Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Marilyn Koch
• Gisèle Loiselle
• Christine Johnson
• Nicole Espenant, Assistant to the Councillor
• Eddie Rwema, EMC

John Sankey: Jerry Beausoleil has requested that approval of the April minutes be postponed.

Motion: To postpone approval of the April minutes. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Christine Johnson, approved.

Nicole Espenant: Presented the Councillor’s Report. The tower is a key part of the Airport Parkway Pedestrian Bridge. The contractor has agreed to tear it down and rebuild it because the concrete was deficient. There will be no additional expense to the City. The last item of the Report included a note about the City’s new Smoke-Free Regulations.
Peter Brimacombe: Bars and restaurants have outdoor patios where people can be served and smoke. Smokers don’t bother him.
Christine Johnson: She was at Chapters and noticed that men were in the parking lot smoking because they couldn’t sit at the outside tables. The new regulations seem heavy-handed. What authority does the City have to impose these regulations?
John Sankey: Health and safety are the responsibility of the municipalities so the City does have the authority. In his experience smoking regulations tend to be heavy-handed. In the federal building in which he worked, a smoking room was forbidden despite the provision of an effective exhaust fan.
Marilyn Koch: She expressed sympathy for the new regulations. She hates to see parents smoking in a car with children.

Christine Johnson: She led a clean-up of the area around Sawmill Creek north of Hunt Club near Tucson’s Restaurant. Six people filled up 25 bags of garbage which the City then collected. They really made a dent. Sawmill Creek south of Hunt Club is a designated park called [paradoxically] North Sawmill Creek. The area north of Hunt Club should be also designated as a park.

John Sankey: He and Marilyn Koch attended the Planning Summit put on by the City.
Marilyn Koch: The Mayor Jim Watson introduced the Summit. He spoke of certainty and the need to clarify what is allowed and what is not allowed. There were two speakers: Pamela Blais in the morning and Jeffery Tumlin in the afternoon.
John Sankey: He sent an e-mail to Mayor Jim Watson: “For me, the planning summit was a unique and exceptionally productive day. I especially commend the work of the staff to whom you entrusted the day’s organization – it was flawlessly done.”

Christine Johnson: She has worked with the Riverview Park Community. She is now retired and wants to add value by working with children, families and seniors. She was a school principal and would like to build better relations with the schools. She asked about a community newspaper.
John Sankey: There used to be a Hunt Club Community Newspaper which became The News and then EMC.

Next meeting: Monday, June 4 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Alan Asselstine, Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Jerry Beausoleil
• Fred McLennan
• Peter Foulger
• Gisèle Loiselle
• Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa
• Christine Johnson

John Sankey: He presented the agenda for the meeting and asked for any additions.

Motion: To appoint Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa as director. Moved by John Sankey, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

Motion: To appoint Christine Johnson as director. Moved by John Sankey, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

Motion: To approve the March 2012 minutes. Moved by John Sankey, seconded by Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa, carried.

John Sankey: He introduced the April Councillor’s Report. He talked about the structural problems with the Airport Parkway Pedestrian Bridge caused by inadequate quality control of the concrete. He is concerned that there will be political pressure to accept an inferior solution to them.

Jerry Beausoleil: He will meet with the City engineer and ask him what’s going on and how do we go about getting lane changes on Riverside Drive south-bound.
Christine Johnson: The Planning Summit, April 26 would be a good time to raise the issue of traffic problems on Riverside Drive. We should register now.
Alan Asselstine: The City is expanding the number of lanes on Prince of Wales Drive from two to four but there will be a short stretch that will stay as two lanes. In effect, there will be no relief to the biggest problem which is the intersection of Hunt Club and Prince of Wales. 50% of the north-bound traffic on Prince of Wales turns east onto the Sheflin Bridge. From there 30% turns north onto Riverside and 20% continues east-bound on Hunt Club.
John Sankey: The net result is the Bridge is jammed! He described a small change at the ends of the bridge that would provide a useful improvement. It will be needed once the eastern connection to the 417 is complete.
Jerry Beausoleil: He has arranged to meet with city staff to discuss the traffic problems which have plagued our community for well over a year at Riverside Drive, Hunt Club Rd and Prince of Wales Drive.  The Hunt Club community is concerned these major arterial roads are blocked for extended periods twice a day during morning and evening rush hours.  As a result, traffic is increasingly using Uplands Drive as a cut through in an attempt to avoid the bottle-neck at the intersection and is making Uplands Drive unsafe for local traffic and residents.  Moreover, emergency vehicles responding to situations have been stuck in traffic jams.  These issues have been brought to the attention of the HCCO and our Councillor for more than a year. We have attempted to arrange a meeting with city staff. Mr Beausoleil renews his willingness to meet.
John Sankey: He encouraged individual directors to register for the Planning Summit, April 26, 2012 to be held at the new CE Centre on Uplands. Registration is at 8:00 and the sessions start at 9:00.

Gisèle Loiselle: The new casino should be built at Scotia Bank Place and not downtown.

Next meeting: Monday May 7 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Peter Foulger
• Marilyn Koch
• Issie Berish
• Gisèle Loiselle
• Mohammed Said
• Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa

John Sankey: He presented the agenda for the meeting and asked for any additions.

Motion: To approve the February 2012 minutes. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Peter Foulger, carried.

John Sankey: Marilyn Koch went to the Bronson Avenue Reconstruction meeting last Monday night.
Marilyn Koch: The meeting was well attended. The City presented its plan for Bronson Avenue which is to basically rebuild Bronson Avenue as is but with a new traffic light at Arlington. While she was there, question period was calm and most of the questions were about disruptions caused by construction. There was one question about access onto Bronson from a minor street.
Issie Berish: What do the local community associations think? The original consultants’ report is not going to be followed, how will that fact affect our community?
John Sankey: The original consultants’ report would have added left-hand turn lanes which would have resulted in smoother traffic flow. There will be no improvement and in fact we will see a small degradation because of the new traffic light at Arlington.
Peter Brimacombe: With respect to through traffic, the Centre Town Community Association would be very much like the Ottawa East Community Association where he served for 10 years. There would be overwhelming opposition to through traffic. There is a contradiction in designating a street both an arterial and a main street. This contradiction also applies to Hunt Club Road where we want to preserve the arterial nature of the Road.
John Sankey: There are three options: we could do nothing; we could register a pro-forma objection; or we could make a strategic objection.

Motion: There is a conflict between the designation of Bronson Avenue as an arterial and its designation as a main street. The HCCO supports the designation as an arterial and recommends removing the designation as a main street. Moved by John Sankey, seconded by Peter Brimacombe, carried.

John Sankey: Passed out the Councillor’s Report.

John Sankey: A year and a half ago, Hunt Club lost community control of our recreation centre. A month ago, the Hunt Club Riverside Community Services Centre (the CSC) made the decision to abandon community control and to merge with the large South East Ottawa Community Health Centre (SEOCHC). This a great loss to our community. Over the past year and a half, the CSC had made major progress in placing the Centre on a sound policy and managerial basis. The one unresolved issue was that government agencies under-funded our Centre. They gave it one tenth the per capita level that other health centres in the city receive. The CSC Board has under-valued community ownership, involvement and responsibility and this attitude has led to two major errors. The first error was to assume that our community was incapable of correcting this inequality, that we would always be considered a second class community as we stand, and to instruct their consultants accordingly. The second error was the assumption that in joining with SEOCHC we would immediately gain access to all the services we were presently being denied. Given this fundamental disagreement he has resigned from the CSC Board.
John Sankey: He introduced Mohammed Said. Mohammed is the President of the CSC Board. He is also a professional Child Protection Worker with the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa.
Mohammed Said: Given the long history of lack of stability of the CSC and issues with mismanagement and service delivery, the CSC Board embarked on cleaning up Operations and strengthening Governance without losing focus on programming and service delivery.  A great deal of progress has been achieved so far. The Auditor General had first decided to audit the centre in 2011 but then cancelled his plan after attending our AGM. The next phase was to determine where the CSC is heading given the history, capacity and funding situation. How do we ensure delivery of sustainable quality and quantity of services to the people in the catchment area.  Our motive and focus on service delivery has been the main principle and driving force in any decision we make. A Moving Forward committee was established to review lessons learned from the past, and where do we go from here. Two consultants were hired to provide us with the perspective of external professionals.  The consultants reviewed relevant materials, examined similar experiences and met with 39 stakeholders. They came up with three options as follows: Option A: to continue as a stand alone organization.  Option B: purchase of service from a larger organization, preferably South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre. Option C: a satellite office of a larger organization, preferably South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre. Each option has pros and cons.  The consultants recommended option C. The CSC Board unanimously opted to abandon Option A.  Discussions focussed on Options B and C. We hired the consultants again to find out how much it would cost us to go with Option B (purchase of service). On the basis of all the information that is available to us as well as different perspectives and input from stakeholders (including funders and local community members), the CSC Board moved a motion to select Option C (run as a satellite office of South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre.  It will all depend on its decision.  The process is not yet complete. The CSC Board receives $350,000 from the City and $130,000 from other funding agencies.
Peter Foulger: The South East Ottawa Community Health Centre gets a lot more money than our CSC. The Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) is a provincial body that determines funding.
Gisèle Loiselle: She is glad to hear that health services to our community will improve because there is a real need.

