By Devyn Harris, Ottawa Citizen, March 16, 2018
Pontiac in western Quebec is advising residents using the municipal aqueduct network to boil their water for at least a week and a half.
A critical piece of electronic equipment broke down and the municipal treatment plant could not operate without it, Pontiac said in a bulletin on Thursday.
As a result, water from the municipal system is untreated and must be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute before consumption.
By CBC News Ottawa, March 15, 2018
It's a sight dog owners know well: garbage cans in parks piled high with full plastic poop bags.
It's a lot of waste, and as dog ownership increases, so will the amount of waste produced by our furry four-legged friends.
But there's technology that can turn your dog's excrement into a valuable commodity.
Waterloo, Ont., has for a year been testing a program that turns dog waste into energy using a process called anaerobic digestion, which happens when organic waste breaks down in an oxygen-free environment.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 14, 2018
Intensification on small lots is no longer a concern specific to established urban neighbourhoods. The suburbs are starting to feel the same anxiety with the expansion of LRT.
An application by Danzac Holdings for 840 Balsam Dr., at the corner of Jeanne D’Arc Boulevard in Orléans, was approved by the committee of adjustment last month, even though one resident collected 38 signatures from neighbours opposing the plan, which calls for a second bungalow on the land.
Pat Trites, who has lived around the corner on Fir Street since 1974, said when word spread about construction on the property, she assumed it was small-scale work at the existing house.
(...)Trites was one of four neighbours who appeared at the committee of adjustment hearing and raised concerns about the application. They expressed unease about the increased density, creation of undersized lots compared to other properties, impact of the streetscape and the massing of the buildings. There are additional concerns about the availability of street parking, Trites said.
By Kelly Ann Speagle, Ottawa Citizen, March 14, 2018
For many decades, the iconic tree named Jessie has been a friend to the residents of Perth, comforting them with shade on hot summer days and providing a familiar presence every year during the Stewart Park Festival.
On Thursday, however, locals bid farewell to their treasured companion, which has towered over Stewart Park with its thick branches and rough, mossy bark. The silver maple tree has been deemed a safety hazard by arborists and must be cut down.
“I think of (Jessie) as the park’s heartbeat. It’s where all the good energy in the park radiates out,” said Perth’s mayor, John Fenik.
By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, March 15, 2018
After seemingly endless snow and gloom, a glimmer of hope: the weekend looks sunny, if shivery.
But first Thursday is mainly cloudy with a 40 per cent chance of flurries, northwest winds at 30 km/h gusting to 50 and a high of 1 C.
There’s a 30 per cent chance of overnight flurries and a low of -8 C.
Friday starts out mainly cloudy with the skies will start clearing early in the afternoon, Environment Canada predicts. Northwest winds will be blowing at 30 km/h with a high of -2 C and low of -9 C.
By Kelly Ann Speagle, Ottawa Citizen, March 15, 2018
Gatineau residents will be expected to reduce the amount of their bi-weekly waste disposal to 120 litres starting July 15.
On Tuesday night, Gatineau city council approved new rules to the municipal collection service with the intent of banning large volumes of compost and recyclable materials that make their way into the trash.
The city plans to fine households that exceed the 120-litre limit.
Apartment dwellers will also be encouraged to begin composting. The city plans to visit apartment units and assess the number of bins and containers needed, as well as a location for them.
By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, March 13, 2018
A priority sidewalk project in Orléans will likely be scrapped because of complaints from residents who don't want a sidewalk crossing through their driveways, a move one advocate calls a risk to public safety.
City staff deemed adding a sidewalk to the east side of Sunview Drive a priority to connect people in the neighbourhood to a local park, transit stops and a nearby school.
Councillors, however, voted to scrap the sidewalk from the city's pedestrian plan at a transportation committee meeting last Wednesday.
"On the one hand they support a city policy of pedestrian connectedness … and then on the other hand they can punt priority projects," said Robb Barnes, executive director of Ecology Ottawa, a non-profit volunteer organization that promotes environmental issues.
"It just seems kind of self-defeating."
By StittsvilleCentral, March 13, 2018
Last September, Devyn Barrie wrote an article about wetlands called “A regulatory loophole you can drive a dump truck through”. In the story, local environmental activist Ken McRae (pictured above) highlighted a regulatory loophole that he believed some Goulbourn property owners were taking advantage of in order to fill in wetland.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RCVA) has now taken steps to close the gap, at least a little. At a recent meeting, the RCVA Board of Directors passed a motion to protect destruction of Provincial Significant Wetland (PSW) identified prior to 2008, effective immediately.
The regulations won’t be applied retroactively to wetland that may have been damaged before the board decision, and protection still won’t apply to new PSW identified by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in 2017. The new PSW won’t be protected until they are formally designated in the Official Plan, expected later this year. Until then, they fall outside of the RVCA’s – or anyone else’s – oversight.
By CFRA Ottawa, March 12, 2018
A cat rescue organization has a message for cat owners: stop dumping your unwanted cats on farmers. Hundreds of cats are being left outside barns and laneways and for most of them, it's a death sentence. The folks who are doing this think they're giving their cat a nice country life to live in a barn and catch mice.
But house cats and barn cats don't mix. And farmers simply don't want them.
In a tiny run down barn near Kemptville, fresh paw prints are visible everywhere. The barn was home a few weeks ago to dozens of cats, many of them former house cats dumped there by owners who no longer wanted them. Their solution now became this farmer's problem.
By CBC News Ottawa, March 13, 2018
The City of Ottawa has paid a $25,000 fine to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) following a CBC Ottawa report about failures with OC Transpo's automated bus stop announcement system.
In a memo issued to city councillors Tuesday, OC Transpo general manager John Manconi said the fine was paid and that OC Transpo has wrapped up its investigation into the problem.
It is at least the third time OC Transpo has been fined for not calling out bus stops.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, March 12, 2018
Critics say the city had the opportunity to select more diverse names for its Confederation Line LRT and Trillium Line trains, judging by the full list of nearly 2,000 entries submitted by children.
Community organizer Rachel Décoste and Jeremy Dias, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, wrote to Mayor Jim Watson last month criticizing the lack of diversity in the 40 winning entries selected by the city. Twenty other people from the community also put their names to the complaint.
By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, March 12, 2018
A priority sidewalk project in Orléans will likely be scrapped because of complaints from residents who don't want a sidewalk crossing through their driveways, a move one advocate calls a risk to public safety.
City staff deemed adding a sidewalk to the east side of Sunview Drive a priority to connect people in the neighbourhood to a local park, transit stops and a nearby school.
Councillors, however, voted to scrap the sidewalk from the city's pedestrian plan at a transportation committee meeting last Wednesday.