OSCA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Please join us at the Old Firehall on Tuesday October 12th at 7:30 PM for our AGM, with a reception to follow. It is your opportunity to elect the new OSCA Board of Directors and to suggest to us what concerns you have about the neighbourhood and what issues you think we should be focussing on. Local architects Bill Semple and Bob Webster will be on hand with draft floor plans and elevation drawings for a proposed renovation and expansion of the Firehall.
OSCA has established The Old Ottawa South Firehall Redevelopment Fund and received charitable status from the federal government. Official receipts for income tax purposes will be issued to donors once our fundraising campaign gets underway. This is an important development that now makes us eligible to seek funds from charitable foundations such as the Trillium Foundation that issues grants from Ontario Lottery earnings. Already other community groups are seeking our advice as to how they might follow in our footsteps. Kudos are due to Donna Walsh and John Graham for our success.
BELMONT AVENUE STREET PARTY
In what has become an annual event, Belmont Avenue residents congregated at the east end of the street where it meets the Rideau River for a barbecue and dance. Organiser Klara Horn and the SOX Band treated young and old to one great party. A detailed report on the event can be found elsewhere in this paper.
CITY LEISURE, ARTS AND HERITAGE STUDY
I attended a meeting between community stakeholders and City Community Services staff, including Don Mason the area manager for our district, to discuss the study and issues that City staff should be working on. Among the key items that we came up with were; access to gymnasiums, especially in light of possible school closures; a commitment by the City to maintain facilities and infrastructure; the acquisition of more greenspace and a promise not to pursue the idea of a sportsplex at Brewer Park, a stance that was made abundantly clear to the former Commissioner of Community Services at a rally at Lansdowne Park that attracted over a thousand Glebe and Old Ottawa South residents a few years ago. The next phase of the study will develop plans to address these issues. A copy of the report can be obtained through City Hall.
OSCA AWARDED A SELF HELP GRANT
OSCA is to receive $7,275 from the City’s Self-Help Fund. OSCA will match the grant. Originally, OSCA’s application had been on the standby list. Thanks to Mayor Watson, an additional $50,000 was added to the fund from revenues gained by leasing the former training centre in Brewer Park to the Westboro Academy. This infusion of money into the fund will allow us to make a number of improvements to the Firehall. Derrick Keefe has agreed to oversee minor short-term interior renovations to the Firehall and the installation of additional fixtures to the building. This includes remodelled cupboards and countertops, a new oven and dishwasher for the kitchen, a new carpet for the back room, new blinds throughout the building, new lighting in the Main Hall, some new flooring, and, a number of sorely needed storage bins.
MUNICIPAL AMALGAMATION AND REFORM
Now that Glen Shortliffe has been named as the province’s special restructuring advisor for Ottawa-Carleton, we can expect to have a number of opportunities to tell him how we feel the area should be governed. The tentative date for a public meeting with Mr. Shortliffe, is Thursday October 14th from 5-8 PM . The meeting, which is sponsored by the Regional Government, will take place at the Glebe Community Centre. Local newspaper advertisements will confirm the date, time and place. If you would like OSCA to take a stand on the issue, please let us know your position.