John Sankey: Ecology Ottawa is pushing to reduce the untreated sewage in the Ottawa River. Every year when the existing sewer system is overloaded, untreated sewage goes into the Ottawa River. The amount of untreated sewage that goes into the Ottawa River is significant. There is zero co-operation with the City of Gatineau.

Motion: To support Ecology Ottawa’s initiative to clean up the Ottawa River. Moved by Gisèle Loiselle, Peter Foulger, carried.

Gisèle Loiselle: A section of Twyford near her Co-op is covered with water because the drain is blocked with ice.
John Sankey: Phone the City (311).

Peter Brimacombe: Liz Russell is again organizing a clean-up day for McCarthy Road. The date is Saturday May 19.
John Sankey: He is cleaning up Uplands Drive instead. The other day he picked up the dog poop that was left over from the winter.

Next meeting: Monday, April 2 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Peter Foulger
• Issie Berish
• Dominic Lozada
• Angela Ryan, Assistant to the Councillor
• Shirley Seward, Public School Trustee
• Eddie Rwema, EMC
• Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa

John Sankey: He presented the agenda for the meeting and asked for any additions. He welcomed Shirley Seward, School Trustee of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Shirley Seward: She handed out written remarks. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is rolling out full-day kindergarten in our schools. She is centrally involved in a review of secondary schools, including Brookfield. She discussed the transfer policy at the School Board. She brought a motion to make the transfer policy more transparent and equitable. The motion was passed unanimously
John Sankey: The community service centres are able to help immigrant families better than the recreational associations because they are more racially diverse.
Yacoub Abu-Al-Hawa: Muslim women expect that recreational activities be segregated between men and women but most activities have men and women together.
Shirley Seward: The Public School Board tries to make all religions feel comfortable in the schools. There are rooms set aside and time allowed for Muslim students to pray.
Peter Foulger: His wife feels that Christianity is actively suppressed in the Public School System.
Issie Berish: The staff and teachers at Bayview Public School do a good job of meeting everybody’s needs.

John Sankey: Introduced Eddie Rwema, the EMC reporter.
Eddie Rwema: Eddie spoke briefly and asked that his e-mail address be included in the minutes: eddie.rwema@metroland.com

Motion: To approve the January 2012 minutes. Moved by Issie Berish, seconded by Dominic Lozada, carried.

Angela Ryan: Handed out the Councillor’s Report.

John Sankey: At our January meeting, we passed a motion supporting the City’s proposal to build affordable housing. At our December meeting, we passed a motion that Bronson remain an arterial road and that extra lanes be provided for left-hand turns. We sent an e-mail to the City (attached) but the City just approved the plan for major reconstruction of Bronson without the extra lanes. Prince of Wales will be widened from two lanes to four between Hunt Club Road and Hogs Back. There will still be a two-lane section between the Greek Church and Baseline. The two-lane section will prevent traffic from using the Heron Road Bridge rather than the Sheflin Bridge to reach Prince of Wales South. In January, the City informed us of its initiative to tighten the regulations concerning residential pools. Board members were not enthusiastic. John asked if the Board wanted to formally oppose the initiative? Answer was no. We received a request from Ecology Ottawa for municipal support of home upgrades.

Motion: That the HCCO does not support Ecology Ottawa’s proposal for a feasibility study on municipal financing for energy retrofits. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Peter Foulger, carried.

Peter Foulger: The Municipal Taxpayer Advocacy Group has pointed out that the water and sewer rates for Ottawa have gone up a lot.
John Sankey: Rates have gone up because Ottawa in the past, has spent too much on services and not enough on maintaining infrastructure. Ottawa has the purest water in the Province but is adding chemicals to delay corrosion of old water pipes. It’s going to take years of extra spending to restore the water and sewage systems.
Peter Foulger: We have one of the highest water costs of any city in Ontario.

