Monthly Meeting
April 6, 2020
Present:
- Brian Wade President
- Sue McCarthy Vice President
- Peter Foulger Treasurer
- Peter Brimacombe Secretary
- Christine Johnson
- Lynette Joseph-Sankey
- Marilyn Koch
- Dianne Nahal
- Abiodun Mosuro
- John Sankey
- Barb Shea
- Riley Brockington Councillor
- Anthony Chiarello Assistant to the Councillor
- Lorraine Busby
- Kat Gracie
- Al Gullon
- Marwan Nahal
- Ijeoma Udechukwu
- Kathy Wright
The meeting was held on-line with zoom.
Introductions
Brian Wade: Presented the agenda and asked for approval. [Approved].
Motion: To accept the March 2020 minutes.
Moved by Sue McCarthy, seconded by Kat Gracie, carried.
Treasurer’s Report
Peter Foulger presented the Treasurer’s Report. It is presented as an appendix.
Motion: To accept the Treasurer’s Report.
Moved by Christine Johnson, seconded by Lynette Joseph-Sankey, carried.
Environment Committee
Barb Shea presented the environment committee report which was distributed prior to the meeting. Highlights included the success of the information session held on March 9, whereby Jen Brown and Emma Langham from the Climate Change and Resiliency Team and Martha Copestake, Lead, Urban Tree Forest Management Plan made a presentation to a group of approximately 25 assembled at the HCRPCC. The committee is still awaiting a response to the follow up questions about emissions from natural gas and the energy efficiency of two city buildings in our community – the Community Centre and the fire station. The Environment committee will be looking at hosting another committee meeting in the near future.
Councillor’s Report
Riley Brockington presented his councillors report which was distributed to members of the board prior to the meeting:
Response to COVID-19: The City of Ottawa remains in a State of Emergency and today, in consultation with Ottawa Public Health, the City of Ottawa is extending the closure of City facilities, libraries, services and large public gatherings until June 30, 2020 Due to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, the April 11 Breakfast in Carlington and the April 18 Earth Day Celebration at the HCRPCC have been cancelled. Both will be rescheduled later in the year. Due to the closure of City facilities and cancellation of programming, many part-time employees are without work. As a result, the City of Ottawa has worked in partnership with CUPE 503 to place approximately 4,000 part-time employees from the Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department (RCFS) and approximately 280 part-time employees from the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) on an unpaid, job-protected legislated leave of absence, or declared emergency leave, under the Employment Standards Act. Please note that all City playgrounds and sports fields are closed until further notice. Residents may walk, jog, rollerblade and/or cycle through a city park while respecting the physical distancing guidelines. Parks may not be used for any other purpose. Riley wanted to remind us that his office is still operational. His staff are working from home and reply to voicemails and emails during normal office hours. If you need assistance with anything, please reach out and we will do our best to get you an answer in a timely manner.
Repaving Riverside Drive: The paving project on Riverside Drive between Hunt Club Road and Walkley Road will be proceeding this summer. Hunt Club to Uplands will be shave and pave. Uplands to Walkley will be a full road removal to base, curb repairs and iron works. Work should be complete in September.
Hunt Club and Riverside Intersection Review: The City of Ottawa undertook an intersection review at Hunt Club Road and Riverside Drive this past fall. 1300 people filled out the on-line survey. The consultant’s summary was to have been presented tonight but the presentation has been postponed. If you want it, send an email to Riley.Brockington@ottawa.ca
McCarthy Road Curve: This summer, the City of Ottawa is planning to install a higher curb along the McCarthy Road curve between Southmore and Plante. The curb installation will help with the number of cars that leave the road around the bend during the winter months. This will increase the safety for any pedestrians that walk along the side of the roadway.
O-Train: The current O-Train Trillium Line will shut down starting May 3, 2020 until August 2022. The last day of O-Train Line 2 service is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2020. R2 replacement bus service will replace current O-Train service.
OC Transpo: OC Transpo has adjusted service on all routes to reflect lower ridership. Buses now run on Saturday service which maintains service to all neighbourhoods and essential services.
Government Response to COVID-19: The Province of Ontario has ordered the Mandatory Closure of All Non-Essential Workplaces. These actions are all being taken for the well-being of our community and to flatten the curve of the virus in our city and province. Without these drastic measures, our healthcare systems will be overwhelmed and over capacity with COVID-19 patients. For the complete list of Essential Workplaces, please visit the Province of Ontario website at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/ For more information from Ottawa Public Health, visit their website at www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus.
