O•S•C•A•R© Fida's Pizza Changes Hands - Old Ottawa South

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Page 6 The OSCAR - OUR 37 th YEAR MAY 2010 By John Dance The City’s Transportation Committee unanimously approved the initiation of an environmental assessment study for the proposed midtown footbridge at its April meeting. The approval allows City staff to request bids. Once a contractor is selected, the study is expected to be completed in approximately 18 months. The study’s scope includes satisfying environmental assessment requirements, recommending a preferred location, preparing functional design drawings of the preferred crossing, creating a project implementation/staging plan, estimating project capital and maintenance costs, and securing approvals in principle as required by regulatory agencies. Capital Ward Councillor Clive Doucet, who has been a long-time advocate of a new “green” link across the canal in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue and Clegg Street, called the approval a major step forward to building a sustainable and safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure that will benefit not just those in the Glebe, Old Ottawa East, and Old Ottawa South but also many other Ottawans who live beyond the “three sisters” and seek a safer and more convenient midtown crossing of the canal. As noted in the approved statement of work, the origins of a Rideau Canal crossing near Clegg Street and Fifth Avenue date back to the Holt Plan (1915); the Greber Plan (1950); and National Capital Commission plans (1968). A ferry operated for several decades in this vicinity until circa 1950. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the National Capital Commission (NCC) annually constructed a wooden footbridge in the winter months between Herridge Street and Second Avenue. With the loss of these seasonal crossings, pedestrians and cyclists have had to detour to either the Pretoria Bridge (850 metres north) or the Bank Street Bridge (1.25 kilometres south). Extensive Consultation The study will involve stakeholders, including local community/interest groups, property owners, businesses, area schools and approval agencies. Early in the study process, community stakeholders will be identified through liaison with Councillor Doucet. A public consultation group and an “agency” consultation group will be formed to enable meaningful consultation with stakeholders at key stages in the study. A minimum of three public meetings/open houses with the general public will augment the consultation group meetings. Presentations to the NCC’s Advisory Committee on Planning, Design, and Realty will also be required. Footbridge Study Approved Councilor Clive Doucet and Transportation Committee Chair Maria McRae worked jointly to achieve unanimous committee support for proceeding with the environmental assessment study of the proposed midtown footbridge. The public consultation committee is expected to include representatives from the three neighbouring community associations (OECA, GCA and OSCA) and the Midtown Footbridge Group has also requested to be a part of the committee. One other opportunity for public input will be to comment on the specific Environmental Study Report, which will address the provisions of relevant provincial and federal environmental legislation. Lansdowne Relationship According to the statement of work, the contractor will develop alternative designs for the preferred crossing locations options and will develop criteria for assessing these designs. In this context, the contractor will assess any pedestrian bridge crossing proposals/designs that may be submitted by the winning design team for the Lansdowne urban park design competition to determine how the proposal could respond to the requirements determined through the environmental assessment. The Midtown Footbridge Group, which has been researching the proposition for several years, recently wrote to Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager and the Chair of Lansdowne Park Steering Committee, to stress that the location and design of the footbridge should be decided in a process that, while taking into consideration the Lansdowne Design Competition, is independent from the By Scott Proudfoot Bowing to popular demand, organisers of the annual Rideau River Clean-up will hold this year’s event the day before Mothers’ Day, so as not to interfere with mums sleeping in, being fêted and brunched. Under the auspices of the Urban Rideau Conservationists, simultaneous community clean-ups will take place along the Rideau River banks in New Edinburgh, Overbrook, Vanier, Sandy Hill, Ottawa East and Ottawa South. The Ottawa South section will target the banks of the competition. The letter to Mr. Kirkpatrick notes: “The determination of the footbridge’s location should involve careful assessment against key criteria and full public consultation. Although the footbridge will provide a critical access to Lansdowne Park from the east, there are many other factors that must also be considered in determining the footbridge’s best location. These factors include the relative proximity to the Bank and Pretoria bridges; linkage to existing cycling and walking routes; contribution to an east-west cycling/pedestrian corridor; and safety concerns such as crossing the parkways and ensuring children can better get to schools on the opposite side of the canal from which they live.” At the same time as the midtown footbridge study was approved, the Transportation Committee also gave its blessing of a comparable study for a pedestrian crossing of the Rideau River, linking Somerset East with Donald Street (near the tennis club). The environmental assessment required for the river footbridge is expected to take 12 months. The midtown footbridge study will take six months more because of greater complexity and the need for additional approvals. For instance, in the case of the proposed river footbridge, the City owns the property at both ends of the bridge while for the canal footbridge none of the land is owned by the City. Join This Year’s Rideau River Clean-Up Saturday 8 May! Rideau River in Brewer Park from 10:00 till 13:00 on Saturday, 8 May, rain or shine. Cleaners-up should gather at the corner of Seneca and Cameron, where the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn-bowling Club is providing space. The City of Ottawa is providing bags and clean-up equipment, while Bridgehead and the Monterrey Inn are offering coffee and sandwiches to hungry volunteers. This is a chance to contribute to a cleaner and better riverbank for all to enjoy, and a more sustainable ecosystem. See you there!
