Attendees:
Regional Councillor, Wendy Stewart, reported on the following: Zebra mussels in Mooney's Bay. They help clean up water, but compete with fish for food. Disclosure of salaries of regional representatives. Lists of employees receiving more than $100,000 in 1995 are available from Wendy's office. 1996 beach water quality. Mooney's Bay Beach is recommended to be open for the 1996 season. A report is available by Dr. Geoff Dunkley, Acting Medical Officer of Health, showing the bacteriological results for Mooney's Bay for 1995. Hunt Club Road/Airport Parkway interchange (see below). OC Transpo bus service (see below). Access to community services (see below). Call Wendy's office for more information.
City Ward 0T8 Councillor, Karin Howard, reported on the following: Wading pools and outdoor rinks. Comments from Hunt Club Riverside Recreation Association meeting 20 Mar and related meeting at City Hall on 18 Mar to be compiled into a report. Updated information packages available to those interested. It seems that the criteria for judging whether pools should be closed was based not on actual usage but on the pool capacity. This criteria meant that the smaller pools would be closed and not those that were least used. 3rd annual urban forest workshop to be held at City Hall on Saturday 20 April 8:30am to 3:30pm. Cost of $20/person includes lunch and parking. Register with Anita Price 733-1049 before 15 April. Assistance with income tax forms. Those earning less than $23,000 can get free help until 30 April. Call 829-9777 for appointment. Volunteers trained by Revenue Canada available at The Olde Forge Community Resource Centre at 2370 Carling Ave. Environmental achievement awards established by City. Deadline for nomenations is Fri 26 Apr. Improved accountability for the City. City Auditor now reports directly to City Council meaning that the auditor's observations on management performance will not be filtered through senior staff. Improving City legal support. Attempting to make City Sollicitor report directly to Council as well, for the same reasons. Tobacco and alcohol sponsorship of community services. Trying to get City to formulate a policy on limiting the ability of tobacco and alcohol companies to advertise in municipally owned buildings and services (such as libraries), even if they sponsor those services. Group home on Riverside Drive (see below). Draft Z2020 zoning bylaw (see below). Royalton Town Homes at corner of Uplands/Paul Anka being converted from rentals into town homes (see below). For city-related issues, call Karin's office.
On/off ramps at Hunt Club and the Airport Parkway: Region has approved funding. Land agreement with NCC about to be finalized. Construction may begin this summer. Call Peter Vasdi for more information.
Better bus service: Direct downtown service (new route 87 to parallel old route 96) direct to Lebreton Station to go into effect 7 Apr. Route 146 direct to Brookfield High School retained. Call Nancy Seaby for more information.
Medical and other community resource center (CRC) for the Hunt Club area: Hunt Club (R8) is the only area in the region that does not have such a resource center. Region to investigate the possibility of allocating partial interim funding to South Ottawa Gloucester Resource Action Team (SOGRAT) in order to assure that critical programs and services are offered to the Hunt Club community. Boundaries of existing centers being reevaluated to include the Hunt Club area. Call Ann Brandel or Fred McLennan for more information.
Group home and new housing on Riverside Drive: But for compliance with local bylaws, group homes are a provincial issue. Existence of group home has not been communicated between those selling the houses and those buying them. Issue is the impact of the group home on the new homeowners, not the existence of group homes in the area: getting to know the kids going into the home, degree of supervision, maintenance of group home, interaction between residents of home and peers in community. Better communication is needed between all parties, including Children's Aid Society, the Province, and the community. In response to this requirement, a meeting was to be held at the HCRCC 7:30pm 11 Apr; however, this meeting was cancelled. There is a chance that there may not be a group home. Can school boards accommodate new student population from the new developments going up between Riverside Dr and the Rideau River (contact Andris Jansen)? Call Fred McLennan for more information.
Membership in the Federation of Citizens Association (FCA): Decided to continue our (HCCO's) membership for another year. Call Bill Royds for more information.
