In this week’s updates, Councillor Gower shares information and additional details for the upcoming change for the garbage collection limit that begins on September 30th; he invites residents to register for this week’s community zoning by-law information session; provides an update on the City of Ottawa’s financial situation in follow-up to last week’s Council meeting in the lead-up to Budget 2025. He reminds residents to register for Cleaning the Capital; provide your feedback/thoughts on participation in the 2022 municipal election; and make a plan for active transportation for kids to get to school.
Ottawa’s 3-item garbage limit starts September 30th
On Monday, September 30, the City of Ottawa will introduce a limit of three items of garbage to be picked up at the curb on collection day.
A garbage item could be a garbage bag, a garbage container up to 140 litres or a bulky item such as an unusable or broken piece of furniture. Households can put several smaller bags in one garbage container to count as one item. There’s still no limit to how much residents can set out through curbside recycling, green bins and leaf and yard waste bags.
This is a big change and I’m sure residents still have a lot of questions about how this will all work. Visit Ottawa.ca/garbage for more information and frequently asked questions.
New Zoning By-law info session
We are co-hosting a Stittsville-Kanata virtual community information session on Ottawa’s proposed new Zoning By-law with Councillor Cathy Curry and Councillor Allan Hubley on Wednesday, September 11 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Zoom. To attend, please register here.
More information on the Zoning By-Law update is available on Engage Ottawa.
Financial fairness for Ottawa
Last week at City Council staff gave a comprehensive update on the City of Ottawa’s financial situation, including some of the external pressures unique to the City of Ottawa as we enter the 2025 Budget process. Council also endorsed Mayor Sutcliffe’s campaign for financial fairness from other other levels of government, including fixing the “PILT” (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program with the federal government, and transit funding from the provincial government. You can read a summary here, along with my notebook on Mayor Sutcliffe’s “five requests” for funding fairness…
Cleaning the Capital Registration
Registration for the Fall 2024 Cleaning the Capital campaign is now open. Cleanup projects will be taking place between September 15 and October 15. We invite you to join us in making a difference once again!
To learn more about the campaign or to register your project, visit ottawa.ca/clean. The registration form populates an interactive map with pins that display the location, date, and time of all registered cleanup projects. Cleanup kits, which include garbage bags and nitrile gloves, will be made available for pick-up by registrants at one of 14 City of Ottawa facilities across the city.
Municipal elections in Ottawa
The City of Ottawa’s Elections Office wants your feedback on a number of topics including your experience participating in the 2022 Municipal Elections, election-related communications, accessibility, and voting methods for future elections. The information you provide will help us plan future municipal elections in our city. More info at engage.ottawa.ca.
Make a plan for getting to school!
It takes 10 minutes (on average) to walk 800m – that’s about two or more blocks from your school. Even though it takes 3-4 minutes to drive the same distance, once you factor in traffic at the school and getting your family in and out of the car, it all adds up to a longer trip! Walking and wheeling builds sustainable lifelong habits, gets you out in the fresh air, and can take a shorter amount of time than you think.
There are lots of ways to make your trip to school more active, including bike buses, walking with a buddy, or parking a block or two away and then walking. You can find the Walk-A-Block map for OCDSB and OCSB schools here, and at these links for CECCE and CEPEO. Walk and wheel to school when you can – it will make a world of difference! Find out more about how School Active Transportation works.
Get in touch!
If we can help in any way, please email me at glen.gower@ottawa.ca or leave a voicemail at 613-580-2476. Please call 3-1-1 if you require immediate assistance. Note that our ward office has moved temporarily to the Stittsville library, while CARDELREC is undergoing roof repairs. Please call or email for an in-person appointment. – Councillor Glen Gower