General Meeting – 12 December 2001

Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital

Meeting of December 12, 2001

7:30 p.m., Honeywell Room, new City Hall

DRAFT MINUTES

Attending: Barbara Barr, Amy Kempster, Juan Pedro Unger, Erwin Dreessen, Bill Royds

Guest: Divya Raman

Regrets: Mary Hegan, Arthur Mathewson, Albert Dugal

Meeting started late as the Honeywell Room was locked.

Documents available:

Revised Proposed Agenda;

Draft Communications Strategy (as posted on the web site);

Options for a more effective list service and web site (as posted on the web site along with the invitation to this meeting);

Draft Community Handbook on the City of Ottawa Development Approvals Process; “Charting a Course” (a few photocopies).

Introductions were held. Divya had expressed interest in volunteering as recording secretary and to help organize the Walk/Run for Clean Air. Post-meeting note: These Minutes are largely Divya’s work. Congratulations, Divya! Erwin

 

TIME

ITEM

ACTION
7h50 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
No changes were proposed. Carried.
7h51 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 21, 2001
Apologies were expressed for late posting of the Minutes, due to turmoil in Roger’s e-mail system. The line starting <see Bill…> on page 2 is to be deleted. Amy moved and Barbara seconded approval of the Minutes as amended. Carried. Erwin to send Amy and anyone who so wishes draft Minutes as an attachment, rather than going to the web site.
8h00 BUSINESS ARISING
LEITRIM
Barbara has agreed to in future replace Bill as our link to the Friends of Leitrim. Letter needs to be sent to Min. Dhaliwal re Transport study. Barbara will draft letter to Dhaliwal.
8h02 REGISTRATION FOR DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION NOTIFICATION
Erwin has sent the document to Françoise Jessop with Amy as the name and telephone contact and with suggested criteria for identification of our interest. A question arose about a registration policy for larger area and citywide issues. Amy will talk to Linda and John Blatherwick of the FCA to propose a larger notification area for larger citywide issues.
8h05 HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Greetings went out to City Council Members of Ottawa and the new Gatineau, all NCR MPs, MPPs and MLAs, all Board Members of the NCC, and all members of the City of Ottawa Environmental, Ottawa Forests and Heritage Advisory Committees. Our self-made “card” cost 55c each to reproduce and Barbara donated the envelopes.
8h10 NEW MEMBERSHIPS / RENEWALS
None.
8h11 New / Action Items
  ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE WORKPLAN
Report is going to Planning and Development Committee the next day. Mary Hegan will speak. Barbara will attend. It was agreed to generally support the staff report, laud the prospect of staff and EAC efforts being complementary, note that using the EAC as a sounding board is okay but should not come at the detriment of its key function which is to advise Council, support the holding of workshops and applaud the proposal for a Volunteer Network of Environmental Experts and the suggestion of a Land Trust. Also bring to Councillors’ attention that the agendas and minutes for the EAC are still not on the website. Barbara will be the spokesperson tomorrow afternoon.
8h20 WOODLOT AT SCOTT STREET

(former Canadian Bank Note property)
Amy reported that Judy Mulligan has a submitted a NOSS-type study to Deborah Irwin. There has not yet been an application for rezoning, but there will be. The main concern in this issue is the effect of the development on traffic in the area. Amy will stay abreast of the situation through neighbouring Community Associations and other parties.
8h25 HERON/WALKLEY PLAN OF SUBDIVISION (“1428 Heron Road”)
This is a staff-delegated application. Barbara and Erwin attended the December 3 Public Meeting in the community, chaired by Clr. Hume. The key issue is the inevitable pressure on the ES1 zone adjacent to the site since there is virtually no extra parkland; also, the Greenway Corridor is in part only 20 m wide instead of 30. Comments are due December 17. Planner Charron has committed to providing anyone who comments with an opportunity to review the draft approval report, likely in late January. Barbara will draft a letter to Charron.
8h30 NCC STEWARDSHIP GUIDELINES
In follow-up to discussion with M. Laflamme at the AGM, Sandra Peck of the NCC has offered to have a meeting to discuss stewardship guidelines issued to staff. Erwin has asked for the document so he may determine who would want to attend. Likely interested persons could include Stan Rosenbaum, Brian Hawley and Mike Rosen. Erwin will wait to hear from Sandra.
8h32 VOLUNTEER FAIR AT U OF OTTAWA
The Fair is on the 6th February from 10 to 4 and the deadline for application is January 19th. It was agreed that this is a worthwhile event so that volunteers can be recruited for different projects such as the Poets’ Pathway, the Run for Clean Air and various aspects of the Communication plan. Erwin to apply. Bill, Amy, Juan to prepare “job descriptions.”
8h40 Brief Reports / Updates
OFFICIAL PLAN
David McNicoll and Barbara attended the presentation of “Charting a Course” before the start of Council today; many Councillors were absent. The document is on the City and Ottawa 20/20 websites. Note was taken of the passage on greenspace and how they plan to protect and conserve it. Consultations will follow in Jan/Feb. Bill will post the web address of the report.
 

