CITY COUNCIL BRIEFS
Council seeks probe on late boil-water notice
Coun. Eli El-Chantiry says the city needs to do a better — and faster — job of issuing boil-water advisories. A Carp resident tweeted the West Carleton-March councillor Monday morning to ask about a sudden drop in water pressure. His office looked into it and was told by city staff that a private contractor had damaged a water main from a communal well that serves about 180 west-end homes. Staff called El-Chantiry’s office again a few hours later to say the water was back on. But later that day, at around 4:30 p.m., the public health department issued a precautionary boil-water advisory — even though residents had likely been using the water all afternoon. The incident reveals an apparent gap communication gap among city departments, ElChantiry said. He wanted to know whether the city has a policy in place and wondered why it doesn’t issue an immediate precautionary boil-water advisory whenever a water main breaks. “My point is, why do you have to wait 4½ hours?” he asked. El-Chantiry submitted a written request and will receive a staff response at a future council meeting.
Dressing room named for hockey coach
A hockey dressing room at the Stuart Holmes Arena in Osgoode will be renamed Diesel’s Dressing Room. The commemorative naming recognizes Andrew (Diesel) Winnicki, a volunteer hockey coach in the peewee division of the Osgoode Minor Hockey League. The 22-year-old died as the result of a September 2012 hunting accident.
City backs Y’s plan to aid homeless families
The City of Ottawa is giving $400,000 to the Argyle Avenue YMCA to renovate two floors so they can be used to shelter 30 homeless families. All councillors present voted in favour of the funding to expand the Y’s shelter space. Two floors are already used as shelter, which has helped the city to reduce the number of homeless families staying in motels, from a high of 150 in mid2012 to about 60 families now. Councillors and city staff want to further cut motel stays. The Y also has $550,000 in private funding to create the added shelter space.
Sandy Hill church makeover approved
Council has granted a request for a bylaw amendment to allow a low-rise apartment development involving the conversion of a Sandy Hill church. Planning committee heard earlier this month from Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury that some concerns about 87 Mann Ave. were alleviated through modifications and that others could be worked out at the site-plan stage. Fleury, however, voted against the amendment at council. All other present councillors voted in favour of residential rezoning, from institutional and residential. The city received 60 public letters opposing the 58-unit apartment, including concerns about the possibility of student tenants. The architect and developer said earlier that they’d worked to ease concerns including the “myth” that it would be de facto private student housing.
Mayor OKs request for ‘ by the glass’ licence
Mayor Jim Watson’s motion in support of local craft brewers seeking a “by the glass” licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has been approved. Such a licence allows Ontario wineries and breweries that already hold a manufacturer’s licence from the AGCO to sell and serve up to 12 ounces of their own wine or beer to customers for consumption in single servings at their manufacturing site under certain conditions. The current rules restrict them to just four ounces. The mayor’s office has received requests from two local microbreweries: Stittsville’s Covered Bridge Brewing and Bicycle Craft Brewery on Industrial Road.