Category: Environment

Community Garden for Kitchissippi – November 25

Large community garden likely for Kitchissippi – now looking for volunteers!

Are you a fan of community gardens? Do you have some time to spare and are interested in helping to launch a large allotment garden in Kitchissippi?

The Goldenrod Community Garden is a group of volunteers working to establish a large 60 plot garden on NCC land just north of Tunney’s Pasture. While we don’t yet have approval, we are encouraged by recent events as the NCC invited us to apply and we are currently going through their formal process. Our hope is to launch the garden in Spring 2020.
Continue reading “Community Garden for Kitchissippi – November 25” →

Ottawa River Flooding Presentation

Following up on a talk by Michael Sarich of the Ottawa River Regulation Secretariat at our AGM, here are his slides about why flooding happens, what can be done, and the history of flooding on the Ottawa river.

[Ottawa River Watershed]
2019-10-29-ChamplainParkAssoc.pdf

He’s also provided a frequently asked questions document from the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board (see https://ottawariver.ca/ for general information and bulletins).
Continue reading “Ottawa River Flooding Presentation” →

Wildlife Series: Fish Tales – November 27

The next talk in the City of Ottawa Wildlife Speaker Series is:

Fish Tales: An Exploration of Ottawa’s Underwater World

Wednesday, November 27, 2019
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Ben Franklin Place
101 Centrepointe Drive
Ottawa, ON
Speaker: Dr. Steven Cooke, Carleton University
Times: 7 p.m. Aquatic Expo 8 p.m. Opening Remarks and Presentation
Admission: Donation of a non-perishable food item for the Ottawa Food Bank. As space is limited, admission is on a first come, first served basis.

[Fish Tales Poster]

https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/environment/wildlife/wildlife-speaker-series
https://ottawa.ca/fr/vivre-ottawa/environnement/faune/serie-de-conferences-sur-la-faune

1451 Wellington Condo Construction Starts

The condominium at the corner of Island Park Drive and Wellington/Richmond Road will finally be starting construction, after many months of full page advertisements in the Ottawa Citizen. The developer’s web site has some information about their project: https://mizrahidevelopments.ca/featured-projects/1451-wellington/

Here is a letter from our city councillor’s assistant about the project, and the impact it will have on the neighbourhood.

From: Mitchell, Fiona <Fiona.Mitchell@ottawa.ca>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2019, 04:46:04 p.m. GMT-4
Subject: Mizrahi Construction

Hello everyone!

I know it’s been a while since we lasted checked in with you about this, but Mizrahi is now in a position to move ahead with the construction of their approved project, and work will be beginning immediately.

We are still in the process of organizing a pre-construction meeting with the wider community, which will give residents a head’s up about the work and what to expect moving forward. I am waiting for Mizrahi to provide me with date options that work for them.

While the pre-construction meeting is still be organized, work will begin on the site (this is not my preferred option but unfortunately this is what has occurred due to scheduling issues). Please review below the first schedule:
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Pontiac De-paving Day Photo Review

Community Effort to Remove Pavement on Pontiac Street and Reclaim Paradise!!

Last Saturday, a family-friendly event was led by Councillor Jeff Leiper to de-pave one block of Pontiac Street and to re-connect the green space of Champlain Park directly to NCC lands accessing the Ottawa river.

The Councillor received sponsorship from the City with funds from cash-in-lieu of parkland money and a small grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Energetic community volunteers showed up to dig up sections of pavement and transfer them to City dumpsters. The volunteers were organized by Enviro Centre and Champlain Park Community Association, with coffee from Bridgehead and bagels from the Ottawa Bagel Shop.

In the near future, the City workers will finish digging the gravel base, adding soil, and seeding the area. The NCC will remove the fence and gravel on their side. Volunteers plan to landscape the NCC land with native species of ground cover, shrubs and trees. As Joni Mitchell sang in her song “Big Yellow Taxi”, “you don’t know what you’ve got, ’till it’s gone”. It’s not often a parking lot gets turned into parkland!

Enviro Centre team with Champlain Park Community Association volunteer, Debra Huron, set up coffee (Bridgehead) and bagels (Ottawa Bagel Shop) as well as supplying tools and safety gear for volunteers. Photo by John Arnason.

Continue reading “Pontiac De-paving Day Photo Review” →

Enviro Meeting – October 17

Thursday, Oct 17, 2019 at 7pm in the Fieldhouse

Agenda items

  • This year’s Enviro accomplishments – i.e. reviewing the 2019 Enviro Report
  • Please bring your ideas and suggestions in helping our community make a difference in our environmental footprint
  • Discuss future plans and call for volunteers for projects for upcoming 2020 year

All are welcome!

Tree Planting Help Needed – September 28

Join the enviro committee of the community association on Saturday September 28 at 10 am (till noon) on Pontiac Avenue between Patricia and Keyworth Avenues (across from the north end of St. George school) as we plant Tamarack, Elderberry, Paper Birch, and other trees that will bring more ecological diversity into the Champlain Woods.

Bring your own gloves. If you have shovels and wheel barrows, those are welcome, too! We will go ahead rain or shine.

National Tree Day – September 25

Grade 2 and 3 children at St. George Catholic School in our neighbourhood will celebrate National Tree Day at 1:15 pm this Wednesday by planting a tree on the Pontiac side of the main school yard. Join us that same day from 4:30 to 6:30 pm to plant a tree (or two) in “the Little Woods” at Patricia and Clearview. Weather permitting, tree planting will continue in the NCC forest near the school on Saturday, from 10 till noon. Bring your shovel and/or a pick!

For those interested in the bigger picture, attend a Tree Canada event at the Museum of Nature, where the NCC, the City of Ottawa and the Ville de Gatineau will present the results of a tree canopy assessment. This report on the extent of the current tree canopy is meant to support planning for the future of urban forestry in the region.

Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod Street, Ottawa ON:
4:30 National Tree Day Ceremonial Tree Planting, west grounds (corner of Argyle and O’Connor).
5:00 Presentation of report findings in the Rotunda.
5:30 Questions and discussions.