Community AGM – Please Attend!
Yes, everybody has other things they ‘need’ to do on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 11.
But please consider spending a few hours learning more about your community, meeting your neighbours and representatives, raising your questions and priorities, contributing to a better Old Ottawa East–and enjoying yourself.
Please attend the joint annual general meeting of the Old Ottawa East Community Association and the Community Activities Group of Old Ottawa East.
For the first time, the meeting will be held at the lovely Church of the Ascension at 253 Echo Dr., starting at 7 p.m.
This year, the OECA and CAG will post their annual reports beforehand, so more time is left for residents to raise issues and ask questions.
After the formal part of the meeting, we will adjourn downstairs to the comfortable and spacious church hall where you can enjoy refreshments and speak one-on-one with board members of the community association and CAG.
Once again, we have invited our elected representatives so you can have the opportunity to see and speak with them. Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar – a long-time OOE resident – was the second-last person to leave last year’s post-meeting reception.
Our community is changing rapidly. While some people may oppose this, the community association is working to make this change work positively and to help OOE flourish.
A key example of such an effort is the development of the institutional lands. Thanks to six years of community work that led to the approval of the OOE community design plan in 2011, there is a measure of certainty in terms of the development that will occur on the Sisters/Oblates lands.
Consequently, when Domicile and Regional presented their plans (www.oblateredevelopment.ca), we didn’t see the sort of excessive intensification and building heights as in other parts of the city.
These development plans are very much works in progress. Only through active community involvement can we positively influence what is going to happen.
There are many other examples of the community association’s effectiveness … and its challenges.
Developers have responded positively to the remarkable research done over the last year by Sustainable Living Ottawa East to promote sustainability on the institutional lands.
While the past year has seen real progress, we have also experienced frustration with certain city decisions and inaction.
Although the city approved the expansion of Springhurst Park, it continues to preserve enough space between the Lees Avenue apartment towers and the park to build the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor’s elevated four-lane highway.
While such a roadway is not included in the schedule of roads for the next 15 years, the threat looms.
We are also frustrated by the city’s position that the Clegg-Fifth canal footbridge should be built only during the 2020-2025 period. Mayor Jim Watson committed to speeding up plans recently but our work to see this project through is far from over.
Then there is the Main Street Renewal project. Finally, our major roadway will become friendly to residents, businesses, pedestrians and cyclists.
Five members of the OOECA Board have participated on the city’s Main Street Renewal working group, advising on neighbourhood concerns.
Let’s talk—and listen—at the AGM.
For more details, check out the OOECA website at: http://www.ottawaeast.ca/.
