Author: AGMS

I'm a game programmer, doing pretty much everything (from Wii, Kinect to iPad). On the side, just for fun, I write file systems (for the nifty BeOS/Haiku operating system) and experiment with metadata.

Spring Lawn Raking Time?

From Daniel Buckles…

Time to rake your lawn? The warm weather may be prompting you to start raking, but pollinators, like bees and butterflies, would rather you wait for a bit. They overwinter in dead plant material, and need time to wake up and start their lifecycle. A general guideline is to wait until temperatures are consistently above 10 C. This will help protect habitat, and a healthy overall garden ecosystem. Other tips (from various websites):

  • move leaf piles to a corner of the garden and leave them undisturbed for a while
  • don’t smother the soil in beds with mulch until it is generally warm. Mulch blocks in-ground nesting bees and other beneficial insects.

Herongate Call for Gardening Donations – March 20

Our environment people work on the “bring your own tools” model for our projects (we don’t have storage space), but we do welcome donations of soil, rocks, leaves in the fall, money, etc. to Champlain Park projects. However, we’re happy to encourage the Herongate people in their gardening work, so if you have some extra old tools…

Subject: Call for gardening donations
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:35:51 +0000 (UTC)
From: Herongate Tenant Coalition <herongatetc@gmail.com>
To: Champlain Park Community Association <champlainpark@gmail.com>

Dear Champlain Park Community Association,
Please share far and wide with your members in Ottawa!

Do you have gardening supplies like tools, stakes, or seeds lying around you aren’t using anymore? Support Herongate gardeners by dropping off gardening supplies on Sunday, March 20th between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM at the corner of Baycrest Drive and Cedarwood Drive.
Continue reading “Herongate Call for Gardening Donations – March 20” →

Blasting at Tunney’s Pasture

Just so you know what’s making that loud thump noise every few hours, and other sound effects, we received this message from Steph at councillor Jeff Leiper’s office…

With help from Yasir’s office, our message got through to the government team overseeing the construction at the heating/cooling plant at Tunney’s currently. We asked about the work, to be sure, and any ways to get a timeline/notifications on the work. Here’s the response we got:

“From now until the end of March 2022, the construction team will be conducting controlled blasts at the site on weekdays from 8:00 to 4:00 Monday to Thursday and from 8:00 to 1:00 on Fridays. There will be no more than one per hour. From time to time there may be hoe ramming done on site as well to break up rock.

Members of the public interested in learning more about the ESAP project or asking us a question by email should visit https://nationalcapitaldistrictenergy.ca. There is also a contact us page on the site which allows people to ask questions directly to the construction team.”

I would suggest those with concerns get directly in contact with them through that page. I suspect the major disruption is coming from the hoe-ramming, in addition to the blasting. I know our power is limited in a project like this, but I nonetheless wanted to pass on the information to you and neighbours as soon as we got it.

Talk on Depaving, Building a Forest and Pollinator Garden – March 10

Thursday, March 10th – Daniel Buckles, of Champlain Park, will outline how the community turned a paved street into a model forest and a pollinator garden. The project won the 2020 award from the Society for Organic Urban LandCare in recognition of its benefits to local wildlife, the urban forest and public engagement.

[Pollinator Garden June 24, 2021]

Join the Riverview Park Community Association on Zoom for a virtual presentation from 7:00pm – 8:00pm on the date shown above. Each presentation will be followed by a short Q & A. To attend, please register by sending a message to forpgsottawa@gmail.com A link to the Zoom meeting will be mailed out to all registered participants a day before each session.

Their community association: https://riverviewparkca.com/
FORPGS stands for Friends of Riverview Park Green Spaces. They’re on Facebook.
The event was also mentioned in the Riverview Park Review – February 2022.

[Pontiac street rubble and stone dug up, ready for planting a small forest]

Coyote Seminar – March 7

Going along with the recent coyote sightings in the neighbourhood, our city councillor Jeff Leiper’s newsletter has notice of a seminar that may be useful:

Living With Coyotes seminar March 7

Very timely in light of a few notes I’ve received concerning coyote spottings particularly in the Champlain Park and Westboro Beach areas, my colleague Councillor Dudas is hosting a virtual information night on March 7 about coyotes in the urban area. Read a little bit more here and RSVP for the session by writing to laura.dudas@ottawa.ca.

[Coyote standing and staring sideways at you]

Community Association Board Meeting Agenda – March 3

Agenda

Champlain Park Community Association (CPCA) Board Meeting

Thursday March 3, 2022
7:30 PM via Google Meet
Everybody Welcome

Board meetings will have an open session for community residents to observe business discussions. Non board community members will also be invited to participate at certain times by the chair and there will be “in camera” topics for the board members only. Please contact the secretary via champlainpark@gmail.com to request a link to join the meeting.

Open session

  1. Approval of minutes of Jan 10, 2022 – Liz
  2. Report of interim motions – all
    • Doodle Result for Minutes: Royal Mental Hygiene Challenge- To post – carried
  3. Website Posting Guidelines – Carol – (Information – 10 minutes)
  4. Financial : Renewal of GIC – Dave – (Decision – 5 minutes)
  5. Discussion on various Policies: – Lynne – (Information/Decision – 25 minutes)
    1. CPCA Board members attending external organization meetings: When are we reps for CPCA vs. reps for other organizations or participation as independent members; how to interact with the CPCA Board as a CPCA rep – Lynne
    2. Delegated Authority for CPCA input on technical items such as zoning; how to interact with the CPCA Board – Lynne
    3. CPCA signing of Contracts: “The Devil is in the Detail” – Lynne
  6. Writing a letter to the City re rink renewal – Liz (decision, 5 minutes)
  7. Other Business
  8. Next Meeting

Agenda last updated at 22:16 on March 1st.