On Thursday, December 3, community leaders from Stittsville were invited to have breakfast meeting with Councillor Shad Qadri and Mayor Jim Watson. The meeting, which was held in the Mayor’s Boardroom in the Heritage Building at City Hall, was part of an effort to encourage open communication between the community, the Mayor’s office and the Councillor’s office.
Mayor Watson, Councillor Qadri, and nine Stittsville community leaders were there, representing a variety of community groups including the Stittsville Minor Hockey Association, the Stittsville Scouts, the Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville, the Goulburn Skating Club and the Stittville Village Association. Mayor Watson provided updates on a number of city-wide initiatives such as the LRT, the proposed budget for 2016 and Canada’s upcoming 150th birthday.
A number of community issues were then discussed with the Mayor and Councillor, including allocation and affordability of ice time, revitalization of Main Street, accessibility of local City of Ottawa facilities, conservation of the Shea Woods and access to natural spaces, road traffic and speed in the community.
The Mayor noted that efforts underway with respect to a number of the issues identified, including funds in the proposed budget for each ward for traffic calming measures, upcoming revisions to the process for ice allocations and a proposed significant increase to the civic engagement fund in 2016.
(Breakfast, in case you were wondering, including croissants, bagels and muffins, along with coffee, tea and juice.)