Weekly newsletter: November 12, 2024
Hi everyone!
I had the honour of laying wreaths on behalf of the City in two Remembrance Day ceremonies — at the Barrhaven ceremony outside John McCrae Second School yesterday and at the Amicitia France-Canada monument↗ at the Beechwood Cemetery on Sunday.
We’re often told that the soldiers fought for our freedom, but what freedom exactly is sometimes gets lost. One only needs to skim the surface of recent human history to remember the peacetime comforts in Canada are fragile and not guaranteed.
Lest We Forget.
Please note blue bin, green bin, and garbage collection will happen on Tuesday as usual for Barrhaven East residents. Yard waste collection may be slower due to higher volume, but the material should be picked up by 8:00 pm.
Sprung structure shelter – update 10
Sites at the Sportsplex and Eagleson Park and Ride selected for project. Previous updates and my position on the topic here (under the sprung structure shelters tab).
Last Thursday, Councillor Hill and I hosted an online public information session for us to provide a complete account of what the proposal is, timeline of events, what we have done and will continue doing to oppose it, and what to expect next.
As the life of this item has spanned four months, information became fragmented with each new update which created many gaps in public knowledge about the proposal.
We also wanted to provide residents with an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns, and share other feedback.
About 425 participants attended the session, and many shared thoughtful, tough, but kind questions and feedback. The engagement was more helpful than anything, for which I am grateful!
The session was recorded and has been uploaded to YouTube↗ for residents who were unable to attend.
About an hour before the session, City staff released a memo sharing the results of the detailed site evaluations and selection scoring criteria.
That was why Councillor Hill and I may have seemed distracted at times during the session. We had a lot of information released to us with practically no time to process before sharing it (all while wolfing down a takeout supper).
Selected sites
Of great interest to residents, the memo states two sites, both outside Barrhaven, were ranked as the most appropriate to support a sprung structure shelter:
1645 Woodroffe Avenue, beside the Nepean Sportsplex
40 Hearst Way, beside the Eagleson Park and Ride in Kanata (if required)
The two Barrhaven sites were ultimately ruled out, as Nepean Woods would likely incur higher costs for on-site works, while Greenbank/Highbury Park has potential future uses that can limit available space (more on that later).
Although there were other sites across the City being assessed, Barrhaven’s two sites under consideration received the most attention as they were the only ones that were publicly known. Greenbank/Highbury Park was leaked in July, while I revealed Nepean Woods shortly after it was added for consideration in October.
Site selection process – phases one and two
The site selection process was divided in five phases.
For the first phase, City staff cast a wide net and identified all city-owned land parcels that met a minimum size requirement of 0.3 acres (0.12 hectares) and are serviced by water and sewer.
An initial list of 92 properties was created, which included Greenbank/Highbury Park, but not Nepean Woods. Properties were scattered across all areas of the City, including urban, suburban, and rural areas.
That list of 92 properties was reviewed in the second phase of the process.
Staff applied three criteria in their review of the initial list:
Availability of transit – a bus stop with regular service within a 15-minute walking distance
Walkability to amenities, such as social services, grocery stores, and drug stores – sites with amenities within a 15-minute walk scored the highest
Compatibility with surrounding neighbourhood
The initial list of 92 was whittled down to 23 properties (Appendix A of the memo). Of the 23, those already committed to other projects, lacking critical infrastructure, and/or are on environmentally sensitive lands were also eliminated.
Additionally, project requirements were refined, which revised the minimum lot size to 0.75 acres (0.3 hectares), thereby eliminating more properties.
Upon completion of the second phase, only three parcels remained:
1661, 1671 St-Laurent Boulevard, at St-Laurent/Innes near Alta Vista
2060 Lanthier Drive, near Innes/Tenth Line in Orleans
1005, 1045 Greenbank Road, at Greenbank/Highbury Park here in Barrhaven
Site selection process – phase three
The three parcels were then circulated internally, at which affected Councillor’s offices were notified for the first time. Circulations are standard procedure for city-owned parcels being considered for a change in use or disposal.
