Update from Councillor Cathy Curry
Wow, I have had a lot of emails and calls lately!
Power outages – With a number of recent power outages affecting a number of Kanata North neighbourhoods, I have heard a lot from residents about it! I thought it might be helpful for me to share the following information I received from Hydro Ottawa when they responded to a resident:
In October, this neighbourhood (Kanata Lakes) experienced four separate outages, all connected to the same breaker. These events occurred on October 7 (an auto-reclosure, where a circuit breaker opens momentarily to clear a temporary fault), a one-hour outage on October 10, and two short outages early on the morning of October 17. Our crews responded quickly to each incident and restored service as safely and efficiently as possible.
Given the repetitive nature of these events, our teams conducted a detailed investigation. The outages were caused by a combination of factors, including tree contact, faulty equipment, and an equipment protection issue at the relevant station. These issues have been identified, and corrective measures are currently being implemented to prevent reoccurrence.
A reminder that residents can register to get outage alerts at Outage Alerts | Hydro Ottawa.
By-law regarding Bird Feeders – I heard from a number of residents after Councillor Dudas brought forward a notice of motion to the Emergency Preparedness and Protective Services Committee last week. The notice of motion requested “that staff include a wildlife feeding by-law, or amendments to the Animal Care and Control By-law concerning the feeding of wildlife, as an item for consideration as part of the development of next Term of Council’s By-law Review Work Plan to be approved by Council, and that other jurisdictions be considered as models as part of this work.” Although this would be for next Term of Council, I will be sure to keep residents updated, as I often hear from residents about issues surrounding this topic. I don’t see this as a motion to stop residents from feeding the birds via bird feeders. What is a concern, however, is when residents dump entire bags of birdseed and their compost and bread all over their lawns in an effort to attract all types of wildlife for their viewing entertainment. This creates endless problems for and costly damage to nearby neighbours. Currently, we only have our Property Standards By-Law to deal with situations like this. A “nuisance feeding” by-law may be helpful.
Arcadia Pond – Residents in Arcadia reached out as they noticed some work going on around their nearby storm water pond. Minto is carrying out work to clean the ponds, which includes drawing out the ponds. As part of the work, sediment will be removed, invasive plant species will be treated, and any deficiencies will be addressed. Construction activities tend to generate more sediment, which is why once the subdivision is 80% built, as is the case with Arcadia, the accumulated sediment is removed.
Earl of March Addition – Many residents reached out with concerns about the construction on The Parkway as part of the Earl of March building addition. With the road being paved this week, The Parkway is now open as the project will now focus on work on school property as they construct the addition to the school.
Crossing Kanata Avenue – With new residents now living at the new building on Kanata Avenue, called “The Woods,” shoppers and drivers at Kanata Centrum contacted me with concerns about people crossing the road right in front of the building to get to the shopping centre. This is not safe given how much traffic there is on Kanata Avenue. I reached out to the developer/owner of The Woods, and he committed to encouraging all new residents to use the two sets of traffic lights nearby to cross safely.
Terry Fox Construction – With the construction taking place along Terry Fox Drive, I have had many residents reaching out to let me know that the set-up of the cones is confusing. Turning southbound onto Terry Fox at Campeau Drive is particularly challenging as the merge is very short. We reached out to the project manager and to traffic staff to ask them to take another look at what can be done. Thank you to all of the residents who reached out to let me know that this was confusing.
Exposed Rail Line – A number of residents reached out to let me know that the rail track that crosses March Road near Carling Avenue was exposed due to missing/worn pavements. Cars were hitting the metal rail line quite hard with their car tires. We alerted our roads staff who alerted CN Rail. They are looking at how to repair this as soon as possible.
Traffic Violations – A number of residents called me/emailed me to let me know that there are high numbers of residents not stopping at the stop sign at Flamborough and Morgan’s Grant Way and at other stop signs throughout Morgan’s Grant. We have asked police to do more patrols in this area. Please remember to follow all of our driving laws.