Next meeting: Monday, March 5 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey President
• Alan Asselstine Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe Secretary
• Peter Foulger
• Issie Berish
• Jerry Beausoleil

Motion: To approve the December 2011 minutes. Moved by Peter Foulger, seconded by Peter Brimacombe, carried.

Jerry Beausoleil: He approached Councillor McRae on the Hunt Club Road, Riverside Drive traffic issues. She agreed to a meeting but as yet there has not been a meeting.
John Sankey: The Riverside Park Community Association and the HCCO should work together on Hunt Club Road, Riverside Drive traffic issues.

Alan Asselstine: He and Peter Brimacombe drafted an e-mail and sent it to the City. It stated that the HCCO supports the proposal that Bronson Avenue remain a four lane road with extra lanes for left-hand turns. We have not heard back from the City. We should be ready to present our views in front of the Transportation Committee.

John Sankey: The Provincial and Federal Governments are offering a grant to build affordable housing. In Ottawa there are 10,000 families waiting for spots but at the same time there are many living in affordable housing whose income is more than the limit. In our community, affordable housing could be built at the Ashgrove site.
Motion: The HCCO supports the city proposal to build 200 additional affordable housing units. A letter be sent supporting the proposal and asking for a review of market rent policy. Moved by Jerry Beausoleil, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

John Sankey: A home owner on Malhotra Crescent ( in Quinterra) is asking for a zoning variance so he can build an addition on his house.
Discussion: Since no one has complained, the Board decided not to pursue the zoning variance.

Next meeting: Monday, February 6 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey President
• Alan Asselstine Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe Secretary
• Peter Foulger
• Gisèle Loiselle-Branch
• Marilyn Koch
• Dominic Lozada

Motion: To approve the November minutes. Moved by Gisèle Loiselle-Branch, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

Pedestrian Bridge over the Airport Parkway
John Sankey: He has followed the construction of the pedestrian bridge over the Airport Parkway. There has been a serious problem with the concrete. It is not evenly settled and there are gaps which may cause structural problems. Without further tests it is not possible to say exactly how severe the problem is. The problem is 100% the responsibility of the contractor.

Councillor’s Report
Alan Asselstine: He read the Councillor’s Report.

Proposal to Register and Report Lobbyists
John Sankey: Pursuant to a motion distributed and approved by email (8 for, none against), he sent the approved letter to the Governance Renewal Sub-Committee. The letter states that  residents must have the privilege to contact their elected representatives about any matter without registration or report. The draft bylaw was returned by the sub-committee to staff for correction.

Federal Bill C10
Peter Brimacombe: He is against the Federal Bill C10.
Motion: The HCCO opposes Bill C10 because it restricts the sentencing discretion of the judges. They are the best placed to weigh the various issues: the need to deter crime, the need to protect society, the damage done by the prison system to the people sent there and the cost of the prisons. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Dominic Lozada.
Alan Asselstine: He will not support the motion because it is a Federal issue and we have never gotten involved with them.
John Sankey: It is outside our jurisdiction. He does not agree that the judges are in the best position to weigh the various issues. He is totally frustrated by the courts who have failed to properly deal with violent criminals who have violated the security of hundreds of people.
Peter Brimacombe: He withdraws the motion.

Bronson Avenue
John Sankey: There is ongoing political pressure to restrict the flow of traffic on Bronson Avenue, north of the Queensway. It is still officially designated a “Traditional Main Street” We need to counter this pressure.
Motion: The Hunt Club Community Organization supports the consultant’s proposal that Bronson Avenue remain a four lane road with extra lanes for left-hand turns. Moved by Alan Asselstine, seconded by Peter Brimacombe.
Alan Asselstine: What happens north of the Queensway will influence the whole road. Bronson is a designated truck route.
Peter Foulger: If you throttle the traffic on Bronson, it will be pushed elsewhere.
Vote on the motion: carried unanimously.

Next Meeting
Next meeting: Monday 2 January 2012 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey President
• Alan Asselstine Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe Secretary
• Fred McLennan
• Peter Foulger
• Gisèle Loiselle-Branch
• Liz Russell
• Maria McRae Councillor

Motion: To approve the June, 2011 minutes. Moved by Liz Russell, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

Maria McRae first welcomed everyone to the meeting and said that she is pleased to work with the Hunt Club Community Organization. She then presented her report.

Fred McLennan: When will the bridge over the Airport Parkway be finished?
Maria McRae: The bridge itself will be finished by the end of October, this year but the final landscaping will be finished next spring.

Maria McRae: Now that John Smith is available, she will set up a meeting with the HCCO and City staff to review the situation on Hunt Club Road between the Airport Parkway and Riverside Drive.
Alan Asselstine: The problem goes beyond just that section of Hunt Club Road and should include the intersection with Prince of Wales.
Maria McRae: Yes it does and the review will include the Sheflin Bridge but if it goes past it then she would have to engage the other four councillors. That engagement could pose problems for the study.
John Sankey: It will be good to move forward on this issue.

Gisèle Loiselle-Branch: What is the construction just to the west of the Shoppers Drug Mart on Walkley Road?
Maria McRae: That is the new Mariott Hotel. There will only be the one entrance off Walkley Road. The Hotel is on a strip of land west of Bank Street which will be the subject of a Community Design Plan. The strip runs from the Home Depot to Billings Bridge.

Alan Asselstine: There is almost a complete bike trail all the way from Walkley Road down to Lester. It’s not continuous and some parts are better than others.

Liz Russell: During the winter, a car went off McCarthy Road on the bend south of the railroad tracks. The NCC has just fixed the fence. The City has painted “dragons teeth” on the road but the only thing that works is the electronic sign that shows the drivers speed.
Maria McRae: The fence belongs to the NCC and only it can fix it.

Liz Russell: The firemen were supposed to adopt Paul Landry Park. Have they?
Maria McRae: She assumes they have. She will look into it.

John Sankey: The Mayor has requested citizen and community input to the budgeting process so this gives us a chance to advise him of our concerns related to Hunt Club Road and the Sheflin Bridge.
Alan Asselstine; The Mayor’s attention should complement Maria’s actions in engaging staff to look at the problem.

Motion: To write the Mayor, with a copy to Maria, pointing out the traffic problems on Hunt Club Road related to the Sheflin Bridge and ask that resources be budgeted to study the problems and possible solutions. Moved by Alan Asselstine, seconded by Fred McLennan, carried. John, Alan and Jerry are to draft the letter.

John Sankey: There is a new community Police Officer, Heather Cooper. One of her duties is to co-ordinate the Neighbourhood Watch captains. They are organizing a barbecue. Would the HCCO contribute to the barbecue?

Motion: To spend $50.00 as our contribution to the barbecue. Moved by Alan Asselstine, seconded by John Sankey, carried.

Motion: To start the monthly meetings at 7:00 instead of 7:30 PM. Moved by Alan Asselstine, seconded by Liz Russell, carried.

Liz Russell: She will lead the fall clean up of McCarthy Road: 10:00, Saturday October 17.

Next meeting October 3, 2011 at 19:00

Attendees:

• John Sankey President
• Alan Asselstine Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe Secretary
• Fred McLennan
• Issie Berish
• Jerry Beausoleil
• Peter Foulger
• Gord Graham
• David Bernier
• Janice Thiessen EMC Newspaper
• Maria McRae Councillor
• Nichole Hoover Assistant to the Councillor

Clean up of Owl Park by Dog Walkers
Jerry Beausoleil: Dave Bernier led a group of dog walkers in the clean up of Owl Park. He is here tonight to tell his story.

Dave Bernier: He has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years, his children went to Holy Family School and he is grateful to have Owl Park. He contacted Councillor Maria McRae with the idea of a clean-up of Owl Park. Greg Killough from Maria’s office was very helpful. On the day, 40 people showed up to help and they worked for a couple of hours to clean up all of Owl Park including the properties owned by Bayview and Holy Family Schools. His group cleaned up plastic garbage and broken beer bottles. They are committed to keeping the Park clean.

Peter Brimacombe: His daughter complained to the City about dogs in the Park, last year. The worst offenses were two dog owners who allowed their dogs to run through the play structures and then mocked the mothers who complained.
Dave Bernier: He saw dogs running through the play structures and told their owners to get their dogs out of the play structures.
Issie Berish: His daughter goes to Bayview Public School. He would like to thank Dave Bernier and his group for cleaning up the Park. He noticed graffiti on the Club House.
John Sankey: Dave Bernier could ask the City for a kit to remove graffiti.
Dave Bernier: Last year, some of the dog walkers identified some vandals who had caused major damage to Holy Family School. They were arrested by the Police.

