NEWS ARCHIVESApril 2, 2010 Stittsville Appreciation Awards evening – you’re invited! Nominations have been received for the Stittsville Appreciation Awards and now it is time to celebrate the efforts and commitments that these great individuals and businesses have accomplished in, and given to, our community. The annual Appreciation Awards evening, where we celebrate and announce the nominees and winners, will be held on April 20 at 7pm inside the Goulbourn Recreation Complex (GRC). Whether you are a nominator, a nominee or just wish to enjoy great food, great entertainment and share an evening with fellow community members, everyone is welcome. Please RSVP your attendance to my office either by e-mail or by calling 613-580-2476 no later than April 13. My office has received many nominations and I thank everyone for participating. I look forward to announcing everyone nominated and the winners on April 20. Congratulations to all of our well-deserved nominees! Fairwinds Phase 5 public meeting On March 30 City Staff and I held a meeting with home purchasers from the Mattamy Homes Fairwinds phase 5 development. This phase of development has had a number of delays over the last years, many based on environmental factors. The current delay is due to a conflict between landowners over residual capacity at the Mattamy Pumping Station. With the residual capacity frozen due to legal action between landowners, the Mattamy Pump Station would require expansion to allow for more development to proceed. Expansion of the Mattamy Pumping Station is in turn restricted by the limited sanitary sewer capacity in the Hazeldean Pumping Station, which is presently unable to support additional development in Stittsville and Kanata until it is upgraded. The Hazeldean Pumping Station is scheduled for an initial upgrade that originally was anticipated to be completed by the end of this year. This upgrade requires approval from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and since the July 24, 2009 rainfall event, the MOE has been very cautious and will be requiring a Schedule B Environmental Assessment (EA), which involves a much more extensive process and time frame to support the proposed upgrade. The current capacity of the Pumping Station is 1000 litres per second and the proposed upgrade would have increased the capacity to 1225 litres per second, which would accommodate growth in the area for a number of years. In reviewing the Hazeldean Pumping Station EA from 1999, Staff very recently discovered that this approved EA provided for the Pumping Station being built to a capacity of 1077 litres per second. Given this information, the City will be seeking approval from the MOE to increase the capacity from 1000 to 1077 litres per second for the interim. If this increase is approved, there may be a limited amount of capacity made available for some of the proposed developments in Stittsville, and this would likely include Fairwinds Phase 5. This would allow developments such as Phase 5 to proceed for the next couple of years while the larger upgrade proceeds through the environmental assessment process. The purchasers of Phase 5 have been placed in a very difficult situation - some waiting years to have their dream home. I will continue to work closely with Staff to responsibly assist these homeowners and other developments in Stittsville. Site application for automotive service centre filed A site plan proposal has been submitted for a one-storey automotive service and sales centre at 2, 4 and 6 Cedarow Court, currently the site of a used car dealership. The applicant has proposed a building with a gross floor area of 534 square meters with 5 service bays and 39 parking spaces. Plans are posted on my website. For questions, and to provide comments by April 27, please contact myself and the City Planner, Sean Moore, at Sean.Moore@ottawa.ca or 613-580-2424 x16481. Free recycling programs offered on Earth Day Waste Management (WM) is hosting Earth Day 2010 on April 17 at the WM Residential Recycling Centre located at 2031 Carp Road. A free scrap steel and tire drop-off will be offered between 10am-2pm and a free BBQ will be held from 11am-1pm. Please note there is a limit of four tires per resident. All proceeds from the scrap steel recycling will be donated to the Goulbourn Historical Society. For more information, please visit www.wastemanagementottawa.ca. Wildlife in Stittsville Given the nature of our community, it is commonplace for wildlife to be spotted throughout Stittsville – especially in new developments on the outskirts of the ward. It is important for residents to remember not to feed wildlife and keep garbage properly secured to discourage animals from coming into the community. If you are experiencing a problem with a wild animal, do not panic and do not attempt to remove the animal. Visit www.wildlifeproblems.ncf.ca for cost effective and humane solutions to common wildlife problems. Always listening and acting on your concerns As your Councillor, I always welcome your keen input and ideas on how we can sustain and improve Stittsville. Please contact our office anytime by phone at 613-580-2476 or by e-mail at Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca. My ward office is located in the Goulbourn Recreation Complex, located at 1500 Shea Road. The hours of operation are Mondays 9-2pm, Wednesdays 3-8pm, Fridays 9-5pm, and Saturday 9-1pm. Please do not hesitate to pay us a visit. I welcome your call or e-mail to arrange an appointment. If you are not part of my electronic outreach list and would like to be added, please contact my office to ensure you receive pertinent information concerning our community. |