It was this phase where councillors Carr, Kitts, and I received the first notices about the three short-listed parcels mid-May 2024. At this point, staff received the first request to share the lists from the earlier phases.
Feedback from City staff in other departments received during the circulation determined the sites on St-Laurent and in Orleans had to be removed from the short-list, leaving only Greenbank/Highbury Park as the viable site.
According to staff, the parcel at St-Laurent/Innes was removed from consideration due to the lot configuration and challenges identified with site access and underground infrastructure connections. The sewage system in the area was already experiencing capacity issues and is associated with some past flooding.
The parcel in Orleans was removed from consideration by staff as the sprung structure would affect the construction of a planned road for an upcoming residential development nearby. Although the parcel is large enough to accommodate the sprung structure and the road, part of the road’s cost will be funded by the disposal of the land parcel.
By then, it was July 2024. My motion to withdraw staff’s authority to advance sprung structures had failed (three to 21), and Councillor Hill and I began engaging with the Mayor and City staff. We challenged some of the assumptions and conclusions already in place, including nuances of the federal funding, built form, and the process.
Staff received a second request for the lists from the earlier phases during a Council meeting in July 2024.
Site selection process – phase four
Partly as a result of our engagement with the Mayor and staff, and partly because only one viable site remained, staff expanded their search to add land parcels for consideration.
That process resulted in three OC Transpo park and rides identified for consideration — Nepean Woods, Fallowfield, and Eagleson.
During this phase of the site selection process, staff also advocated to the federal government and the National Capital Commission, the latter of which shared a list of properties for review, including a site beside the Nepean Sportsplex.
(Fun fact, the Sportsplex and Confederation Education Centre sit on leased NCC land.)
An additional city-owned parcel at 160 Lees Avenue, across from the ramps to/from the 417 was also identified. Some parcels owned by a school board were also identified.
All parcels identified in phase four were evaluated against new scoring criteria based on a more refined understanding of the sprung structure’s future operations.
The criteria used below helped staff narrow down the new short-list to five sites: Eagleson, Lees/417, Nepean Woods, Sportsplex, and Greenbank/Highbury Park (carried over from earlier).
Proximity to transit – scored higher if the site was within a 10-minute walk to LRT and bus rapid transit
Walkability to amenities – scored higher if the site was within a 10-minute walk to grocery or all-purpose stores
Neighbourhood equity index – scored higher in neighbourhoods with lower equity concerns
Land circulations were then issued in September for three of the four new sites (Sportsplex is on federal land). After seeking additional information and clarification from staff, I shared Nepean Woods was now under consideration in my October 8 newsletter.
Site selection process – phase five
For the final phase, staff hired Stantec to conduct independent technical reviews of the five newly short-listed sites. Their scope included evaluations of underground infrastructure, grading (slope), and probably cost for civil works, among others.
Each site also proceeded through an environmental review, which eliminated 160 Lees Avenue due to significant land contamination (the site was an industrial landfill until the 1940s).
Greenbank/Highbury Park and the Eagleson Park and Ride proceeded through mandatory records of site condition checks under provincial legislation (eg. soil sampling), while the Sportsplex and Nepean Woods sites had no environmental concerns.
Stantec also completed some conceptual site planning, which combined with staff’s work from the earlier phases, identified the two most viable sites as the Sportsplex and Eagleson Park and Ride. Details of each site’s analysis are available in the memo.
The two Barrhaven sites were ultimately removed from consideration due to estimated higher costs for on-site works at Nepean Woods and potential future uses limiting the available space at Greenbank/Highbury Park.
Next steps
Staff are now proceeding with the development process for sprung structures, first at the Sportsplex site, followed by Eagleson Park and Ride if required. That work includes:
Planning applications with the NCC for the Sportsplex site
Rezoning application for the Eagleson Park and Ride site, to be discussed and voted on by Planning and Housing Committee in January
Site plan submissions for both sites in January
Community notifications and consultations as part of the planning process (considers only the built form, not the end users)
Building permit and procurement process throughout the rest of early-2025
Staff will soon seek a formalized letter of commitment from the federal government to fund the structures. The current aim is for the facilities to be operational in Q4 2025 (around this time next year).
