Stittsville Village Association grows with new board members

(The Stittsville Village Association Board. L-R back row: Tanya Hein, Mandy Hambly, David Fairbrother, Marion Gullock, Doug Sutherland, Jeff Gallant, Nancy Therrien, Dayna Hammond, Jan Mattingly, Lesley McKay and L-R front row: Barry Gray, Luc Therrien, Trevor Eggleton. Missing from the photo is Phil Sweetnam. Photos: Stittsville Central.)

At the November 14, 2019 annual general meeting of the Stittsville Village Association (SVA), new board members were elected and familiar faces returned to their current duties with the Board.

Prior to the Board elections and other business, Councillor Glen Gower reported and elaborated on his six important priorities for the community – set when he was running for office.

1. Road infrastructure – Carp Road widening and the extension to Robert Grant Avenue. Gower indicated that what would have been over 10 years to have Robert Grant extended and has now been brought down to nine. The Huntmar Drive subdivision will benefit from this. Front-ending has been put in place in which the developers pay initially and then receive pay-back from the City when completed. This will go to the Planning Committee at the November 28th meeting for approval.
2. Transit – The Councillor is working on the third phase of the LRT – bringing it to Stittsville provided funding is received from the federal government. He is working on bus reliability for the neighbourhood of Blackstone where the service is currently poor.
3. Traffic Safety – He is working on traffic calming measures, road designs and future traffic lights. Gower is pleased that a pedestrian crossover is now in place at Rouncey Road in Blackstone at the Trans-Canada Trail. A new crossover will be in place at St. Stephen’s School with another coming to Main Street at some point between Abbott and Brae.
4. Stittsville Main Street – Village Square Park will be receiving a facelift in early Spring 2020 with $150,000 dedicated to renew the playground equipment. $200,000 was received from the Province for the Trans-Canada Trail entrance upgrade on Main Street at Abbott. The other area of improvement that Councillor Gower is looking at – beautification of the Main Street itself – traffic concerns, road improvement, the Community Design Plan. Decisions have to made with what to prioritize, available funding. Gower want to hear from residents on this.
5. Schools – The open target date set for the High School is 2022, a new elementary school is a priority for the Fernbank area, along with the requirement for a French elementary public school. As of now, Stittsville kids go to Kanata to attend their French elementary public school. Currently the two school boards – French and Public are working together on this project.
6. Community Engagement – At the Official Plan meeting, Gower was pleased to say that 70 people came out and the majority in attendance had read the City’s 5 Big Moves paper. He noted that the ‘squeaky wheel gets the oil’ so it was important that Stittsville residents made their comments and ideas known. A summary of the 5 Big Moves paper is expected, but no release date has been set as yet. He went on to comment on the Official Plan – next steps. All comments and feedback are being considered – where right/where wrong in the Plan. At the December 9th meeting of the Planning Committee with Agriculture and Rural Affairs, all comments will be considered.

Councillor Gower was thanked for his time and the update he provided. The SVA executive then proceeded to meeting business.

Tanya made note that the SVA run walking group led by David Fairbrother had been recognized by the Heart Institute as a program that heart patients and the general public should participate in. Work must be done to receive expanded business support of events taking place over the course of the year. Doug Sutherland reported that he had filed the appropriate application papers so the SVA could become incorporated. This should assist with funding for the Association.

The priorities of the Stittsville Village Association for 2020 were underscored as —

• Development
• Zoning adherence – SVA feels that they are treated as only a suggestion
• Contribution to the City of Ottawa Official Plan
• Infrastructure – there exists a gap between Robert Grant and Carp Road

The elections took place with Tanya Hein returning as President, Nancy Therrien as Vice-President, Doug Sutherland as Treasurer; Phil Sweetnam as Past-President and a Director; Trevor Eggleton, David Fairbrother, Jeff Gallant, Barry Gray, Marion Gullock, Dayna Hammond and Luke Therrien as Directors. The position of Secretary had been vacant, but Jan Mattingly has stepped in and was elected to the fill this important position. Two additional new Directors were also elected – Mandy Hambly and Lesley McKay.

It was also agreed that the monthly SVA meetings would now take place on Tuesday evenings at 8B Sweetnam Drive beginning at 7:00 pm. The public are always encouraged to attend these meetings. This is your avenue to learn about community planning and upcoming events for Stittsville. To learn more about your community and the Stittsville Village Association, visit their facebook page —  https://www.facebook.com/VillageAssociation/ or the website https://www.stittsvilleva.com.