8h46

 HOME DEPOT AT BANK
The News of December 6 stated that the City was willing to sell land so that the road could be realigned. This could mean that the development would be further away from Sawmill Creek. Comments were due by December 14, 2001, but community groups were not given notice despite what the article said. Bill will talk to planner Harrison before Friday. Barbara will call on behalf of her community association to complain about not receiving notice. Erwin will get in touch with the consultant and let him know we have a great interest in this site.
8h58 COMMUNICATION PLAN
Juan commented that he could use volunteers for English to French translation, incl. the press release template. Amy noted that if a logo is to go on the Run T-shirts, then it must be ready by March. Different logos and headers are needed for electronic and paper messaging. Non-personalized business cards and return address labels would also be useful. Juan will have a well developed media tree and a draft press release template by early January. Logos and letterheads will be designed by March (with prospective free professional help).
9h14 DEVELOPMENT PROCESS HANDBOOK
Barbara reported that the City is developing a Community Handbook on the city’s development approvals process. So far there is an outline only but P&DC approval is expected to be sought “soon.” Barbara will send this document electronically to Bill for posting on the listserv.
9h17 ROAD WIDENINGS

(South Urban Community – former Gloucester)
Barbara attended the Open House on December 6 on planned widening of Riverside Drive and Leitrim, Limebank and Armstrong Roads. It was agreed not to submit a comment at this time.
9h21 RUN /WALK FOR CLEAN AIR
Next meeting is Dec. 18. Shirts, donated by Mountain Equipment Coop, have been received. Current task remains finding corporate sponsors.
9h23 MOFFATT FARM
Erwin reported that Carole Tattersall confirmed that negotiations are taking place, though the Coalition remains against development. There is an OMB hearing on December 19 on an NCC appeal about the delay. A question arose as to the NCC’s right to appeal regarding a private development, given its mandate in the National Capital Act. Erwin will review the Act and convey the idea to Carole Tattersall.
 

9h30

 WEB COMMITTEE REPORT
Bill reported that the Web Committee now has 4-5 very active members. He has done much lately to reduce clutter on the web site.

The Committee next meets on December 17.

 GACC members are requested to send feedback to Bill on changes to the website design.
9h37 LISTSERV AND WEB SITE
Our right to the <gacc.ca> domain expires in February and will be renewed. There have been several weeks of disruptions in email due to the bankruptcy of At Home. Now that our domain is active we can create specific accounts for projects, people, etc. For now, there is list@gacc.ca (for posting to the listserv), info@gacc.ca (the general address), and membership@gacc.ca . This could be extended for a specific topic of the subscriber’s choosing. The need to have a backup moderator was also discussed. Bill will send out an e-mail about the new mailing addresses since his notice may not have reached everyone.

All suggestions will be discussed at the next Web Cee. meeting, incl. the option of a survey to find out subscribers’ preferences.
9h58 ADJOURNMENT
Barbara moved adjournment.

MAIL FILE:

    • Regrets from Arthur Mathewson on being unable to attend, and with his best wishes.
    • Excerpt from PEN, November 1991, on ECOVISION’s polling of all candidates for local elected office on their Greenness. Prodigious research.
    • PEN, issue of December 2001/January 2002.

 

The next meeting of the Greenspace Alliance is on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. in the Honeywell Room of new City Hall.