Motion: To recognize and thank Dave Bernier and his group of dog walkers for their clean-up of Owl Park. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Issie Berish, carried.

Approval of Minutes of May 2011 meeting

Motion: To approve the May, 2011 minutes. Moved by Jerry Beausoleil, seconded by Peter Foulger, carried.

Maria McRae: Presented the Councillor’s Report.

Clean up Issues in Hunt Club

John Sankey: The City put garbage bins along McCarthy Road but then removed one of them.
Maria McRae: It was because people were filling it with dog pooh. This constitutes untreated sewage which is a health hazard. People with dogs can put small amounts of dog pooh in their household garbage or flush it down the toilet. Cat pooh can be put in the household garbage if it is mixed with kitty litter.

John Sankey: Liz Russell reported that the firemen at the McCarthy Fire Station are in favour of adopting Paul Landry Park. This is encouraging but is there going to be a formal announcement?

Use of Owl Park By Dog Owners

Dave Bernier: On Sunday morning and Tuesday afternoon, bylaw officers in Owl Park asked dog owners to leash their dogs despite the fact that Owl Park is an off-leash park.
Maria McRae: Dogs are not allowed near the play structures. Owl Park consists of three properties: the City’s , the Public School Board’s and the Catholic School Board’s. Without knowing all the details of who complained and why, it’s hard to comment.

Traffic Issues on Hunt Club Road

Maria McRae: John Smith is the City’s key person to study and recommend changes to Hunt Club Road. He cannot devote any time to traffic issues on Hunt Club Road because he is completely tied up with the legal challenge to the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. She could not say when he might be available to meet with representatives of the HCCO to address the written questions and areas of interest submitted to her office. She noted that her office had not received one phone call complaining about excessive traffic on Hunt Club.
Gord Graham: Can the City restrict trucks to the right hand lane on Hunt Club Road? He had experienced a situation recently where two trucks were blocking the traffic for many blocks.
John Sankey: Provincial policy may not allow the City to restrict trucks to certain lanes.
Maria McRae: The failure of the North South Rail Line makes the traffic on Hunt Club worse. She will see if the City can restrict the lanes in which trucks can drive and let us know.
Gord Graham: CFRA (the radio station) announces back-ups on Hunt Club Road and advises drivers to take Uplands Drive to by-pass the problem.
John Sankey: He made inquiries on how well emergency vehicles can move along Hunt Club Road. The report is that they can move fairly well because the lanes are wide which allows the cars to squeeze over and make a lane for them.
Jerry Beausoleil: In May we sent a written request to Maria’s office setting out our concerns with Hunt Club Road. e.g. how bad is the traffic situation, how it affects our community, what initiatives are under consideration to address our concerns. We need to meet with city staff to understand their perspective. We are not looking for answers to all the questions at this stage but we would like to know what city staff is thinking. The traffic situation is very serious and getting worse. He has searched the city web site and has not been able to find documents describing the seriousness of the traffic situation and the initiatives planned to address it. He looks forward to working with our councillor and city staff.
Maria McRae: (Addressing Jerry Beausoleil’s request for more information on traffic flow on Hunt Club Road and a meeting with city staff) What are you looking for?
Jerry Beausoleil: The HCCO wants to understand the issues, what is possible, what are the possible remedies, and what are the costs.
John Sankey: There are improvements that can be made to Hunt Club Road without big costs. Liz Russell was talking to J.P. Trottier who works for the City’s Emergency Services. He asked “why were traffic lights installed at T & T?”

John Sankey: He polled members on meeting during the summer. The consensus was no unless the agenda warranted a meeting.

Next meeting: Monday September 12 at 19:30

Attendees:

• John Sankey President
• Peter Brimacombe Secretary
• Gisèle Loiselle-Branch
• Jerry Beausoleil
• Peter Foulger
• Liz Russell
• Gord Graham
• Greg Killough Assistant to the Councillor

Motion: To approve the April, 2011 minutes. Moved by Jerry Beausoleil, seconded by Gisèle Loiselle-Branch, carried.

Greg Killough: Presented the Councillor’s Report.

GENERAL DISCUSSION:

John Sankey: As part of the widening of Riverside Drive, could the City raise the issue of the intersection at Hogs Back Drive with the NCC? East-bound traffic on Hogs Back Drive is constantly backed up waiting to turn south on Riverside Drive.

Liz Russell: Registered for “Spring Cleaning the Capital” May 7. She should be out on McCarthy Road at 10 am.

