posting
03-14-2008, 09:59 PM
Hi everyone!
This update is long overdue. I will try to send you regular updates on what is going on in our Collins Bay - Bayridge district at City Council. If you know the email address of any neighbours or friends in this district, please feel free to forward them this email. They can email me and I will add them to the distribution list. If you do not want to get these emails, please email me to stop sending you the updates. I have created this list from emails I have received from you over the last year. If this is your work email and you'd rather me email you at home or to another email address, please let me know. This is my first attempt at contacting as many district residents as possible in one email.
Snow Removal:
I might as well start with the most recent event: the big snow storm last weekend. You may have read in the paper that six snowplows broke down this past weekend. If your street is not being plowed adequately, you can call or email me or you can call customer service direct 546-0000 and put in a work order. On the weekend, the customer service line is answered by a service. Say "Roads Emergency" to the voice activated system and a person will come on the line. They can call dispatch with your street name. You can email customer service too at contactus@cityofkingston.ca
Train Whistle Update:
It is a slow process. I have met with our Chief Administrative Commissioner and CNR. I have talked to CNR many times as well as Transport Canada. The first step in a night time ban is to have CNR inspect the gated railway crossings across the city to make sure that they conform to the Railway Safety Act. Many upgrades were done at the level crossings a few years ago and when the upgrades were completed, the city never had a final inspection. Engineering is arranging the inspection. In the spring when the inspection is completed, I will let you know if the crossings passed and what the next steps are. We are hopeful for a night time ban of the whistles. This ban will be heard at Environment, Infrastructure, & Transportation Commiteee. I may need residents to gather names for petitions to present to EIT when the time comes. I have some very knowledgeable residents in our district providing me advice and expertise on implementing this ban. The other councillors have safety concerns in implementing a ban, even if it starts at 10pm or 11pm until 6am. I will do my best.
Bayridge Drive, especially at Lincoln (Speed and Safety) Update:
I have met with staff twice as well as the police. I have a very knowledgeable resident in our district helping me and many of you have emailed me your traffic and intersection concerns. I appreciate all input. There is the crosswalk at Bayridge and Lincoln. In the spring, the crosswalk will be moved from the south side and the very narrow median to the north side of the intersection, where the much wider median is. This will make it easier to cross the two lanes of traffic, pause if need be, and then finish crossing the last two lanes. According to the police when they have set up speed traps just north of Bayridge and Lincoln, speeding is not a concern. The noise over the overpass and the bend in the road gives a perception that the cars are travelling faster than the radar guns have indicated. After the crosswalk is moved, I intend to talk to the police again about speeding. We thought that Bayridge Drive from the overpass to Hudson maybe should go down to 50km/hour like it is between Hudson and Taylor-Kidd. What are your thoughts?
Elmwood Subdivision Update:
New water mains, new culverts, and new asphalt roads are planned for 2010. In the meantime, staff are working on the final cost estimates for sewers as part of a neighbourhood improvement charge. When the pricing is finished, letters will be mailed to all Elmwood residents as far west as Maple Ridge to act as a petition. Sorry for the delay in mailing the letters. It is a huge undertaking to provide an accurate price per metre as well as for the clerks to draft and mail out the letters. I didn't realize the scope of the project so that is the reason for the delay since we had the public meeting at the end of January 2008.
Collins Creek Update:
The Collins Creek Greenway Study was released in December 2007. A stakeholder group has been formed and they hope to wrap up and provide recommendations to staff and Council by this December. At the same time, Council is working on the Official Plan of development for the entire city. Public Meetings start in April. The first one is April 9th at City Hall. You can see the draft plan and provide input. The times will be advertised in the Kingston Whig-Standard. 6-9pm or 2-4pm on April 9th.
Traffic Calming Streets:
Staff have released the next group of city streets for traffic calming, like the speed humps installed on Hudson Drive. Staff went to each area and ranked the streets. In our district, Hudson Drive between Mona Drive and Bayridge Public School was ranked in the top five streets in need of traffic calming. Staff did look at Lincoln Drive as well between Bayridge and Development Drive, but it didn't rank as high as Hudson. Staff will be providing recommendations to EIT Committee regarding next steps. Likely three speed humps (up the hill, down the hill, and then one closer to the school) will suffice but we will see staff's plan. Cross St. was another street that was not ranked in the top five across the city, but staff did look at it.
Outdoor Ice Rinks:
Two sites were looked at in our district: Pembridge Park and the CNR berm area at the bottom of Rankin Cr. I brought the motion to Arts, Recreation Committee last summer. It seems to be stalled right now. Other councillors want to look at rinks in their district and with the snow plows breaking down last weekend, I think money will have to be diverted within Public Works to snow removal. The city is working on a Parks Master Plan and new outdoor rinks will be a part of the plan. Sorry that nothing could be done for this winter.
Pitch-In Kingston:
The big day is Friday April 25. Last year on the Saturday, the residents in Bayshore gathered up over 25 bags of garbage along Bath Road at Sycamore Drive. This year, the CRCA Conservation Area will be cleaning up Highgate Creek at Development Road on Friday April 25. If you would like to help them, please let me know. I believe I will organize the Bayshore residents on the Saturday to clean up Bath Road again as each year, garbage is carelessly tossed out car windows. If you would like your area to be organized into a Pitch-In team, please let me know and I can see if I can gather up a group and make sure that you have bags and gloves.
If you have any ideas for the district or city council or any problems or issues, please email or call me. Thank you very much for reading my update.
