Minutes
Glebe Annex Community Association (GACA)
Board Meeting – Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 7 p.m.
Present: Ryan Hampel, Marni Crossley, Scott Templeton, Sue Stefko, Carrie Kierstead, Carrie Bolton, Jonathan McLeod (Office of Councillor Menard)
1. Call to Order and Approval of Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. A motion to accept the agenda was made by Marni, seconded by Carrie and carried.
2. Approval of the Minutes from October 9, 2024
A motion to approve the minutes of September 11 was made by Sue, seconded by Marni and carried.
3. Community Safety and Security Update
Ryan provided an update on security, including a spate of porch thefts. Ryan has reached out to the community police officer but has not yet heard back. Ryan has also reached out Councillor Menard as to how we can include GACA in the Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program, which was discussed at the September meeting. Ryan will provide more information in the coming weeks.
4. Halloween Party Recap and December meeting
Ryan provided an overview of the successful Halloween event in the park. Gabrielle estimated 130 participants. There were 112 photos taken, 60 bags of candy handed out, and about 40 people were added to the GACA mailing list. Dog treats were a welcome addition, given how many dogs came. Ryan also suggested a holiday party for the December meeting in lieu of a meeting, as is tradition. A gathering at Pub Italia at 6:30 on our regular meeting date (Wednesday, December 11th) was proposed.
5. Board Discussion: Dalhousie South Park Modification Proposal
Sue provided an overview of how the park came to be in its current construct, which included a request for community input (2012), Party in the Park solicitation for input (2014), a call for interested community members to meet with the city Park Planner (2016), unveiling the resulting park plan at the AGM and requesting feedback (2017), and a city public consultation process (2018). While not all feedback could be incorporated, the existing park’s features were a result of the numerous consultations. This includes moving the gazebo outside the park area to be more accessible to all park users, including adults in the community who often go there to have coffee, eat a meal or chat. Sue suggested that substantive changes to the park should be consulted with the community. As the park is in good repair and not in need of maintenance, additional funds for park renewal would be required for the proposed modifications. This could be challenging to justify after $300k was spent on renewing the park in 2018 by combining both city funds and ward Cash in Lieu of Parkland funds.
Each aspect of the proposal was considered separately by the board.
- Increasing Park lighting – Several board members felt that the park was already well-lit at night, noting possible concerns from neighbours and possible light pollution if increasing lighting. Other board members felt that it was indeed dark. Before deciding whether to request more lighting, a number of board members will visit the park at different hours of the evening and night, take photos and present their findings to the board to inform further actions.
- Fencing redistribution – The proposal included that park fencing be moved to encompass the gazebo. The board agreed that the current construct was a deliberate attempt to be more inclusive of the community, and that changes were unlikely to prevent uses of the gazebo by adults. A motion to not support the proposal was made by Ryan, seconded by Sue and carried.
- Providing a cover for benches at the front of the park – given that this was intended to replace the gazebo as a covered place for adults and other community members, this proposal was no longer felt to be relevant. However, in recognition of the fact that the intent of the gazebo proposal was to provide parents a covered place to watch their children, there was a new proposal to reposition the benches in the middle of the park to face the play structures and to provide cover for one of them for inclement weather. This motion was made by Sue, seconded by Ryan and carried.
- Installing a privacy screen at the front of the park – given that this was also connected to the motion to make the front benches the main adult area, this was felt to be no longer relevant. Board members felt that this would block light and shrink the space, and that the current construct was sufficient. Ryan made a motion to not support the proposal and this was carried.
- Adding equipment for adults, older children – Given all the trees in the park, there is no room to safely add more structures without removing trees and the open play area – and maintaining that area in the back of the park was requested in previous consultations. However, having equipment for older children was a common theme throughout the consultations and GACA has supported this for the new park slated for 299 Carling. Sue motioned to not accept the proposal for Dalhousie South Park, but to continue to advocate for such equipment in the new park. The motion was carried.
- Councillor’s Update – Jon provided feedback on budget discussions, noting that Ottawa already has among Canada’s highest transit fares and the Councillor is concerned with increasing them further, which the city is proposing. Jon noted a levy on garbage, although on a positive note, there may be funding for more public washrooms. He noted that the Capital Ward holiday party was Friday December 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 – the venue is still being finalized.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m.