Abandoned building – 248 Cowley Avenue

Letter to Mayor and Councillors from the CPCA

Dear Mayor and Councillors
Re: Abandoned building, 248 Cowley Avenue
The Champlain Park Community Association is pleased to learn that the City is undertaking a review of its policies and by-laws regarding abandoned buildings. Abandoned buildings have been an issue of broad concern across the city and the current review and consideration of new policies and action to address the associated problems are welcomed.
We would like to bring your particular attention to an abandoned house and property in our neighbourhood at 248 Cowley Avenue. The house on the property has been vacant for close to 20 years and is currently in an unsalvageable state of repair. It is an eyesore and more importantly is a real and potential hazard especially to the adjoining property owners. The roof is open to the weather at several points, soffits have collapsed and the walls are at similar risk. Materials that have fallen from the house litter the property and the yard is not maintained. The property is partially boarded up but it clearly meets neither the requirements of the Property Standards By-law 2005-207 nor the Board-Up By-law 2010-211.
In response to these concerns we would urge the following:
· That the Property Standards and Board-Up by-law requirements be immediately and fully enforced at 248 Cowley Avenue and that the owner be required to act promptly to remediate the property appropriately;

· That 248 Cowley be added to the list of properties that the City is investigating as part of the current review of policies and by-laws regarding abandoned buildings;

· That as part of the review that policies and guidelines be considered to allow demolitions before the submission of plans for a replacement building (for example demolition could be allowed without immediate plans for redevelopment if the owner landscapes the lot and maintains it) , and

· That the Champlain Park Community Association be notified and invited to participate in the planned consultations on this issue.

We look forward to prompt action by the City regarding 248 Cowley Avenue. We will be following this issue with interest and hope that a new set of policies and revised by-laws will help to prevent similar situations in the future.

We look forward to hearing from you,
Sincerely,
CoChair1, Co-chair and Duncan Bury, Member-at-large
Champlain Park Community Association

Emerald Ash Borer Discussion – May 13

From: jogrady66@gmail.com
To: fca-members@googlegroups.com
Sent: 30/04/2013 7:11:24 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: Mark the date: May 13th – EAB expert panel discussion

Hi Everyone!

Please mark Monday, May 13th in your calendar!

All FCA members and the public are invited to attend an expert panel discussion on the Emerald Ash Borer beetle in Ottawa. The panel will feature Joe Meating from BioForest, Sean Barker from TreeFeed.ca and Bruce Gill from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Dr. Curtis Lavoie from CHEO will be joining the panel to comment on the health benefits of trees and what this epidemic will mean to the future health of Ottawa residents. The public will have the opportunity to ask questions afterwards.

Attendees will also have a chance to speak 1-on-1 with tree experts before the panel discussion begins. This is a perfect time for residents to discuss their individual situations regarding Ash trees on their property, and the process and costs of having their trees treated.

Note – If anyone has any doubts that the Emerald Ash Borer will inevitably cause the loss of at least 20% of the urban tree canopy over the next 3 to 5 years, please read Mark Cullen’s recent article in the Citizen – “Kiss your ash goodbye”
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/left+untreated+farewell+your+tree/8255646/story.html

All attendees will be entered into a draw for a FREE TreeAzin treatment from TreeFeed.ca.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this invitation with anyone you think may be interested!
Please see event flyer for more information (attached).
Hope to see you there!

James O’Grady, communications@fca-fac.ca

(On behalf of the FCA (Federation of Citizens Associations) and Ottawa Forests, who have jointly organized this session.)

Event Details:
Date: Monday, May 13, 2013
Time: 7 – 10 pm
Location: Ottawa Citizen – Community Room, 1101 Baxter Road

The Experts:

Dr. Curtis Lavoie, CHEO, MD
Joe Meating, BioForest, President
Sean Barker, TreeFeed.ca, Director
Adam Murray, Davey Tree, Manager
Bruce Gill, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Research Scientist

EABForum2_Flyer4.pdf

Lights out! Earth Hour tonight 8:30-9:30pm

Turn off your lights tonight from 8:30PM – 9:30PM to participate! our Earth will thank-you!

It’s nearly that time again, and Earth needs you! Turn off your lights tonight night from 8:30PM – 9:30PM and join the millions of people around the world that want to take a stand against climate change.

If you’re still looking for ways to celebrate the hour, for example visit the Wild World Fund (WWF) and check out their our Team Earth Hour Playbooks. They’re full of ideas that individuals, schools, businesses, and communities can use to fight climate change during the hour and all year round.

It’s also not too late to share a personalized Cheerspirational reminder with your friends! Together we can make this Canada’s best Earth Hour ever.

City of Ottawa Greenhouse Gas Roundtable

On March 23rd the City invites you to participate in a roundtable to consider the future of the city’s approach to addressing climate change.

To register you need to email enviromarch23@ottawa.ca before March 20th.

Here’s the invite sent out by the city late last week.

1613-2013 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain

What is Champlain’s connection to Champlain Park?

How can Champlain Park mark this 400th anniversary?

Why Not attend a meeting to learn more about the history of our neighbourhood?

Where? Champlain Park Fieldhouse

When? You have two opportunities!

Thursday, January 17, 2013 from 7pm to 9:30pm

OR Sunday, January 20, 2013 from 4pm to 5:30pm

This event is hosted by Champlain Oaks Project with historical tidbits offered freely to you by Debra Huron and Daniel Buckles.

Garbage Collection Calendar

This is a friendly reminder that the Collection day for garbage in our neighbourhood has change to Fridays, effective as of November 02, 2012.