Jerry Beausoleil: Dave Bernier led the dog-walkers in a big clean-up of Owl Park. Dave Bernier is invited to make a presentation to HCCO at the next meeting.

Peter Brimacombe: The big wind storm Thursday blew down trees around the neighbourhood.
John Sankey: There was a whole row of hydro poles blown down on McCarthy Road.
Peter Foulger: The stop lights at Riverside and Uplands were damaged but they were repaired quickly. Construction of the Pedestrian Bridge over the Airport Parkway should be put up for tender?

HUNT CLUB RD./RIVERSIDE DRIVE TRAFFIC ISSUES:

Jerry Beausoleil: He provided a hand-out that describes how he proposes to proceed with the traffic issues and asked for comment. The handout proposes that the HCCO proceed by doing its homework first – ascertain the facts, determine the views of city staff, and enter into a dialogue with our councillor. The HCCO should then determine its views and how it wishes to proceed. Maria’s office (Nichole) will organize a meeting with city staff next week. In developing this file, it is important to work with Maria McRae. There are multiple priorities facing the City and there are huge budget constraints. At the same time, the Hunt Club Road/Riverside Drive traffic issues are very serious and the situation continues to get worse. He estimates that the intersection of Riverside and Hunt Club is one of the five worst intersections in the City. The HCCO needs to develop an approach to improve the situation.

Peter Foulger: Emergency services are critical and they can’t travel quickly along Hunt Club Rd. The traffic is much worse than last year.

John Sankey: There is a disconnect between the Planning and Traffic Committees. Hunt Club Bridge is currently carrying 2.2 times its design capacity.

Peter Brimacombe: It should be possible to find solutions for Hunt Club Road unlike King Edward Avenue where different communities in the City have opposing interests.

Jerry Beausoleil: There are many ways to add concrete data to our understanding of the issues we are facing. For example, Board members could log their own trips along Hunt Club Rd. particularly in the rush hours. The results would be revealing. Moreover, we can ask the emergency services in our area what their target response times are for getting to an emergency in our community and the extent to which they are hampered by the increasing traffic congestion. He knows a fire chief and can get estimates from him.
Liz Russell: She can ask some paramedics about Hunt Club Rd.

Jerry Beausoleil: He is looking for the traffic study on the Shenkman Trade Centre and the Strandherd Bridge as these will shed light on the issues we face. He will follow up with Greg Killough in Maria’s office.

Next meeting: Monday June 6 at 19:30

Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Fred McLennan
• Gisèle Loiselle-Branch
• Jerry Beausoleil

Motion: To approve the March, 2011 minutes. Moved by Fred McLennan, seconded by John Sankey, carried.

Gisèle Loiselle-Branch: She has a list of e-mail contacts. How does the contact list work?
John Sankey: We have a contact list so that we can consult with the wider community. When the Board agrees we will send out e-mails to the list.
Jerry Beausoleil: When he presented his report on Hunt Club Road to the Planning Committee, there was criticism that the HCCO had not consulted with the wider community. He suggested that Board members create contact lists so that each member could contact community members and get their views on issues coming to the Board, as required. In order to be effective with city staff and councillors, it would be important to create large contact lists e.g. 500 to 800 people in total. Jerry found that many community members are not willing to have their names on a list where they do not know the person who controls the list. He suggested that each Board member create and control their own list. To date three Board members have taken this approach – Jerry has over 150 contacts on his own list.

John Sankey: Developments along Hunt Club Road will interfere with through traffic. Walkley Road is no longer an effective road for through traffic because of the 50 km/hour speed limit.
Fred McLennan: What is the problem? What are the facts? We need to have the traffic counts along Hunt Club Road.
John Sankey: Quintera residents don’t have access to their houses because Riverside is blocked from the railway tracks to Hunt Club Road. Fire and Emergency Services also depend on the ability of Hunt Club Road to move through traffic. There are two kinds of traffic counts: by observers and by traffic meters.
Jerry Beausoleil: He prepared a hand-out setting out our approach for dealing with “Hunt Club Road as a Priority Arterial”. He suggested that the key information that we want to develop include the following:

• what is the nature of the problem
• what are the defining factors, can we get supporting data, what does city staff think
• what has been done or is planned to be done
• what else can be done
• how should we proceed
• how should we measure success

There was agreement that Jerry should contact Councillor McRae and arrange a meeting to determine how she can help us with this issue.