Protecting our green spaces - Z2020 bylaw and other efforts: Although the current version of the proposed Z2020 bylaw, published Nov 95, is a valiant 300- page attempt to describe it all, it has been criticized by many (results of Carleton Heights Community Centre open house on 26 Feb) as not being thorough enough. City staff are now preparing details of how the proposed Z2020 zoning differs from the existing. New zoning does allow a certain amount of meadow space to the west of McCarthy Woods. The decision seems to be based on a study by Daniel Brunton regarding the impact of the meadow on McCarthy Woods. Once an environmentally sensitive area is identified, it can be protected by such means as fencing, and special entrances that restrict bicycles and other traffic that could harm the area. Call Bill Royds for more information.
Protecting our green spaces - two ongoing activities by the City: Anna Hercz, Senior Policy Analyst, Environmental Management Branch, gave a presentation and answered questions regarding this information gathering effort. Two projects underway, the Natural and Open Spaces Study, and the Greenway System Management Plan. Natural and Open Spaces Study: Study will establish criteria and classifications for all green and open areas in the City. Inventories of selected areas will be conducted to provide comparisons and classifications, which could help determine what to preserve later. Study to be completed June 97 (next year). Greenway Plan Project: To develop corridor management plans for the City's 20 green corridors. To bring together land owners, planning agencies, interest groups, and communities to agree to common management guidelines for land use and maintenance. Organize interactive community meetings in each area to determine how people use their areas, to find out how people want to use the areas, and to help people map out own areas. To provide City-wide management guidelines. To initiate a land stewardship program. 6 background documents have already been prepared and are available on request. Main challenge is to involve the community: Because of personal schedules, most people are most available in Spring and Fall. Perhaps public consultations for both studies can be combined to minimize cost and maximize community feedback. Concern that the Hunt Club area is quickly becoming a prime area for development and will need the results of these studies. This seems to stress the urgency of public consultations starting in the Hunt Club area; however, the results of the NOS study cannot be compiled until all areas have been studied. Open house on Greenway Plan to be held 4-9pm 17 Apr at City Hall, Bytown Pavilion, Freiman- Guigues Room. Call Sue Taylor or Anna Hercz at for more information.
Royalton Town Homes at 3255 Uplands Dr. (phone 230-2100/FAX 230-9880) being changed from rental units to freehold: The change can only proceed if Royalton manages to provide addition parking spaces. Freehold homes will require 19 more parking spaces than the rental units currently provide. City bylaw allows a cash exchange in lieu of providing the additional parking spaces required ($4000 per space). The philosophy is that this cash would go to financing alternate parking spaces elsewhere, but in reality, cash in lieu of parking usually results in parking problems for the area. HCCO passed a motion to not approve the cash in lieu of parking, and to write to City to support our motion. One recommendation is that Royalton expand their existing parking structure by another level to accommodate the increased parking requirement. City is to vote on cash in lieu option on 29 May. Call Alan Asselstine for more information.
Supporting The News, our local paper: The cost of paper has increased to the point where it is impacting on the frequency of newspaper delivery and the ability to deliver newspapers. Newspaper is looking for a solution. One option is to create a "subscription package" aimed at readers voluntarily subscribing to The News. $1/month was the suggested figure. Half the subscription could go to carrier and other half to the newspaper. Would improve the consistency of delivery. The newspaper is interested in comments on the best way of going about this. May decide on package and test market in one area in the Fall. We believe a local paper is important and should encourage people to support it. Call Alan Asselstine for more information.
Tree planting along the renovated Hunt Club Road: Starting this Spring, there will be a planting of trees, shrubs, vines, and ground cover, on private and condomium properties along Hunt Club Road (as previously agreed upon with owners). There is also a naturalization project planned for Hunt Club Place, which involves dense planting of natural vegetation and some 400 trees . At the moment there are no plans to plant trees or shrubs in the public areas along Hunt Club (in the median or beside the sidewalks); however, the Region is willing to consider this should the community express an interest. Call Peter Vasdi for more information.
Spring cleaning: Tentatively scheduled for Sat 11 May. Register our efforts with the City Need to promote pride our area and in the impression people have of our area when driving or walking through it. City may support the cleanup by donating materials. Coops may have good ideas on conducting cleanups. Call Ken Donnelly for more information.
Next HCCO meeting is Mon 6 May at 7:30 p.m. at the Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre at the corner of Paul Anka and McCarthy. Anyone is welcome. Call Fred McLennan for more information.