Special – One additional day pick-up

Because we live in an area where the new schedule change results in an extended period without collection, one additional day will take place tomorrow Saturday, November 03, 2012 for only Black box pick-up.

Please place only your Black box at the curb no later than 7am on Saturday, November 3, 2012 and no earlier than 6pm the night before.

Garbage Collection Calendar

The Garbage Collection Calendar can be found on the City of Ottawa’s website. The application allows you to create your collection calendar based on your street address. It also allows you to print, send reminders to your email, twitter etc.

We also provide the link on the home page, under the GO PUBLIC menu tab:
i.e. Garbage Collection Calender

Household Hazardous Waste Disposal – Tunney’s Pasture October 28th

As mentioned at http://ottawa.ca/en/garbage_recycle/special/hhw/index.html and in roadside signs on Scott Street, there will be a hazardous waste disposal day at Tunney’s pasture this Sunday. So if you missed the summer occasion, this is the opportunity to dispose of old paint, batteries (the cadmium in rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries is tremendously more toxic than the lead in car batteries, which is bad enough itself), things with mercury in them and other items that would best not be put in the general landfill. See the web page for a longer list of items or check the Waste Explorer database.

Sunday, October 28, 2012
150 Tunney’s Pasture Dr.
Tunney’s Pasture – Sir Frederick Banting Driveway
Residential electronic waste is also accepted at this site.
Depot hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Join the SLOWest Energy Competition – and help Champlain Park win!

It’s simple, residents from different neighbourhoods sign up for an online account with Switch Hop that let’s you know how much electricity you are using (and helps you find ways to use less and save $$).

The energy used (or saved!) is added up for all the residents in the neighbourhood and the neighbourhood who uses the least amount of energy wins.

Sign-up..its free!

A description of the SLOWest Energy Competition and how to sign up.. its free.

More information

More information on the SLOWest Energy Challenge is also available at the SLOWest website.

This project is run independently of the Champlain Park Community Association.

Nick Xenos
Champlain Park Environment Coordinator

Doing your part to reduce climate change – how to lower your carbon footprint.

Interested in lowering your carbon footprint?

In using greener energy?

Following up on the good OREC article posted on the community website (champlainpark.org) I wanted to suggest a few other ways you can go green on energy and lower your carbon footprint:

The most cost-efficient way is of course to lower your energy usage. There is a good website (switchhop.com) that is free and can help you monitor your energy use throughout the day and compare you to your friends. This gives you a good sense of what you use and when you use it (keep in mind peak rates) so that you can make smart choices about electricity use. Some other helpful sites on energy conservation:

Bullfrog

Another very affordable option is to use Bullfrog .

Bullfrog provides green renewable energy to the Ontario grid. If you sign up with them you don`t need to change anything – you basically estimate (on their site, very easy or use your hydro bill) how much energy you use (electricity and natural gas or other) and then pay them an additional amount per month for them to insert that much green energy into the Ontario grid thereby offsetting your carbon emissions.

Considering that about 25% of our electricity comes from fossil fuels you only need to pay Bullfrog to offset 25% of your electricity usage to be carbon neutral. Depending on your finances you can offset part or all, whatever you can afford. For as little as 20$-40$ per month you can be carbon neutral in your energy usage (they can offset both electricity and natural gas).

micfoFit program

Two of the other options we are seeing more and more of (but require a bigger investment up front) are putting solar panels on your roof via the micfoFIT program and using geothermal for heating your home (which is particularly interesting if you need to replace your oil or gas furnace).

Also to note, we are working with other neighbourhoods on an energy challenge, where we can compete between neighbourhoods to see who can lower their energy usage the most. Stay tuned, more details will be posted on the web site and on the listserv.

Good luck on lowering your carbon emissions and doing your part to fight climate change!

Nick Xenos
Champlain Park Community Association Environment Coordinator

Ecology Ottawa Annual Dinner October 24 has a Business Focus

From Ecology Ottawa:

Buy your Annual Dinner tickets here

What better way to show your support for Ecology Ottawa than tucking into a mouthwateringly fabulous four-course meal, created by inspirational chef Murray Wilson of the Courtyard Restaurant for the 6^th Annual Eco Gala networking dinner on Wednesday October 24, 2012 at St Elias Banquet Centre,750 Ridgewood Avenue,Ottawa?

Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options will be available as part of this sumptuous feast showcasing the finest locally-sourced Ontario produce, lovingly prepared and served in this comfortable, informal venue – with no stuffy dress code to curtail your enjoyment.

Tickets – priced at $60 a person, $50 for students and seniors, tables offered at $440 – extend you the perfect opportunity to network with like-minded, environmentally-committed friends and neighbours, and reinforcing your commitment to makingOttawathe green capital ofCanada.

We are thrilled that numerous city councillors, business luminaries and opinion leaders have accepted our invitation, and that CBC’s Adrian Harewood from ‘News at 5, 5.30 and 6’ will oversee proceedings. Doors open at 5.30 pm for socializing, networking and silent auction bids before dinner kicks off at  7pm.

Entertainment will follow at 8pm, with sustainable business entrepreneurs Jeff Westeinde (Invest Ottawa) and Jonathan Westeinde (Windmill Developments) sharing practical strategies through whichOttawacan transform itself into an environmental protection leader by shifting to a more sustainable economy, including introducing world-class sustainable businesses and designating our downtown core an Eco-District.

It’s the Eco event of the year. Tickets from our website – http://ecologyottawa.nationbuilder.com/annual_dinner_2012