Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

City hall blog: OC Transpo monitoring Presto fare gate problems in Toronto

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 2018

The Toronto Transit Commission is having problems with fare gates that work with Presto cards. It’s not great news for OC Transpo, since the transit agency in Ottawa uses a similar fare gate made by the same manufacturer.

The Toronto Star reported last week that the TTC paused the installation of fare gates while it works out problems with the hardware and software. There seems to be a high failure rate of the motors in the gates, which is obviously a problem if customers are tapping their Presto cards but the gates don’t open.

Legionnaires' bacteria levels higher than thought in some federal buildings

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 2018

An Ottawa company that tests for infection-causing bacteria says the germs that cause legionnaires’ disease went above acceptable levels in more than one-third of federal government buildings it sampled last summer.

Four of the 51 buildings tested were at least 10 times over the limit for legionella bacteria. One building was at least 100 times over the limit.

But none of the buildings are being publicly identified by Public Services and Procurement Canada, which sponsored the research.

Proposed contract changes would allow dog waste, plastic bags in green bin

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 2018

Dog waste and plastic bags would be allowed in green bins by mid-2019 under a proposed alteration to city’s contract with Orgaworld, while stopping taxpayer money from being thrown away under the deal.

The city reveals the proposal in a lengthy report to council published Monday night, raising the possibility of finally ending years of disputes with the company and potentially making the green bin a more popular choice for families who have turned their noses to recycling organic waste.

“The negotiations concluded in December 2017, and have resulted in a recommended amended Orgaworld contract that will, for the remaining 12 years of the contract, provide better value to the city than the status quo,” the report says.

Analysis How city councillors are spending your money

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, March 19, 2018

When we think about how the city spends our money, what comes to mind are light rail, snow removal and garbage collection, not what councillors pay for brochures or cellphones.

But over a four-year term, councillors have sole discretion over how to spend $23 million running their offices. And how they decide to use that substantial budget is surprisingly different from office to office.

• A year-by-year look of how councillors spend their budgets

From the time they were sworn in Dec. 1, 2014, you've paid more than $750,000 for councillors to advertise themselves to you, $50,000 for them to serve you coffee, doughnuts and, in many cases, take their staff to lunch, and $168,000 for their parking.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-city-councillors-spend-office-budgets-1.4574418

City updates plans for Johnwoods linear park

By Shad Qadri, StittsvilleCentral, March 18, 2018

The Planning Department has received the revised plan for the Johnwoods Linear Park which will be located between Rosehill Drive and Maple Grove Road on the closed portion of Johnwoods Street.  The revisions to the plans involve additional landscaping and modification of all streetlights to low spillage LED bulbs as per the public comments. I encourage residents to review the plans and the response to public comments.

Work will continue in the Spring on this project with the anticipated completion this summer.  This section of Johnwoods was closed in the Fall as it allowed for preliminary work to take place so in the spring, work can be expedited with the plan to have the pathway completed in the summer. While approvals are still being finalized for the co-ordination of the works for the diversion pipe, I have confirmed with City staff that there are no current delays to the project timeline for the pathway construction.

Boil-water advisory issued for Maniwaki, Que.

By CBC News Ottawa, March 18, 2018

A boil-water advisory has been issued for Maniwaki, Que., after a watermain broke early Sunday morning.

Water in the west Quebec municipality was temporarily shut off overnight until around 6 a.m., when the public works department turned it back on.

A water quality analysis is currently underway.

Maniwaki Mayor Francis Fortin told Radio-Canada cold temperatures may have caused the watermain to burst.

She urged the town's 3,000 residents to boil their water for at least 15 minutes before consuming it.

Today's letters: Cycling, science and a change of language

By Lee Humphreys, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, March 19, 2018

Room for both LRT and bikes

With all the foofaraw over whether or not bikes should be allowed on the Confederation Line of the LRT, and what the impact might or might not be on parking, the town of Nunspeet in Holland might afford some perspective. This small town near Utrecht, appears to have no problem finding space for both bikes and cars.

The photo above was taken in 2017 on a bike tour in Holland which afforded many opportunities to enjoy a quiet drink, in an outdoor patio where the only traffic was a passing parade of people on bicycles.

Where's the tallest tree in Ottawa? It's not an easy question to answer

By Holly Manchetti, Ottawa Citizen, March 17, 2018

The towering giant of Rochester Street — a 115-foot cottonwood tree — will meet its demise sometime in the near future, brought down amid a roar of chainsaws.

Given its age, 115 years, and fears that branches as large as telephone poles may at some point fall onto houses below, the tree’s owner decided it was time to cut the cottonwood down.

When that happens, a community landmark will disappear — the tree is already being mourned in the area, with an Irish-style wake planned for it on Saturday, St. Patrick’s Day — as will one of Ottawa’s tallest trees.

Don't let the city off the hook over Prince of Wales Bridge, group tells transport minister

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 19, 2018

A group advocating for the Prince of Wales Bridge is asking federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau to not let the City of Ottawa off the hook so easily when it comes to the interprovincial crossing.

The grassroots Ottawa River Bridge (ORB), which has a core group of about five people organizing the effort, wrote to Garneau on Monday suggesting that the federal cabinet shouldn’t rescind an order from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).

The order compels the city to restore the rail line north of Bayview transit station so that it would be operable within 12 months of the agency giving running rights to another rail company. The order also applies to the city-owned bridge spanning the river. The other option offered by the CTA is for the city to discontinue the line, effectively removing the city’s control.

The Ottawa Eco-Talent Network: Version 2.0 - March 21, 2018

Description

Valued advisors, clients, funders, friends and post-secondary partners of the Ottawa Eco-Talent Network (OETN): Please join us to celebrate the victories, admit the vagaries, consider the vicissitudes, and plumb the vast potential of the Network.

Just over two years in, and nearing the end of a Trillium funding cycle, we look forward to an evening of candid and creative discussion about the future of this system for leveraging the talents of expert volunteers in service of a more sustainable Ottawa.

 

Lyft launches in Ottawa

By CFRA News, March 16, 2018

Lyft has officially launched in the capital.

The ride-ordering company has been granted a private transportation license from the City and the app officially went live at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

The service, which is now the main competition for Uber, is trying to lure in customers with a $5 discount on their inaugural ride.

Denley: Doug Ford needs an election platform. Here's one

By Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, March 15, 2018

New Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford is looking for a short and simple platform to carry his party to victory in the June provincial election. That’s just the right approach.

In recent years, political parties have typically opted for a catalogue of promises in an attempt to give something to every interest group and demographic. At some point, it just gets silly. Under former leader Patrick Brown, the PCs were promising to spend up to $19 million a year to subsidize snow tire buyers.

That platform is headed for the shredder, along with its 42 tax and spending promises. Ford says he wants to start from scratch, but he’d be a lot wiser to stick with the four best promises from the Patrick Brown plan. They are easily affordable, even without a carbon tax.

The platform will obviously include Ford’s clearest policy, that there will be no provincially imposed carbon tax. Sounds simple, but the PCs will need to explain the consequences of eliminating the Liberals’ complex cap-and-trade system.