John Sankey: OC Transpo has undertaken a major re-organization of existing bus routes. In our community it will re-route route 87 which will result in slower service. We can oppose the change or work to mitigate the damage by repeating our 2007 request to take out stops that are closer than required and by moving stops to where buses must stop anyway. Hopefully the new transit commission will listen more than OCTranspo did in the past.
Peter Brimacombe: The Board dealt with proposals to remove specific stops along route 87 in February 2007. They were defeated.

Motion: Whereas route 87 is the only bus available to two-thirds of our community of 13,000, and whereas the proposed re-routing of the 87 through the Mooney’s Bay community will add approximately 5 minutes to the travel time of all of us who use it, therefore be it resolved that the HCCO request OCTranspo to do everything it can to minimize this additional delay, and that it urgently examine all possible ways of reducing existing unnecessary delays on route 87. Moved by John Sankey, seconded by Jerry Beausoleil, carried.

John Sankey: At the meeting 5 February 2007, we passed the following motion and no action was taken at that time with regards to our concerns: That the HCCO request OC Transpo to examine all routes serving the Hunt Club Community with a view to consolidating bus stops that are within 200 metres of each other.

Next meeting: Monday May 2 at 19:30

Attendees:

• John Sankey, President
• Alan Asselstine, Treasurer
• Peter Brimacombe, Secretary
• Fred McLennan
• Issie Berish

John Sankey: Asked that the agenda be approved. It was.

Motion: To approve the February, 2011 minutes. Moved by Fred McLennan, seconded by Alan Asselstine, carried.

John Sankey: Presented a Map of the List of Contacts. Peter Brimacombe sent John a list of those who attended prior HCCO meetings. John added his own and contacted them all, then gave those who agreed to be contacted by the HCCO to Peter who made the map. There are 31 contacts so far.
Alan Asselstine: Are the email and street addresses confidential?
John Sankey: They are. Only the President and the Secretary have them. The people will only be contacted with the approval of the Board. The List should belong to the HCCO.
Alan Asselstine: There can be one contact list for the HCCO or each board member can have his own contacts. Alan is going to keep his own contact list and as issues come up he will contact his list and report to the Board.
Fred McLennan: Those are my thoughts too.
Issie Berish: It makes sense to have one list. In case of disagreements, the time and place to voice them is in person at our meetings . How are people supposed to learn about the HCCO?

John Sankey: We used to have to pay to put something on the notice board here at the Community Centre. He will check to see if this is still the case.

John Sankey: Jerry Beausoleil has the lead on Hunt Club Road. He recommends it be designated as a priority arterial. Concurrently there are arterials and restricted access roads.
Alan Asselstine: In the City Road Classification Framework of the City of Ottawa Transportation master plan, Arterial roads have a Primary Function to “Serve through travel between points not accessed directly from the road itself” and a Secondary Function to “Provide direct access to adjacent lands”.
John Sankey: The City with the permission of the Province will connect the 417 with Hunt Club Road which of course will increase through traffic on Hunt Club Road. Along the whole of Hunt Club road the greatest congestion is in our neighbourhood.
Alan Asselstine: The Paramedic Station at Hunt Club and Bowesville emphasizes that Hunt Club Road provides an important corridor for through traffic. Also the new Trade Show Centre on Uplands will increase through traffic on Hunt Club Road.
Issie Berish: How will the completion of the Strandherd Bridge relieve the pressure on Hunt Club Road? The major traffic flow in the evening is south on Riverside, west across the Hunt Club Bridge and then south on Prince of Wales. This flow causes west-bound Hunt Club Road to back up. How are we going to move this issue forward?
John Sankey: My estimate is that 10% of the traffic now crossing the Rideau River at Hunt Club will move to Strandherd Bridge when it is completed. When Jerry Beausoleil returns he will meet with City staff.
Allan Asselstine: As the area south of Hunt Club Road from Uplands to Riverside is developed, the City and the Airport Authority should develop service roads parallel to Hunt Club so as to restrict/ not increase the number of intersections on Hunt Club road.

Alan Asselstine: The biggest point of contention in the City is Bronson Avenue. It is a truck route and it is the major north-south route but at the same time there is a movement to restrict the flow of traffic.

Issie Berish: Are there going to be closed-circuit cameras on the pedestrian bridge?
John Sankey: Who would monitor them?
Alan Asselstine: There won’t be cameras but the bridge will be lit.

Next meeting: Monday April 4 at 19:30