Friday, December 3, 2010

CCCA In Full Gear for December

One of the awkward (though not uncommon) parts of the CCCA's By-laws is that the executive is appointed at the first board meeting following the AGM, from among members of the Board. Unfortunately, in a year with lots of turnover in the Executive, this means the President has a lot to do before that first meeting. This year has a lot of activity in December, not counting the many CCCA committees that haven't yet scheduled their meetings!

Here's the message that went out to the CCCA announcements e-mail list earlier this week, with new and updated items highlighted in red.

Dear member/friend of the CCCA,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as President of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, and I would like to thank Shawn Menard and other outgoing Board and Executive members for their work to make the CCCA as vibrant an organization as it is today.

There are some upcoming meetings and events that are very important to Centretown, and I hope you will consider attending some of them. Feel free to forward this message to your friends and neighbours. If they would like to subscribe to this e-mail list, they can e-mail secretary@centretowncitizens.ca to do so.


Tuesday, November 30, 2010 (tomorrow)
Mid-Centretown Community Design Plan - Open House
Iona Hall, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar St. (At Elgin)
Open House 5:30-8:30 pm, Presentation at 6:30 pm
Project Website: http://www.ottawa.ca/midcentretown
Consultants' project blog: http://midcentretown.wordpress.com/

This Community Design Plan (CDP) looks at how we want the centre part of Centretown to be developed, in order to give a context to new developments. The CCCA has had representatives on the Publice Consultation Group for this project. This open house is an opportunity for all members of the public--especially you Centretowners--to see what the consultants have done so far and if they're on the right track. [Note: the meeting and presentation were very interesting. We will be discussing this at the Planningn & Development Review Committee on the 13th, see below]


Monday, December 6, 2010, 5:30pm [New item!]
CCCA Safety Committee
Somerset West Community Police Centre, 393 Somerset Street West

The CCCA's Safety Committee's mandate is "To advance community safety and security for all the residents of, and visitors to, Centretown." The committee has historically had low attendance, so the new members who signed up at the AGM have a chance to give this committee new energy.


Tuesday, December 7, 2010. 7pm
CCCA Board Orientation Meeting
Ottawa City Hall, Billings Room
http://www.centretowncitizens.ca/

With all the new faces on the CCCA's Board of Directors following the AGM on November 16, it's important that the Board meet soon to appoint new members to the executive from among the Board. We will also review the nine committees and various representatives to other groups. This is a great opportunity for members to learn about the activities of the association, and if you didn't get a chance to sign up for a CCCA committee at the AGM, you can do so then as well. More details of the various committees is on the CCCA website.

At the Board meeting, we will also be discussing the matter of a zoning by-law amendment for 89-91 Nepean Street, which seeks to rezone the double-lot site to allow a 27-storey condo tower on a wider footprint than currently allowed, which would put the building at over six times what is currently permitted for the site. The proposal also seeks to eliminate all visitor parking spaces, and reduce amenity spaces and setbacks on all sides. Because feedback on this project is requested by December 13th, I will be asking the Board to discuss the matter at the December 7 meeting. Councillor Holmes has already objected strongly to this application.


Thursday, December 9, 2010, 7pm
Christ Church development - public meeting
Cathedral Hall, Christ Church Cathedral, 439 Queen Street (near Bronson)

We received the following note from the developer, who wants your feedback: "We are going to host an open public meeting on the Christ Church development on Thursday December 9th at 7pm in Cathedral Hall. We will provide updated renderings of the proposed project and describe in some detail our proposal in order to solicit feedback from the community. We want to hold this before Christmas because mid January will be too late for meaningful input into our design, as we are moving quickly now towards a site plan approval submission."

[See also this article in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen, including a rendering of the proposed development. My photo of Christ Church is from July 2009, a couple months after this post on comfort stations was added to URBSite.]


Monday, December 13, 2010, 5pm [note new time]
CCCA Planning and Development Review Committee

City Hall, Honeywell Room
The CCCA's Planning and Development Review Committee looks at applications like the ones for 89-91 Nepean and Christ Church, above, and makes recommendations to the CCCA's Board of Directors on how to respond. Attending the PDR Committee meetings is a good way to learn about upcoming developments and to take an active part. If you view the committee's report to the AGM in the 2010 AGM agenda package on the CCCA's website, you'll see how many applications there are in a given year, and how important this committee is.

New: The meeting has been moved up to 5pm to hear from the owner of the Greyhound Bus Terminal station, who wants to consult with the CCCA in order to have redevelopment plans ready in the event Greyhound leaves.

There is currently a freeze on Development Charge Fees in Centretown, and this freeze will be lifted soon. Many developers are submitting their applications before these fees return and we have to be ready to respond to these applications (in support or in opposition) swiftly.

This is just one of the CCCA's many committees. Your participation in any committee will be a great help.


Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 5:30pm [New item!]
CCCA Transportation Committee

City Hall (Billings Room)

The CCCA's Transportation Committee discusses important transportation issues in Centretown. Current major projects include the East-West Segregated Bike Lane, the Rescue Bronson initiative, and the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel. As part of the Mid-Centretown Community Design Plan, there are discussions on modifications to Metcalfe and other north/south streets, including the conversion of one-way streets to two ways.


Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 7pm
CCCA Board Meeting
Ottawa City Hall, Honeywell Room

The CCCA's regular Board meeting is on the third Tuesday of the month, which falls on December 21. Last year we skipped the December meeting, but this year the AGM was a month later, making December our first regular Board meeting. The Board meeting receives reports from the Executive and from the committees, then responds to any recommendations in those reports. Board meetings also usually include a presentation on a topic relevant to Centretown. CCCA members and the public are welcome to attend the CCCA's Board meetings, which are a good way to learn about what's happening in our neighbourhood.

Due to the proximity to Christmas, this meeting might be cancelled if there are no pressing matters that can't wait until the regular meeting in January. You can also participate in our committees, whose meetings are often less formal than the Board meetings.


Video: History of the CCCA
Lastly, for those of you who couldn't make it to the initial screening in April 2010, the video produced by the CCCA Heritage Committee is now online for you to watch on YouTube. Learn how and why the CCCA got started!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlPtm2dN95E



Renewal Reminder!
If you didn't have a chance to renew your CCCA membership at the AGM, we just want to remind you that CCCA memberships expire every year at the AGM. Annual membership is only $5, but when added up, it goes a long way to helping the CCCA. You can renew at a Board meeting or with a board member at a committee meeting, who can then pass along your renewal information and payment. You can also mail it to us at 101-210 Gloucester Street, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K4. If you don't like sending a cheque for only $5, consider adding a donation to it! ;-)


I hope to see you at many of these upcoming events. If not, I wish you all the best for the new year and hope to see you then. If you have any questions or comments about the CCCA, feel free to contact me.

Cheers,

Charles Akben-Marchand
President
Centretown Citizens Community Association (CCCA)
www.CentretownCitizens.ca
President@CentretownCitizens.ca
613-314-6253

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