Keeping our community up to date, this week Councillor Gower provides some information and links on the current Vaccine situation in Ottawa; vehicle thefts; and, work being performed at development sites, zoning applications, a public January 20 meeting regarding 5618 Hazeldean Road, as well as a new development application from Mattamy Homes and other updates and news.
Vaccine update
The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health (OPH) are taking a proactive planning approach to ensure readiness for when additional vaccines are approved by Health Canada and more doses are received from the Province. Read more about the plan…
Several residents have contacted our office to ask about COVID-19 vaccine availability for older adults in our community. Here’s what we know so far:
- We’re currently in “Phase 1” of the vaccination roll-out, which includes vaccines for health care workers in hospitals, residents in longterm care homes and retirement homes, other congregate care settings and remote Indigenous communities.
- As of Friday, we’ve completed vaccinations in all of Ottawa’s Long Term Care Homes, and the next priority is to vaccinate residents in high-risk retirement homes.
- Once Phase 1 is complete and more vaccines are available from the other levels of government, Ottawa will start a broader immunization campaign to the general public, starting with older adults. Vaccines will be available similar to how flu vaccines were distributed this year: community clinics, pharmacies, family doctors, etc. CBC published an interview with Dr. Vera Etches over the weekend, who said that Phase 2 will likely start in April.
- All of Ottawa’s plans depend on the availability of the vaccine from the provincial and federal governments. If the vaccines are available we have the capacity to vaccinate a s many as 680,000 people in Ottawa by early July.
- You can read more information about Ottawa’s vaccination plans on my web site, and I’ll continue to share more information as it becomes available.
A new rink at Village Square Park!
A bit thank you to all of the volunteers who have been hard at work to build and maintain a new skating rink at Village Square Park, at the corner of Stittsville Main and Abbott. The Stittsville Minor Hockey Association has taken the lead to get the rink up and running this become a favourite spot for families in our community. Learn more about the rink on Facebook.
Please remember that due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, the number of people at skating rinks is limited to 25 at one time to ensuring physical distancing. Masks are strongly encouraged.
Police reminder about vehicle thefts
After several recent overnight vehicle thefts nearby in Kanata, Ottawa Police have asked us to share this information with the Stittsville community. The risk of thefts of high-end Lexus and Toyota vehicles in Ottawa remains present, particularly with Tacoma and Highlander. There have been 5 luxury vehicle thefts overnight in Kanata (Bridlewood area). There is no suspect description available at this time. Anyone with information about the thefts in Kanata is asked to call the Ottawa Police West Criminal Investigations Section at 613-236-1222 ext. 2666. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or at crimestoppers.ca. You can find tips about how to safeguard your vehicle here…
Local development notes
Construction crews started blasting operations in the Fernbank area (see map for location). All blasting will occur between 7am-4pm, Monday-Friday. Blasting activities for the entire site are expected to take approximately 3 weeks.
Hydro Ottawa has work scheduled for a couple of weeks in the area of Stittsville Main Street and Orville Street. There will be some minor impacts to traffic on Orville, and some overnight work required.
On Thursday, Ottawa’s Planning Committee approved two zoning by-law amendments in Stittsville. The first is for part of a Richcraft community at 1620 Maple Grove Road, and other one is from the Amberwood Village Golf and Country Club for 54 Springbrook Road. Thank you to residents who have shared their comments and questions with us on these proposals.
The City is hosting a public meeting via Zoom on January 20 to discuss a subdivision application for 5618 Hazeldean Road. The land is located in the Fernbank area, between Richcraft’s Bradley Commons Subdivision and Iber Road. The subdivision includes residential, commercial and school uses, all surrounding the next phase of Robert Grant Avenue between Abbott and Hazeldean. More info here…
The City of Ottawa has received applications for the last phase of Mattamy’s Fairwinds subdivision. The municipal addresses are 521 Brigatine Avenue and 501 Khamsin Street. Mattamy is proposing a mix of singles and townhouses on the temporary stormwater management pond site, which will be decommissioned soon. A public meeting is scheduled for February 4. (Please note the change of date.) More info here…
New urban lands and protection for an agriculture belt
The City’s Planning Committee and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee will meet jointly on Monday, January 25 to consider which lands should be brought inside Ottawa’s urban boundary, in line with the growth management strategy that Council adopted in May 2020. Read more…
The City wants to know what you think about snow!
The City of Ottawa is updating its Winter Maintenance standards to take into account issues related to climate change, accessibility, equity, gender, sustainability, injury prevention, healthy living and livability.
The City has planned a number of engagement opportunities; an online survey will be launched in mid-January and four virtual workshops are planned: January 25 from 7-9pm; January 26 from 7-9pm; January 27 from 7-9pm and January 28 from 1-3pm. You can sign up to receive Project updates, or register for any of the virtual workshops, on the Engage Ottawa site. More information on the project can be found on Engage Ottawa.