2019 Town Hall Series, Richmond Transit Meeting, Washka Park & More

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As we march into December and toward Christmas, things begin to get a little busier in the community and at City Hall. Throughout Rideau-Goulbourn, our communities will begin to celebrate Santa Claus’ arrival with countless events. Christmas in the Gower kicks it all off this Friday, November 30th. On Saturday, December 1st, the Manotick Santa Claus parade begins at 1:00pm. The Richmond Santa Claus parade takes place a week later on the 8th beginning at St. Philip’s School at 5:30pm.

Meanwhile, at City Hall, the new term of Council begins on December 1st with the official swearing in ceremony being held at the Shaw Centre on Monday, December 3rd. We will follow that up with a couple of Council meetings and the Nominating Committee as we determine who will sit on what committee or board in the coming term of Council. It is also anticipated that Council will consider the next steps for the City of Ottawa following the legalization of cannabis and Ontario’s regulations surrounding retail sales of cannabis.

2019 Town Hall Series

In 2019, we will be hosting a series of town hall meetings to help kick off the term of Council. We will host these meetings in Burritt’s Rapids, Pierce’s Corners, Kars, North Gower, Stittsville, Richmond, Munster, Ashton, Manotick, Country Club Village, Fallowfield Village and in the Quinn’s Pointe community in Barrhaven. We are still finalizing all of the dates and will communicate those shortly.

Richmond Transit Meeting

Before we host a general town hall meeting in Richmond, we will be hosting a Richmond Transit Meeting to discuss issues with the 283, transition to light rail and future opportunities. The meeting will be on Monday, December 10 from 7 to 9 pm at St. Philip's Parish Hall (127 Burke Street). Attendees at the meeting will include John Manconi (General Manger of Transportation Services Department), Jocelyne Begin (Manager and Special Advisor to the General Manager), Pat Scrimgeour (Director of Transit Customer Systems & Planning) and Troy Charter (Director, Transit Operations).

We look forward to seeing many Richmond residents there and working towards a sustainable solution. 

Washka Park

Manotick’s newest park design is seeking your input. Washka Park will be located at 855 Artemis Circle within the new Regional development, Riverwalk, on Manotick Main Street at Century Road. Comments are being accepted until December 14th. Please visit https://tinyurl.com/washkapark to find out more about Washka Park and to see the proposed design.

The name of the park is derived from an Algonquin word. Through the development process, archeologists found sherds of decorated Middle Woodland Period (approximately 500BC) pottery near the water within the development.  The Algonquins were contacted and they chose to name the archeological site with the word ‘washkà’ [wush-KAH], which is their word for ‘crooked’, and in this case acknowledges the zigzag lines impressed in the pottery sherds that were recovered.  As a result, Regional adopted that name for their proposed park.

Kanata South Link

In the past, I have mentioned the Kanata South Link project that will see the widening of Old Richmond Road and West Hunt Club as well as intersection upgrades including a roundabout at Hope Side Road and Old Richmond Road. I am pleased to report that the project is out to tender now and expected to close before year-end.  Utility work is scheduled to continue over the winter months.  Once the contract has been awarded, the priority will be to begin with layout, environmental mitigation measures such as erosion and sediment control, fencing, tree clearing for the utility works along the new road widening corridor and in-water works. 

The National Capital Commission Land Transfer Agreements were approved by the NCC Board last week. They will go through their internal processes over the next few weeks with final signature from the Director of NCC before they will finalize permission to enter the lands for construction.

Once half loads have been lifted in May 2019, the main construction work will begin and will be completed by fall 2020.  We will be sure to continue to post updates on this major project as it continues to progress.

A December Fa La La

The Village Voices Women’s Choir presents “A December Fa La La” on Sunday, December 9th at 2:00pm with special guests The Manotick Brass Ensemble at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 5462 Osgoode Main Street.  Advance tickets are available for $12 while they can be purchased at the door for $15.  Children under the age of 12 free. There will be refreshments available and gift baskets to be raffled. The evening will also be an opportunity to collect non-perishable donations for the Food Bank. Please consider a donation when attending. For additional information, please contact [email protected].

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If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Rideau-Goulbourn issues, please visit RideauGoulbourn.ca.