River Ward City Councillor Maria McRae's Report to Hunt Club Community Organization 14 September 2009

Welcome Back!

I hope that you enjoyed the summer. I look forward to working with the HCCO over the next year, as we work together to address issues important to the residents of Hunt Club.

Road Resurfacing and Preservation Projects in Hunt Club - Update

Crews were on site last week to resurface a portion of Hunt Club Road from Prince of Wales Drive to Paul Anka Drive. Construction on the resurfacing of Uplands Drive from Hunt Club Road to south of Breadner Boulevard is almost complete. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of September.

300 Hunt Club Road Development - Update

Council approved the Zoning By-law Amendment Proposal for 300 Hunt Club Road, located on the southeast corner of the intersection with Riverside Drive, at its meeting on September 2, 2009. The purpose of the application was to add "medical facility" as a permitted use on the property.

As you know, a commercial plaza of 5770 sq. metres of gross floor area is currently under construction. A major potential tenant for the site is a pharmacy with a second floor medical facility. The pharmacy is a permitted use under the current zoning, however the medical facility was not. There was also a concurrent site plan amendment approved for minor revisions to a proposed restaurant. ttawa

Expansion of the Hunt Club/Riverside Community Centre

On Friday, September 11, 2009, staff confirmed that the expansion of the Hunt Club/Riverside Community Center is progressing on schedule, with occupancy of the expansion area by December 2009.

Pathway Connection - Hunt Club Community to South Keys Transit Station Environmental Assessment

On Tuesday, June 23, 2009,1 hosted the first Open House for the Environmental Assessment for a pathway connection between the Hunt Club community and the South Keys Transit station. I was pleased to see such a great turnout and we received a great deal of positive feedback about the project. City staff and the consulting company are now gathering preliminary data and have undertaken a needs assessment and a detailed review of alternatives.

I will host another Public Meeting once the results and comments are compiled.

Hunt Club Road In-Service Safety Review - Update

The results of the Hunt Club Road In-Service Safety Review are scheduled to be presented at the October 7, 2009 Transportation Committee meeting. The staff report will be available to the public 10 days before this meeting.

Rideau Canoe Club Receives Expansion Funding

On June 26, 2009,1 attended the funding announcement for the $1.8-million renewal and expansion of the Rideau Canoe Club (RCC). After working hard for many months with RCC volunteers, City of Ottawa staff and federal and provincial government representatives, I am thrilled the Rideau Canoe Club will see this much-needed facelift. The joint federal, provincial and municipal funding was announced under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada program in Ontario (RInC Ontario) and Recreation Ontario (Ontario REC).

The RCC is recognized as one of Canada's best training centres for paddle sports and this expansion will attract even more national and international paddling events to our beautiful city. Through this expansion, the RCC will also become the first fully-accessible canoe/kayak club in Canada. The RCC was built on a foundation of volunteers and I would like to extend my sincere congratulations and thanks to all RCC members for their tremendous work in making this expansion a reality.

Pitch in to Give your City a Clean Sweep with Fall Cleaning the Capital

As Chair of the City's Transportation Committee, I would like to invite residents of all ages to participate in the City's 4th annual Fall Cleaning the Capital Campaign between Tuesday, September 15 and Thursday, October 15, 2009.

Fall Cleaning the Capital is a great opportunity for high school students to get a head start on their Community Involvement Program volunteer hours, and for families, friends, schools, neighbourhood groups or organizations and businesses to band together on a community cleanup project to help keep Ottawa clean, green, graffiti-free and litter-free.

I officially launched the fourth annual Fall Cleaning the Capital Campaign today at the Old Town Hall on March Road. Ward 4 (Kanata North) was recognized for having the highest participation rates in the City for the spring and fall campaigns in 2008 and the spring 2009 campaign where more than 14 percent of residents took part in cleaning, greening, litter pickup and graffiti-removal projects.

This fall let's put River Ward on the map! For more information and to register, visit ottawa.ca/clean or call 3-1 -1.

City's Green Fleet Grows

As Chair of the Transportation Committee, on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 I was pleased to unveil some of the current "green" technologies that are part of the municipal fleet as well as potential acquisitions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the City become a leading-edge municipality in the area of environmentally responsible management. Hybrid vehicles and other technologies that reduce pollution are key components of the City's new Municipal Green Fleet Plan.

The City's original reduction target for green house gas was 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2007, which was met corporately in 2004. In September 2009 the Environmental Sustainability Branch will present a revised corporate target, which will commit the City to an emissions reduction of 30 per cent by 2012 based on 1990 levels. The transportation sector is a major emitter of air pollutants, producing nearly three quarters of carbon monoxide emissions, more than half of nitrogen oxide emissions and more than one-quarter of the volatile organic compounds affecting air quality. The Green Municipal Fleet Plan specifically targets the transportation activities of the City and aims to reduce the City's footprint in this major green house gas emission sector.

Firefighters to Begin Annual Door-to-Door Wake Up Call

Ottawa firefighters from all 27 urban fire stations will be starting a month-long, door-to-door campaign on September 5 to ensure residents have working smoke alarms.

People have a greater chance of surviving a home fire if they are protected with working smoke alarms on each level of their dwelling and have a practiced home escape plan. While firefighters are visiting door-to-door, they will also answer any fire safety questions. Since 2005, The Wake Up, Get a Working Smoke Alarm program has visited 65,132 homes and this months Ottawa Fire Services will add 10,000 homes to that total.

Children under the age of 10 are particularly vulnerable to fire. By having working smoke alarms and teaching children proper safety behaviours, we can help to increase their chances of surviving a fire.

Integrated Road Safety Program (IRSP)

In 2003, the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Police Service strengthened their commitment to road safety by initiating the Integrated Road Safety Program to reduce traffic fatalities or serious injuries by 30% by the year 2010. In 2004, as part of the strategy, a campaign-based Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) was initiated where, on a monthly basis, two initiatives are launched that target specific traffic offences. Here are the statistics for the STEP program over the summer:
June 2009: Speeding and Impaired Driving, 2,483 charges for speeding and 109 charges, 34 three-day driver's license suspensions and one seven-day license suspension for impaired driving
July 2009: Pedestrian Safety and Tailgating, 22 pedestrian safety-related charges to both motorists and pedestrians, and issued 67 tickets to motorists for following the vehicle ahead too closely
August 2009: Red Light Running and Cycling Safety, 346 cycling safety charges and 475 tickets issued to motorists for running red lights
September 2009: School zone, School Bus Safety and Speeding, Results not yet available

One-day Depot for Household Hazardous Waste

The City of Ottawa is hosting a one-day household hazardous waste collection depot to provide a convenient way for you to help keep the environment free of hazardous household waste. Depot details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009 Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: 3354 Navan Road (south of Innes Road)
Residents are reminded that only household waste will be accepted (maximum 100 litres) at the depot. No commercial waste accepted. For a complete listing of acceptable household hazardous waste, visit the City's website at ottawa.ca/hhw.