’t have money and a survey she took indicated that local people don’t want one. Kathy Ablett is on the library board.
  • Evidence of the need for a library in our area: Anne Brandel has reinstituted a conversation class for new Canadians. These new Canadians are serious immigrants who pay the $900 to get into the country and just sponge up any information and library material available. Nothing in our community that helps these kind of new Canadians who are eager to learn and absorb information.
  • It takes 2-3 transfers from our area to nearest library branch.
  • Talk of joint library with Gloucester, but Gloucester also doesn’t have money.
  • Put library at a hub, such as South Keys.
  • Can Wendy count on local people (HCCO members) to get involved? Some people volunteered.
  • Why aren’t people not paying user fees? Why is it against the law? City let opportunity at South Keys fall through.

False alarm policy is coming back to council:

  • $60 every time police come to house and it’s a false alarm.
  • There is a false alarm reduction by-law.
  • Government doesn’t have the legislation to go after companies that don’t take care of their customers and services.
  • Millions of dollars wasted in false alarms.
  • Result of comprehensive study.
  • Region has come up with an algorithm that balances tax load and false alarm cost to come up with $60.
  • For more information, call Wendy’s office.

Karin – 7 Apr meeting has been cancelled.

Alan was to send letter thanking everyone for work during storm. Anne wants to see letter before we send it.

Earth day cleanup: Add bottles found during earth day cleanup to Riley’s bottle drive.

Saw a beaver walking along Hunt Club Rd. They move this time of year. Calls to Wildlife Center are up this year because of trees being chopped down and falling down. For more information, call Peter Vasdi.

Next meeting: Mon 4 May 98 at 7:30pm