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New Edinburgh News
OCTOBRE 2002
A Victory for Common Sense! (CFB Rockcliffe
& Housing)
Finally, I have some good news to report on this issue. In this
case good news is defined as something that makes very good sense.
On August 10th it was announced that an agreement had been signed
between the City and the Department of National Defence (DND),
which will allow the City to use, entirely at its cost, up to 20
houses, which are surplus to DND’s needs. The City intends to use
these houses at the current locations as part of its affordable
housing portfolio for families. A short-term agreement, ending on
July 30th, had been in effect. The houses were then slated for
disposal/removal. Eventually, of course, these lands will likely
be redeveloped and the houses will then have to be moved or
demolished. However, redevelopment plans are not currently in
place and DND has not yet made the decision to divest itself of
these lands. Until all of that occurs, it made sense to try to put
these houses to good use given the urgent need for affordable
housing in this City. The new agreement allows for that to happen.
DND has agreed to allow use of the 20 houses for at least 1 year
and has agreed to allow extensions which may last up to 2
additional years. Long before then, it is expected that the lands
will have been acquired by the Canada Lands Corporation for
eventual redevelopment. The important principle that has now been
recognized is that it will no longer be necessary in the future to
demolish or remove housing in advance of any real need to do so.
Congratulations to all involved in achieving this understanding,
notably Mr. Jacques Taky, General Manager of the Canadian Forces
Housing Agency, Col. Jean-Pierre Cyr, Commanding Officer of CFB
Rockcliffe and Mr. Dick Stewart, General Manager of People
Services, City of Ottawa. I would also like to acknowledge the
important facilitating role played by Mr. Andrew Wisnioski, ex-DND
and now a member of the Ward Council. Well done.
CFB Rockcliffe – Redevelopment
No definite news just yet but it appears very likely that the
Canada Lands Corporation (CLC) may acquire the lands before the
end of this year. CLC and the City are committed to an extensive
and thorough public process to determine the best use of this
large (approx. 350 acres) tract of land only 15 minutes from
Parliament Hill. This exercise will likely be one of the first
tests of the City’s new Official Plan based on “smart growth”
principles.
Biofilter Facility
Work has started on a facility intended to correct a significant
sewer odour problem near the intersection of Keefer and River
Lane. This location is the junction of three very large ‘arterial’
sewer lines. The turbulence as the large flows met and mixed
caused the gaseous emanations. The solution to the problem is an
environmentally friendly system called a “biofilter” which will
use microorganisms to consume the offending gases. The filter
system itself will be installed in Stanley Park at a location
chosen in consultation with the community. The installation of the
necessary underground connections (power, water, sewer gas exhaust
line and sewer lines) will be completed under the adjacent road
network before the winter freeze-up. The facility itself will also
be completed in the fall and should be operational in December.
Repaving of the pathway and landscaping will await warmer weather
next spring. The City’s project manager and engineer in charge is
Mark Surtees. He can be reached at 580-2424 extn.: 22074.
Latest Annual Report
You should receive the 2002 edition of my annual report in early
October. It is intended that this publication provide an overview
of what has been happening, as well as upcoming issues, Citywide
and more locally, in Rideau-Rockcliffe. I would appreciate
comments, criticisms or suggestions for improving the content of
this document. Past issues are posted on the Rideau-Rockcliffe web
site.
You can communicate with me at (please include a telephone
number):
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1
Tel: 580-2483, Fax: 580-2523
e-mail:
jacques.legendre@ottawa.ca
Web Site:
www.rideau-rockcliffe.com
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