General Meeting – 28 February 2013

GREENSPACE ALLIANCE OF CANADA’S CAPITAL

Greenspace Watch

General Meeting

February 28, 2013

Hintonburg Community Centre

1064 Wellington Street West

K1Y 2Y3

Present: Amy Kempster (chair), Erwin Dreessen (note taker), Martin Callsen, Jason Kania and Lorne Peterson
Regrets: Juan Pedro Unger, Elina Elnione and Sol Shuster
The meeting commenced at 7:31 p.m.

  1. Administration items
    1. Minutes of January 31, 2013
      Erwin moved, seconded by Jason, to approve the Minutes of January 31 as circulated. Approved.
    2. Treasurer’s report
      Erwin moved, seconded by Martin, to pay $30.17 for reservation of the Wellington Room on June 8 for the Natural Linkages Panel event, and a further adjustment of $8.12 for other room reservations at the Hintonburg CC. Approved.
    3. Membership
      Erwin proposed text for a Volunteer Opportunity on GetInvolved.ca, focused on revitalizing the membership roster. The text was supported.
      Amy suggested we should start thinking of a Nominations Committee.
    4. Web and List
      The conversion to a new server is in progress. Jason agreed to be the third (back-up) moderator for the List.

     

  2. Business arising from Minutes
    1. Lower Rideau Sub-watershed Report
      Amy will continue to look into this.
    2. Rockcliffe Airbase Community Design Plan
      Al Crosby is now on the Public Advisory Group consisting of neighbouring community representatives as no other region-wide groups appear to have come forward yet. Reports of the November 26 Ideas Fair and of the first meeting of the PAG are now on the project’s web site, http://www.clcrockcliffe.ca/, as reported to the GA List.
    3. Hintonburg Statement follow-up
      Martin will draft a letter with emphasis on the need to have an up to date zoning by-law, e.g., in line with the recently designated Provincially Significant Wetlands (Kizell and Lester Road).
    4. Greenhouse Gas Roundtable
      Invitations were received today for the March 23 event at City Hall. Martin attended a Feb 25 strategy meeting called by Ecology Ottawa. Members suggested that the “greenspace” contribution to the discussion includes the role of greenspace as carbon sinks, applying intensification principles to the sea of parking lots, and the role of urban and rural sprawl (urban boundary expansion, country lot subdivisions).

     

  3. Ottawa Environmental Conference
    Erwin reported that Juan Pedro had further refined his proposal and aims to have an inaugural meeting at the end of March. Amy suggested additional groups that may be good candidates for the core group.
     
  4. Official Plan update
    Erwin confirmed participation of the four panelists for a June 8 event on natural linkages. The Alliance will be invited to the workshop that will kick off the Nature Conservancy’s project.
     
    John Moser has substantively replied to the “environmental agenda” we put forward, i.e., the debate is engaged.
     
    The OP Review committee needs to be populated as there are several tasks that need to be completed over the next three months.
     
  5. Trees
    Heather Hamilton will soon call another meeting of the Ottawa Forests | Forêts d’Ottawa group.
    Ecology Ottawa has abandoned its experiment with outreach about the Emerald Ash Borer.
    Replies from two arborists licenced to apply TreeAzin treatment were received. On average, discounts of 5 to 14% can be expected when treating multiple trees.
     
  6. NCC Greenbelt and Urban Lands Master Plans
    1. Greenbelt MP
      Public consultations on Feb 19 and 20 were attended by 30-50 people. The Greenbelt Coalition prepared some key comments for distribution. More comprehensive comments are in preparation.
    2. Urban Lands MP
      This project resurfaced at the Jan 23 NCC Board of Directors meeting. We will eagerly seek opportunities to participate. Mediation of an NCC appeal of the 2003 Official Plan concerning four parcels remains suspended awaiting completion of this Master Plan.

     

  7. Other business
    Note was taken of a meeting in Kanata on March 18 concerning findings of phase 2 of a stormwater management study (KNL development) and further findings of the Blanding’s Turtles study at Terry Fox Drive Extension.

 
The meeting adjourned at 9:24 p.m.
Next meeting will be at the Hintonburg CC on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at 7:15 p.m.