Weekly newsletter: May 28, 2024

It’s the last week of May!

My wife and I caved and finally got a dishwasher. I’m conflicted, because I enjoy washing dishes by hand, but that uses more time and water than a modern dishwasher. Either way, we ran the dishwasher for the first time last night.

Oof, life changing. I think I will enjoy the warm plates in the winter.

Grass cutting

We’ll get there... Apologies for the slow service so far.

Through social media and email, several residents have shared their disappointment and embarrassment over the last week or two at the state of the grass along our community’s roads and paths and in some of our parks.

An early, warm, and wet spring created optimal conditions for grass to grow quickly. Additionally, work is cancelled when moderate to heavy rain is forecast to avoid the equipment damaging the ground (especially in parks) or getting stuck. That means crews won’t be back until Wednesday.

The City is obligated to advise the contractor of work cancellation with at least two hours of notice. Otherwise, and in cases where work is cancelled midday due to rain, the contractors are paid their day’s wages.

Despite crews starting their beats on time in early-May, the number of days where work has been cancelled combined with a faster rate of growth has put them further behind than in recent years.

Unlike past years, there have been no staffing challenges so far this year. Summer student staffing, usually responsible for the “finer” work like trimming, continues to ramp up into the summer.

However, from what I’ve seen, the work has been done quite well. Though some of the grass is beginning to grow back, Woodroffe Avenue was serviced beautifully earlier in the month.

Our public works zone supervisor is aware of the slow service so far this spring and is working to get crews caught up by next week. Staff are aware the major areas still waiting for a first pass include the south side of Fallowfield Road and sections of both sides of Strandherd Drive, plus a few parks.

Given the start of the warmest, wettest part of spring has been trending earlier in recent years, it’s reasonable to explore what impacts there may be in transitioning from winter to spring operations earlier — or perhaps even creating a small overlap.

Public works staff do retain lots of data from past years to inform how they will budget for a future year’s operations. For example, each year’s winter budget is based on the average snowfall, length of winter, number of snow events, and ice accumulation of the previous five years. I believe there’s something similar for spring-summer operations, so I’ll delve into that with staff.

One specific question I received a few times is why on the south side of Fallowfield Road between the park and ride entrance and railway, the grass closest to the road is cut separately from the pathways closer to the sound wall.

Per staff, that area is covered by two maintenance routes — one is a road maintenance route which covers the first five or so metres from Fallowfield, while the other is a park maintenance route which includes the rest of the pathway along the Transitway. It’s a legacy arrangement from before Fallowfield was widened. I have asked staff to streamline that area for the future.

Thank you to all the residents who shared their feedback and concerns with the service so far this spring. Please continue to let me or 3-1-1 know if an area needs servicing.

Greenbank Greenbelt pathway

Project paused. Aaaarrrgh.

Already built to an older standard, the pathway on the west side of Greenbank through the Greenbelt has fallen into a sorry state.

We recognised it and began the process of rehabilitating and modernising the pathway. Funding was allocated and reserved for design and construction, originally scheduled for 2023 and this year, respectively.

Last year, ongoing negotiations with the Canada Food Inspection Agency with regards to whether the City will obtain an easement or buy the strip of land outright caused the whole process to be delayed by a year, so at that point, we hoped for design work to start this year with construction in 2025.

Earlier this year, the CFIA indicated they are willing to renew the lease so the path may continue to occupy their property, so that was good news.

Unfortunately, the CFIA is also planning on facility expansions and improvements over the next few years which would require a new power substation and power lines adjacent to the pathway, with construction anticipated to start in the “next five years.”

It’s currently unknown how much of the pathway will be affected, where, and how. Staff believe the City will be financially responsible for repairs caused by construction damage or cuts and have paused the project, given those unknowns.

I’m currently of two minds.

The pathway is in dire need of repair and there are up to five years before the CFIA work begins. But that “up to” five years could very well mean one or two years, meaning there’s a distinct possibility construction could cut into or damage a brand-new pathway.

We need a more definitive timeline so we can at least give a firm answer to our residents instead of stringing them along with unknowns.

Along with Councillors Devine and Hill, I will be meeting Chandra Arya, our Member of Parliament, to advocate for the pathway and get at least some clarity and at best an arrangement/agreement that works for everyone.

We are also considering asking city staff to begin design work while the background noise settles as a means of moving the project along.

Hopefully, I will have some good news to share soon.

Special consideration waste collection

Weekly collection available for diapers, incontinence products, and non-hazardous medical waste.

Did you know the City of Ottawa offers weekly pickup for some materials under its special considerations waste programme?

Residents may request diapers, incontinence products, and non-hazardous medical waste like catheters, empty IV bags, and dialysis tubing be collected on weeks without scheduled garbage collection.

Participating households may place one bag of eligible materials at the curb on the alternating collection day from garbage week, on the same Tuesday as black bin collection. Residents must renew their registration annually.

Click here for more information or to apply. Alternatively, residents may apply by calling 3-1-1.

Until next week!

-Wilson