Lisa
Lisa OsanicCouncillor:
Collins-Bayridge
599 Rankin Cr Kingston
K7M 7K6
613 389-7336
This update is long overdue. I will try to send you regular updates on what is going on in our Collins Bay - Bayridge district at City Council. If you know the email address of any neighbours or friends in this district, please feel free to forward them this email. They can email me and I will add them to the distribution list. If you do not want to get these emails, please email me to stop sending you the updates. I have created this list from emails I have received from you over the last year. If this is your work email and you'd rather me email you at home or to another email address, please let me know. This is my first attempt at contacting as many district residents as possible in one email.
Snow Removal:
I might as well start with the most recent event: the big snow storm last weekend. You may have read in the paper that six snowplows broke down this past weekend. If your street is not being plowed adequately, you can call or email me or you can call customer service direct 546-0000 and put in a work order. On the weekend, the customer service line is answered by a service. Say "Roads Emergency" to the voice activated system and a person will come on the line. They can call dispatch with your street name. You can email customer service too at contactus@cityofkingston.ca
Train Whistle Update:
It is a slow process. I have met with our Chief Administrative Commissioner and CNR. I have talked to CNR many times as well as Transport Canada. The first step in a night time ban is to have CNR inspect the gated railway crossings across the city to make sure that they conform to the Railway Safety Act. Many upgrades were done at the level crossings a few years ago and when the upgrades were completed, the city never had a final inspection. Engineering is arranging the inspection. In the spring when the inspection is completed, I will let you know if the crossings passed and what the next steps are. We are hopeful for a night time ban of the whistles. This ban will be heard at Environment, Infrastructure, & Transportation Commiteee. I may need residents to gather names for petitions to present to EIT when the time comes. I have some very knowledgeable residents in our district providing me advice and expertise on implementing this ban. The other councillors have safety concerns in implementing a ban, even if it starts at 10pm or 11pm until 6am. I will do my best.
Bayridge Drive, especially at Lincoln (Speed and Safety) Update:
I have met with staff twice as well as the police. I have a very knowledgeable resident in our district helping me and many of you have emailed me your traffic and intersection concerns. I appreciate all input. There is the crosswalk at Bayridge and Lincoln. In the spring, the crosswalk will be moved from the south side and the very narrow median to the north side of the intersection, where the much wider median is. This will make it easier to cross the two lanes of traffic, pause if need be, and then finish crossing the last two lanes. According to the police when they have set up speed traps just north of Bayridge and Lincoln, speeding is not a concern. The noise over the overpass and the bend in the road gives a perception that the cars are travelling faster than the radar guns have indicated. After the crosswalk is moved, I intend to talk to the police again about speeding. We thought that Bayridge Drive from the overpass to Hudson maybe should go down to 50km/hour like it is between Hudson and Taylor-Kidd. What are your thoughts?
Elmwood Subdivision Update:
New water mains, new culverts, and new asphalt roads are planned for 2010. In the meantime, staff are working on the final cost estimates for sewers as part of a neighbourhood improvement charge. When the pricing is finished, letters will be mailed to all Elmwood residents as far west as Maple Ridge to act as a petition. Sorry for the delay in mailing the letters. It is a huge undertaking to provide an accurate price per metre as well as for the clerks to draft and mail out the letters. I didn't realize the scope of the project so that is the reason for the delay since we had the public meeting at the end of January 2008.
Collins Creek Update:
The Collins Creek Greenway Study was released in December 2007. A stakeholder group has been formed and they hope to wrap up and provide recommendations to staff and Council by this December. At the same time, Council is working on the Official Plan of development for the entire city. Public Meetings start in April. The first one is April 9th at City Hall. You can see the draft plan and provide input. The times will be advertised in the Kingston Whig-Standard. 6-9pm or 2-4pm on April 9th.
Traffic Calming Streets:
Staff have released the next group of city streets for traffic calming, like the speed humps installed on Hudson Drive. Staff went to each area and ranked the streets. In our district, Hudson Drive between Mona Drive and Bayridge Public School was ranked in the top five streets in need of traffic calming. Staff did look at Lincoln Drive as well between Bayridge and Development Drive, but it didn't rank as high as Hudson. Staff will be providing recommendations to EIT Committee regarding next steps. Likely three speed humps (up the hill, down the hill, and then one closer to the school) will suffice but we will see staff's plan. Cross St. was another street that was not ranked in the top five across the city, but staff did look at it.
Outdoor Ice Rinks:
Two sites were looked at in our district: Pembridge Park and the CNR berm area at the bottom of Rankin Cr. I brought the motion to Arts, Recreation Committee last summer. It seems to be stalled right now. Other councillors want to look at rinks in their district and with the snow plows breaking down last weekend, I think money will have to be diverted within Public Works to snow removal. The city is working on a Parks Master Plan and new outdoor rinks will be a part of the plan. Sorry that nothing could be done for this winter.
Pitch-In Kingston:
The big day is Friday April 25. Last year on the Saturday, the residents in Bayshore gathered up over 25 bags of garbage along Bath Road at Sycamore Drive. This year, the CRCA Conservation Area will be cleaning up Highgate Creek at Development Road on Friday April 25. If you would like to help them, please let me know. I believe I will organize the Bayshore residents on the Saturday to clean up Bath Road again as each year, garbage is carelessly tossed out car windows. If you would like your area to be organized into a Pitch-In team, please let me know and I can see if I can gather up a group and make sure that you have bags and gloves.
If you have any ideas for the district or city council or any problems or issues, please email or call me. Thank you very much for reading my update.
Lisa
Lisa OsanicCouncillor:
Collins-Bayridge
599 Rankin Cr Kingston
K7M 7K6
613 389-7336