MAY 2010 CITY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT Dear Oscar Readers: We are born old and young at the same time. We are born with great loves and great pains that we grow into like an acorn grows into an oak tree; like God grows into the universe. On April 14 th I advanced three motions at Ottawa City Council. The response speaks volumes about the challenges we face in the political arena in trying to make Ottawa a better, more sustainable place. The objective of the first motion was to reduce municipal tax increases. The motion stated that the Long Range Financial Plan Working Group “ review ways that the 2011 budget development process be adjusted to give priority to all Transportation and Transit projects and services that will in the short, medium, and long term reduce the overall operating costs required by the City of Ottawa to deliver these services”. In other words, give priority to Transit and Transportation projects that reduce By Brendan McCoy, OSWATCH Co-Chair The OSCAR - OUR 37 th YEAR A Tale Of Three Motions costs to the city as it grows. In the discussion leading up to the vote on this motion, a few councillors spoke in support of the idea but most of my colleagues decided this was too dangerous to the status quo to actually vote for it. The status quo for Ottawa in transportation has been to add 150 to 200 kilometres of new roads each year and more express buses to name some projects and services where costs are rising much faster than revenues. The second motion was that the following question be placed on the Municipal Ballot during the 2010 election: “Should the City of Ottawa have a competitive process for the disposition of Lansdowne Park? ” Both sides on the Lansdowne debate have claimed a silent majority on their side. Why not give everybody a chance to state how they want business conducted with their tax dollars? This motion was not carried forward as a majority of my colleagues felt that only they should decide whether a competitive process was used at Lansdowne, not the public. The third motion asked for another question to be put on the ballot College of Physicians and Surgeons Considers Changes The College of Physician and Surgeons is the owner and resident of the former Precious Blood Convent on Echo Drive off Bank Street. The beautiful, former Convent, along with its front and back lawns, is a designated heritage property, and has been carefully renovated into an office building and headquarters by the College. The College has wanted more space for some time but has not succeeded in securing any Bank Street properties for its expansion. The College had approached several private land owners, and also tried to make a deal with the Library; these approaches all failed. Now, with the Medical Council of Canada as partners, they are instead exploring the idea of building on their existing site, on one or both sides of the current College of Physicians and Surgeons former Precious Blood Convent on Echo Drive off Bank Street Photo by Brendan McCoy box in the 2010 election: “Should the City of Ottawa commission a study including details as to how deamalgamation could be effected, to be reviewed by City Council by January 25, 2011? ” This question could have been used as a means of starting a discussion on how the shortcomings of amalgamation could be addressed. For instance, many local areas in the city feel decisions are forced on them by other parts of the city. This is a common complaint in urban, in rural, and in suburban areas, which were all more autonomous before amalgamation. Giving people more local control should be an appealing thing for many people and if it isn’t at least we would have a definitive answer to those who complain about the new larger city. I was surprised that many of my colleagues failed to see the wisdom of supporting these motions, because if we are ever to control our taxes, we have to reduce our per capita costs as the city grows – not increase them. If Ottawa city services have diseconomies of scale - you’ve got to ask why we amalgamated in the first place? Figuring out what those main building. The front and rear views of their building have heritage protection and are not to be changed. To develop ideas, they have engaged Barry Padolsky, an architect with strong heritage credentials, whose firm has worked on the Bank St. Bridge rebuild and the ongoing renovation of the Museum of Naturethe Victoria Memorial Building. At a recent meeting with myself and another OSCA Board member, issues of heritage, zoning, building size (75,000 sq ft +), parking and traffic were discussed. The College mentioned the possibility of changing the entrance and exit for the site by moving the existing bollards on Echo Drive slightly further east, thereby allowing College employees access to their site from Bank Street. The College is aware of the need to engage with the local community on all issues. OSCA was promised further information and OSWATCH and OSCA will continue to follow developments closely. On a side-note, the College informed us that it will be participating in Doors Open Ottawa this year; if you would like a peek inside this beautiful heritage building, I recommend trying to visit during Doors Open Ottawa on June 5 and 6, 2010. Page 7 low cost services are, is the first step to having a cost effective budget, just as the first step to changing our city’s governance is commissioning a study to figure out how some form of decentralization could be affected. These motions weren’t that radical: let’s weigh things that reduce long term expenses ahead of those that don’t, let’s confirm whether a majority are comfortable with noncompetitive big projects, and lastly lets just study what’s working or not with amalgamation. Coffee with Clive Please note that May will be the last month for Coffee with Clive and so Thursday May 13 th will be the last Coffee with Clive in Old Ottawa South at Bridgehead, 1176 Bank Street from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.. All the best, Clive Doucet City of Ottawa 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, K1P 1J1 Tel: (613) 580-2487 Fax: (613) 580-2527 Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca www.clivedoucet.com Fida’s Pizza... Cont’d from page 1 his family over to Canada. Tony is tall and thin, and he looks you directly in the eye when he speaks to you. While we speak, he rushes around the kitchen, spreading dough into pans, assembling toppings, and putting pizzas into and taking them out of the oven. Growing up, I always loved the nights when my parents ordered Fida’s pizza instead of cooking. One of my favorite parts of the doughy, rich-tasting pizza we enjoyed was the lump of dough in the middle of the pizza. We called that the bun. I asked Tony why put a bun in the middle of his pizzas. He answered that he noticed that other pizza places put a removable piece of plastic in the middle of the pizza to prevent the box from caving in and sticking to the toppings. He thought he’d simply try something different and use a lump of dough to hold up the box. He’s stopped doing that today because the price of flour has gone up, making such liberal use of dough no longer economical. To his customers, Tony says, “I’m going to miss you all. I hope we meet again.” For their continuous support, he thanks his wife of 33 years, Pauline, and his son Christopher. After his trip to Lebanon, Tony isn’t sure what he’ll do next. He’ll take things as they come as he adopts to the fact that for the first time in 34 years, he will no longer be making pizza.
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