GREENSPACE ALLIANCE OF CANADA’S CAPITAL
Greenspace Watch
General Meeting
March 23, 2015
Hintonburg Community Centre
1064 Wellington Street West
K1Y 2Y3
Members present: Erwin Dreessen (chair and notetaker), Amy Steele, Nicole DesRoches, Sol Shuster, Iola Price, Bruce Lindsay and Jason Kania
Regrets: Juan Pedro Unger
The meeting commenced at 7:18 p.m.
1. Agenda
A modified agenda was agreed upon.
2. Administrative items
a. Minutes of February 23, 2015: Iola moved, seconded by Amy, to adopt the revised Minutes as circulated. Agreed.
b. Confirmation of decisions of February 23: Amy moved, seconded by Nicole, to confirm adoption of the Minutes of January 26, a payment of $42.94 to Erwin, and acceptance of Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association as a member. Agreed.
c. Treasurer’s report:
– Nicole moved, seconded by Iola, to pay Erwin $48.88 for a printing bill related to the OMB appeals of OPA 150. Agreed.
– Bruce moved, seconded by Sol, to pay Jason $146.90 for annual web services. Agreed.
d. Membership report: Bruce moved, seconded by Sol, to accept the memberships of Michael Gazier, David Hobden, and Robert Farley. Agreed. We noted that both Michael and David have long been subscribers to the GA List and that David was a member of the OF-NC Conservation Committee with Bill Royds.
e. AGM (May 25): Sol confirmed he will complete a compilation of data for the Annual Report a month before the AGM. Erwin, Nicole, Jason, Sol and Bruce confirmed that they will continue on the Board. Various members undertook to make inquiries about nominations. Erwin will post an invitation to the List.
3. Action updates
a. Central Experimental Farm: The core group has made good contacts with retired scientists. Meetings have been held with local politicians. Nominations have been made to the Heritage Canada National Trust for a spot on the 2015 Top Ten Endangered Sites list.
b. Environment Committee meeting of February 17: The Committee made no changes to staff’s proposals. As a result of a suggestion by non-member Councillor Wilkinson, the responsibility for Wildlife policy will be reviewed at the mid-term Governance review. Erwin recommended reading an interview with chair David Chernushenko by Angela Keller-Herzog in the Glebe report of 13 February 2015.
c. Letter to MMAH about the Municipal Elections Act: The letter was sent on March 6 and posted to the GA List and web site.
d. Follow-up on Habitat Management in the Greenbelt: Three questions were put to Eva Katic on March 1 but no substantive answer has been received yet.
4. Working with 1125@Carleton
Nicole and Erwin debriefed the others about their visit to 1125@Carleton (Pauline Rankin) on March 17. 1125@Carleton came into existence 1 1/2 years ago. It is “an experimental, collaborative virtual and physical space for problem solving, whether focused on new products and services, or addressing irritants or complex “wicked” problems. … Many labs focus on one set of problems – incubation of new ideas or a sole focus on social challenges – but 1125@Carleton is open to exploring new ideas that will contribute to building sustainable communities.” This is one of several manifestations by universities to better connect with their communities. We discussed a draft list of “wicked problems” on the environment and governance plaguing the national capital area; Erwin already sent Pauline our most recent MEC application expressing our capacity building needs. A revised list will be sent off and will form the basis of a further discussion.
5. OMB appeal of OPA 150
Erwin visited Councillor Nussbaum on March 12 about Legal Services’ non-response to our offer of settlement and the extreme opaqueness of the process. He described the large amount of documents delivered by the City in preparation for the pre-hearing conference of April 7-10. We discussed the strategy to be adopted about specific Items that will come up.
6. Bill 73 – amending the Development Charges Act and the Planning Act
This Bill was received in First Reading at Queen’s Park on 5 March. Erwin posted an analysis of the Bill to the List and other groups on March 8. A slightly revised version will be published to the web site.
7. KNL development
A public meeting on March 4 provided updates on a Blanding’s Turtles report and the final report of Phase 2 of the Stormwater Management Study – Existing Conditions. Erwin is working with SMH-CRC on a list of follow-up questions that will be sent to Councillor Wilkinson in the hope of starting a genuine dialogue.
8. Other business
Erwin will be unable to attend the AGM of the Healthy Transportation Coalition on April 30. Nicole will check her calendar.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. The agenda items that remained are covered in an annex.
The next meeting will be on April 27, 2015, starting at 7:15 p.m. at the Hintonburg CC.
Annex
1. Brief reports / updates
a. NCENN meeting of February 27: Tyler Blanchett made a presentation about way to advertise one’s events.
b. FCA meeting of March 17: Councillor Chernushenko attended and spoke to his plans for the upcoming strategic priorities exercise. Guest speaker Mike Bulthuis (Alliance to End Homelessness) spoke to the work and initiatives of the Alliance.
2. Other business
– Erwin signaled the start of a water rates review and the opportunities it could offer for better stormwater management.
– Erwin was contacted by a citizens group involved in an OMB appeal about 6279 Fernbank Road and gave advice, as did Ken McRae.