GACA Board Meeting – March 9, 2022

Glebe Annex Community Association (GACA)

Board Meeting – Wednesday, March 9, 2022, 7:00 p.m.

Held Via Zoom

Present:

The agenda was approved.

The minutes were approved.

The Committee of Adjustment did not approve the requested variance for the 17th floor interior rooftop amenity space.  Sue asked Fotenn if they will appeal the decision – she did not hear back from them. We are happy with the decision but not sure what it will mean for our relationship with Katasa – they are in our neighbourhood, and we need to work with them.

There are some residents who have damage concerns due to blasting. GACA heard from 3 people so far who have damage to their homes. One person filed a claim with Explotech, the third-party company that was hired to monitor and verify blasting damage. Their assessment concluded that they do not believe that the damage was caused by the blasting. Although the homeowner was out of the blasting zone, she did have an inspection done prior to the project start and has before and after photos. You do not need a pre-blast inspection to be entitled to put in a claim, but it makes it easier to demonstrate damages.  Sue has reached out to the councillor’s office, the FCA and other associations for information from their experiences that we can share with residents.

Sue reached out to City planners regarding speaking at our AGM on the Official Plan (OP). They responded that they could give us general information on the OP but are not sure if they can be specific to the Glebe Annex – in areas such as what heights can be allowed in our neighbourhood, how that has changed, etc. They can explain how plans affect neighbourhoods in our transect. Sue asked if they could expand the information specifically to our community, but she has not heard back from them. We do not want general overview of the OP but more specific to the Glebe Annex, so may look for another presenter. 299 Carling is supposed to be kicking off a consultation process on the park in March. The park could be a good topic for the AGM if the Official Plan does not work out. We may also have JHS present. Sue will email between meetings with any updates if required.

The application for the development at 7 Maclean has been withdrawn.

The parking garage was approved – the councillor’s office is still trying to see if there are other things they can do for improvements through the province, federal government or NCC. They did get the hospital to agree to start working on the transportation issue with nearby community associations.

It was supposed to be completed this spring, but the plan is delayed until January 2023. The delay is because we will be entering the election period. The delay is not negative; it allows time to work on the plan longer and get it right.

On Wednesday, April 6th the councillor’s office will hold a consultation on the redevelopment of Bronson. The meeting will be held over Zoom. The hope is to get a lot of feedback from neighbouring communities to help shape the process before it begins.

E-scooters were approved by the Transportation Committee and will go to Council March 23rd. There will be a reduction in how many scooters there are, and the City has cut the providers from three to two. Technology is improving for issues such as sidewalk parking – Bird is trying to set up parking zones for their scooters.

The plan is being worked on now.  Hazardous waste is a huge problem. Improvements for the disposal of these items will hopefully be improved, with regular pickups.

Bell Street closure at Carling to commence on Monday, March 15th.

CLC – The park on this development site is about ½ an acre, this sounds like a lot, but it is actually only approximately 100 x 200 feet. We will see what can fit into something this small.  When the consultation opens, it will be a good opportunity to comment, although feedback will be online only, which provides less opportunity for residents to engage. Our community has a real tree challenge. Scott commented that the GCA Parks Committee is working on tree canopy plans. On the Glebe side of the things, it makes a lot of sense. The plan does not translate as well to the Glebe Annex since our properties’ setbacks are minimal, and sometimes there are no front yards. It is just not possible in some areas of the Glebe Annex. Once we get to the more specific deliberations and sessions with Canada Lands, that would be the opportunity to ask more pointed questions on trees. In any new developments in our area, we do not want cash in lieu of parkland, we want land, and hopefully more trees. Land for park space is in short supply, especially in the urban core.

GACA Board Meetings We have agreed that we will continue with virtual meetings at least to the end of this session. Anyone who is holding a board or executive position and no longer wishes to, please let Sue know before the AGM.

We have held virtual membership drives for the last two years.  We have not held activities during this time, and our membership has been decreasing. Our communication efforts have been ongoing, with regular email updates, social media posts and Glebe Report articles. We may get higher membership numbers if we go door to door, but it looks like we should do a virtual drive again this year, as we are still not through this pandemic. We did have success from our mailbox drop off and postering in 2021. Our expenses are minimal, basically only FCA and GCA memberships fees, other than the pollinator garden costs last year. We will continue with mailbox drop off and postering. There has been a discussion on whether we use or the slick post card, the cost would be about $100.00 for 500 cards. It was felt that it is more effective to have a paper info sheet, as it is less expensive. These slicker cards are nice to have at events like our AGM. How to attract more young people to GACA, and how we can support issues of interest to them, was brought up. Events like yoga in the park were suggested.  Parties in the park take a lot of organization and work, as well as funds. It was suggested that we could do an event that brings people together but not necessarily to the extent that we did with our parties in the park. Perhaps a social event, like having ice-cream in the park. Reaching younger people could be done through social media; GACA already uses these forums, but maybe communication directed at younger people could be helpful.

Sue has not received the information on the spring clean yet. It is usually held in April. Jon commented that he did receive the information and confirmed that registration opens March 15th. Full details will be in the councillor’s newsletter.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.