Present: Lisa Furrie, Iain Wood, Ron Poirier, Maeve McMahon, David Perkins, Chris McCann, Brenda Quinlan, Mary McIninch, Melanie Cave, Darlene Charron, Peggy Kampouris, Morris Rothman
The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm.
Welcome
Iain welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Approval of the agenda
Mary asked to add an item to the agenda, namely a discussion about a letter that she wrote to the City about life-cycle funding for parks. Peggy asked to add a discussion about the repatriation of trees and an initiative that she learned about to celebrate Ottawa’s 150th anniversary.
Peggy put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Chris seconded the motion.
Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes
Ron put forward a motion to accept the agenda; Brenda seconded the motion.
Business arising from previous minutes
Returning to the discussion about how best to get youth representation on the GACA board, Ron said that he sent an email to his neighbour who is the father of both university- and high-school-aged children. Iain said that he has been in touch with Glebe Collegiate. He was told that it would be extremely unlikely that a student would volunteer to serve on the board. Iain is waiting to hear back from Glebe’s principal.
Action: This discussion will be brought forward to the May board meeting.
Maeve told the group that a neighbourhood co-op is trying to start up again. It is called the “g-spot” and it distributes organic food to students at Carleton University on a pay-what-you-can basis. Maeve said she is trying to get in touch with Councillor Cherneshenko to see if he can help.
Iain said that he had also spoken to someone from Glebe Collegiate about the possibility of art students there designing and painting murals on neighbourhood businesses. He said one art teacher is interested in the idea, but would have to hear more specifics about the project. There is also the question of who would pay for the paint. Peggy said she spoke with the owner of the Vac Shack, who is frustrated with the continuing graffiti on his business.
Mary asked what residents can do about properties in the neighbourhood that are not being adequately cared for. Darlene suggested calling the City of Ottawa at 311 and filing a complaint. Peggy added that it might be worthwhile to contact the City’s property standards group because it has an initiative to get landlords to maintain properties. Responding to a comment that it is difficult to know what the standards are, Peggy suggested asking a city specialist to speak at the next AGM about the standards.
Action: Iain will follow up with the City about the status of the LED pilot project.
Action: Peggy will contact Councillor Chernushenko’s office to determine the status of the safety audit.
In terms of the proposed Bronson redevelopment, Iain said that he spoke to the person responsible for this project. He was assured that there would be community consultations. The City is currently in the very early stages of planning for this project.
Action: Iain will follow up with the traffic people at the City about issues around the Powell/Bronson intersection.
Action: Iain will draft a statement about the upcoming municipal election for the GACA website.
New business
On-street parking meter consultations
Action: Lisa will circulate the information that GACA received from the city.
Name change for Dalhousie South park
Action: Further discussion on this item will be tabled until Sylvia returns.
Summer street party
Morris offered to organize the event once a date was selected. While it might take more time to get permission to block off a street, it would be easy to hold the event in the park. We would only have to get permission from the city to hold the event in the park, he said.
Maeve added that this type of event might help recruit new members. Mary offered that her husband could provide some music.
The group decided to hold the party in the park on Saturday, 14 June between 11am and 2pm. We will also hold a street party in the fall.
All that we need to organize are tables and chairs, barbecues, and music.
Lisa suggested that flyers for the party could be distributed during the spring clean-up event.
Action: Morris will develop a flyer for distribution at the spring clean-up. Morris will contact Hartman’s and Abbas about food and/or money donations.
Mary suggested that the party would be a good opportunity for the Association to get feedback from the neighbourhood about how they use the park and what they would like to see in the park. Melanie suggested putting a series of questions on a big roll of paper and having people write down their answers.
Action: Discussion about the details associated with the party will be brought forward to the next meeting.
Spring clean-up
Darlene said the spring clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, 3 May.
History of the neighbourhood
Iain said it would be interesting to develop a history of the neighbourhood. We could draw from the wealth of knowledge that many people in the neighbourhood have about its history.
said that he thought a few of the photos might touch on our neighbourhood’s boundaries.
Action: Ron will follow up about the available photographs.
Action: Iain asked everyone to forward to him the names of people in the neighbourhood who it would be useful for him to contact about the history.
Park redevelopment
Iain said that he was speaking to a friend who lives in Westboro and was told that a park in that neighbourhood was redeveloped without consultation at a cost of $240,000.
Action: Iain will find out more details about this redevelopment and pass them on to Mary.
Great Glebe garage sale
The Glebe Community Association has contacted GACA about our possible involvement in the sale.
Action: After some discussion, the group decided to monitor the flow of traffic in our neighbourhood this year and to discuss our involvement in the months leading up to next year’s sale.
Life-cycle funding for parks
Mary told the group that, following a request from the GCA parks committee, she wrote a letter to the mayor about life-cycle funding for parks.
Action: Mary will circulate the letter to the board for comments.
Repatriation of trees
Peggy told the group that the planned infill project next to her will mean that a few mature trees, including a ginko tree, will have to be removed. She said that she will contact the city to see if the trees could be moved to other locations. Peggy wondered if the Board would be willing to write a letter to the owner about the trees.
Ottawa’s 150th anniversary
There is an initiative as part of the city’s anniversary to plant one million trees. Peggy said that the city wants community involvement in this project.
Action: Peggy will get more information on this initiative and will circulate it to the board.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.
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