Annual General Meeting
November 4, 2013
Attendees:
- John Sankey, President
- Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
- Christine Johnson
- Fred McLennan
- Marilyn Koch
- Sylva Baroody
- Marc Rivard
- Murray Manley
- John Reid
- Aija Auzina
- Al Gullon
- Vlad Tonkykh
- Bernie Geiger
- James Mihaychuk
- Maria McRae, Councillor
President’s Report
John Sankey presented the President’s Report:
The residents of Wisteria have joined the HCCO and we welcome them. There are now 14,000 residents in our area. Our main activity during the last year has been to adopt roads, parks and streams. We are taking ownership of our community. We have recently adopted the Hunt Club Creek under the Stream Watch Program. We have now adopted three parks, three streets and one stream. Five parks have yet to be adopted.
We have published a quarterly newsletter Hunt Cub Our Community. Christine Johnson is the editor.
We maintain our own website and have published a map of walking paths: http://hunt-club.ncf.ca/map.html
We made a formal presentation to oppose measures to impede traffic on Bronson Avenue. We continue to oppose measures that would slow through traffic on Hunt Club Road. We keep ourselves aware of developments in our area and intervene when our interests are at risk. Our aim is to keep our area a decent place to live.
He thanked Councillor Maria McRae for her work and most recently for her essential role in bringing three staff members to report on the pedestrian bridge over the Airport Parkway. They brought a welcome breath of fresh air to the discussion.
Aija Auzina: At the Community Funfest, the HCCO had a table.
Financial Report
John Sankey presented the financial report because the Treasurer Peter Foulger was absent.
There was a discussion about the possibility of an on-line newsletter which would save the printing costs.
John Sankey: The Riverside Park Community Association paid substantial money for an on-line newsletter but there were very few subscribers. The only cost for our newsletter is the printing, everything else is done by volunteers.
Maria McRae: She would like to thank the Board for its work. In terms of volunteers, Ottawa is second to none.
Councillor’s Report
Maria McRae presented the Councillor’s Report.
Bernie Geiger: The Transportation Master Plan (TMP) has plans to twin the Airport Parkway. Will there be an environmental assessment? What about berms to shield houses from noise?
Maria McRae: Council has approved the environmental assessment. Right now the Airport Parkway is a two lane road. The plan is to add an extra lane in each direction. The extra lanes will be High Occupancy Lanes which means they will be reserved for buses and taxis and maybe private vehicles with more than one occupant.
John Reid: There seems to be more people running red lights.
Maria McRae: Is there a particular intersection that we could monitor?
John Sankey: Walkways and paths are multi-purpose: both pedestrians and cyclists use them but some cyclists are going way too fast.
Maria McRae: Speed limits on pathways are not enforceable. There is a demand from people with electric scooters to use the pathways.
Christine Johnson: Cycling groups could do an education program to encourage responsibility.
Al Gullon: In Holland, and now in many other countries, the elimination of all traffic control signs, including stop lights, in towns and selected areas of larger cities actually reduced crashes and improved travel times because people then relied on common courtesy.
Election of Officers
Fred McLennan, past President, conducted the election of officers. The following directors were contacted and agreed to stand for re-election:
John Sankey, President
Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
Peter Foulger, Treasurer
Christine Johnson
Issie Berish
Marilyn Koch
Sylva Baroody
Fred McLennan
Fred McLennan asked if there were any other nominations. There were none so he asked for a show of hands to elect the nominees. So elected.
Transportation Master Plan (TMP)
Christine Johnson: In the DRAFT Transportation Master Plan’s Affordable Road Network, the proposed Hunt Club Road widening between Riverside and Bank has been given an overall score of 12 and an Assigned Phase of 4 using the Affordability Prioritization Criteria. This defers such a project beyond 2031.
Maria McRae: The basic premise is to increase public transit and maintain the existing road network.
Fred McLennan: We need more roads to accommodate the extra traffic caused by developments in River Road and Barrhaven.
Al Gullon: Dedicated bus lanes will rival commute times of private cars. To measure the pollution caused by buses, vehicle pollution was measured during a bus strike in Toronto. Vehicle pollution went down and congestion went down. The conclusion is that a bus on a shared road causes a lot of pollution because it has to start and stop with the other traffic and that it impedes other traffic.
Maria McRae: Heron Road will be widened to accommodate bus-only lanes.
John Sankey: Al Gullon’s conclusions match his own studies. A trip from his house on Uplands Drive to Farm Boy on Merivale by bus takes 55 minutes each way. For the same trip, a private car produces less pollution than a bus. Simply putting buses on shared roads does not reduce pollution.
Peter Brimacombe: It’s apparent that Ottawa is putting its money on LRT and that’s where it should go.
James Mihaychuk: What is the time frame of the extension of the O Train south?
Maria McRae: It depends on funding. It’s hard to say how the upper layers of government will fund it.
Motion: The HCCO supports the extension of the O Train south as in the draft TMP, as a first priority followed by the twinning of the Airport Parkway as a second priority. The President shall send a letter to our Councillor advising of such. Moved by Christine Johnson, seconded by Sylva Baroody, carried.
Bernie Geiger: Off Downpatrick Road a strip mall will be replaced by a building of 50 residential units. He is concerned about the traffic impact.
Maria McRae: There will be a traffic study linked to the building.
Aija Auzina: Active transportation includes cycling. There should be safety checks for lights and bells. There needs to be better organization and education to promote cycling.
Next meeting: Monday December 2 at 19:00