Although two other sites were selected, I need to be super clear that the two Barrhaven sites are still open for future consideration.
However, the City’s current application for federal funding covers the two sprung structures at Sportsplex and Eagleson only. Future requirements of the programme will depend on trends in asylum and will require a new funding application.
Tomorrow through Friday (November 13 to 15), crews will be at Greenbank/Highbury Park to continue their environmental investigation of the site. Soil samples will be collected by drilling holes, while small wells will be installed to monitor the groundwater.
Crews will return on November 22 and November 27 to monitor the wells and to collect the groundwater samples. Excess soil and water will be stored on site in sealed drums.
Staff state it’s part of an overall strategy to complete environmental due diligence on city-owned lands across Ottawa for whatever future uses may come.
My freedom of information request is also due this week.
Other built forms
Part of the process outlined in the staff memo includes an analysis of other built forms and options for housing asylum seekers. These included private market opportunities and rapid construction options.
According to staff, the available options on the market for purchase or lease with sufficient capacity could not be met within staff’s required timelines. However, those options will continue to be actively pursued for transitional housing, including recent acquisitions at 230 Queen Street downtown and 1754 St-Joseph Boulevard in Orleans.
Residents may recall Councillor Hill and I also advocated for the use of modular structures given the advances in rapid construction technology.
Their analysis, in consultation with Colliers, indicated a mass timber structure would be more expensive than a sprung structure by about 30$ per square foot, while modular construction would cost 15$ to 145$ more per square foot.
Additionally, the report notes there are no existing mass timber projects in Ottawa, while local experience with existing modular builds means the timeline for a modular build will exceed staff’s required timeline.
While I believe the analysis is generally fair, it does focus only on the capital costs of constructing the facilities. There was no information or analysis of the difference in operational costs in a sprung structure versus a permanent structure.
Operational costs will be ongoing, especially if the asylum numbers driving the current conditions prevail. Think about the costs of keeping a space with cathedral ceilings climate controlled, for example — that’s what the sprung structure is. Even with privacy partitions, it won’t achieve the same as a structure with proper walls.
Sprung structures are definitely better than a homeless shelter or a warzone refugee camp, but it doesn’t mean we can’t pursue better options. Transposing the living conditions and shared washrooms from a recreation centre to a newer structure in a different location doesn’t make it much better.
In principle, the built form argument of sprung structure versus permanent build is the same as the built form argument of recreation centre versus sprung structure.
I also want the two recreation centres in Alta Vista and Vanier returned to their intended uses, but we must also treat the asylum seekers in a dignified manner.
While it’s true asylum seekers don’t have the necessary paperwork to entitle them to housing, many are already housed in hotels, so a permanent build can be operated in a similar manner. It can then be converted to housing later on, taking taxpayer funds so much further.
I will continue this advocacy in the background.
Queensway-Carleton Hospital
Discussions with the Queensway-Carleton Hospital about locating a satellite health facility in Barrhaven began earlier in the year and will continue.
Their interest in the concept and site remains informal for now, and I have committed to advocating for the land parcel at Greenbank/Highbury Park to be donated as the local share (or similar arrangement) when the time comes. The fact that an environmental investigation would have already been complete may be of great benefit!
The exciting idea will be of excellent value to the community, and something I truly want to achieve. Details will be shared with the community as the idea advances.
Gratitude
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to residents in Barrhaven East for their engagement (and patience) with the topic. Although a few residents did not share my point of view, I am still appreciative of the thoughtful feedback I received.
Though Barrhaven’s direct involvement is over, I will continue advocating for other issues related to the sprung structures in the background and will share updates if any become available.
... So that’s a 20-page memo summarized in about 2,200 words. Despite ongoing concerns with the communication and transparency during the process, staff deserve credit for the impressive memo, which can be read in full here, for those interested.
The recording of last Thursday’s public information session has been uploaded to YouTube↗.
Please reply to this newsletter (or start a new email) if you have any questions or would like to discuss the topic further. I’d be happy to chat!
Also, the City of Ottawa’s 2025 budget will be tabled at Council tomorrow, of which I will write about in a future newsletter.
Take care, until then!
-Wilson