Faircrest Heights Community Asso

He then brought the meeting up to date on the association’s financial situation, noting that there were 100 paid-up members for 2009-2010. Regular participation by 100 residents continued to generate enough revenues to cover FHCA’s regular running costs, including production of two newsletters a year, two open meetings, our website, liability insurance as required by the City of Ottawa, and membership in the Federation of Citizens Associations of Ottawa.

He explained that the neighbour mailman for more than 20 years, Joseph Dewolfe is on the verge of retirement and was deserving of special recognition. Accordingly, residents would be asked to thank Joseph with a card and option gift (cash or cheque) to be addressed to Joseph and delivered to Tony’s house on Wednesday December 15^th, at which time all residents were invited to drop in for a presentation.

Tony thanked the retiring members of the executive — Jacques and Marie Beaulne, Quentin Bristow and Don Melik — as well as Councillor Peter Hume and his staff for their continued support of the FCHA.

Parks & Playground: Joyce presented a report on neighbourhood parks and the playground. She sought suggestions about potential uses of Robert Andrew Russell Park on Billings Ave. at Highridge Ave. She said the generally abused site needed community support and solicited two or three volunteers for the spring, to continue work initiated by the park’s immediate neighbours.

FHCA Executive: Tony confirmed his decision to step down after three years and noted that the executive needed a new President but also a Director of Municipal Affairs, a Director at Large, and a representative from Oak Park. He then read the proposed slate for 2010-2011.

He sought nominations from the floor. Councillor Hume nominated Roger Piché for the position of Director at Large seconded by Tony Le Moine. The vote for the slate and the nomination from the floor was carried unanimously.

Wreaths on Alta Vista lampposts: They had been purchased and installed by the Alta Vista Residents Association and that the only public cost was winter storage at the Community Centre. Flower baskets had been considered initially but maintenance was problematic.
Parks: The city allocated resources on a ward-specific basis. A standing fund was available to underwrite acquisition of land such as the school property between Billings and Pleasant Park Road as well as for erection of playground equipment, tree planting and potentially improvements to Robert Andrew Russell Park. It was up to individual communities to set priorities and Hume was compiling a list of community needs for the next few years.
Development: He said most of it had been occurring on the fringes of the community, The Train Station was partnered for development, including parking lots. The federal government planned a 250,000sq.ft office development at the Trainyards. The government had purchased property at Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Tremblay Road for a node, which would replace some aging real estate and were planning to anchor it with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) headquarters. The City balked at the proposal and called for more community input. Hume urged community associations to have a common planning strategy which would address potential traffic and other issues but suggested the development could be of benefit in that CBSA and other employees could live closer to their workplace.
Light Rail Transit: Central marshalling yards were proposed on Belfast Road.
Compost: Having said at the spring general meeting that he would arrange for a truckload to be distributed at the fall meeting, he had opted to postpone it not only because it would be more appropriate in the spring but also because it was dark early.
AV Transportation Corridor: It would provide traffic relief into The Ottawa Hospital complex. Underground infrastructure near Lycée Claudel was being removed in preparation for construction. There had been difficulties with Hydro and the owners of the railway right-of-way (ROW). He said Smyth Road was a “fragile” artery subject to traffic stacking up whenever there is an accident. There would be a dedicated two-lane link under the Transit way and over the ROW into the hospital complex. Issues were still being resolved and he hoped there would be a final decision by February. The timeline for the National Defence Medical Centre lands was still unclear but 2022 was still the rumoured target. The Ottawa Hospital was working on a balance approach to traffic, including relocating its emergency entrance to the north side of its property to tie in to the new link. There was a question about a dotted line on Hume’s PowerPoint presentation, but the Councillor said this was an outdated and impractical proposal to route traffic along the Hydro ROW. The latest option would see abandoned railway lines and other property used for the traffic plan.
Buckthorn along Lynda Lane: It was squeezing out native species and required machine removal before the area was replanted with native species. The City preferred to do this work in the fall rather than in the spring when the ground was soggy. Community input was being solicited through the FHCA executive.
Surface and backyard drainage: He explained that if a property has kerbs and sewers, maintenance is a City responsibility, but if there is a culvert and/or ditch, the property owners are responsible. He said the City responsibility was dropped during the amalgamation of the region’s municipalities but that it would be revisited as soon as practicable to address what was clearly an unfair situation. He said homeowners should not be able to regrade property in any way that flooded neighbouring property and he suggested that offending homeowners might be compelled to remedy any problems.
Lynda Lane parking management: He reviewed the proposal to develop the west side to urban standards with a sidewalk and lighting while leaving the east side, adjacent to the sports fields, in their current “rural” state. A private company had offered to carry out the upgrades in return for installing paid parking along the road, but there are concerns about the proposed plan, and further input from the community is required.

QUESTIONS & COMMENTS

· Traffic: There were grade problems associated with the traffic corridor where it crossed Old Riverside Drive near Lycee Claudel which requires the closing of a portion of Old Riverside Drive. There were traffic concerns but these would be addressed. Plans for an additional bridge were not part of the current proposal but LRT development could accelerate that need and he expected everything to be in place by approximately 2031.

