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New Edinburgh News
OCTOBER 2003
Acacia Avenue Rehabilitation
Acacia, between Beechwood and Maple, is scheduled for a major
rehabilitation in 2004. Readers will recall that this corridor
presented special design difficulties because of the existing
tight constraints. The design, which was developed, was presented
to the community at a meeting in the Lindenlea Community Centre
during the evening of June 16th. The design proposed maintaining
the existing roadway width of 8.0 metres and completing the
sidewalk network on the west side from Beechwood to Maple. The
width of the sidewalk was set at a sub-standard 1.5 metres due to
the nature of this corridor. A few retaining walls on the west
side will have to be moved back slightly. These will be fully
reinstated at the same or at an enhanced standard (homeowner’s
discretion) in all cases. Staff has worked very hard to arrive at
a proposal that minimized disruption to the existing appearance
that property owners have strived to create over the years. The
design appeared to have succeeded in receiving general acceptance.
The geometry of the Rideau Terrace/Acacia intersection will be
modified to eliminate the right-turn ramp (when progressing south
on Acacia) as its functioning has caused safety concerns. The
suggestion of connecting the new sidewalk on Acacia with the
existing sidewalk along Rideau Terrace at Lambton is being
examined by city staff.
Keefer Biofilter
City staff has informed my office that this facility is expected
to be operational by the end of October. Residents in the area
should be able to note the improvement in air quality, especially
during the warmer months next year.
Official Plan (OP) & Transportation Master Plan (TMP)
Residents may have noticed articles in the media indicating that a
request by some developers to have the urban boundary, which is an
important aspect of the Official Plan, set aside by cabinet,
appears to have fallen on deaf ears. This is not to suggest that
there will not be appeals by those same organisations before the
Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). I expect that the Official Plan
still has some significant hurdles to overcome, but at least they
would appear to involve processes that are open to public
scrutiny. In the meantime, Council has now approved its
Transportation Master Plan (TMP). The TMP is a crucial component
of the OP as it makes it possible to ‘operationalize’ the approach
to urban development contained in the OP.
Universal Program Review
This review was triggered as a result of the unintended (by this
Council) property tax effects of the system of property
assessments. Council was able to institute a system of rebates,
which at least had the effect of restoring (mostly) what had been
the intended average change in residential property taxes – i.e.
no change in the tax rates on average. It was recognized at that
time, that next year (2004) would pose a more severe challenge if
taxation rates were to be maintained at the current levels.
Council established an ad-hoc committee of Councillors to work
with senior members of the administration to conduct a complete
review of all services that the City provides. All programs and
services within the control of the City’s administration are being
examined, including the Library system and the Ottawa Police
Service. The review will provide information on the effects of
reducing the budget requirements of each program by 5, 10, 15, 20
and 100% (i.e. complete cessation). It is intended that the review
would provide information in terms of service to residents, the
Ottawa 20/20 Growth Management Plans, the City’s legislated
responsibilities, management issues and competitive advantage. In
a corporation of the size and complexity of the City of Ottawa,
this represents a significant undertaking. It appears that it may
not be possible to have the full results of this analysis prior to
the date of the municipal election on November 10. Be that as it
may, it is possible to at least have a ‘mapping’ of all program
and service areas by early to mid-October. This information will
be made available to the public at that time. Be assured that I
will be supportive of making as much information arising out of
this exercise available as soon as possible. This should happen
without consideration to its potential for affecting any
particular electoral contest. The public have a right to this
information as soon as it can reasonably be produced. Currently
much information is already available. I encourage you to consult
the City’s web page for Budget and Universal Program Review
information.
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 back
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