2010-10-28 meeting minutes

Below are the minutes of the last (Oct 28th) CCC meeting.

City Centre Coalition

7pm, October 28, 2010

Dalhousie Community Centre, 755 Somerset Street West, Room 33

Present:

John Verbaas, Action Sandy Hill, Chair

Leslie Kirk, Old Ottawa East Community Association, Vice-chair

Roland Dorsay, Island Park Community Association

Cam Robertson, Dow’s Lake Residents’ Association

David Jeanes, Transport Action Canada

David Gladstone

Regrets:

Charles Ackben-Marchand, Centretown Residents Association

Ida Henderson, Dalhousie CA

1) Administrative

a. Meeting Secretary: Leslie volunteered to be regular meeting secretary.

b. Approval of September 23, 2010 meeting: approved.

2) Western LRT Extension Route Selection EA

a. Cam and Roland discussed the October 4, 2010 planning workshops that they attended i. Found the workshop to be well structured. About 50 attendees. Participants were asked to identify relevant topics and issues were grouped together. Groups formed and discussed a particular issue. Wide spectrum of views on most issues. Some debate about the importance of deciding whether LRT should be “rapid” or “local”.

CONCLUSION: Not the most helpful exercise. Wide spectrum of opinions can give City planners almost unlimited choice of concerns/issues/views.

b. Preparation of CCC views for November 9, 2010 public consultation meeting

i. John will attend this meeting.

ii. John to look into any specific opportunities to submit

written submissions.

iii. Topics to be discussed set out in agenda. Topics include

existing conditions, needs & justifications, objectives, criteria iv. Reviewed CCC list of concerns/criteria: impact on ridership

impacts within the greenbelt and on suburbs, intensification/

development potential on candidate routes, impact on modal

splits, increasing revenue and all day usage, long term

plan for rail on Carling, environment impact.

v. David Gladston reiterated his suggestions to re-use

existing rail lines as a better way forward

3) NCC Canal Pedestrian Crossing Study

a. Next public consultation to be held October 28, 2010.

b. Discussed Charles’ comments to CCC email list.

ACTION: determine “member” groups’ priority crossings and report back at next meeting

4) Downtown Segregated East-West Bike Lane

a. Next consultation meeting to be held November 23, 2010.

b. Indications are that staff are leaning towards Laurier Avenue.

c. Discussion about how Laurier may be superior to Somerset with

respect to canal crossing (Crossing Ottawa U at Somerset has

challenges to getting through transit underpass, ramps

and pedestrian traffic)

d. Discussion about some drawbacks to Laurier including busy

intersections and parking garage exit/entrances.

e. Does CCC take a position supporting/not supporting Laurier option?

i. CCC to let Citizens for Safe Cycling take the lead on

commenting on particular street choice.

ii. CCC fully supports “a” downtown bike lane.

5) CCC Website

a. Purpose of website: “definitive” site for major transit

issues/projects in Ottawa. “Definitive” does not necessarily

mean covering all transit projects. A good place to find

relevant links and documents and history of various projects.

b. Possible content: Agenda and Minutes ( concerns related to

people that may not want their names to appear online), calendar

of all transit-related meetings/events, reports, studies, links

to other relevant sites, information on how to become involved,

CCC mandate/history

c. Level of interactivity: Start with a lower level of

interactivity and then determine what would be best

ACTION: John to put together prototype and solicit comments

6) Debriefing on Municipal Election & Watson’s Proposed Changes to Council

a. Discussed how new council line-up may impact CCC positions.

b. Discussed impact of Watson’s idea to reduce size of Council in relations to diminishing urban representation on council

ACTION: Introduce CCC to new councillors/arrange meetings. Make “member” associations aware of implications of reduced council size

7) Other Announcement or Items from the Floor

a. None

Next Meeting: Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 7:00pm (location TBA)