Halt to Pick-Up at Local Clothing Donation Bins: Diabetes Canada has informed City Council and local residents that they have requested a halt of drop-offs at local clothing donation bins across the City due to the current Covid-19 situation. As of March 23, pick-up of all textiles at donation bins has ceased for health and safety reasons. Donation bins are overflowing, and some have unfortunately become garbage dumping grounds.
Urban Boundary Review
Brian noted that HCCA is being approached by other community groups to sign up and support the “Hold The Line” Campaign. He asked what is the position of the HCCA? The Hold Line Campaign is encouraging the city of Ottawa, as part of the Master Plan Review process, to adopt a higher intensification rate within the urban boundary. This will help to ensure that residents have access to public transit and other city services. Increasing the intensification rate does come with its own set of concerns.
Those in attendance felt that it would be wise to wait and gather more information before developing HCCA’s position on the matter and committing HCCA to supporting any campaign. Riley noted that this issue will go before the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and the Planning Committee in May. City staff will release their reports on the topic prior to those meetings.
Bridge Closures over Hogs Back
Brian presented the request HCCA received from the Riverside Park Community Association to write to the NCC, and our local, provincial and federal representatives regarding the extension of the Hog back Bridge closure. This request was received prior to the COVID19 crisis. Riley noted that transportation infrastructure projects will continue as they are classified as essential services. The project is on schedule.
TD Parks People Grant
Christine Johnson provided an update on HCCA application to the TD parks People Grant. It was noted that HCCA withdrew its application for funds from the TD Park People Grant. Three events were planned but due to the current situation, we cannot go forward with these events.
HCCA’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Brian opened the floor to those in attendance to discuss ways that the Hunt Club Community Association (HCCA) could assist our local Hunt Club community in these unprecedented times as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. We are seeing that this crisis is hitting many people and businesses hard.
Brian noted that the first thing we can do is to continue to provide a voice for our community. Given that the community centre is closed, we can still meet online, and we can continue to work on providing feedback to our councillor and City projects. We can also help in sharing information with our community. We have access to our social media channels and or website.
Sue McCarthy brought up the issue of our Fall Festival. While many of our events planned for the Spring/Summer months have been cancelled or postponed, we still need to look at what we are planning with regards to the fall festival. Should this be cancelled, postponed or do we continue with a paired down smaller event. The first step is to reach out to our partners and wait to see how things progress.
Sue also shared that we have been approached by Sysco, a wholesaler/distributer that provides bulk food to restaurants, grocery stores and institutions. Sysco is offering service to residential customers and has created a number of packages suitable for residential use. There are other home delivery services, i.e. Loblaws, Ottawa Valley Meats, Kaladar Market and Mike’s Garden Harvest.
Kat Gracie shared her ideas about creating an online community hub, a Welcome Kit, that is linked from our Facebook page.
Christine Johnson noted that our Hunt Club community garden is still going ahead. We have a core group of volunteers.
Kathy Wright shared that the Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County had been renting space at the community centre for its Arts and Minds Program up until we were all faced with the COVID-19 restrictions. The Program was for those with dementia and their caregivers. It was a huge success with capacity attendance at 12 persons for the fall and winter sessions. The Dementia Society is now reinventing itself to offer as many programs as possible on-line so that people living at home with dementia and their caregivers can still benefit from their programs. She will send information about this program to Brian so that it can be included in HCCA future communications.
Kathy also noted that Teenagers are hard hit by this crisis because they have no where to go. What are ways to get the youth involved?
Riley Brockington noted that the city has created a Human Needs Task Force, led by the Community and Social Services Department, which is taking a coordinated approach, bringing together City staff and community partners to respond together to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force is currently focused on service coordination for immediate, medium and long-term response associated with five emerging needs:
- Outreach to isolated seniors
- Food security
- Transportation
- Volunteer coordination
- Housing and homeless needs
The City is also working with the Champlain Community Support Network to join their new regional COVID-19 response site/portal as a one-stop information portal for isolated seniors, people with disabilities and others who are struggling through this crisis. The site will be available in both English and French and will support access to:
- Grocery and pharmacy delivery
- Transportation to essential medical appointments
- Telephone safety checks
- Meals on Wheels
Lynette Joseph-Sankey noted that people in her church are calling each other. If there were a group for our community, she would take part.
Brian closed the discussion by stating that we will continue to work together on getting these initiatives put in place. If anybody knows of a person who is isolated, please try to follow up with them, and advise Riley’s office.
Next meeting: Via Zoom on-line Monday May 4 at 19:00
