By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 9, 2016
Rural residents are “furious” the city wants to tap them for fees to manage a stormwater network largely based in the urban area, one community leader says.
“All of a sudden they get dinged for something that is an inner city issue,” Klaus Beltzner said Wednesday.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, March 8, 2016
The city has announced consultations on a new water bill structure, which could include a base fee.
Not enough money is coming into the coffers through water bills to pay for water, wastewater and stormwater programs, so the city needs to find a new method to bill customers and feed the $316-million budget for the services.
By Ian Moffatt, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, March 9, 2016
Tolls unfairly target drivers over cyclists
Re: Council puts road tolls on the transportation agenda, March 3.
Leave it to a politician to try to get more money out of a stone. Coun. David Chernushenko, who lives in the city centre, thinks tolls on Ottawa’s roads will help the greening. We already pay for these roads with our drivers’ licences and car registrations. Enough. Unless his toll will be paid by cyclists and pedestrians, he is unfairly targeting the rest of us. This idea of tolls on municipal roads needs to be killed at birth.
By Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen, March 8, 2016
It is time for Ottawa residents to “resolve our differences” over the location of a new Civic hospital and forge a plan for a new one, The Ottawa Hospital’s chief executive, Dr. Jack Kitts, said Monday.
Kitts, in an interview at the first public consultations on a new Civic campus, said the nearly century-old existing Civic has outlived its lifespan and, without a modern replacement, “I don’t think health care would be as good as it should be.”
By Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen, March 8, 2016
Jack Kitts said he was sorry Monday night. Twice.
It’s a start, one supposes, to the Ottawa Hospital opening some kind of meaningful dialogue with the stakeholder that matters most in this epic journey to the promised land: the people of Ottawa.
Kitts, the hospital’s affable president, told a crowd of 500 at a public meeting he was sorry it had taken so long to hold this gathering, 16 months after the Central Experimental Farm was declared the new home of the Civic campus — an act that, in effect, stopped the “search.”
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 8, 2016
Trinity Developments is talking to the city about building over the O-Train Trillium Line near Bayview station, a company executive says.
“We’re negotiating to see if there’s a deal can be struck,” according to Brad Caco, Trinity’s VP of development and design.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 8, 2016
Property owners on private well and septic services will pay for stormwater management if council approves changes to how the city collects revenue for water and sewers, prompting councillors to brace for a backlash.
“I’ve prepared staff that it’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be smooth,” Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt said Tuesday.
By Michelle Nash, Ottawa Community News, March 8, 2016
As a pre-emptive strike to keep its community safe, the Pineview Community Association hosted an information-packed evening on what can help keep a community safe.
Organized with the help of the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre, the night focused on what residents could do to keep their streets safe. Held at St. John Paul II on March 2, residents discussed safety issues and concerns raised during a safety walk audit conducted by Women’s Initiatives for Safer Environments (WISE) this past fall.
By Erin McCracken, Ottawa Community News, March 2, 2016
A group of River Road residents advocating for improvements to lessen traffic woes has attracted the attention of city officials after submitting a petition with 550 signatures.
Robert Squires, who is part of a group of River Road residents that spearheaded the “Take Back River Road” campaign, launched a petition and compiled a report, said their concerns will go before the city’s transportation committee in July.
“They just could not ignore this,” the Cedardale resident said of the petition and report. “We have noticed a shift in how the city has responded to us based on the almost irrefutable evidence that we have put before them.
“We sense now we have their attention and that this upcoming meeting is an opportunity to have some changes made that will affect the safety of River Road and the community,” Squires said, adding that it’s not just residents who are impacted.
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun, March 7, 2016
In the ongoing battle of fighting a proposed dump in their neighbourhood, opponents have finally scored a major victory.
Two volunteer community groups, DumpThisDump2 and DumpTheDumpNow, have found expert legal help through the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA).
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, March 7, 2016
Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown charged back into the legislature in Toronto Monday morning, demanding to know why the provincial Liberal government isn’t doing enough of the right things about pricing carbon.
You’re forgiven if you’re feeling a bit whipsawed. Brown’s own party certainly is, as he tries some abrupt repositionings after the party’s weekend convention here.
By Aeden Helmer, Ottawa Citizen, March 7, 2016
The public was finally given the chance to offer feedback on the site of the city’s new multibillion-dollar hospital on Monday night, and the people didn’t hold back.
A strong contingent of opponents to the current proposal, which identifies four prime sites for a new Civic campus, including three on lands owned by the Central Experimental Farm, erupted in applause each time hospital executives were challenged on their preferred choice of site during a lengthy question-and-answer session at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre.