Kelly: Corkery Community Centre grand opening, Marchurst noise, Constance Bay parking

Saturday was a wonderful day for Corkery as we celebrated the grand opening of the newly expanded Corkery Community Centre.

This project certainly had its challenges, so this was not just a celebration of a new building and its amenities, but a celebration of our community and how it came together to get through a difficult process. The strength, dedication, and perseverance of the community were on full display throughout this project.

Thank you to the Corkery Community Association and its board members for never giving up, even though I’m sure there were many times they wanted to. Thank you to Ottawa Fire Services and Station 84 for working with me to ensure the outdoor rink remained open and accessible during construction delays. 

Thank you to the dedicated City of Ottawa staff who worked hard to get this project completed. And thank you to Cavanagh Construction for coming in to take over this job, getting the project back on track, and then delivering a job very well done.

And of course, thank you to the community members who came out to celebrate this day and who used their passion and voices over the past four years to push everyone involved to find solutions and get this project completed for the community.

We did it, and I look forward to seeing this facility serve the Corkery community for many years to come.

Noise concerns at 2555-2565 Marchurst Road

Over the past couple of weeks, my office has fielded several calls about noise concerns from residents who live near the ongoing work at 2555-2565 Marchurst Rd. This week, the contractor applied for an overnight noise exemption to allow two diesel generators to run all night in order to maintain food refrigeration on site.

I have denied their request for councillor concurrence as I do have serious concerns.

I understand the proponent’s position that this application is being made out of caution, and that the generators may never ultimately operate at levels requiring an exemption. However, given the concerns already raised by neighbouring residents regarding ongoing noise from the site, I do not believe approving additional overnight flexibility is appropriate at this time.

My office will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for reasonable mitigation measures that, first and foremost, protect our residents in the surrounding community.

Parking in Constance Bay

Over the past few days, I have heard from numerous residents regarding the letter that was distributed in Constance Bay about a possible parking permit system for a large section of the village.

I’d like to offer further context and comment, but first, I would like to stress that residents are 100 percent in the driver’s seat on this. If the people of Constance Bay do not want this to happen, it will not happen.

Given the level of interest in this issue, I would encourage residents to read the summary my office prepared following the Constance Bay Town Hall I held last June, as well as the subsequent community discussions. It provides important background and context on how this conversation began and what was discussed.

We also had a very detailed discussion about water access, the beach, who owns it, who makes these determinations etc. We had City of Ottawa legal there, Ottawa police, Ottawa Bylaw, Ottawa fire, Traffic Services and more. 

Why you received this letter:

The purpose of this proposal was to address the issues caused by hundreds of vehicles parked along Bayview and other streets in the summer months, many of whom have no connection to our community, nor are they guests of residents of Constance Bay.

This has caused issues for residents, including, at times, dangerous situations that have been raised to my office and the city by both waterfront and non-waterfront residents. While we cannot determine who exactly uses the roads into the village, we may be able to determine how long someone can park and stay in one location. This is one of the few options we have available to offer that would alleviate some of the pressure on the streets of Constance Bay during the summer.

As mentioned, this came up as a topic of discussion during the Constance Bay Town Hall I held last year. We introduced the idea of a parking permit system that would change the current rules of permitted three-hour parking on weekdays and six-hour parking on weekends with a one-hour parking limit and exemptions to that for permitted vehicles. Residents would be able to purchase permits to hand out to their visitors to allow them to park for longer than the posted limit.

This letter was sent to understand whether there is any interest in exploring a parking permit system for this area. No decisions have been made, and the letter does not mean that a permit system will be implemented. If the majority of residents do not want this proposed system, it will not move forward.

Next, I need to say that we can only take official responses to the survey through the survey itself or through our office (contact info below). While my team and I see the comments on Facebook, I cannot take these as official responses to our survey. You can take the brief survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SLLJKHV

I will continue working to find solutions that work for the residents of Constance Bay. Again, any decision regarding this proposal will ultimately be determined by the residents of Constance Bay and the level of community support it receives.

I very much want to continue a respectful conversation that focuses on solutions that work for the Village, and I always welcome your ideas on how to improve our community.