· It was timely to be discussing the intersection of Lynda Lane and Billings Avenue because of traffic loading and trash. There had been a proposal to realign Linda Lane with The Ottawa Hospital entrance on Smyth Road but there were concerns about increased through-traffic in the community to and from the hospital. He acknowledged a lot of opposition to more traffic “diffusing” into the community. One option would be a low-cost parking lot at the hospital to offset any closure of parking on Lynda Lane. A ticking blitz was suggested by a member of the FHCA as a potential solution to problematic parking in the community. Another possible solution was suggested from the floor, that the ring road, when built, have wide enough shoulders to permit parking on both sides and then the parking on Lynda Lane could be prohibited or only permitted on a shorter term basis. Hume thought that this was a good idea and would take it forward.

· Oak Park: An Oak Park Retirement Home resident questioned whether there was any city bylaw about bird feeders? As large bird feeders installed by some Oak Park homeowners could be problematic because of they way they attract crows and squirrels Hume recognized the problem but it would have to be addressed on an individual basis by the Oak Park residents. Another issue raised was the parking of NDMC staff in front of the retirement home. Hume replied that management of the residence was in conjunction with the city implementing a parking permit system as a solution.

· Parking: An FCHA member complained about the ban on parking on both sides of Highridge, noting that unaware residents’ guests had been ticketed and that other visitors were forced to move on to Crestview to avoid parking control.

· Parks’ legal status: All were dedicated as parks by bylaw, but the City could dispose of them through a legislated process. Some lands such as Grasshopper Hill had been handed over by the National Capital Commission and where these were not protected by the bylaw, however, the NCC would have to be consulted before any other use is contemplated.

· Bicycle lanes. An FHCA member was disappointed that no bicycle lanes had been incorporated into the resurfacing of Smyth Road. Hume said it would have required the road to be widened, which in turn would have necessitated a lot of infrastructure to be moved. Also, the money was federal stimulus funding which had to be spent by March 2011. The City was considering removal of the median on the Smyth-Main bridge so as to accommodate bicycle lanes. Bank Street bridge renovation also might include bicycle lanes. A multipurpose pathway between Smyth and Conroy would eventually be linked to the path adjacent to the Rideau River.

Tony thanks Councillor Hume, and adjourned the meeting at 9:13 p.m. Councillor Hume stayed on to handle questions from individual members.

President’s report: He thanked the executive committee for its continuing work. Having explained that the Treasurer was out of the country, he noted that the FHCA had 84 paid-up members (42 of whom were present). That was sufficient to maintain adequate operating expenses, which included two newsletters a year, liability insurance, and membership in the City association of community groups. He also confirmed that an Alta Vista-wide garage sale was scheduled for Saturday 12 June. Addressing vacancies on the committee, he was finalizing position descriptions which, once approved by the committee, would be posted on the FHCA website. There was a question from the floor about whether there were other garage sales in the area. He said he was unaware of any and preferred to support the aforementioned event even though it was being organized by a non-resident.

Faircrest Park: Joyce Wright has happy to issue her final report after spending 12 years bringing the project to fruition. All residents were invited to an official opening at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 18^th. Five trees needed to be replaced, but she thanked the installers for their work and had seen individuals, families and other groups using the park already. The President thanked her for her persistence.

David McGuinty, MP: Thanking the audience for their participation, he explained that there had been a noticeable trend in other areas of citizens “checking out” of the democratic process. Nine years overseas had given him new appreciation of democracy at home.

Asked about the contentious Terry Fox Drive extension in Kanata, he said there had been some issues about the scope and integrity of the environmental assessment (EA) of the project. He said the federal government has buried “poisonous” sweeping proposals to change the overall EA process in a 900-page budget bill. He had urged Environment Minister Jim Prentice to table an EA-specific bill in the House and was still waiting for a response. He acknowledged that the EA process could be streamlined and made more efficient with the help of provincial and municipal governments. Returning to the road construction issue, he said more roads axiomatically mean more cars and that a light rail project, which has been under discussion for a decade, would be a quality-of-life venture which would draw and hold more people and business to Ottawa.

Peter Hume, City Councillor: He echoed McGuinty’s observation that the light rail project had been set back a decade and that even if federal funding were available immediately, a lot of new planning was required. He hoped the project could get started within the next four years and said it would be a challenge to bring it in on schedule and under budget. Ottawa’s reputation had been “blemished” by the current city administration’s decision to cancel the original project despite the fact that a significant penalty had to be paid to the consortium that won the original bidding process. He also said Infrastructure Ontario help might be needed for a new procurement.

He thanked the FHCA executive for its service to the community and for the advice and feedback to his office. He too singled out Joyce Wright for her perseverance on Faircrest Park before addressing a number of issues left from the fall FHCA meeting:

	Faircrest Heights Community Association

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